Chapter 78.2- One Thousand Hands

It was something I wondered if Naruto had been able to do. His sage mode seemed to be either on or off, but then that could have just been a simplification for the manga and internally, there could have been all sorts of things going on. There was also the chance that Naruto had just been maxing it out, not really seeing the use for a watered down version of sage mode in the same way I did.

Sage mode— the full version of it I could access— where I had my chakra and nature energy in a 50:50 ratio was more like a hammer than anything else. When I got to that level, I was a walking signal to every sensor within range. My steps could crack the ground I walked on if I was not careful. I could punch through a human with little effort— I’d checked, and I was fast enough to fool Uzume’s sharingan on more than one instance. Of course, the cheating eyes had adapted to that level of speed after she’d lose the first five or so spars and we were back to even. Or at least as close to even as we could get with me unable to hurt her and her unable to land a decisive blow on me.

The logical next step was to see what happened if I allowed the balance to shift in the other direction. Too little nature energy meant watered down sage mode. Too much? What happened if I tweaked the ratio to 45:55? Canon said I’d turn to stone. I didn’t think I would, but there wasn’t really a safe way to test. Clones wouldn’t work for it for some reason. They seemed to be stuck on all or nothing sage mode. Even the watered down version couldn’t happen with them.

Maybe it was because they were inherently chakra constructs, but there was no way to tell. I felt Uzume’s hand on my shoulder, and returned to reality. The seal was almost full already so that was good. I pushed myself to my feet as I noticed the army had amassed around me.

“Uraume?” I asked.

“They have some sort of sensor. He seems to have begun reacting the second you climbed the mountain. They’re ready for us.” She said. I sighed. How disappointing. But then again, it was better. It meant they’d all be in one place and ready for the slaughter, not divided all over the village. Should make things simpler by some margin.

“Straight ahead?” I asked.

“Just about.”

“Good” I opened the seal just as I closed my eyes and began balancing the chakra. Chosen ratio? 60:40. I felt my body begin to swell as I grew a few odd inches. My armour bulged as my muscles grew and thickened until they were almost cartoonishly large.

Uzume whistled even as I lifted both my arms to the heavens and began to focus. Rotation, Power, Containment, Nature energy. This one’s for you, Naruto, I thought as I introduced the world to the Rasenshuriken in its truest form.