Living in Konoha: Picking Up Abilities Starting from the Anbu

Golden light everywhere.

A massive drop of energy and skill points!

Just from entering Mount Myoboku, Kazuya had already gathered over a hundred Sage Skill Points and thousands of Sage Energy points.

"This place…"

"Not bad at all."

Kazuya's smile widened.

Originally, he'd been considering clearing out Mount Myoboku to farm a huge amount of experience at once. But now it seemed more sustainable to let it grow, harvesting resources steadily over time.

With the golden light having a limited duration of thirty minutes, his initial gains in Mount Myoboku might have been enough to push his Sage Skills to Level 4!

Mount Myoboku—this was where Naruto had upgraded his abilities in the original story, developing his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken before going back to Konoha to battle Pain.

And now, Kazuya himself had arrived at this mystical place.

According to legend, Mount Myoboku was shielded by a maze-like mountain range, shrouded in fog, effectively protecting it from the outside world.

Kazuya had long suspected Mount Myoboku was located in the far western region of the continent, where the Lands of Wind and Earth bordered the edge of civilization.

From Konoha to Suna was just a three-day journey. But to reach Mount Myoboku from Konoha was a month's trek, which made him think the far west might be where the Divine Tree once grew.

The Divine Tree could have drained the continent's natural energy, transforming most of the land into barren wastelands—an apocalypse of sorts.

The farther west you go, the harsher the environment. The Lands of Wind and Earth had drawn the short straw here.

So the perpetual ninja wars? Yeah, we can thank the Otsutsuki for those.

"The Otsutsuki Clan deserves the blame," Kazuya muttered with a sigh.

The Otsutsuki were a distant concern, but one he still needed to prepare for.

Stronger enemies were sure to come.

The path to strength couldn't stop.

As he walked, he noticed how massive the plants around him were. Some lotus leaves were larger than the Hokage Rock in Konoha.

The abundance of natural energy in Mount Myoboku made everything here grow enormous, from plants to toads.

Golden orbs continued to flow toward him.

[You have collected 10 Sage Skill Points]

[You have collected 20 Sage Skill Points]

[You have collected 30 Sage Skill Points]

[You have collected 200 Sage Energy points]

[You have collected 200 Sage Energy points]

[You have collected 300 Sage Energy points]

The speed at which he was collecting Sage Energy was almost on par with a battlefield's chakra drops!

"It seems…"

"The toads of Mount Myoboku aren't to be underestimated either," Kazuya mused.

If the top toads here joined forces, they could probably decimate a small nation. Even the major villages would find them challenging to deal with.

"A month in this place… just absorbing energy alone could get my Sage Skills to Level 5."

Kazuya grinned. His Sage Energy was already the perfected version, meaning he could absorb and utilize it without any adverse effects.

Mount Myoboku would be an incredible training ground.

Kazuya suddenly felt a spark of curiosity. "If I can collect a perfected version of Sage Mode... does that mean I can also collect a perfected version of the Eight Gates?"

If Sage Mode and Tailed Beast Chakra could be combined with the Eight Gates... the result would be terrifying.

A force like that could probably handle multiple Madaras from the Six Paths.

But there was one major drawback—the Eight Gates' final stage comes at the cost of life itself. Trading his life, even to achieve god-like power, was a trade-off Kazuya found far too steep.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, a loud rumbling echoed from the distance.

Kazuya leaped to a higher vantage point and spotted an enormous red toad bouncing towards him, its presence accompanied by an earth-shaking stomp with each bound.

Pipe. Blue vest. It could only be one toad—the great Gamabunta of Mount Myoboku!

In the original story, this massive toad fought the Three-Headed Dog of the Paths of Pain and even took on Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast!

"Hey, kid…" Gamabunta boomed as he halted nearby, his enormous eyes locking onto the human standing below.

Kazuya nodded. "Yeah, Jiraiya-sensei sent me here. He said the Great Toad Sage wanted to see me."

Gamabunta narrowed his eyes.

The elder toad already sensed the contract mark of Mount Myoboku's summoning on Kazuya. But that didn't stop him from feeling a bit sour about it.

The last time he'd faced off against this kid, the brat had taken him down in two moves, forcing him to retreat to Mount Myoboku, humiliated, where his toad brothers had made sure to mock him thoroughly.

The "boss" of Mount Myoboku, defeated by a mere human... that didn't sit well.

"Just because the Great Sage wants to meet you doesn't mean I won't test you first!" Gamabunta growled, the earth vibrating under his deep voice. "If you can't get past me, then there's no point in seeing the old toad."

Kazuya blinked, a bit stunned.

He'd been wondering how to go about collecting some energy here, and yet Gamabunta was practically volunteering himself.

Wow, he thought, even the toads here in Mount Myoboku have such an amazing work ethic!

"Just imagine," Kazuya mused to himself, grinning. "If every worker was this cooperative, the world would be perfect!"

Boom!

Suddenly, Gamabunta leaped high into the air, his enormous shadow falling over Kazuya as he prepared to slam down with crushing force.

The sheer weight of Gamabunta's descent was enough to flatten any regular shinobi.

But Kazuya was hardly an ordinary shinobi.

Shing!

In a flash of white, Kazuya vanished from where he stood.

Boom!

Gamabunta crashed down, forming a massive crater, several hundred meters across, in the ground below.

"Where'd that brat go?" Gamabunta muttered, eyes scanning for any sign of the boy.

Fast. His speed's even quicker than Minato's!

In the next instant—

Wham!

A sharp pain shot through Gamabunta's head as a powerful force smashed him down, slamming him into the ground.

Boom! Boom!

The earth trembled under the impact. Gamabunta's massive eyes nearly rolled back as stars flashed before him.

Kazuya stood atop Gamabunta's head, one foot pressing down with immense force. To the red toad, it was like the weight of an entire mountain had come down on him, pinning him in place.

With Level 5 Monster Strength and Level 5 Tailed Beast Power, Kazuya was using just seventy percent of his strength to pin Gamabunta down.

Golden orbs of energy surged into Kazuya, flooding him with power.