Naruto: The Sage Body of Konoha

The brazier burned quietly inside the hidden room.

Before the Uchiha clan's stone tablet, Heiyan closed his eyes, formed hand seals, and sat motionless.

He was attempting to absorb Natural Energy to enter Sage Mode.

One minute. Three minutes. Five minutes.

It was taking far longer than Heiyan had anticipated.

After returning to the ninja world, the concentration of Natural Energy was much lower compared to Mount Myoboku.

Under these conditions, sensing Natural Energy had become significantly more difficult, and its absorption rate had greatly decreased.

Only after a full ten minutes

did the Sage facial markings finally appear on Heiyan's face.

He opened his eyes, stood up,

He let out a long breath.

then slowly exhaled, adjusting both mind and body to their optimal state. Then—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Eight golden chains shot out from behind him, binding the Six Paths stone tablet tightly before him.

[Sage Art: Adamantine Sealing Chains!]

Hissing!

As the golden chains made contact with the stone tablet, they produced sharp scraping sounds, as if Natural Energy and Six Paths chakra were colliding on the tablet's surface.

This might work.

Seeing this, Heiyan's eyes lit up. He pressed harder.

More Sage Chakra surged through the golden chains into the stone tablet.

During this process, the chains tightened further and further around the stone, almost merging into it completely.

That should be enough.

Heiyan sensed the timing was right.

"Now!"

With a low shout, he clasped his hands together and poured all his strength into the chains, trying to lift the stone tablet.

This ancient tablet, having remained rooted in place for a thousand years, seemed fused to the ground.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

As Heiyan strained, the entire hidden chamber shook like during an earthquake, and dust rained down from the ceiling and walls.

At the same time,

the tablet gradually lifted off the ground, floating upward, entwined within the chains.

Now, it hovered before Heiyan.

Success.

At this moment, even Heiyan—who usually remained calm and composed—could not suppress his inner joy.

The proof confirmed his theory.

In the ninja world, the ninja's chakra system and the sage art system of the three sacred locations are two parallel cultivation systems.

The former was introduced here by Kaguya Otsutsuki from another world, while the latter is indigenous to this planet.

In the original Naruto universe, Six Paths Madara was immune to all ninjutsu, but Sage Arts could still harm him. This was because Six Paths Chakra and Natural Energy came from two distinct cultivation systems—equal in power.

This is why Heiyan could use Sage Arts to move the Six Paths stone tablet.

However, Heiyan also realized that this level of power was far from sufficient. It had taken him enormous effort just to barely lift the tablet.

As for wielding it like a weapon at will...

that was still unfeasible.

It was like a three-year-old trying to wield a hundred-pound greatsword.

"It seems my Sage Arts are still not refined enough."

Heiyan realized what the problem was and manipulated golden chains to gently lower the stone tablet back to the ground.

Then, he released the Adamantine Sealing Chains and stood in front of the stone tablet, lost in thought.

To achieve his ambition of transforming the Six Paths stone tablet into a Meteor Hammer, Heiyan needed to strengthen the Sage Art he had just learned by several folds.

He came up with two possible methods.

First, he could continue rigorous training to further evolve his Sage Transformation. 

If Heiyan's guess was correct, once the third of the six tomoe inside him shattered, his Sage Transformation would evolve to a level comparable to "Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan" when matched against his Sage Eyes.

By then, his physical constitution would undergo a qualitative change, boosting the power of his Sage Art significantly.

Second, he could try improving the existing Sage Mode.

His half-baked Sage Art was self-taught at Mount Myoboku and far from perfect.

He needed to invest substantial time experimenting and practicing, increasing both the speed and efficiency of his absorption of Natural Energy, while developing more efficient Ninjutsu for utilizing Sage Chakra.

Only through this dual approach could he one day become a true Sage.

At that time, he would be able to master the ultimate Sage Art—[Sage Art: Adamantine Sealing Chains - Six Paths Stone Tablet Meteor Hammer].

Thinking this through, Heiyan prepared to leave.

Although he still couldn't take the stone tablet away this time, it was still a significant gain for him—he had not only verified his hypothesis about "Natural Energy and Six Paths chakra," but also clearly identified his future direction of efforts.

However, something caught Heiyan off guard.

The moment he turned around, he suddenly noticed—

A figure standing at the entrance of the hidden room, staring at him in shock.

