With the influx of Natural Energy inside their body, the four children started to develop the physical characteristics of toads. Small bumps appeared on their skin, webbed membranes started to grow between their fingers, their cheeks started to swell and change their color, and finally, the pupils of the four children became orange with a horizontal slat in them, just like a toad's.
Seeing these changes, Elder Fukasaku and Jiraiya showed no signs of surprise or panic, all of these changes were within their expectations, and part of the training process of Senjutsu of Mount Myōboku, in fact, it can be said that if these changes didn't appear on the bodies of the four kids, then that would be a problem.
Senjutsu training is basically a three-step process of trying to sense and understand Natural Energy dispersed between heaven and earth, trying to absorb that Natural Energy, and then fusing that Natural Energy with the internal physical and mental energies to give birth to stronger and more powerful form of chakra known as the Senjutsu Chakra.
Of course, this three-step Senjutsu training can be done anywhere in the world as Kuroto did, the only advantage of carrying out this training at the unexplored sacred regions is the guidance and ease that these places provide to a person.
Just take the second step for instance. Absorbing Natural Energy is not an easy task, and one has to be able to sense it prior to absorbing it, however, the toad oil of Mount Myōboku, the Snake venom of Ryūchi Cave, and the slug mucus of the Shikkotsu Forest make absorbing Natural Energy easier.
Once either of these three substances is applied at a point on the body, Natural Energy starts to enter the practitioner's body from that point. So, no matter what a person's natural aptitude when it comes to Senjutsu, they can absorb Natural Energy. Once someone absorbs Natural energy, as long as they find a way to not turn into stones, over time their body will adapt to Natural Energy and they will not only be able to sense it, but they will also be able to fuse it with their Chakra.
However, these advantages are only available at places like Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, Nekoshou Domain, and so on… In other places where there is no knowledge of Senjutsu, one has to start from the very beginning and figure out everything step-by-step.
Anyway, getting back to Mount Myōboku, as time passed, the features of toads became more and more obvious on the bodies of the four children.
Seeing this scene, Elder Fukasaku shook his head, "Failed." And beat out the Natural Energy from the bodies of the four kids with his black stick, then wiped off the toad oil from the back of their arms. To interrupt the flow of Natural Energy inside the bodies of four children.
Having a lot of toad features means that the children weren't able to integrate the natural energy inside their bodies, so the result is a failure.
Of course, the failure in the first attempt doesn't mean that they have no aptitude for Senjutsu, it just shows that they are not naturally adapted to Natural Energy.
Feeling the pain in his back, Sasuke asked, somewhat dissatisfied, "What's going on? Why beat us?"
Neji, Hinata, and Kiyomi also looked at Elder Fukasaku with puzzled expressions.
"The four of you failed the test." said Fukasaku, and added, "And to answer your question, I was beating out Natural Energy from your bodies to make sure that none of you turns into toads."
"Failed?" Sasuke was takenaback, aback and stood up abruptly, "How come I failed? What mistake did I make?"
Neji also stood up and looked at the elder toad with an unwilling expression. This kind of inexplicable failure made it difficult for him to accept so easily.
Compared with Sasuke and Neji, Kiyomi and Hinata were relatively calm even after learning about their failure. For Kiyomi, passing the test wasn't important, she isn't interested in Senjutsu or Toads at all, so doesn't care all that much, the only reason she even came to Mount Myōboku is that Fugaku instructed her to. Different from Kiyomi, Hinata although calm, was still a bit disappointed. Deep down in her heart, she hoped to learn Senjutsu in order to have something in common with Naruto. But didn't expect that she would fail so early.
Looking at the expressions of the kids, Jiraiya understood their feelings, and reassured them, "Don't worry… failing at the first attempt doesn't mean you have no aptitude, it just means that you need some training. And if you ask me, the four of you are too young to learn Senjutsu."
Leaving aside other requirements, the most basic requirement for mastering Senjutsu is a massive chakra reserve.
For someone who doesn't have huge chakra reserves, it is very difficult and dangerous to fuse Natural Energy into their body, because they are always exposed to the danger of becoming stone statues.
No doubt, Sasuke, Neji, Kiyomi, and Hinata are excellent and talented kids, however, they are still very young, and therefore, their chakra reserves are limited. Compared to most adults who fail to master Senjutsu, they are more vulnerable.
But it seems that Sasuke didn't want to accept what Jiraiya said, and questioned, "So how come Naruto mastered it?"
Jiraiya explained, "Naruto is a little different from the rest of you… for one, he is a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan–a shinobi clan as powerful as Senju, Uchiha, and the Hyuga Clan. His Uzumaki lineage gives him various natural advantages when it comes to chakra reserves, physical strength, and all. As for the other point… that is related to the calmness of heart… if you have a restless heart, then it will be very difficult to master Senjutsu."
Jiraiya doesn't know how come Naruto mastered Senjutsu, true, Naruto is a member of the Uzumaki Clan, so he has huge chakra reserves, and he wasn't greedy for power, however, as said before, just these two points are not enough for someone to master Senjutsu, there must have been some other factors that came to play… maybe Naruto had an incomparable aptitude for Senjutsu, whatever the reason, the fact of the matter is, he did master Senjutsu at such a young age…
Different from Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and the others obviously don't seem to have such a high aptitude for Senjutsu, at the same time, they don't have huge chakra reserves, and because they understand the preciousness of this opportunity so their hearts are restless, making it difficult for them to train.
At this time, Elder Fukasaku said, "Well, as Jiraiya-chan said, Senjutsu is different from your general Ninjutsu. This is very high-level stuff and several factors come into play here. There have been only a few people who have successfully mastered Senjutsu in the past millennium."
Sasuke and Neji were unwilling and asked, "Can we try once more?"
Elder Fukasaku shook his head, "No, not right now, it's too risky… If the Natural Energy gets out of control, the consequences will be heavy."
Neji said with a solemn expression, "Fukasaku-sama, I am willing to take the risk and try once again. I want to pass the test at any cost!"
Elder Fukasaku shook his head, "I am afraid I will have to deny your request." Then added with a smile, "But don't be dejected, I am not failing all of you."
"Huh?" all the four kids muttered in surprise and confusion, and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well… it was a bit foolish of me to test you, kids, in such a way, it is too difficult for you, and obviously all of you would have failed… let's change the mode of the test, the reason all of you have come to Mount Myōboku is to find summons right? Then let's test you with Summon Contracts. As for the Senjutsu test maybe you can try once again when you grow up."
Although disappointed, the kids quickly cheered up as they found another opportunity.
Elder Fukasaku smiled lightly and summoned a large scroll. Then he pointed at Kiyomi–standing at the corner–and said, "Let's start with you."
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