Several kilometers away, Takara emerged from the ground covered in a fine film of slime that prevented him from dirtying the bandages on his body. He turned to look in the direction of his clone, which was destroyed just a moment ago by a giant Rasengan from Jiraiya.
"He vents like a little child," he shook his head and released Sage Mode once he was sure he wasn't followed or tracked.
It was interesting that the Sage Mode taught to him by Katsuyu comes with some kind of enhancement of the danger instinct, which is why he decisively fled at the first opportunity when everyone believed the illusion that he was going to fight to the end.
"But that barrier would have been problematic," he frowned under his mask.
While he couldn't prevent himself from leaving, to break it down he would have had to use some things he deliberately avoided using to reveal his origin or identity.
"Of all things, he had to think I was Orochimaru's son..."
The renegade snake wouldn't be particularly pleased that someone used an identity like that to cause trouble, and considering that besides him and Anko, there was only one other person capable of using snakes, it wouldn't be difficult for his sharp mind to put two and two together.
"No matter, just tell him about the Gelel Stone, and he'll forget everything."
While it was unlikely that he would find it in the short term, he had a countermeasure prepared for such an eventuality. Plus, if he encountered Orochimaru later when he had unlocked his powers over time, he wouldn't be a threat.
"Although... those toads will surely become nosy and try to figure out who the new sage they have no information about is," this made Takara uncomfortable. "Although with the Ryumyaku inside me, I shouldn't be able to be the target of prophecies, it's also not an absolute guarantee, and I don't know what tricks that fossilized toad might have. The plan could be in danger."
And Jiraiya would undoubtedly be interested in that same information, so he would deploy his ears across all lands to learn more about it.
"Anyway, the first combat with Sage Mode wasn't bad," Takara began to gain speed as he oriented himself and moved westward to reach Takigakure.
He reviewed the confrontation in his mind and came to the conclusion that he needed to think a little more about his Sage Arts. The technique he used before was the Water Dragon that many knew, but executed with senjutsu chakra taking advantage of the properties of his Sage Mode to alter it.
It wasn't even a real Sage Art, it was more of a improvisation of the moment to conduct a field test.
"I'll have to talk to Katsuyu to brainstorm."
Too bad he didn't take the bodies of those he killed, he was so focused on testing Sage Mode that he forgot he could use them as an excuse for the failure of the other mission.
"Or maybe it was good that he didn't take them, if any Konoha spy in Sunagakure found out and reported the matter, it wouldn't be different from betraying myself."
All villages have spies, it's a well-known fact.
Wait a moment...
Suddenly, Takara thought of some interesting things as he let his mind wander.
What happens if senjutsu chakra is used to power the puppets to which he gave life?
Could he give them an artificial Sage Mode if he stored it in a second battery?
If he mixed it with meteor chakra, could he generate a Time-Space Manipulation?
Or with Karin's healing chakra, could he gain an exponential upgrade to the level of resurrection from a drop of blood?
Questions, doubts, and experiments.
"Too bad I have to take time to do these things on my own, since I'm the source of senjutsu chakra needed to carry them out," he lamented, pushing the ideas to the back of his mind as he added a reminder to ask Katsuyu if there were other materials besides natural energy gems that he could try to use for possible natural energy batteries.
It took him a few days to reach Takigakure, where the Hero's Water and the jinchuriki Fu were waiting for him to take them.
He was particularly interested in knowing if giving the water to the resurrected would expand the chakra they can provide.
Basically, it was like upgrading their eternal batteries.
Consuming lifespan for power?
Resurrected don't have a lifespan!
"Wait a second..." Takara realized a potential problem. "If the Hero's Water works by 'burning' away life hope to give a power boost, then it means that if I give it to someone resurrected with Edo Tensei, nothing might happen."
The Hero's Water wouldn't have "fuel" to work since they're still dead, and therefore, it would be like regular water. And given the limited quantity that should be available, he wasn't going to waste it.
"Should I use it on living people and eliminate them in their exalted state, to then bring them back?" he questioned before dismissing his own question.
There were no guarantees that dying with the water's enhancement would make them still have that effect upon return. An opposite effect could happen, and end up with a worse outcome.
"Should I combine the Own Life Reincarnation technique with the Hero's Water? That could offset the loss of life hope, but it would be a last resort even for me."
He might as well first give it to a living puppet to see the results...
Once again, Takara had to suppress his ideas for the moment.
As the saying goes, don't count your chickens before they hatch.
And it was time to hunt.