67 First Attempt

The pressure was weighing down on her, and her chakra reserves were quickly depleting. However, they were quickly approaching the clouds that separated the mountain below from the peak above. Natsume's intuition told her that the hardest challenge would be to pass through those clouds. Perhaps whatever force is weighing down on her is condensed in those clouds.

Enma suddenly stopped and got into an unfamiliar stance. Then, he launched himself forward in a flying kick. As soon as his foot reached the clouds, it met with resistance. However, it eventually parted and allowed him through. Natsume saw this and quickly understood. Although she had memorized his technique, she could not see through the essence of the attack. The reason for this was that it did not utilize chakra whatsoever! It was part of Mount Kakazan's sennin taijutsu.

Natsume didn't give up and attempted to strike the clouds with her strongest attack. Out of respect for the tradition, she did not utilize ninjutsu or her dojutsu. However, she did not believe kenjutsu would be dishonorable, so she drew her weapon and adapted the flying kick into a flying sword lunge. The moment her sword made contact with the clouds; she already knew the result. A powerful repulsive force launched her down the mountain. The other monkeys had long since reconvened as they watched Natsume fall from the peak.

The monkeys teamed up and created a chain of monkeys with interlocked arms. They swung out and caught Natsume in the middle of her descent. The repulsive force had directly knocked her out, so she wasn't able to save herself. Fortunately, the monkeys on Mount Kakazan seemed to be used to this and brought her to a pristine pool of water. After placing her in the pool, the injuries and exhaustion she sustained quickly recovered. Saru kept a close eye on her, and as soon as she showed signs of overexposure, he pulled her out of the pool.

Natsume didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but when she woke up, she discovered that she was in good condition. She felt around for her sword and buried her hand in fur. After looking up, she saw Saru acting as a giant pillow and heated blanket for her. Her hair was still a little wet, and seeing the pool of water at the side, she understood his intentions. She wiggled around and slipped out from under his arm. All of her equipment was lying neatly at the side which made her relieved.

The climb was difficult, but she learned a lot. The movement techniques to climb the mountain were likely the most basic layer of the Monkey taijutsu. Being able to reach the cloud barrier was the first stage. Breaking through the layer was the second stage. The flying kick that Enma demonstrated was probably intentional for Natsume's sake. Therefore, she deduced it was the next step in learning the technique.

What she didn't understand was why she was being taught sennin taijutsu before even mastering senjutsu. Fortunately, it did not take long for Enma to descend from the mountain. When he saw Saru sleeping and Natsume sitting cross-legged next to the pool he frowned. "Saru! Wake up!" The big monkey woke up in a fright and shrunk down to his normal size. He let out some hoots as he searched for Natsume but calmed down when he saw her sitting on the ground.

"Monkey King Enma, thank you for the opportunity." Regardless of her doubts, she was still given something for nothing, so she showed her gratitude. In response, Enma took out a fruit the size of an adult's head. The fruit was an orangish-pink color and had fine furs covering it. She recognized this as a peach from her inherited memories. However, the most important thing was this fruit was a concentrated pile of Nature energy.

"This is the Immortal Peach of our Mount Kakazan. This fruit is not like the Toad's oil or the Snake's venom. There is no risk eating it. Once you get used to it, you will be able to enter a false sage mode until the Nature energy is used up in the fruit. With this reward, you will return to the outside world." Enma reached out to hand her the fruit, but she didn't react. Although she was honored to receive such a gift, this went against her pride.

"Thank you for this gift, Monkey King Enma. However, I am determined to master senjutsu in my own way. I appreciate your teachings and will use them as reference for my future path." Natsume didn't want to be a fake sage. Although the peach was tempting, it was only a temporary power. Knowing the future, she could only rely on her own, renewable, strength. Even her Mangekyou Sharingan was considered a temporary power until she could solve the blindness issue.

Natsume thought that she offended Enma because he just stared at her with his usual scowl. However, after a while he began to softly smile before bursting out into a hearty laugh. He threw the peach over to Saru and made a fist toward Natsume. She thought about a familiar situation from her memories and bumped fists with Enma. A wisp of chakra entered her chakra pathway and went directly into her head.

Natsume arrived in her mental realm in the shape of a dojo. The name Monkey Geri appeared in her mind and an old monkey performing each stage of the technique in front of her. Although it seemed to last a long time, everything happened in an instant in her head. After memorizing the full technique, she returned to reality and lowered her arm.

"It seems Saru was right about you. Since you have chosen this path, I, as the current Monkey King of Mount Karazan allow Uchiha Natsume to stay for one year! At the end of the year, she will be expelled and barred from returning! If she leaves before the year is over, she will not be allowed to return!" A giant staff appeared in his hand, and he slammed it into the ground causing the whole mountain to shake. A ray of light shot down from above the clouds and surrounded Natsume for a moment before disappearing.

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