"Shing!"

The tanto unsheathed.

Gamabunta raised his Tanto, slashing down from above Heiyan's head and stabbing it into the ground right in front of him.

This blade stood taller than Heiyan himself. One side of its sharp edge pressed close to his face, nearly touching his nose.

"Brat, are you even listening to me?"

Gamabunta asked condescendingly, his tone unpleasant.

Heiyan calmly watched this whole performance, as though watching a clumsy clown's idiotic antics on stage.

By now, he had already figured out the thinking of Great Toad Sage Gamamaru.

It had intentionally kept Fukasaku and Shima behind, then sent Jiraiya away, dispatching Gamabunta here as an indirect way to confine and monitor him. Obviously, they had no intention of teaching him Sage Art.

In Gamamaru's own words, the purpose was to avoid unnecessary complications and interference with "the fate of the world of shinobi."

If the world of shinobi were a grand chessboard, where everyone was just a pawn, then Gamamaru would be the one pulling the strings.

In the original canon, relying on his ability to predict the future, Gamamaru first betrayed the Sage of Six Paths and helped him kill his own mother; later arranged for Jiraiya to come up the mountain, prompting him to write books and take disciples, cultivating the prophesied child Naruto Uzumaki; afterwards lent Mount Myoboku's power: Sage Art and Summoned Beasts to Naruto appropriately, eventually enabling him to re-seal Kaguya after her resurrection during The Fourth Great Ninja World War, thus saving the world of shinobi.

Since Mount Myoboku played such a significant role in this process, its status as a holy land was further solidified after the war ended.

And Gamamaru, being Mount Myoboku's leader, naturally became the biggest winner of all.

Without exaggeration, looking back across over a thousand years of history afterward reveals that everyone within the world of shinobi—including even the Sage of Six Paths—had been merely pawns under Gamamaru's control.

As for Heiyan?

A man marked for death clearly didn't even qualify to become one of those pawns.

Therefore, Heiyan was abandoned.

But...

For Heiyan himself, the opportunity to cultivate Sage Art had been something he fought hard to earn. Why should he just give it up?

If nobody was willing to teach him, then he'd simply teach himself.

Thinking this, Heiyan finally spoke.

"Where exactly can I train in Sage Art? I want to see for myself."

He tilted his head up to face the massive Frog towering over him like a living mountain and demanded directly.

"Kid, is there something wrong with your ears? I told you clearly—you're staying put here good and quiet. Nowhere else."

Gamabunta's voice grew increasingly harsh, his attitude unyielding.

"Let me remind you—who exactly invited me here to learn Sage Art at Mount Myoboku? Grandma Shima did! Yet now you suddenly change your mind without offering a single explanation."

Heiyan locked eyes with Gamabunta, his eyes cold and filled with accusation. "Tell me, is this how Mount Myoboku treats its guests?"

"You..."

Gamabunta snorted furiously upon hearing this, steam billowing from his nose. Yet faced with Heiyan's accusation, he found himself unable to retort, left speechless instead.

"If you're too ashamed to answer, let me speak for you then."

"Heiyan continued, 'Ever since the Great Toad Sage prophesied my death, you all deemed me useless and sent you here on purpose to make things hard for me. Once the time is up, you'll just dismiss me. Should I call Mount Myobuku too pragmatic or simply stingy?'"

"Enough!"

Gamabunta's face turned red with anger as he finally exploded in fury.

Deep down, even Gamabunta felt that the Great Elder had acted dishonorably.

As a worldly-wise toad, although short-tempered, Gamabunta was a person of virtue and honor, always keeping his word and respecting commitments.

"At the very least, once I've made a promise, I never go back on it."

"Fine then! I'll take you there as you wish!" Gamabunta snorted coldly, sheathed his blade, and stormed off in one direction.

Heiyan followed behind.

Half an hour later,

The human and the toad reached a small waterfall.

