Uchiha Gate: From Konoha to One Piece

— — — — — — —

Back to the topic at hand. The scene shifts back to Kaito.

"Construction materials and furniture industries? Sure!"

Uchiha Naori listened, thought for a moment, and nodded in agreement. "This sounds promising."

"We don't lack gold, so we can absolutely use funds to stimulate domestic demand, buy these products, and help the villagers of Konoha become wealthier."

"This will boost the economy here."

"Also, Konoha's expansion and population growth will require a lot of materials, furniture, and household appliances in the future. It's a huge market."

"Moreover, if our construction material group gains a reputation and establishes supply chains, we could even expand to external markets later!"

"A win-win situation!"

"I think you should take some time to draft a plan. Tomorrow, during the village assembly with all the Jonin and clan representatives, you can present this idea at the meeting."

"Get more people and families involved in investing!"

"The village can take the lead, making this a village-controlled industry."

In the ninja world, money was issued under the leadership of the daimyo of each nation, so there wasn't a risk of Konoha causing internal inflation.

"Sounds good! I'll get it ready soon!"

Kaito nodded in agreement and added, "Building a safe haven and planning an escape route should only be a last resort. If possible, we should focus on increasing our strength and aim to defeat the Sage of Six Paths head-on as soon as possible!"

"Agreed," Uchiha Naori said with a nod. "I think my Mangekyō Sharingan will probably evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō within six months."

"What about you? Any idea when you'll unlock the Eternal Mangekyō?"

As for Uchiha Mikoto, Naori didn't bother asking.

She still had a long way to go.

She hadn't even mastered the Sharingan meditation method yet, let alone perfected it.

Not everyone was as overpowered as Kaito.

While the meditation method gave Mikoto and many Uchiha clan members the potential to unlock the Eternal Mangekyō, the process was bound to take a long time.

Ten or even twenty years wouldn't be surprising.

It depended on individual effort and innate talent.

"For me? It's probably about the same—six months to a year to fully develop my potential," Kaito estimated.

Once he unlocked the Eternal Mangekyō, his power would skyrocket.

"Good. Let's just hope the Sage of Six Paths doesn't notice anything strange about the ninja world for the next year or longer," Uchiha Naori said, half-praying.

"The Eternal Mangekyō, huh? I'm so jealous! Who knows how many years it'll take for me!" Mikoto sighed.

"Well, at least you've got potential. Minato and I don't even have bloodline limits!"

Kushina pouted. "The Sharingan is basically a cheat code for power!"

"It's such a massive boost in strength!"

"Didn't Kaito say the research department is working on creating bloodline serums? Someday, they might let others gain bloodline limits too!"

"When that happens, save me a bottle of Uchiha bloodline serum! I want to play with the Sharingan too!" Kushina laughed.

Kaito chuckled, flicking her forehead lightly. "The Sharingan isn't something to mess around with!"

"But if the research succeeds, I'll definitely get you a bottle of Uchiha bloodline serum."

"Still, you shouldn't envy others too much. Your Uzumaki Sage Body gives you a huge edge in physical training and Armament Haki. You're way ahead of Mikoto and Minato in those areas."

"Everything has its pros and cons."

"Minato, on the other hand, doesn't have any bloodlines and relies purely on his own talent!"

"He hasn't complained, so how can you?"

Kaito had once asked Uzumaki Mito to investigate whether Minato might be descended from the Senju clan who had merged with Konoha's civilians.

After all, there were rumors about this in his past life.

But the results were clear: no, he wasn't.

Minato was 100% from a civilian background.

Of course, over the past thousand years, who knows if any of his ancestors had been from a bloodline clan or a strong ninja?

What mattered was that Minato's last three generations had been ordinary folks.

Genetics is a wild card sometimes.

"Huh? Really? Poor pretty boy!"

Kushina looked at Minato with mock pity.

"Uh…"

Minato scratched the back of his head, smiling wryly. "No need to pity me! Even without a bloodline, I'm confident I can become a top-tier ninja with just my own talent!"

