Naruto: Starting With Creating A Genius Persona

The little slug thought for a moment, then gently nodded with her antennae.

"Generally speaking, the first step in learning Sage Jutsu is to sense the existence of Nature Energy. At this stage, most practitioners need to soak themselves in my mucus as an aid, allowing them to perceive the existence of Nature Energy more clearly."

Slug’s mucus?

Shinichi’s heart stirred slightly. It was probably something similar to Mount Myōboku’s toad oil, used to help practitioners open the door to sensing Nature Energy.

The only difference was that one was applied externally, while the other required immersion. The underlying principle was probably much the same.

"However, little Shinichi, your talent is excellent. You should already be able to clearly sense the Nature Energy throughout Shikkotsu Forest, shouldn’t you?"

"Mm. It’s everywhere."

After a brief pause, Shinichi added, "And there’s far more of it than what I could sense back in Konoha."

"Of course. After all, this is Shikkotsu Forest."

There was a trace of matter-of-fact pride in the little slug’s tone as it continued, "Since you can directly perceive Nature Energy, we can skip the very first step of learning Sage Jutsu and begin directly with the second step, absorption. After absorbing it comes control, controlling the balance between Nature Energy, Physical Energy, and Spiritual Energy until they are perfectly mixed to form Senjutsu chakra."

"However..."

The little slug abruptly changed its tone, becoming noticeably more serious. "Shinichi, I have to tell you this in advance. This step is also the most dangerous part of Sage Jutsu training. Nature Energy is an extremely dangerous force that is extraordinarily difficult to control. If your mind falters during the absorption process, or if the proportions of the three energies become unstable, then at best you will fail to form Senjutsu chakra. At worst, your body will suffer backlash from the excess Nature Energy. You’ve seen the scattered white bones throughout Shikkotsu Forest. Not all of them belong to outsiders who accidentally wandered into this place."

"I understand. I’ll be careful."

Shinichi asked no further questions and merely nodded calmly.

Thus, under the little slug’s guidance, Shinichi began the initial stages of his Sage Jutsu training.

From dawn until dusk, not ending until the sky above Shikkotsu Forest had begun to darken, he finally concluded his first day’s training and returned to Konoha.

After all, the environment of Shikkotsu Forest truly was unsuitable for prolonged stays. Even with his current physique, remaining there for too long would inevitably cause problems.

Perhaps only after his body had advanced another step, or after his mastery of Sage Jutsu had reached a certain breakthrough, would he truly be able to reside calmly for extended periods within this acidic mist.

As before, he returned to Konoha using the Reverse Summoning Technique.

Before heading to Shikkotsu Forest, he had already summoned a large slug capable of performing the Reverse Summoning Technique and left it behind in Konoha, allowing himself to be summoned back directly.

Come to think of it, Shinichi had never informed anyone exactly when he intended to finish his training. Yet the moment he completed his session and bid farewell to the Damp Slug Sage, the large slug stationed in Konoha somehow knew immediately, activating the Reverse Summoning Technique with flawless precision and instantly pulling him back to Konoha.

This perfectly synchronized understanding once again made Shinichi marvel at the extraordinary nature of the Damp Slug Sage’s clone technique.

Ordinary Shadow Clones acted independently after being created, without interfering with one another. Only after they were dispelled would their memories and experiences return to the original body.

The Damp Slug Sage’s clones, however, had completely transcended that limitation. It was as though they shared vision, hearing, and even subtler forms of perception through some unknown means.

As for whether this shared perception was limited by distance or space, Shinichi could not determine for the time being.

At the very least, the distance between Shikkotsu Forest and Konoha was insufficient to produce the slightest delay in that shared awareness.

...

Several days later, in the Land of Iron, Taiyoto, within Isshin’s dojo.

After sitting in meditation for a long time, Isshin slowly opened his eyes.

The sharp brilliance within them remained as piercing as ever, and his aura was still as keen and imposing as before. Yet now there was also a trace of gentle warmth flowing quietly within his gaze, adding an indescribable restraint to those eyes that had always carried an untamed edge.

He then raised a hand, plucked a single strand of hair from his temple, and gently blew on it.

The next moment, something astonishing happened!

The strand of hair transformed at incredible speed in midair, stretching, expanding, and taking shape before Isshin’s eyes.

Within moments, it became another party who was identical to Isshin in every way!

Looking at the person standing before him, whose appearance matched his own perfectly, Isshin’s lips curled into a faint smile.

A Shadow Clone? No!

Although Shadow Clones also possessed physical form, they were fundamentally temporary replicas condensed from chakra. They did not possess genuine flesh and blood, and once struck by force exceeding a certain threshold, they would dissolve into white smoke.

The clone before him, however, truly possessed flesh, internal organs, bones, a chakra pathway system, and everything else that made up a human body.

If this clone were placed upon an operating table and dissected layer by layer, inside and out, the only possible conclusion would be that it was a complete, genuine human being.

Even more importantly, this clone shared vision, hearing, and every other form of sensory information with Isshin’s original body.

Compared to the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which merely claimed to create physical clones, Isshin’s flesh-and-blood clone that shared information with its original deserved to be called a true physical clone in every sense.

"One hair becomes countless clones; I’m becoming more and more like a certain monkey."

Looking at the physical clone before him, Isshin chuckled inwardly.

This unique physical clone ability had been acquired after he fused with the Damp Slug Sage’s bloodline genes.

It could only be said that the Damp Slug Sage truly deserved its reputation as the ancient being with the greatest vitality on the planet.

Both fusions involved secondary bloodlines, yet after Genjo’s fusion, he had only gained some additional Spiritual Energy along with the one tomoe Sharingan awakened by that Spiritual Energy, which translated to roughly the equivalent of a single green-tier enhancement.

Isshin’s case, however, it was entirely different.

Following the successful fusion, the improvements to Isshin’s vitality, along with its enhanced ability to sense and absorb Nature Energy, amounted to benefits roughly equivalent to two green-level enhancements.

In certain aspects, Shinichi even felt they were faintly approaching the threshold of a blue-level enhancement.

In addition, this fusion granted Isshin a completely new mechanic-based ability, or rather, an innate divine power that allowed Isshin to transform a portion of his own body tissue into a physical clone.

Because it closely resembled the divine ability of a certain monkey from his previous life, Shinichi gave it the name Body beyond the Body.

That said, the Damp Slug Sage gene was ultimately only a secondary bloodline rather than a primary one. At its current level, Body beyond the Body was still far inferior to Isshin’s primary bloodline talent inherited from Adamantine Monkey Clan, Bronze Head and Iron Arms.

Bronze Head and Iron Arms were a genuine physical divine technique.

Even the third Raikage had suffered greatly against it. Body beyond the Body, on the other hand, remained primarily a support-oriented ability at this stage.

The gap between the two was self-evident.

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