Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training room

A few days later, Tenten was also assigned a mission.

Fortunately, it wasn't like before where she had to supervise the Genin squad, otherwise Tenten wouldn't know how mentally exhausted she would be.

Natsuki didn't rush to take an S-Rank mission but waited until the night of the first of the month.

He entered the special laboratory on time and began to attempt Sage Mode.

"The feeling of the Slug injecting natural energy into the shadow clone before seems to have been like this..."

Natsuki carefully recalled the feeling transmitted back after the shadow clone turned to stone, while using his will to change the laboratory environment, making the natural energy within the laboratory incredibly dense.

Since he was going to absorb natural energy, the denser the natural energy, the better.

Following the feeling, Natsuki began to try to communicate with natural energy, and he didn't know how much time passed before he felt a trace of strange energy entering his body.

Although this energy was very small, it gave a feeling of wildness.

That should be natural energy!

Natsuki was secretly delighted, but his mind wasn't in chaos; instead, he continued to guide natural energy into his body, but as the natural energy in his body increased, the more he felt like he couldn't control it.

Gradually, he felt his body turning to stone.

Fortunately, he was in the special laboratory state, otherwise he would die!

He wasn't flustered at all and continued to try to control the natural energy; although it was difficult, he made new progress through continuous exploration.

Natsuki guessed that Jiraiya's Sage Mode activation might be like this:

Jiraiya's speed of absorbing natural energy was very slow, which is why it took time to activate Sage Mode.

He would absorb natural energy little by little within a certain amount of time, and he had to control this natural energy to prevent it from turning his body to stone.

Once he had absorbed enough, he would release it and achieve a 1:1:1 balance with body energy and mental energy.

If the guess was correct, then the key was the method to control the natural energy within the body!

Only by controlling the natural energy entering the body could he ensure that he wouldn't turn to stone, and then he needed to know the ratio of the three energies, know how much natural energy to absorb, and release it when the quantity was sufficient to achieve a new energy balance within the body!

This point is simple to explain, but difficult to do!

It's no wonder only the Three Great Sage Regions knew Sage Mode; just the method of absorbing and controlling natural energy was something other places couldn't possibly have!

Natsuki knew his body energy and mental energy were vast, but he didn't have specific numbers; to achieve balance after natural energy entered his body, he had to experiment little by little.

In addition, he had to think about the method of controlling natural energy.

Fortunately, because of the special laboratory state's boost, Natsuki was very bold and took a large gulp of natural energy directly, causing his body to instantly turn to stone over a large area.

He didn't care and only focused on the balance of the three energies within his body.

After reaching a basic balance, he still had to fine-tune it; it had to reach a perfect balance.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly; he roughly determined the amount of natural energy he needed to absorb.

Even if his body energy and mental energy grew as he got older, as long as he was familiar with this mode, he wouldn't make mistakes again.

After that was how to control the natural energy entering his body!

Dad had a good saying: fight magic with magic!

Therefore, energy must be used to control energy; to control natural energy well, the only thing Natsuki could rely on was Chakra energy.

Chakra happened to be a mixed energy of body energy and mental energy, and he was already proficient in manipulating it; controlling natural energy should also not be difficult.

As Natsuki continuously experimented, he finally figured out some tricks.

With ten minutes left until the special laboratory state closed, Natsuki took a deep breath, clasped his hands together, and began to absorb natural energy.

As natural energy continuously entered his body, he showed no signs of turning to stone; he had successfully controlled the natural energy entering his body.

When the natural energy was absorbed to a certain amount, he suddenly released it and mixed it with Chakra energy.

"Sage Mode!"

The next second, black markings appeared at the corners of Xia Mu's eyes.

He could feel the difference in the energy within his body; it was more vast and wild than pure Chakra energy, and he didn't delay, directly forming hand seals and activating a Ninjutsu.

"Sage Art: Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"

Bang!

A huge torrent of water impacted a large area of the forest ahead, twice as strong as the previous Wild Water Wave.

This was still because Natsuki had just learned Sage Mode; once he completely mastered Sage Mode, the damage of the Ninjutsu he used would only be even more terrifying.

...Seeking flowers...

He canceled Sage Mode, and the special laboratory time also just ended.

"Phew! At least this time wasn't wasted; I successfully figured out Sage Mode!

I'll get more familiar with it on the first of next month, and then I won't have to worry about the risk of turning to stone.

Furthermore, I need to shorten the activation time of Sage Mode; it's best if I can activate it instantly like Hashirama Senju, that would be truly amazing!"

Natsuki was in a good mood; he didn't even bother with morning training and went straight to bed after taking a shower.

He slept straight until the afternoon.

Natsuki first went to have a good meal, then helped out at the Ninja Tools shop for a bit before going to the Hokage Office.

"You're finally here, I thought you forgot." Tsunade's face showed fatigue.

"Tsunade-sama, you don't look well, are you hungover again?" Natsuki casually asked, but saw Shizune and Tonton beside her shaking their heads.

... ... ...

Not hungover? But you really don't look good!

Tsunade waved her hand, "Some old geezer is just giving me trouble, you don't need to worry about it. Since you're here, I'll give you the S-Rank mission, it's still related to the Akatsuki."

Natsuki took the scroll Tsunade handed him, opened it, and was stunned again.

The scroll said that people wearing black cloaks with red clouds were found in the Land of Sand, suspected to be Akatsuki members. One was a blond man with a ponytail, and the other looked like a hunched old man.

"Blond ponytail? It's either Ino or Deidara! This duo is definitely Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand!"

Natsuki looked at Tsunade calmly, "Is this a tracking investigation again?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes. It's best to find out the information about their identities and abilities, just like before. But I don't think they'll be immortals this time. So we only need the information, no need to send a team to eliminate them like last time."

No, Sasori of the Red Sand is actually considered immortal too, it's just that his threat isn't as great as Kakuzu and Hidan.

Natsuki agreed, then flashed and disappeared.

He was afraid that if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to help but burst out laughing, because this was simply a freebie!

He just needed to find the traces of Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand, follow them for a day or two casually, then compile their information according to the original story, and he could come back and submit the mission.

Then, having completed three S-Rank missions, he could go see the Senju Library.