"And isn't that a kind of inheritance in itself?"

"Compared to those with no talent at all, I'm already incredibly lucky."

He knew how rare it was for a civilian to rise as a prodigy.

The last two were Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

So Minato never felt any regret or resentment about not being born into a major ninja clan with a bloodline limit.

Compared to most people, even those from non-bloodline ninja families, he was already blessed by the heavens.

"Huh? Something feels off. Are you bragging?"

Kushina squinted at him, realizing his words sounded a bit… smug.

This was basically a humble brag.

It was like Minato said, "Even without a noble birth or bloodline, I, Minato, can still dominate the world."

Damn!

"For real! Haha!"

Mikoto laughed, covering her mouth so she wouldn't spit out her food.

Minato waved his hands awkwardly. "No, no, it's not like that! I'm just stating facts, not showing off!"

'Sure, if only your smirk didn't give you away, I'd believe you.'

Kaito shook his head, amused.

As expected, Minato was a low-key, awkward guy with a flair for dramatics.

Just look at the cringey names he gave his jutsu or his blade.

— — — 

After dinner, Kaito went to the training ground in the backyard, taking out the Sage Art scroll from Mount Myōboku.

He carefully reviewed it, analyzing every detail.

After setting up a barrier, he sat cross-legged, easily entering a state of unity with nature through meditation.

Soon, he sensed the presence of natural energy in the air.

In fact, he'd been able to sense it for a while and had suspected it was natural energy.

But without a Sage Art training method, he hadn't dared to absorb it or try to create his own technique.

It was too risky.

Natural energy in the ninja world was incredibly violent. One wrong move, and you'd be petrified—or worse, dead.

Kaito suspected this violent energy was related to the Divine Tree absorbing the planet's essence and natural energy long ago.

Maybe the planet's will had grown angry and hostile because of it.

'Nature's wrath' seemed like a fitting term. This was the reason why natural energy had become so chaotic.

Now that the Sage Art training method of Mount Myōboku existed, Kaito no longer had to hesitate. He could begin experimenting.

With his level of chakra control and mental strength, as long as he didn't get greedy, he could start small—absorbing only trace amounts of natural energy using Mount Myōboku's method to test its fusion.

If anything went wrong, he could immediately teleport to the Time-Space Gate dimension and forcibly purge the natural energy using his spatial authority.

If the natural energy from the Ninja World had been present within the Time-Space Gate dimension, he would have trained there directly.

Without delay, Kaito carefully followed the Mount Myōboku Sage Art training method, cautiously guiding his mental energy to draw in a small amount of natural energy from the surroundings into his body.

The moment the natural energy entered his body, it suddenly became incredibly violent.

It rampaged through his system, attempting to disrupt his cellular structure and induce mutations.

Moreover, this natural energy tried to act as a catalyst, drawing in even more natural energy from the outside world into his body.

"Suppress!"

With decisive action, Kaito used his pure and powerful mental energy to envelop and subdue the chaotic natural energy within him.

Instantly, the resonance between the natural energy in his body and the external natural energy was forcibly severed.

The influx of external energy ceased, and the immediate crisis was averted.

Next, using the circulation method from the Primal Chakra Refining Technique, Kaito began to guide the energy along his meridians.

He soon discovered that as he circulated the energy, it started to be eroded and assimilated by his mental energy and chakra.

After completing one full cycle, the natural energy successfully merged with his chakra—or rather, with his mental energy and cellular energy—to form a new type of chakra.

This new chakra was no longer violent. It became gentle and carried some of the unique characteristics of natural energy, significantly amplifying the effects of ninjutsu.

"Did I actually succeed? Is this Sage Art chakra permanent now?"

"Is this a perfect fusion?"

"So, does this mean I can keep fusing Sage Art chakra and gradually replace all the chakra in my body?"

"Eventually, will all of my chakra become Sage Art chakra?"

Excitement surged through Kaito as he thought about the possibilities.

He opened his attribute panel to check.

