Chương 17: Sage Mode and Nature Transformation Training

At night, before drifting off to sleep, Dongye Zhen began his nightly ritual of chakra control. He had officially entered what he defined as "Stage Two": the constant adjustment of the ratio between the two energies within his chakra, pushing them toward the polar extremes of Yin and Yang. Each adjustment required not just fusing a new ratio into chakra, but familiarizing himself with that chakra's specific properties and achieving surgical precision over it. It was an incredibly time-consuming process.

Yet, Zhen thrived on it. He was dying to know what kind of "surprises" awaited him at the furthest ends of those scales. To put it simply: standard chakra is a 50/50 split of Physical (Yang) and Spiritual (Yin) energy. This is the "General Purpose" model, suitable for Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. Nature transformation is a separate layer of training—if you're born with an affinity, you sharpen it; if not, you grind it out over years. Currently, Zhen wasn't focusing on mastering all five elements.

He didn't have the time or the immediate need to be a "Five-Element Master." Instead, he was tweaking the core. By shifting to a 70% Physical Energy lean, he could use Medical Ninjutsu. Conversely, a 70% Spiritual Energy lean made learning and casting Genjutsu twice as effective with half the effort. But the further he pushed, the harder it became. He roughly defined each 10% shift as a new milestone, but every step forward made the energies more volatile and harder to reconcile.

It required the "water-grinding" effort of day-after-day practice. Was there a faster way? Sure, brother. There's always a shortcut. Go pluck a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan from an Uchiha and slot them in; your Yin training would soar. Or find "Snake-Uncle" Orochimaru and take a hit of Hashirama cells; your Yang energy would explode overnight. The catch? You'd probably die. Either the Hashirama cells turn you into a decorative oak tree, or a mob of red-eyed lunatics hunts you down and turns you into mincemeat.

Hard work was the only thing that was safe and reliable. Zhen had recently dropped his nightly hand-seal practice. His speed was already decent, and since he didn't plan on being a "by-the-book" ninja anyway, his envisioned combat style didn't rely heavily on complex Ninjutsu. In reality, if chakra control is pushed to its absolute limit—mastering the energy circuit of a specific jutsu—one can complete the process within the meridians using pure spiritual power. No seals required.

A simple clap of the hands, or no movement at all, and the jutsu triggers. Hand seals were originally developed by Indra Otsutsuki so that ordinary humans could mold chakra. His bloodline? They were the "Chakra Admins." They didn't need to fill out forms or perform "dances" just to access their own power. Chakra was an Otsutsuki product that had simply diffused into the human population over generations. Humans were like chakra factories—they could use it, but they didn't hold the "final ownership rights."

The Quantum Sage Once he fell asleep, Zhen's consciousness drifted above his body as usual. He had grown accustomed to this "Out-of-Body" state. His spiritual form was much stronger now, allowing him to draw in significantly more white natural energy than before. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. He expected another routine night of merging with the white mist, but things took an unexpected turn.

Despite his familiarity with the process, Zhen never let his guard down. Natural energy wasn't a tame sheep; it was a lethal, primal force. Halfway through his session, his consciousness noticed something flickering on his physical body's forehead. It was a circular pattern, phasing in and out of existence. As the white energy surged, the mark finally stabilized. On his forehead appeared a silver symbol, slightly larger than a coin.

It was a circle within a ring, with a small dot embedded at the top of the outer ring. The silver hue didn't contrast sharply with his skin, but it was distinct—almost like a localized skin anomaly. Is this a Sage Mode marking? Zhen studied it, a sense of déjà vu washing over him. It looked vaguely like the "War Tattoos" of the legendary martial artists from Warlord, but he wasn't about to become a "Magnetic Field Madman." This was the Shinobi world, for heaven's sake. Then it hit him.

This pattern was a dead ringer for the mark worn by a certain naked blue man: Jonathan Osterman, better known as Dr. Manhattan. The symbol for a Hydrogen atom. Did I not cultivate into a magnetic powerhouse, but a Quantum God instead? That would be incredible. Omnipotence? Yes, please. But a moment's reflection brought him back to earth. He was still very much a mortal. He noticed the differences: Dr.

Manhattan's mark was larger with a smaller nucleus; Zhen's mark was smaller overall, but the inner circle was larger. It looked less like an atom and more like a celestial body—a moon orbiting a planet, or a planet orbiting a sun. This made more sense. Natural energy represents the planet, the system, the universe. Fortunately, the marking was confined to his forehead. It wasn't like the "face-paint" Sage markings of the Three Great Sage Regions, which made you look like you were performing in a Kabuki theater.

Would it disappear once he stopped absorbing energy? Even if it didn't, he didn't care. It was just a tattoo. In this world, people put weird things on their faces all the time. Rin had purple rectangles, the Inuzuka had fangs, and Kankuro looked like a gothic nightmare. Finally, Zhen realized there was a similar Sage marking in history: Hashirama Senju. Zhen's was smaller than the First Hokage's, with a larger inner circle, a thinner outer ring, and that extra dot.

Most importantly, he didn't have the "eyeliner" markings around his eyes. He preferred it that way; the heavy eye-shadow look wasn't really his aesthetic. The problem: Hashirama's Sage Mode was a high-level secret. How would he explain a similar marking on his own head? The answer: Explain what? Once I'm a Sage, who's going to demand an explanation? The Path of Nature Transformation The next morning, Zhen stood before the bathroom mirror, staring at his perfectly smooth, blank forehead.

For some reason, he felt a pang of disappointment. I was worried about looking like a delinquent with a tattoo, and now that it's gone, I miss it. Humans really are fickle. It seemed his mastery of natural energy wasn't quite "at home" yet. He decided to categorize his progress: Stage 1: Absorption. Stage 2: The appearance of the Sage Mark (Initial Sage Mode). * Stage 3: The mark becomes permanent (Constant Sage Mode). With a new goal in mind, Zhen's mood brightened. He headed out for his daily training.

Beyond Yin and Yang, the five elemental attributes allow for a dizzying array of jutsu. But what is their core purpose? Mimicry. They simulate the phenomena of the natural world. Mastering these phenomena turns them into "Ninjutsu." Ninjutsu training is divided into Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation. Shape is relatively simple—Zhen mastering the Rasengan proved his control was elite.

It might look like a simple ball, but the interior is a chaotic storm of high-density chakra streams spinning at incredible speeds. Nature, however, was complex. First, you have to understand the "soul" of an attribute. At the training ground, Zhen cast a Wind Style: Great Breakthrough. A powerful gale swept forward, making the trees roar. This was a C-rank jutsu—meaning it was easy to learn—but its power depended entirely on the chakra invested.

A Genin might blow down a shack; if Hashirama dumped his entire reserve into it, he'd blow Konoha into the next province. But this jutsu only touched the most basic property of Wind: rapid movement. Does Wind have other properties? Yes. Air pressure. High-density friction. Cutting power. Zhen's innate affinities were Wind, Earth, and Water. Earth: Stability, weight, gravity, decomposition. Water: Fluidity, high-pressure cutting, impact. It was too much for one lifetime.

No wonder Orochimaru obsessed over immortality; seventy years isn't nearly enough to learn every secret of the universe. Fortunately, Zhen didn't want to learn everything. He just wanted what was useful. He cast Great Breakthrough again, but this time, he aimed it at his own feet. The violent air current slammed into the ground, propelling his small body high into the air. In that moment of flight, he focused entirely on the "feeling" of the wind, deepening his resonance with the element.

Moments later, he summoned several clones. Each sat cross-legged, holding a leaf between their palms, attempting to slice it in half using only chakra. Deep in the grind. No way out but through.