Surrounding the waterfall stood over a hundred tall stone frog statues, each without exception maintaining hand seal poses, densely packed together in layers, forming a forest-like formation.

"See these frog statues? They were once people who practiced Sage Art here. After being assimilated by natural energy, they transformed into this state—forever unable to awaken."

"Oh right, you probably don't even know what Natural Energy is, do you?"

"In any case, let me advise you now to forget about it and just have a casual look around. Don't dream about me teaching you Sage Art. Even if you begged me on your knees, it would be useless. I've already done more than enough."

Gamabunta pointed at the surrounding statues, trying to make Heiyan give up.

What he hadn't expected though was—

"That's all. You can go now."

With this single sentence, Heiyan ignored Gamabunta completely and proceeded directly toward the waterfall.

He had long noticed that the 'water' flowing from the falls was a yellowish hue, trickling slowly into a small pond below. Within the pond sat a frog statue holding a lotus leaf.

In reality, this waterfall contained Mount Myobuku's secret legendary toad oil, which could help those practicing Sage Art more easily attune themselves to the presence of Natural Energy.

Its usage method was also very simple—

Apply directly onto the body.

So Heiyan stepped up to the pond, dipped one finger into the oil, collected a few drops, and spread them across his palm.

Then, he sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and formed a hand seal.

He remained perfectly still in that pose,

Focusing entirely on sensing the natural energy.

"This kid—who's clearly never been here before—how does he know how to use toad oil?"

Gamabunta couldn't help but feel shocked when seeing Heiyan act so confidently. Thinking it over, could it be that Mother Shima had told him the Sage cultivation methods beforehand?

Even if that were true...

Did this punk really think he could master Sage Art alone?

Something not even the Sage of Six Paths could accomplish.

"You reckless punk, get ready to turn into a frog."

Gamabunta sneered coldly, clearly enjoying the thought.

Indeed, using frog oil to cultivate Sage Art is a shortcut. However, taking shortcuts usually comes at a cost. And this cost is—

the inherent properties of frog oil significantly increase the risk of the cultivator transforming into a frog!

Heiyan remains unaware of Gamabunta's complex inner thoughts.

At this moment, his focus has never been stronger. He focuses completely on sensing Natural Energy.

So, what exactly is Natural Energy, and what is Sage Art?

Natural Energy refers to the energy existing in the atmosphere and earth, separate from one's own being. It is immense, omnipresent, though some places contain thinner concentrations while others are far denser.

In the world of shinobi, Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest are universally recognized as the three sacred locations with the richest concentrations of Natural Energy.

As for Sage Art, its essence lies in absorbing and utilizing this Natural Energy.

As everyone knows, Ninjutsu involves cultivating physical and spiritual energies within oneself, fusing these two to create Chakra.

Sage Art, on the other hand, continues the process further—adding Natural Energy into the cultivation, blending all three components to form a newer, more powerful type of energy known as Sage Chakra.

Successfully cultivating Sage Art depends crucially on two steps.

The first step requires maintaining "absolute stillness" throughout the cultivation process. Simply put, one must remain completely motionless.

The human tendency to be active poses the first challenge.

After all, humans are animals too.

To cultivate Sage Art, one must first overcome this innate restlessness, forgetting both body and mind, striving to blend into nature and become part of the natural world—

like a flower, like a tree, or even just a stone by the roadside.

Only then can one sense Natural Energy and begin absorbing it.

The second step involves "balance."

Even if one completes the first step, ordinary people often fail due to insufficient chakra reserves within their bodies, making it impossible to balance against the vast Natural Energy outside, resulting again in failure.

Therefore, only those possessing strong internal Chakra can successfully practice Sage Art. Otherwise, one would instantly get completely overwhelmed by Natural Energy, transforming into a frog.

These two challenges have stumped many would-be practitioners throughout history who aspired to master Sage Art.

But for Heiyan, they pose no problem at all.

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