Mount Myōboku, one of the Three Great Sage Regions of the shinobi world.
According to Fukasaku Sage in the original series, it did not exist entirely outside the shinobi world, but was located in a place called the Labyrinth Mountains. Setting out from Konohagakure, it would take a month of walking to reach the Labyrinth Mountains. Even upon arriving there, unless one knew the secret passage leading deeper into Mount Myōboku, it was impossible to enter, no matter how hard they tried.
Of course, that was merely the claim of the Mount Myōboku toads.
In the original story, Pain clearly knew of Mount Myōboku's existence and its location. After wreaking havoc in Konoha, had Tsunade not accurately stepped on a landmine, Pain would likely have gone to Mount Myōboku himself to capture Naruto.
Having stayed in the shinobi world for over a decade, Hyuga Yu naturally knew where the Labyrinth Mountains were. By using the Byakugan, finding the location of Mount Myōboku and entering it wouldn't be too difficult.
However, Minato Namikaze brought back good news—Mount Myōboku had agreed to sign a Summoning contract with Hyuga Yu and promised to assist him in his Sage Jutsu training.
This saved Hyuga Yu a great deal of time that would have been spent traveling, kidnapping, and forcing the Mount Myōboku toad clan to hand over their Sage Jutsu.
At this moment, inside the Root headquarters base, in Danzo Shimura's office: "At a critical juncture like this, you are going to Mount Myōboku to cultivate Sage Jutsu?"
Behind the desk, Danzo Shimura frowned slightly and looked at Hyuga Yu. "But, Tennin, that matter you had Kakashi inform us about..."
Hyuga Yu nodded. "I will handle that matter immediately upon my return to Konoha. Until then, I must trouble Master and everyone else to hold the line."
Standing next to Hyuga Yu in front of the desk, Minato Namikaze's eyes flickered slightly. With a grave expression, he asked, "Tennin... does Hyuga Hizashi really pose a threat on the level of a rampaging Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, just as you said?"
"If that's the case, I can head over to the Hyuga clan right now and neutralize his armed threat..."
Hyuga Yu shook his head, though he did not stop him, only saying, "Hyuga Hizashi is not the actual root of the problem."
"Of course, you can try. However, my advice is to delay for time as much as possible, because that is no longer something an ordinary shinobi can deal with."
"Then what on earth is it?"
"It's hard to explain clearly in a short time. For the time being, you can understand it as..." Hyuga Yu pondered for a moment before saying, "...another entity that shares a common source of power with me, and whose power level might even be greater than mine."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was shocked. Danzo Shimura's pupils constricted violently. At this moment, only Danzo knew exactly how exaggeratedly powerful Hyuga Yu's strength was. Yet, for a situation to arise that even Hyuga Yu could not easily handle, just how terrifying must it be?
The usually quiet and unremarkable Hyuga clan actually harbored such a devastating weapon?!
Was it truly a case of the silent dog biting the hardest?
"In any case, I will complete my Sage Jutsu training as quickly as possible. The safety of the village and the laboratory will be in your hands, everyone."
Hyuga Yu took a final look at the group, bit his finger, and signed his name onto the scroll toad that Minato Namikaze had summoned. His name fell precisely behind the three names: "Masashi Kishimoto", "Jiraiya", and "Minato Namikaze".
In the next split second, Hyuga Yu immediately sensed a faint summoning force rippling through the air. He did not resist the pull.
Very quickly—Poof!
A cloud of white smoke erupted where Hyuga Yu stood. When the smoke cleared, his figure had completely vanished from Danzo Shimura's office.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Minato Namikaze looked at the spot where Hyuga Yu had just been standing, unable to hide his worry. "Tennin... isn't he being a bit too hasty? Can he really master Sage Jutsu in less than a day?"
Danzo Shimura, however, was thinking about another matter. If it was truly as Hyuga Yu said, tomorrow's "Tennin Selection" might very well give rise to an enemy as terrifying as Hyuga Yu. If so, how should Konoha respond?
Or rather, did the current Konoha possess the strength to fight a shinobi on par with the God of Shinobi?
On the other side.
"Huh... those eyes!"
When an elderly exclamation suddenly echoed faintly in his ears, Hyuga Yu opened his eyes and found himself in a mountain forest where both the plants and trees were exceptionally massive.
The night sky, which had already turned dark back home, suddenly brightened. Looking far into the distance past the lush green peaks, a pale blue sun was slowly rising.
Mountain springs trickled and gurgled, and the croaking of frogs filled the air.
This place was precisely the sacred land known as Mount Myōboku from Hyuga Yu's memory!
Hyuga Yu looked at the rising sun in the distance, raising an eyebrow slightly. "This place... has a time difference compared to Konoha?"
