Chapter 94: Chapter 94
Things developed just as the two sages had expected.
Kiriya’s body soon began showing signs of turning into a toad.
Small bumps started appearing on his skin.
His originally handsome, striking face became flatter and wider, and his mouth stretched sideways.
His hands also grew broader, with the distinctive webbing of a toad growing between his fingers.
However, Kiriya remained completely unaware of the changes happening to his body.
He still had that relaxed, comfortable expression, as if he was not training Sage Mode at all, but soaking in a hot spring and enjoying a sauna.
Fukasaku and Shima were not surprised by this scene. Natural energy was exactly like that, tempting enough to draw people in, but also extremely dangerous.
Fortunately, they had not used much toad oil, so even though Kiriya’s body had begun showing signs of toad transformation, it stopped after reaching a certain point.
It was at that moment that Kiriya slowly woke up and opened his eyes.
"So this is natural energy?"
Kiriya murmured to himself, only to be startled by the reflection on the water in front of him.
"Holy shit, who’s this monster?"
When he jumped up in shock, the figure reflected in the water made the exact same movement.
That discovery struck Kiriya like lightning.
He slowly lowered his head and looked at his hands—or more accurately, at hands that looked like they belonged to a toad spirit that had failed to fully transform into human form.
"No way! My glorious face..."
Kiriya wanted to cry but had no tears came out.
The impact of suddenly falling from handsome man to toad monster was devastating!
"Relax, relax. These changes are only temporary. You’ll return to normal very soon," Fukasaku comforted him, pointing at Kiriya’s face.
"Look, isn’t it already better?"
Kiriya quickly turned his head to look at the water, and sure enough, the familiar handsome face had returned.
Only then did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"All right. Next, you’ll need to use the toad oil to absorb natural energy, then try refining senjutsu chakra and entering Sage Mode."
As Fukasaku spoke, he scooped up a cup of toad oil from the small pool in front of them.
"...Are you serious?"
The corner of Kiriya’s eye twitched.
Just that tiny bit of oil earlier had nearly made his body unable to handle it. Now Fukasaku was suddenly bringing out this much.
What if he really turned into a toad?
Wouldn’t that mean he was completely finished with girls for the rest of his life?
The moment he imagined female toads throwing flirtatious looks at him in the future, Kiriya felt an urge to turn around and run.
"Relax. I’m here."
Fukasaku pulled out a blackened stick from who knew where and looked rather proud of himself.
"I have this bastard-beating stick! At the critical moment, I can knock all the natural energy out of your body."
"B-bastard-beating stick?"
Black lines nearly appeared across Kiriya’s forehead. He suspected this old man was insulting him!
Of course, that was only a brief complaint.
Since Fukasaku had already put it that way, Kiriya would be too fussy if he kept hesitating.
So he took off his coat and pants, leaving only a pair of shorts, then sat cross-legged on the ground.
Gritting his teeth, he formed hand seals with both hands.
"Let’s do it."
Bang, bang, bang!
A series of white smoke clouds appeared, and three shadow clones emerged on either side of him.
All of them looked toward Fukasaku at the same time.
"Oh, boy, what are you doing?" the two sages asked, somewhat confused.
"Using shadow clones to assist with training," Kiriya said as if it were only natural. "They can transmit their training experience and insights back to the main body, right?"
"I see. That’s quite an idea, boy."
Fukasaku nodded approvingly, but still reminded him, "However, although shadow clones can help you accumulate training experience, if a shadow clone turns into a toad, you as the main body won’t be able to avoid the consequences when it returns."
"I understand."
Kiriya grinned.
"But don’t I still have you, Fukasaku-sama? Four of us should be no problem for you, right?"
"Haha, of course. Who do you think I am, boy? I am Fukasaku, the toad sage of Mount Myōboku!"
Fukasaku held his cane with one hand and placed the other on his waist, speaking with great pride.
It was just whack-a-mole.
This was the game he was best at!
"Then let’s begin."
After saying that, Kiriya closed his eyes.
Hearing this, Fukasaku poured the cup of toad oil over Kiriya’s body, then gripped the black dog-beating stick and stared closely at Kiriya, ready to strike the moment anything went wrong.
He had guided who knew how many people through senjutsu training.
He was very familiar with this process.
Before long, dense knocking sounds and screams rang out in front of the waterfall.
Among them, Kiriya’s screams were especially loud.
Because he had overlooked one thing.
Shadow clones could accumulate training experience, but the injuries they received would also stack onto Kiriya.
So before long, Kiriya’s face was swollen and bruised.
Fukasaku was so startled that he swung the stick at him again.
"Sage Fukasaku, my face is swollen because you beat me. I’m not turning into a toad!"
Kiriya held his now much heavier-looking face and spoke with deep resentment.
"Haha, sorry, sorry. Your face just looked so familiar that I couldn’t hold back."
Fukasaku explained, clearly embarrassed.
Kiriya cast Yang Power: Everflowing Vitality on himself.
Fukasaku clicked his tongue in wonder at the sight.
"So this is that unique medical ninjutsu Little Jiraiya mentioned? It really is convenient."
In his heart, Fukasaku silently added another sentence.
’This means we can extend the training time even further.’
And so, training continued from noon all the way into the evening.
After such high-intensity beatings and natural energy absorption, even someone with Kiriya’s physique could not help feeling deeply exhausted.
Fukasaku was even worse. He was leaning on his cane, panting heavily.
Although he was a sage, he was still old, and his physical strength could not compare to when he was young.
After such a long, nonstop, high-intensity session of whack-a-mole, both his body and mind were worn out.
So the moment he saw Shima, he felt as if he had been pardoned and quickly announced that training would pause so everyone could eat and recover their strength.
The moment Kiriya heard the word "eat," he felt just how empty his stomach was, and he could not help looking forward to the so-called dinner.
However, that anticipation vanished completely the moment he saw what was inside the basket.
What replaced it was absolute horror.
Bug soup.
Bug rice balls.
Bug sashimi.
Chilled bug salad.
The entire basket was filled with colorful bugs!
"Oh, today really is a feast." Fukasaku’s eyes shone.
He opened both hands and began stuffing food into his mouth, eating like a starving wolf.
Seeing this, Shima was delighted, her toad face smiling so widely she could barely close her mouth.
"Eat slowly. I prepared plenty."
After saying that, she saw Kiriya standing there motionless like a statue and could not help but ask.
"Boy, why aren’t you eating? These are all good things! They’ll help you recover your strength very quickly."
Kiriya: "..."
Looking at Shima’s proud and expectant expression, Kiriya could only silently pick up the bowl of bug soup.
One minute later...
Kiriya: ( ́ཀ`」∠)
Comments