Naruto

It's supposed to be really difficult to attain, so I guess it makes sense. Would've been cool to see a slug Sage Mode. Seeing Minato with Sage Mode made me laugh though. Not sure why he didn't use that against Obito.....but whatever.

I believe Hashirama Senju (Hokage Number 1) has Slug Sage Mode, though we don't see much of it.

And yes, it's supposed to be really difficult to obtain, which is why it's very odd when Kabuto of all people turns up with it.

edited 8th Jan '18 4:07:24 PM by Sigilbreaker26

What's wrong with Kabuto? He's a skilled shinobi (and just as intelligent). He arguably grew stronger than Orochimaru during the war. If anyone could do it, I could see him attaining it.

We are talking about the same guy who managed to lose to Naruto in Part 1... I don't think Naruto even needed to use his Kyubi Chakra Cloak.

In addition, while Kabuto isn't dumb I personally think there's plenty of evidence Orochimaru is smarter. Orochimaru isn't a General Failure for one.

But yes, Kabuto is stronger in the War arc. He has a crapton of modifications on top of having Snake Sage Mode, and it takes Itachi busting out a one-hit KO genjutsu to bring him down.

edited 8th Jan '18 4:27:45 PM by Sigilbreaker26

Jugo's ability is called Sage Transformation, which according to him is an ability used by the people of his village used to achieve Sage Mode using their ability to absorb Natural Energy. According to Kabuto, Orochimaru himself tried to master Sage Mode but his vitality was not enough to sustain it so he created the Cursed Seal instead out of what he could do. Its only when Orochimaru's sage chakra is spliced with Jugo's DNA that the Cursed Seal exists.

From what I can tell, Mitsuki uses Sage Transformation to achieve Sage Mode like Kabuto.

edited 8th Jan '18 4:38:30 PM by lycropath

If that's true then that's really, really dumb (though it would explain why Kabuto gets it as well). I don't get why Orochimaru simply couldn't do the exact same thing. Also, there's no such thing as sage chakra, there's only Natural Energy/Nature Chakra (which might be the same thing) and if Orochimaru's problem is that he can't go sage mode then he wouldn't have any anyway.

And doesn't Jugo's ability actually make him flip out if it overcharges? Why doesn't that happen to Kabuto and Mitsuki?

edited 8th Jan '18 4:49:06 PM by Sigilbreaker26

Orochimaru can't do it because Sage Mode requires extreme chakra levels to master, even though he knows how to do it its his body(Or at least the ones he's had) just aren't suited to doing so. Probably very few ninja have the baseline vitality to become a Sage and Orochimaru would need to steal one of their bodies or splice his own to do it. Kabuto was much more liberal with using himself as a test subject then Orochimaru was (presumably because he was completely nuts at that point).

Also I believe the killing impulse comes because Jugo's sage chakra isn't in balance, comparatively Kabuto had mastered senjutsu from the Ryuchi Cave and merely uses Jugo's ability to give himself a constant supply of the stuff. Mitsuki's power is spliced into himself so honestly who knows how his works right now.

edited 8th Jan '18 4:56:54 PM by lycropath

See, I knew Kabuto was keeping himself full with the Jugo cells (in the same way Jiraya did with Ma and Pa in his fight with Pain). But he still had to master the actual ability. I'm suprised Mitsuki was able to do that.

I'm surprised (and a little disappointed) that you need high chakra levels to unlock Sage Mode (since it kind of ruins the fun of it being the only high tier ability^note Okay, one of two, thanks Flying Raijin that doesn't require a Kekkai Genkai or a Tailed Beast). After all, the entire point of it is that you're drawing in chakra from the environment.

Though in that case... why the fuck didn't Tsunade become a sage? She had boatloads of chakra.

edited 8th Jan '18 5:15:16 PM by Sigilbreaker26

Competitive Balance? If she did she would probably be Nigh-Invulnerable and have a punch like an atomic bomb.

But probably because she was busy being a pioneer of medicine and/or a drunkard.

edited 8th Jan '18 5:05:22 PM by lycropath

Uchiha exists, so no such thing as Competitive Balance.

I still think one of the most unintentionally hilarious things about Naruto is that Madara's so OP we never even see his natural unique Mangekyo Sharingan abilities

Assuming he had any. He probably should've, though. Maybe they were just worse than his Rinnegan abilities.

Well, there is that little detail about how Sage Chakra can easily kill the user with a slight mistake.

Slug Sage Mode Tsunade would probably have managed to make her even with Non Juubi Madara.

Naruto and Jiraiya already have super strenght on par with hers in theirs, her own sage mode would make her even more powerful.

Hell, imagine if she used the 8 gates like Gai and Lee do, as the Taijutsus master of the Sannin......

Yeah, and imagine if everyone mastered Sage Mode and the 8 Gates....except in Tsunade's case, she has no hax Kekkei Genkai that would put her above the rest.

If everyone mastered the 8 gates and Sage mode, I don't think the N Aruto world would last a day before someone of Jounin level would destroy it on accident.

To be honest, quite a few top tier techniques that are theoretically performable by anyone but are either monstrously difficult to learn or closely guarded secrets rarely passed down.

edited 8th Jan '18 9:02:03 PM by lycropath

Time to teach Kabuto the Eight Gates.

Also, steal some of those Uchiha orphan eyes.

Why else would he take in all of those Shin Jrs

Yes, but the 8 Gates kill you; you just need to go to 7 and so long as you have a decent Healing Factor you're fine.

Doesn't he have the strongest healing factor in the series? Unless the aliens took it to another level.

He does indeed, but it's practically impossible to heal from the effects of the final Gate (Naruto was able to salvage Guy's life with Yin-Yang Release, which Kabuto could not even dream of having, and even then Guy's leg was damaged beyond repair).

That's why the seven gates are the useful ones.

That being said, there is the possibility that a healing factor could cause the Gates to seal themselves back up, preventing their use at all.

edited 9th Jan '18 8:50:02 AM by Sigilbreaker26

That's why you raise eight gate users as zombies.

I doubt healing would prevent the use of something actively opened. Worst case scenario he could use multiple quick bursts with cooldown as the worst side effect.

There's really no wrong way to use Edo Tensei... unless sharingan are involved.