Chapter 178: The Great Toad Sage's Power Transfer and Nagato's Evolution

Hearing these words, Nagato opened his mouth, and in the end, could only nod helplessly:

"That's right... I can say that I have reached my personal limit now, but compared to that Uchiha Feiyu, there is still a huge gap."

"It doesn't matter, soon this gap will be leveled..."

The Great Toad Sage looked at Nagato before him and said in a gentle tone.

"Great Toad Sage, is there perhaps an even more powerful ninjutsu in Mount Myoboku that I can learn?"

Nagato asked with a look of surprise on his face. The Great Toad Sage chuckled and took a small box from the armrest of the stool beside him.

The box looked very small, but that was only by comparison to the Great Toad Sage's massive claws; in reality, it was the size of a human head. The Great Toad Sage looked at the box with a hint of nostalgia, then opened it.

Inside the box was a piece of talisman paper that looked plain and unremarkable. However, everyone present was a person or toad who had achieved success in practicing Sage Art, and they could all clearly feel the vast, incomparable Natural Energy circulating on the talisman paper.

"This is the Sage Talisman. Over a thousand years ago, the Sage of Six Paths once used the power of this talisman paper to defeat the Goddess of Kaguya who wanted to destroy the world."

"After the war was won, I spent a great deal of effort to recreate a new piece of talisman paper, and it was thanks to the help of the Sage of Six Paths..."

Of course... this was actually just the old toad bragging. It could be understood as Zhao Yun and Adou joining forces to charge in and out of Changban Slope seven times, killing everything in their path; the Sage of Six Paths brothers were Zhao Yun responsible for the slaughter, and the young old toad was Adou responsible for the "ga-ga" (crying/cheering).

"But as for now, perhaps it is time to use this talisman paper."

The Great Toad Sage spoke, aimed the Sage Talisman at Uzumaki Nagato, and then the vast, endless Immortal Art Chakra within his body instantly erupted.

"It's very simple, you don't need to do anything, just wait for me to transfer the power of the Sage Talisman to you."

Jiraiya was fine, but the amount of chakra currently in Nagato's body was already not inferior to some Tailed Beasts, yet he still had the feeling of being plunged into the deep sea. The Great Toad Sage's chakra probably already exceeded the sum of all nine Tailed Beasts!

Of course, the sum of the nine Tailed Beasts is not the same thing as the Ten-Tails; the chakra of the nine Tailed Beasts combined might not even be one-fiftieth of the Ten-Tails. That is the result of a change from quantity to quality.

The fact is that although the Toad Sage had powerful chakra, he had never been a character with formidable Power Level. In terms of chakra volume, his operational level was probably not even comparable to Kaguya Hime—at least Kaguya Hime, while low-level, had many skills!

Uzumaki Nagato also seemed like his ancestor Ashura, completely at a disadvantage in the initial battle with Indra, and then gained the help of others.

In this instant, the Sage Talisman erupted with brilliant light, like a black hole, constantly devouring the Great Toad Sage's chakra. The powerful flow of chakra even stirred up a rotating storm, which directly broke through the roof and even triggered a weather phenomenon of continuous dark clouds, thunder, and lightning.

Hearing the Great Toad Sage's words, Nagato, who had been feeling a bit low, quickly cheered up, his eyes shining—come to think of it, Nagato was just such a simple and naive person, and because he once possessed the Rinnegan, he deeply believed in things like so-called destiny.

But even so, the Great Toad Sage's strength truly shocked Jiraiya and Nagato.

"This talisman paper has been absorbing Natural Energy in Mount Myoboku for thousands of years. Compared to the original talisman paper, the effect might be even more powerful... This was originally prepared as a contingency for dealing with certain visitors from beyond the heavens and demons under seal..."

As he spoke, the Great Toad Sage's eyes became somewhat unfocused, as if he were seeing the Ashura and Indra of the past once again—it was as if history were repeating itself; Uzumaki Nagato's opponent happened to be an Uchiha.

The Great Toad Sage extended two fingers, very laboriously pinched a corner of the Sage Talisman, took it out, and then turned his gaze toward Nagato:

"Nagato, after you obtain the power of the Sage Talisman, you will completely possess a Perfect Sage Body, and even be able to make the power of the Rinnegan your own!"

