“What about his cellular depletion? You might have cost him years of his life!” she yelled sternly.
“Hardly, his cells are bursting with vitality now. If anything he’ll live even longer.” I answered calmly.
She calmed down “So what your telling me is that you are absolutely sure he’ll recover from this?” she asked firmly.
“He’ll more than recover, he’ll be stronger than ever afterwards.” I said seriously.
“We will see but if anything bad happens to him because of this you will be punished, am I understood?” she said and I nodded.
I wasn’t bothered by her sternness in this matter as I understood how serious the consequences of this could be if anyone other than me had done it. I had made sure to keep the delicate balance in Kakashi’s body so he gained all the benefits and only had some relatively minor and most importantly temporary side effects. Sure he was bed ridden and would need at least a week to recover with the care I was going to give him but that was literally it. My only real gripe was that I was going to overshoot the month I had assumed it would take for him to achieve sage mode.-
Honestly though this was not even that big a deal as this was my first attempt at teaching sage mode so some error was to be expected in guessing the time needed. When I eventually taught Karin she would definitely take less than a month because she can skip the adaptation period and move straight to sensing and manipulating natural energy. Even in that regard she had a leg up as she was an extremely powerful sensor already and thus could already utilize her spiritual energy pretty well.-
The training my sensei gave her about medical techniques had also allowed the redhead to become stronger than ever as she had an over abundance of physical or yang energy. Due to this unfortunately she had also gotten harder to pry off without hurting her when she got home and clingy. More often than not I was forced to to sit unproductively as she grinned like a moron while hugging me. Time passed and as I predicted Kakashi was back to normal after about a week of treatment though he needed some training to fully restore his musculature.-
“I can’t remember the last time I felt so good. I’m practically bursting with energy!” the silver haired man said as he clenched his fist over and over again.
“That’s to be expected given the vitality your cells currently have. If you are willing to continue you are ready for the next step of sage training as well.” I said calmly.
“Really? Not that I’m doubting you or anything but this seems almost too easy?” he said confused.
“Well if I’m being honest I have been sort of forcing you to go through what a normal sage does over months to years in merely weeks. This isn’t to say my method is easier so much as massively more dangerous in exchange for taking a short amount of time.” I explained calmly.
“I see. You did say that the adaptation alone should have taken me almost a year normally yet if we consider my recovery it’s only been two weeks. At the same time Lady Tsunade has told me of the many ways it could have gone wrong.” he said with an enlightened look.
“Indeed, danger for speed is the trade off. Of course that only applies to anyone but me but I’m the exception rather than the rule.” I said simply.
“I’ve already come this far so I may as well go the rest of the way. What’s the next step?” he asked with a shrug.
“The next step is for you to start drawing in natural energy while here in the village and far away from my home.” I said honestly.
He frowned in confusion “Wouldn’t it be easier in your home where the natural energy is densest?” he asked.
“Easier to draw in yes. The best route? No! The very density of the natural energy there is the exact issue here. Natural energy flows you see and when you draw it in the free floating stuff naturally follows what you are pulling in an out of control fashion. As a result trying this step in a place like my home is asking to get turned to stone as ALL that energy tries to follow the flow you create.” I explain seriously.-
He shudders at the mental image that paints and nods “So it’s best to start out in an area of low natural energy like the village for this step, got it.” he said seriously.
“Luckily for you you already have a small amount of experience manipulating natural energy with your spiritual energy due to your messing about during sensing training. You merely need to attempt that again but refine it further through experience.” I said with a chuckle.
He stared at me speechlessly “You mean I could have been doing that this whole time?” he asked and I nodded with a grin. “Let me guess, it was to temper my expectations and patience?” he asked deadpan.
“So glad you understand!” I said with a laugh.
It only took three days for Kakashi to get the hang of manipulating enough natural energy to achieve sage mode and it was finally time for him to take that final step, merging natural energy into his chakra to make sage chakra.-
“Are you sure there isn’t some sort of ratio to this I need to try and reach?” he asked for the third time.
“As I said the last two times the exact ratio is slightly different for each individual because each individual is different and unique. The rough ratio is thirty percent natural energy seventy chakra but the exact ratio will be something only you can figure out. Now stop stalling and do the thing already!” I snapped and he raised his hands placatingly.
He sat cross legged on top of the Hokage monument as the natural energy up here was neither lacking nor ample but in the middle. I watched as he began to carefully draw in natural energy and force it against his chakra to attempt the fusion making me wince at how rough it was. Obviously I was heavily biased as a natural sage so I kept my criticism to my self for now. Regardless of all else this was a good sign that he was on the right track.