"It's 10:00 PM in Konoha, but here the time is roughly 6:00 AM. There's an 8-hour time difference. That means the linear distance between the two sides is roughly 10,100 kilometers."
"So the actual location of Mount Myōboku isn't in the Labyrinth Mountains, but rather on another continent on the opposite side of the shinobi world... No wonder."
"In that case, I only need to confirm my current latitude and longitude, and it won't be difficult to deduce that the coordinates of this place are..."
At this moment, seeing the pair of eyes in Hyuga Yu's face—which were completely different from a normal Byakugan and radiated a mysterious, cyan-white brilliance—and sensing his terrifyingly immense chakra fluctuations, the waiting Fukasaku Sage broke out into a cold sweat. Hearing this kid casually deduce the actual location of Mount Myōboku in a matter of seconds, Fukasaku immediately waved his hand upward, trying to catch Hyuga Yu's attention and interrupt him from deducing any more information.
"Are you the young Hyuga that little Minato spoke of?"
Hearing the voice appear again, Hyuga Yu turned his head but saw nothing.
It wasn't until he scanned downward that Hyuga Yu spotted an old toad on the ground wearing a small gray cloak, sporting a graying beard, eyebrows, and a gray pompadour hairstyle.
"It's me." Hyuga Yu nodded, looking at the toad. "And you must be... Fukasaku Sage?"
"Welcome to Mount Myōboku!" Fukasaku Sage said with a benevolent expression, smiling as he nodded his toad head. "It happens to be breakfast time. Young Hyuga, since this is your first time at Mount Myōboku, why don't you join us for a meal?"
Hearing the word "meal," Hyuga Yu's brow twitched imperceptibly. He immediately shook his head resolutely. "Fukasaku Sage, I don't have much time to spend on Sage Jutsu."
"Furthermore, Konoha is currently facing a crisis. I must ask you to handle this as a special case and teach me Sage Jutsu as quickly as possible."
Fukasaku Sage choked on his words upon hearing this. He originally wanted to argue, intending to spout some elderly platitudes like "haste makes waste." However, when he raised his head and locked eyes with Hyuga Yu's glittering, gem-like eyes radiating that cyan-white glow, Fukasaku fell completely silent.
This was the very first time Fukasaku had ever taught someone this powerful to cultivate Sage Jutsu. At Mount Myōboku, Fukasaku maintained his Sage Mode almost constantly. Because of this, he could clearly sense the terrifying aura that Hyuga Yu was deliberately suppressing. He appeared polite and peaceful, but in reality, his inner being was like a dormant, crouching lion. The moment he opened his eyes, the entirety of Mount Myōboku would tremble at his every move. If things ever reached that point, the only choices left for Mount Myōboku would be—
Death, or submission!
Fukasaku had only ever felt this kind of aura from the Great Toad Sage...
Both were so powerful that he completely couldn't comprehend them. He had no way to compare who was stronger between this Tennin and the Great Toad Sage.
But in Fukasaku's personal perception, even though he himself possessed the power of Sage Jutsu, if Hyuga Yu wanted to crush him, it probably... probably...
Wouldn't be much harder than stepping on an ant...
Thus, Fukasaku gave a dry laugh. "Is that so? It's a good thing for young people to be so driven! In that case, follow me."
"Thank you for your trouble."
With that, Fukasaku Sage turned around, hopping and skipping ahead to lead the way, guiding Hyuga Yu deeper into Mount Myōboku.
Along the way, he asked, "Young Hyuga, since you came seeking Sage Jutsu on your own initiative, I assume you have some understanding of its power?"
Hyuga Yu shook his head modestly. "Before this, I have never come into contact with Sage Jutsu."
"Then, young Hyuga, do you know what the first step in cultivating Sage Jutsu is?"
Hyuga Yu looked at Fukasaku and didn't answer.
Fukasaku Sage explained on his own, "The first step in cultivating Sage Jutsu is to become one with nature!"
Hyuga Yu nodded. The theory had already been explained very clearly during Naruto's training arc in the original series. By becoming one with nature, one could freely control the flow of natural energy in and out of their body.
Of course, while it sounded simple, this was precisely where Hyuga Yu was stuck. Even though his physical conditioning was already incredibly absurd and he had integrated Hashirama cells, Hyuga Yu couldn't sense the so-called "natural energy" drifting through the atmosphere at all.
He immediately asked, "So, what exactly needs to be done?"
"Concretely speaking, it means to 'remain perfectly still,'" Fukasaku Sage continued to explain. "First, you must halt your active movements as an animal, allowing your body and mind to reach a state of absolute 'stillness.' Once you can harmonize with the flow of nature, you will be able to truly perceive natural energy."