It was Black Zetsu.

Heiyan's heart immediately sank, equally startled.

He didn't know why, but every time he tried to get close to the Six Paths stone tablet, someone always ended up catching him in the act. Last time it was Fugaku Uchiha, now it was Black Zetsu.

For a moment, their eyes met, and they stared blankly at each other.

"How come you're here?"

Suddenly, Heiyan and Black Zetsu spoke at the same time, even using exactly the same words.

The difference lay in what happened next—the moment they finished speaking, Heiyan took action without hesitation.

He swiftly formed Hand Seals, then clasped his hands together and forcefully exhaled.

"Shiu!"

A dazzling blue beam of light shot out from Heiyan's mouth, directly heading toward Black Zetsu.

[Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang]!

Black Zetsu's pupils shrank, and he tried to dodge—but too late.

After all, there was barely ten meters between him and Heiyan. At the speed of Storm Release Light Fang, dodging within this range was impossible.

Thus—

Crack!

The large triangular hat on Black Zetsu's head was instantly sliced apart by the cutting energy beam. His head was pierced by the laser, turning into a large splash of black liquid scattering in all directions.

Plop!

Black Zetsu's headless body fell backward stiffly, sinking into the ground the moment it touched the surface.

Clearly, he wasn't dead—he had escaped.

He did not give chase.

Because he knew that, in some ways, Black Zetsu was even scarier than Madara Uchiha. If truly cornered, it might recklessly unleash Kaguya's power inside it…

Heiyan would pay an unbearable price.

Better leave this place first.

Without further hesitation, Heiyan left the hidden room beneath Naka Shrine Pass Technique and returned to the village.

In the woods near Naha River.

Black Zetsu's corpse slowly emerged from deep beneath the earth. On his neck, massive amounts of black liquid continuously writhed, regenerating most of his missing head.

He looked flustered, his mind still stuck on that moment when Heiyan attacked him.

"Huh?"

Black Zetsu suddenly sensed something wrong.

He quickly walked toward the riverbank, gazing at his reflection in the water, and saw that a piece of his head was actually missing.

It looked as if someone had sliced diagonally from the top of his head with a knife.

For ordinary people, such an appearance would be horrifying and grotesque, but on Black Zetsu, it somehow carried a special comical effect.

"Damn it!"

Black Zetsu sucked in a sharp breath and staggered backward several steps. "How could this happen?!"

This was the first irreversible injury he'd suffered in over a thousand years.

At first, Black Zetsu couldn't accept it.

After a long time,

he finally calmed down, desperately recalling the scene where he encountered Heiyan.

"It's Sage Art!"

He finally realized.

Because in this world, only [Sage Art] could harm him.

Not even Black Zetsu had anticipated this.

Just recently, when Madara Uchiha was defeated by Heiyan, he had secretly felt delighted. Never did he expect that his turn would come so soon.

Memories came flooding back from the depths of his mind.

Back then, that brat Hagoromo had learned Sage Art from a foul-smelling toad, which gave him the strength to challenge his own mother.

And now,

this little punk called Heiyan also bore yellow markings around his eyes—the so-called Sage facial markings—clearly inherited from the Toad Clan.

"Mount Myoboku..."

Black Zetsu gritted his teeth, pronouncing those three words with hatred.

He swore that once he revived his mother, he'd take her to Mount Myoboku to eradicate that entire foul-smelling toad clan.

However, compared to Mount Myoboku, what currently concerned Black Zetsu more was—

Why had Heiyan appeared in the hidden chamber beneath Naka Shrine Pass Technique? There was absolutely nothing there except... the stone tablet left behind by the Sage of Six Paths.

Could it be that little punk found something? Or perhaps had intentions toward the tablet?

Realizing this made Black Zetsu nervous.

After all, that tablet he himself had altered was key to reviving his mother Kaguya.

According to his plan, only after Madara Uchiha awakened the Rinnegan could the final part of text on the tablet—the "Moon Eye" scheme he meticulously designed—be deciphered.

No way.

No matter what that brat Heiyan intended to do, he must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Heiyan must die.

A cruel glint flashed in Black Zetsu's eyes. He immediately decided his next move, heading directly toward the Golden Exchange in the Land of Fire.

He would place a bounty on Heiyan's head.

And the reward amount would be astronomical.

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