Naruto: The Perfect Hokage

Chapter 29- Shikkotsu Forest

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Advanced Sage Talent—simple to explain, it increases my talent for learning the Sage Arts. It can be said to be very useful. Sage Arts was one of the few effective methods to put up a fight against someone at the Six Paths level. Its potential was unquestionable, and even before I reached that level, it would serve as a powerful trump card for me, severely increasing my attack power.

With my healing factor and all, my defence and regeneration powers were quite good, my attack power on the other hand was still relatively weak. After all, you can never have enough firepower. Therefore, I could now start studying Sage Mode and practicing here in the Shikkotsu Forest. After all, Sage Mode was dangerous to train, but Advanced Level Sage Talent gave me the confidence that nothing would go wrong.

"I would love to practice here, Lady Katsuyu. And about Sage Mode, how about we start practicing for it from now onwards?"

"You can only do basic training right now; you don't have enough chakra to become a sage. But the foundation can be laid, making it much easier for you to practice in the future. In your human terms, one's chakra must reach the level of a Kage to learn Sage Mode. Your chakra is reaching the level of an elite Jonin at the age of 10, which is enough to show your talent. After the age of 12, as you hit puberty, you will experience a rapid growth in strength," Lady Katsuyu explained.

"Wait, so what would happen if I tried to practice Sage Mode before reaching Kage-level chakra? And what you said about rapid growth after 12—can you please explain it?" I asked. This was a curious topic. Although puberty did increase the strength of a human, it was the case for ordinary humans, and I didn't know how it worked for ninjas with their chakra involved.

"Indeed, when a human starts his puberty, his strength will experience a rapid boost. Whether it is his physique or his mind, they all experience a major boost, and consequently, their chakra grows, making their strength skyrocket. By the end of puberty, at around the age of 18 to 20, most shinobi have reached their peak, especially in terms of raw power. They could still become stronger, but mostly due to increasing skill and experience, not raw power.

But this does not apply to people with special physiques. Someone like Hashirama-sama—or you, with your strange vitality-rich physique—could continue to grow for much longer periods, and as for practicing sage mode with your current chakra, although your chakra is purer and stronger than ordinary chakra, it would still be overpowered by the natural chakra, which will dissolve you turning you into nutrients for the forest" she calmly explained.

I shuddered at her explanation of the consequences of starting to learn sage mode now....I should wait till I reach at least the middle level of Kage before trying it....just for safety purposes..

Her mention of my physique caught me off guard, though she didn't seem too interested in it. After a brief pause, she continued, "This is the major difference between shinobi with bloodlines and those without. Someone from the Uchiha clan can still advance their Sharingan and continue to grow. The Senju and Uzumaki have much longer time left to grow. The biggest difference between bloodline ninjas and commoners doesn't depend upon their lower limit, but on their upper limit. Bloodline shinobi have the capability to reach a much higher level, which is almost impossible to achieve, even for them. But at least they have the chance; commoners don't even have that chance.

Someone at the level of Hashirama-sama can only be from a bloodline clan and never a commoner. But you, despite not possessing any bloodline, seem to have awakened a new one unique to yourself. You truly have the chance of reaching his level—maybe even surpassing it. And do not worry, this secret is safe with me. No one would learn about it until you wish so, not even the other contractors of Shikkotsu Forest."

She assured me that she would keep my physique a secret. It's good enough; I don't mind the secret of my physique coming out after I'm strong enough to protect myself. Reaching the peak of Kage level would be enough for that.

This world truly is one based on blood. All the things shown at the start about hard work and all were complete nonsense. Main character Naruto, with his so-called hard work, catches up to and surpasses the genius Sasuke Uchiha. Foolish, really.

In actuality, Naruto had an even better background than Sasuke. His mother was the princess of the Uzumaki clan, his father was the Hokage, and the strongest tailed beast was sealed within him. He can be considered someone almost destined to become strong, and saying otherwise is only fooling yourself. Common people, no matter how hard they work, can never reach that level, even if someone might argue that Might Guy reached it, it was a one time move, and if not for being saved by Naruto, he would have been reduced to ashes.

Maybe if I didn't have the system, I would suffer the same fate—maybe even worse, since the original body was that of a congenitally diseased child. Perhaps I would even have a hard time living a normal life, let alone becoming a shinobi.

"Well... I'll trust you on that, Lady Katsuyu. The news of my special physique spreading before I'm strong enough could be disadvantageous for me. Anyways, people would come to know about it soon as I start my ninja career, and getting injured is inevitable. So, I would have to work hard to grow stronger. Tomorrow is the first day of my shinobi career, and whenever I'm free from missions, I will come to train here. Thank you for your help, Lady Katsuyu."

I tried to underplay it and change the topic. Though getting stronger quickly would be necessary, there would be peacetime for about a decade after the First Shinobi War. By the time the Second Shinobi War starts, let's make a small goal of being strong at the Kage level, with perfect mastery of Sage Mode.

"Please feel free to come here anytime you desire, Lord Akira. As the contractor, Shikkotsu Forest is your second home, and I will try to help you to the best of my abilities," Katsuyu said in her usual sweet voice.

I then walked towards Tsunade, who was at a distance, talking with a clone of Katsuyu. The medical techniques of Shikkotsu Forest were even more advanced than those of the Senju, which caught her interest right away.

"Let's head back, Tsuna-chan. We have to prepare for tomorrow. After all, we're meeting our new sensei, and he'll probably give us some test," I said, recalling the traditional bell-grabbing test of Konoha.

"Yes! The medical jutsu here is totally awesome, and we also have to inform Grandma about it. She might get worried—we've been here for hours," Tsunade replied sensibly.

After wishing farewell to Katsuyu, we were unsummoned by her. With a burst of smoke, we arrived at the backyard of our home.

"Tsuna! Akira! You're both alright!" Grandma rushed and hugged us both. "You two were gone for so long; I was really worried about you. So? Did you both succeed?"

"Yes! We both are now the contractors of Shikkotsu Forest," Tsuna said excitedly.