However, the Great Toad Sage erupted with such powerful Immortal Art Chakra, yet he did not perform any redundant actions, instead inputting all the chakra into the Sage Talisman.

'It's just that I don't know if he can, like his ancestor, defeat that descendant of Indra?'

"Only at that time can your battle with that Uchiha Feiyu be considered to have truly begun. Everything before that, you can regard as tempering for yourself."

Now, the Great Toad Sage's words were exactly to the taste of this original "Child of Prophecy," making him ask impatiently:

"Great Toad Sage, what should I do?"

Jiraiya and Nagato were horrified; the Immortal Art Chakra within the Great Toad Sage's body was simply too vast, so immense it was almost inconceivable. Although he was only moving chakra and not using any form of ninjutsu, it still made Jiraiya and Nagato feel as if they were in a deep sea of Natural Energy.

While inputting the chakra from his body into the Sage Talisman, the Great Toad Sage said faintly:

"I am old, and apart from this body of chakra, I have no combat power left..."

When he said this, the Great Toad Sage sighed with emotion:

"Back when I was young, I was also a heroic toad who could join forces with the Sage of Six Paths to deal with enemies from beyond the heavens... It's a pity that even a toad must bow to old age!"

Not to mention that the current Great Toad Sage had become so frail; don't look at his chakra volume far exceeding Nagato's, if they really fought, the Great Toad Sage might not necessarily be a match for the current Nagato!

Just like the Tailed Beasts of this world, the chakra within a Tailed Beast is at least dozens or even hundreds of times that of an average Shadow-level Ninja, but when it comes to actual Power Level, most Shadow-level Ninjas are not afraid of those Tailed Beasts at all. This is the gap in combat methods.

In the natural world, toads have neither sharp teeth nor claws, nor tough fur or shells, and their speed cannot even be considered fast. Their only characteristic is that as amphibians, they have strong adaptability; they can jump into water to avoid land enemies, or jump onto land to avoid water enemies. Coupled with strong reproductive ability, this is how they occupied a place in the natural world.

The toads of Mount Myoboku are of course much stronger than ordinary toads, but compared to Summoned Beasts of the same level, they are still quite lacking. Those large toad Summoned Beasts in their prime could still compensate with weapons and the like, but for these old toads who have cultivated into Immortals, their actual Power Level is far from being on par with their chakra.

After rambling for a while, the Great Toad Sage's voice grew lighter and lighter, and the wrinkles on his body became more and more numerous. Conversely, the Sage Talisman, which had been floating in mid-air, had now completely turned into a pure energy rune, flashing with dazzling light in mid-air.

Feeling the Great Toad Sage's life force growing weaker, Jiraiya could no longer sit still:

"Great Toad Sage, what are you doing? You are now..."

"Rest assured, little Jiraiya, at my age, it is time to go visit the Pure Land. Although the Sage Talisman is powerful, it is actually more inclined toward healing and resurrection, possessing only an auxiliary role; the ability to develop physical potential is just a side effect."

"If you want Nagato to truly undergo a rebirth, you can only use my Immortal Art Chakra to lay a good foundation for him!"

"But... but..."

"Alright, Jiraiya, you have been able to wander the Ninja World for decades for the sake of the Child of Prophecy, wasting half your life. Why can't I sacrifice the few decades of life I have left?"

The Great Toad Sage said with a calm face, making Jiraiya unable to hold back his tears, and even Nagato, who had little contact with the Great Toad Sage, had an expression of excitement and guilt.

Slightly lowering his head, his half-drooping eyelids covered the Great Toad Sage's eyes, and also covered his contemplative expression.

'There is one more thing, Otsutsuki Hagoromo has already told me that the strange Uchiha named Uchiha Feiyu possesses the eerie ability to control the Soul. In that guy's hands, death is really just a beginning.'

Just like how the Sage of Six Paths, though dead, could still jump back and forth in the Pure Land; once strength exceeds a certain boundary, death is a very vague thing. Even if the Great Toad Sage became a Soul after death, he could still maintain his existence and consciousness.

Not to mention that the Pure Land itself is the territory of the Sage of Six Paths. Given the relationship between the two, if the Great Toad Sage went to the Pure Land, the Sage of Six Paths would have to grant him an official position like a Judge or Meng Po, which is actually no different from his life in Mount Myoboku.

