Other world chimera [Naruto fanfic]

99. Sage modes

“Eh!? You don’t have any questions? Doubts?” Kumoki was having a hard time dealing with Tomoka. Her instincts were telling her that she was dealing with an ancient and powerful being while Tomoka acted so nonchalant and carefree. The discrepancy made it hard for her to figure out how to act in front of the girl. 

“Not really, I already know what sage mode is though I should ask what this trial is about just to be polite. So, could you tell me about that?” Tomoka gave Kumoki a small smile. 

“R-right, the trial is actually part of how you will learn to use sage mode. I should clarify that each one of us beast clans handle sage mode differently, though I guess you already knew about this.” As a matter of fact Tomoka didn’t know about this tidbit of information. 

“I actually don’t. I am curious, could you give me some examples?” Tomoka thought that sage mode is always the same. Gather natural energy, mix in the appropriate ratio and bam sage mode. Now she just learned that this might not be the case. 

“Do you know about the toad, slug, and snake clans?”

“I do.” Tomoka said with a slight nod. 

“Alright then this makes things easier to explain. The toad clan uses the simplest, safest and least efficient way of entering sage mode. They meditate to feel the natural energy around them, absorb it and mix it. The problem with this method is-” Suddenly Kumoki got interrupted by the girl in front of her.  

“It’s duration. One can not meditate while moving therefore the natural energy you gathered beforehand is all you will get. This can be counterbalanced by having a second entity connected to the first. In this way one gathers and mixes natural energy while the other fights. I already know this one, it’s the one I knew of beforehand.” 

“You are correct. I will then talk about the next one being the slug clan. Their method is similar to the toads yet different. In a similar manner they meditate and gather natural energy but instead of mixing it right away they store it in an external container. This method increases the duration but is slightly more dangerous as it becomes possible to mess up the mixing process.”

Hearing about this, Tomoka realized a little something. Tsunade's strength of a thousand seals is probably based on this method. Chances are Tsunade couldn’t feel the natural energy or simply didn’t bother. Instead she applied the storage method to store her own excess chakra. 

“The snake clan uses a high risk high reward method. They directly modify the body so it will passively absorb and mix the natural energy. The problem lies with this modification, very few survive the process. However, those that do could be said to be in a permanent sage mode.” 

This also explained Orochimaru’s incomplete sage mode. He must have made his own pseudo sage mode using Yugo’s cells. The problem being that his method resulted in low power permanent sage mode.  

“Finally our method. It’s actually a combination of the snake’s method and the slug’s method. This is our trial. I will put the person in a cocoon made with a special silk mixed with natural energy. Inside the person will go through a metamorphosis.

Like the snake's method the person's body will be modified and become closer to our own kind. They will also have a set of inscriptions made on their body, these inscriptions work like an external storage unit of the excess natural energy absorbed by the body.

I will go ahead and say that our method is the one with the best and most powerful results when it succeeds. However, the mortality rate is far higher than that of the other three methods combined.” At this point Kumoki felt a bit nervous. The last time someone had managed to pull through their trial had been over three hundred years ago. 

“I see… Well nothing ventured, nothing gained. Give me a second and I will get ready for the trial” Saying this Tomoka began to take off her clothes. Her instincts were telling her that they would not only get in the way but they would also get destroyed. 

Seeing this Kumoki became speechless, she didn’t know what to say or even think. Is this girl so confident? Or is she just an idiot? At this point it didn’t really matter. 

“Alright, are you ready?” This would be Tomoka’s last chance to back out. 

“Right, I need to do one last thing just in case” After saying this Tomoka closed her eyes for a few seconds. After she opened them she smiled. 

“Alright, I’m ready.”