Hyuga Yu frowned slightly. To a normal person, these words might sound like some profound, esoteric state of mind. But to his ears as a doctor, it translated to—
The so-called "remaining perfectly still" likely meant using meditation, breath control, and postural stability to assist the brain and senses, systematically shutting down unnecessary neural activities to lower a certain "signal-to-noise ratio."
The core key was to get the brain to produce highly synchronized alpha waves (relaxation) and theta waves (light sleep, inspiration), allowing the brain to enter a state of high receptivity and low criticism. Ultimately, when the body reached a state of extreme tranquility, the individual's frequency would match the low-frequency electromagnetic field level of the planet's stable operation under that environment, similar to the theoretical state of Schumann resonance.
Therefore, although it sounded as if the first step of cultivating Sage Jutsu was simply sitting there completely motionless like a dead corpse, Hyuga Yu believed there was an inevitable logic behind it.
However, for Hyuga Yu, this method was... too slow, and too metaphysical.
He thought of the "Toad Oil" that existed at Mount Myōboku, which allowed a practitioner to quickly perceive natural energy. Thus, he took the initiative to ask Fukasaku Sage, "Then, is there a faster way?"
"There is," Fukasaku Sage answered automatically, his spine shuddering slightly upon hearing Hyuga Yu's question. "Mount Myōboku possesses a treasure called 'Toad Oil,' which has the power to gather natural energy. You only need to apply a single drop to your skin, and natural energy will enter your body from that point."
"This way, you can actually use your skin to feel the existence of natural energy."
"However..." Speaking up to this point, Fukasaku Sage paused with some hesitation.
Hyuga Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking that Fukasaku Sage was about to repeat the warning he gave to Naruto Uzumaki regarding the risk of turning into a toad from the Toad Oil.
However, Fukasaku Sage did not say that. Instead, he uncharacteristically fell silent, quickened his pace on his own, hopped around the corner of the path ahead, and arrived before a wide stone-toad plaza.
Hyuga Yu quickly followed. Before his eyes, a massive "stone forest" composed of stone toads appeared. Right in the center of this stone forest was an oil pool spewing from a giant stone toad.
Hyuga Yu's eyes lit up. This must be the Toad Oil that assisted Naruto in quickly mastering Sage Mode. He immediately looked at Fukasaku, waiting for him to explain the remaining details so he could try it himself and quickly master this Sage Mode. With Hyuga Yu's current chakra control—which was second to none in the shinobi world—as long as he could complete the first step of perceiving natural energy, the remaining two steps of "guiding natural energy" and "mixing Sage chakra" would be effortless for him. If all else failed, he could even use his atomic-level Wind Style: Chakra Scalpel to forcefully seize and stuff it in, brutally resolving all issues.
However, meeting Hyuga Yu's somewhat expectant gaze, Fukasaku Sage remained silent for a moment before suddenly speaking up, "Young Hyuga, if the situation isn't terribly urgent, I do not recommend you use this Toad Oil for your training."
Hearing these words, which were completely opposite to what was said to Naruto in the original story, Hyuga Yu's eyebrow arched slightly. "Not use the 'Toad Oil'?"
"Is it because failing to control the natural energy might cause a toad mutation?"
"No, that's not it." Fukasaku Sage's brow furrowed tightly as he stared at Hyuga Yu. In his toad eyes, however, he seemed to see a different form—a massive, god-like phantom of Hyuga Yu standing grandly. Feeling slightly ashamed, the toad shook his head, reached into his cloak, and pulled out a black staff, speaking frankly: "If you fail to master the natural energy and undergo partial toad mutation, I can simply use this 'Fierce Toad Stick' to beat the natural energy out of your body, bypassing that risk of training."
"Until you can sense natural energy on your own, you would eventually complete your training safely."
"However..." Fukasaku Sage frowned and stated bluntly, "I'll just say it straight—"
"It is because you are far too powerful! You are the strongest seeker of the Sage arts that this old man has ever seen in all my years!"
"The Sage Mode cultivated through this method might very well end up becoming nothing more than a 'useless' technique for you."
Hyuga Yu's gaze instantly turned sharp. "A useless... technique?"
Fukasaku sighed, swinging the black staff in his hand to point toward the stone toad forest behind the oil-spewing statue, where stone toads of various sizes were stacked together, towering into the clouds. "Once someone absorbs too much natural energy, they turn into a toad, unable to recover or control it, and they ultimately become a stone toad left here to merge with nature."
"However,"
"Young Hyuga, since I possess this Fierce Toad Stick, combined with my warnings and my ability to help seekers expel natural energy, logically speaking, the success rate of cultivating Sage Jutsu should be greatly increased. Shinobi who master Sage Jutsu shouldn't be so rare in the shinobi world."
"So, why do you think... these giant stone toads, which are far larger than regular stone toads, came to be?"
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