This old toad had been old for a long time and had no worldly desires, so he didn't care much about his physical body. The reason he was willing to fulfill Nagato this time, while certainly motivated by the idea of dealing with Uchiha Feiyu, was mainly because he was afraid that Uchiha Feiyu would come knocking and enslave his Soul after killing him.

When Fukasaku brought the corpse of Shima inside, the Great Toad Sage felt something was wrong. After contacting the Sage of Six Paths in the Pure Land and learning that Shima's Soul had not fallen into the Pure Land, he knew even more clearly that Uchiha Feiyu would probably kill his way here soon, which led to his hurried performance of transferring his power.

This toad had lived for thousands of years, and the Natural Energy in his body was incomparably vast. It took a full half-hour to integrate all the energy in his body into the Sage Talisman.

By this point, the old toad looked on the verge of death, completely exhausted, and even his originally tall body began to shrink. The originally white toad skin on his body became wrinkled and covered in folds, as if he were about to lose his breath at any moment.

"Nagato... reach out... reach out your hand..."

The old toad said with his dying breath, slowly pushed out with his hand, and the Sage Talisman, which was floating in mid-air and had completely turned into a shining crystal with the original rune no longer visible, immediately drifted toward Nagato.

Nagato reached out and gently caught the Sage Talisman that drifted before him, and the crystal-like rune instantly sank into his wrist.

An unimaginably vast Immortal Art Chakra erupted within Nagato's body. That chakra, which would have been enough to burst an ordinary Shadow-level Ninja, was incredibly docile within Nagato's body, circulating through every chakra meridian and constantly stimulating the potential of Nagato's body.

Theoretically, all members of the Uzumaki Clan and Senju Clan possess a Sage Body, but the perfection of this Sage Body is hard to say. Many people call Senju Hashirama's Sage Body a Perfect Sage Body, but in reality, is the Sage Body of the Sage of Six Paths above Senju Hashirama not stronger than Senju Hashirama's?

Above the Sage of Six Paths, there exists the Sage Body of the pure-blooded Otsutsuki, and even among these Otsutsuki, there are still differences in the quality of their physical constitutions.

The grade of Uzumaki Nagato's Sage Body can definitely not be called low; it is not just any member of the Senju Clan or the Uzumaki Clan who could support the Rinnegan.

That Uzumaki Nagato could be chosen by Madara Uchiha as a petri dish for the Rinnegan, judging solely from the grade of his Sage Body, is something that perhaps only the likes of Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Naruto, those reincarnations of Ashura, could truly surpass.

But this "not low" can only be said in comparison to the ordinary Uzumaki Clan and Senju Clan; his Sage Body is only inferior to Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Naruto, which does not mean his Sage Body is only slightly behind these two reincarnations of Ashura, but rather that there is a cliff-like gap, a massive difference!

This is equivalent to Senju Hashirama, the top, being at 100 points, Uzumaki Naruto, the second, being at 90 points, and when it comes to Uzumaki Nagato, the third, it drops directly to the 60-point level.

But now, nourished by the immense Immortal Art Chakra, Nagato's Sage Body has also undergone an almost earth-shaking, transformative evolution; every inch of his skin radiates a luster, and his body, which previously looked slightly gaunt, instantly became full and plump.

The red hair behind Nagato, under the nourishment of the immense Immortal Art Chakra, also became as red as fresh blood and as bright as flames, filled with the aura of life.

However, the greatest change was in Nagato's pair of Rinnegan; originally, Nagato's pair of Rinnegan could not be controlled at all and were always in an activated state, continuously consuming his life force and chakra.

Yet now, that pair of purple Rinnegan suddenly trembled a few times, regressed into Mangekyo Sharingan, then regressed into Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and finally completely changed into ordinary black eyes.

The immense Immortal Art Chakra, besides evolving Uzumaki Nagato's body into a Perfect Sage Body, also allowed him to completely refine this pair of eyes that originally belonged to Madara Uchiha!

The ocular power condensed within the Rinnegan instantly dissipated, allowing Uzumaki Nagato's Sage Body, which had already reached its limit, to make further progress.

Most importantly, all the power contained within this pair of eyes is, from now on, completely open to Uzumaki Nagato; even if Madara Uchiha were to come, the power he could exert using these eyes would be little different from Uzumaki Nagato's.

(End of chapter)