Sure enough, in the skills section, a new entry appeared:

[Sage Art Chakra Refinement Technique (1/1000, Beginner)]

"Huh? It's not called the Mount Myōboku Sage Art Training Method?"

"Well, that makes sense. Aside from borrowing their method to attract natural energy, I didn't follow the conventional Mount Myōboku method at all!"

"Instead, I used the Primal Chakra circulation technique to refine and synthesize Sage Art chakra."

"It's entirely different from the Mount Myōboku method, which forcibly fuses mental energy, cellular energy, and natural energy."

"Maybe… my Sage Art energy is even more stable and gentle?"

"Hmm, I can't rely on speculation. I need to verify this with Jiraiya or Fukasaku."

For now, Kaito didn't rush to find Jiraiya or Fukasaku. Instead, he continued refining Sage Art chakra using his newly discovered method, constantly experimenting to improve it.

With time, his proficiency in the Sage Art Chakra Refinement Technique began to rise rapidly.

[You have explored and created the Sage Art Chakra Refinement Technique using the Primal Chakra Refining Method and the Mount Myōboku Sage Art Training Method. Proficiency +1.]

[You trained in the Sage Art Chakra Refinement Technique and attempted to improve it. Proficiency +15.]

[You trained in the Sage Art Chakra Refinement Technique and encountered a failed attempt. Proficiency -7.]

[You trained in the Sage Art Chakra Refinement Technique and successfully improved it. Proficiency +25.]

[...]

Thanks to the feedback from the Heaven Rewards Diligence Talent, Kaito could easily distinguish successful experiments from failures.

This feedback accelerated the improvement of his Sage Art Chakra Refinement Technique, making the process increasingly efficient.

As his proficiency grew, the Sage Art chakra in his body also increased.

However, it remained distinct from the Pure chakra he had stored in his chakra nodes.

The two types of chakra were fundamentally different and incompatible.

Meanwhile, Kaito noticed that as he continued circulating natural energy and refining Sage Art chakra, his meridians began to expand and strengthen under the combined pressure and nourishment of the natural energy and Sage Art chakra.

Both their capacity and resilience improved rapidly.

Additionally, the Sage Art chakra seemed to exert a subtle influence on his life force, enhancing it.

Although this effect was still weak due to the small amount of Sage Art chakra in his body and the short duration of practice, Kaito's exceptional control and the talent panel made it possible for him to detect these changes.

"It's true. The reason Jiraiya grew stronger with age and maintained his peak condition was because of Sage Art!"

"It was the Sage Art chakra nourishing his life force and body."

"It enhanced his vitality, physical strength, chakra capacity, and even extended his lifespan."

"Otherwise, there's no way he could surpass Orochimaru and Tsunade later on and grow so powerful."

"And not just powerful—he kept getting stronger!"

Thinking back to the original Naruto storyline, Kaito realized that Jiraiya was the only ninja who defied the usual trend of declining strength with age.

This anomaly made sense now.

Where there's an effect, there must be a cause.

And Sage Art was the cause.

The essence of Sage Art is to absorb higher-level energy from nature to strengthen oneself, achieving continuous evolution.

The Three Great Sage Lands' longevity and power likely stemmed from their mastery of Sage Art chakra.

It made sense that these once-ordinary creatures, through thousands of years had achieved such extraordinary lifespans.

Understanding this, Kaito felt a deep sense of clarity.

"Why, then, does training in Mount Myōboku Sage Art result in frog-like features?"

"Even with perfect Sage Mode, there are still traits like toad eyes and facial markings."

"Why do Ryūchi Cave practitioners develop snake-like traits?"

"Each Sage Land's Sage Art seems to carry unique additional traits."

"Mount Myōboku enhances strength, speed, and reflexes and grants abilities like Frog Kata."

"Ryūchi Cave enhances inorganic manipulation and perception."

"So why doesn't my Sage Mode have any toad or snake-like traits?"

"Not even facial markings, aside from a small red dot on my forehead when activating Sage Art chakra."

Testing confirmed this minor detail.

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