Sage Mode is one of the most incredible powers in the world of Naruto. At the beginning of the story, the power system of Naruto was explained to the fans to be made up of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. The vast majority of the powers seen in the story were focused around this and these three facets of jutsu were slowly developed even more.
With time, Kishimoto focused on other types of Jutsu as well and that is where Sage Mode comes in. Sage Mode is a technique that falls under the usage of Senjutsu. It was only introduced in the second half of Naruto and, since then, has become one of the most incredible power-ups in the franchise. Several legendary characters, such as Naruto Uzumaki, Jiraiya, and even Kabuto, among others, went on to master this power and make it their own.
The Basis For Sage Mode
In the world of Naruto, every living being has a certain amount of chakra. This power became common among all living things ever since Hagoromo started spreading it to other people. Initially, Hagoromo was the only person born with chakra, which he inherited directly from his mother, Kaguya, who ate the chakra fruit. After sealing away his mother, Hagoromo went on a journey and distributed chakra among all the people that he met.
He called this Ninshu and according to him, Ninshu existed to connect people. In time, however, people strayed from his teachings and started using Ninshu for other purposes, such as combat. Ninshu, thus, developed into ninjutsu, and for centuries, it started being used in combat as a weapon.
By spreading chakra, a point where every human was born with chakra was reached and the vast majority of them were made to learn ninjutsu, while ninshu became a lost concept. To make use of ninjutsu, the humans in the world of Naruto make use of the chakra that they have within their bodies. This chakra is composed of two elements and they are spiritual energy and physical energy. When these two are put together, it gives rise to chakra and it can then be molded into many different forms. Sage Mode, however, works in a very different way. Sage Mode does not see the user make use of their own chakra. Instead, it enables the user to absorb energy from their surroundings, which is infinite. This natural energy is then assimilated with their own chakra, and that gives rise to Senjutsu Chakra, setting the basis for Sage Mode.
What Is Sage Mode?
Sage Mode is an incredible power that allows the user to make use of Senjutsu chakra in battle. This chakra cannot be accessed by everyone as not everyone can feel natural energy around them. To access Sage Mode, a person would need to become one with nature itself. Once they start feeling natural energy all around themselves, they can then work on absorbing this energy into their bodies. Once the energy is absorbed, it is then assimilated in equal parts with their own chakra, which is what gives rise to Senjutsu chakra. The ratio of mixing natural energy with chakra needs to be precise, otherwise, the transformation will be incomplete. This has been the case with several users of this technique over the years.
However, when one masters the process of mixing energy correctly, it leads to a heightened state of being or a transformation, known as Sage Mode. Sage Mode allows the user to sense everything in their surroundings. The user becomes one with nature itself and can do things like feel every source of energy moving anywhere. This is how users of Sage Mode can track anyone miles away by sensing their presence. While this is an incredible ability, the greatest thing that Sage Mode offers is a boost in power levels. Sage Mode dramatically boosts a ninja's power to a point where they are said to be in a league of their own. Everything from their physical prowess to mental prowess ascends to a different level.
Furthermore, the user also has access to a near-infinite amount of chakra. The only downside of this power is that to mold Senjutsu chakra, the user needs to stay still, and in combat, their skill can thus be limited, in a way. However, after a lot of training, the user can shorten the amount of time it takes to enter Sage Mode. Characters such as Hashirama managed to enter Sage Mode within a matter of seconds. Naruto Uzumaki, during his time as Hokage, had also mastered Sage mode to a point where it doesn't even take him a second to enter this transformation.
Over the years, Naruto has introduced many powerful users of Sage Mode and they include the likes of Jiraiya, who was a user of the Toad Sage Mode, however, had not mastered it completely. Jiraiya's disciple, Minato, was also a user of Sage Mode, as seen in the Fourth Great Ninja War. Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist of the series, goes on to learn Sage Mode shortly before his fight against Pain. Other characters, such as Kabuto, also managed to tap into the powers of Sage Mode and exhibited it during the 4th Great Ninja War. Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage of Konoha, was dangerous as he was thanks to the Sage Mode. Undoubtedly, the Sage Mode is a phenomenal power to have, however, it is an ability that not everyone can master.