I'm one of the people who believes that Sakura is going to get a Slug Sage Mode.
You're free to believe as you wish but in the manner which Kishi has been going about with trying to reinforce Sakura's status as a dead ringer of Tsunade that's very, very questionable when nothing has been shown to indicate that she has even dabbled in slug senjutsu before.
The apprentice comes into the role of his/her predecessor. We saw this with Naruto and Sasuke (for a time). It's undoubtedly happening with Sakura now. Ever since #632 the parallel to Tsunade has been receiving many nods with the Yin Seal making a resurgence and the Slug Princess's jutsu being passed down finally as Sakura attempts to fill the hefty shoes of the Sannin who came before her.
What else needs to be said of this? On top of her progression into a mastered kunoichi of healing ninjutsu, Sakura now wields a segment of Kurama's chakra. The augmentations that the cloak provides is almost the same as Sage Mode. With healing duties no longer being necessary at the moment and this new power at her disposal, does Sage Mode really need to be given?
It's not just a question of "how" but "why" also.
We haven't really seen what the requirements of Slug Sage Mode are,
Why would a fluctuation exist in this school of senjutsu when the qualifications have been universally consistent throughout all the various teaching methods? Kishi isn't one to scrap the meaning or consistency of his trinities. That includes his so-called "three way deadlock" that he made with the Sannin as a result of Goketsu Monogatari.
so I'm not going to spend my time discussing how she could fit/not fit in the criteria. Maybe she does/maybe she doesn't, we don't know.
It just seems odd that Sakura would somehow prove to be a more suitable practitioner of the sage arts when someone like Orochimaru can't even develop an imperfect variation of the actual Sage Mode like Jiraiya. But you're right, this is all just speculation. If Sakura were to acquire SM, I don't believe it's wrong to ask how or what it is that gives her claim to senjutsu more legitimacy than Orochimaru's. Because it would be very odd. And I'm not the only one who believes this apparently. Someone highlighted my reference to this a page or two back and was in agreement.
And the double standards in this thread is a bit too much to fathom. Is this an anti-Sakura thread or something?
I'm not seeing what the double standard is. Someone asks how probable Sakura Sage Mode is, another person answers their question whilst giving their own thoughts, and then the entire conversation devolves into an argument about whether Slug Sage Mode will make an appearance (provided Hashirama isn't already using it).
Don't get me wrong. I'm an ardent Sakura fan, but at the same it's difficult to not see how Kishi has been directing events lately and the mounting evidence that coincides with Byakugou jutsu as the final result and pinnacle of Sakura's abilities. That and the aforementioned Kurama cloak, her decision to stay with the Alliance shinobi, and ect. Not to mention the fact that by Kishi's own admittance female characters are difficult to draw/write for (particularly heroines) and he seems to be doing everything in his power to avoid an equal or greater power enhancement being given to the female cast members. It's for that reason that I believe Hashirama will be revealed as the slug sage user in the near future. Kishi has been very discreet in trying to perch Hashirama on a higher pedestal than Tsunade ever since the Kages' battle with Madara. What better way to exemplify his superiority than having him achieve and perfect the ability which Tsunade couldn't?
It's horrible, it's biased, but I really believe it's what Kishi has in mind as he's writing this. He's already made the previous generations into demigods whom no one except possibly Naruto and Sasuke can surpass; with the obvious exception of Tobi. Expanding the scope of this ever widening gap that exists would be nothing absurd IMO.
All I see in this thread are explanations of how it's totally understandable that Kishi made power-ups for other characters but the same should never apply for Sakura. I don't see the logic here.
Where did you this get impression? The conversation has been focused mostly on Sakura with a few references to other characters given here and there. No one is absolutely denying the possibility, but the logic of it and purpose for its existence does come with some controversy to itself. And that's not something which any person should be ashamed of. People have a right to question how so-and-so came to be or how it's possible in this situation but not for the other. If the time ever comes that Sakura develops Sage Mode then you should expect people to be asking many questions about why and how she developed it.
No amount of beautifully crafted wordings and lengthy sentences are going to deceive people into thinking that it's perfectly reasonable.
This is beginning to sound like mudslinging. Rather than acknowledging the grievances and/or questions that the questioner has they detract and go off on a different topic that attacks the questioner.
If you're not going to contribute to the debate in any well-meaning way with this segment of your post then would you please leave it out?
The requirements of power-ups are always explained after a certain character receives the power-ups. Sakura gaining byakugo no jutsu was explained after she got it.
Like I already stated, if she develops SSM then I hope Kishi will provide a well-reasoned explanation for how she developed it when not even her predecessor is a senjutsu user apparently. It would help to know why Orochimaru failed and how Sakura was able to push beyond his point of stagnation.
Senjutsu is a very exclusive ninja practice which only a few can achieve. Seeing someone brandish SM is obviously going to spur a reaction from the readers who want to know how they acquired such a dangerous and unique ability. I'm sure many people thought the same about Danzo and Ao when they first revealed a doujutsu KG which they should logically not be capable of developing on their own since they're not part of the Uchiha/Hyuga Clan.
Naruto gaining the toad sage mode was explained after he got it.
What? No, the readers paid witness to Naruto from the very beginning of his journey of learning about Fukasaku's identity as Jiraiya's master to him finally mastering Sage Mode. Naruto's training has always been the most in-depth and fleshed out in the manga.
People can deny it all they want but the fact of the matter is we don't know what the requirements of the power-ups are until they are explained.
Jake has a point. Although no specifics have been giving of slug senjutsu's requirements, it stands to reason that they would be similar to frog, snake, and Curse Seal senjutsu. It ties in with the equilibrium theme which Kishi has made for the Sannin.
Saying these power-ups were predictable in the previous cases, after they were explained, sounds really convenient to me.
I don't think anyone could have predicted Kabuto emerging with a uniquely developed form of Sage Mode. Or that the Curse Seal is fueled by the natural energy surrounding it being drawn in. To be honest, I initially thought that it was an asspull to make senjutsu relevant again after KM (aka SSJ) was revealed but now I can see the logic behind it.
The fact of the matter is, Kishi will explain when it happens, not before it happens. And I don't see the point of using character A 'technique B' to explain how it's impossible for character C to gain 'technique D' (It's like using Sasuke's chidori to explain how Naruto can't get a Rasengan). I thought it was obvious that different character uses different techniques and therefore the requirements are different.... 
You do have a point with certain characters developing certain abilities and then comparing it to others under different circumstances being a false equivalence. However, Sage Mode has been consistently the same with its prerequisites across the board. The only difference is with the Curse Seal and that's because of its origins with Juugo's clan.
Every senjutsu user has been confirmed or revealed to be a figure with extraordinary physical aptitude and chakra. This is in various schools of SM, not just one. Jiraiya, Kabuto, Naruto, Hashirama... All of them fit these qualifications and they all have a different SM (well Jiraiya's is an inferior version of Naruto's). Can there be a trait or different requirement with slugs? Yes, it's possible, but with the correlation shown, can you begrudge anyone for assuming that slug senjutsu will have the same prerequisites?
Actually, I see it like this: The seal actually has been acting as a power limiter for Sakura. She's been allocating say, 25% of her chakra 24/7 for the seal, which means she's only been effectively using 75% of her power up until now. But now that the seal has been completed, she can use 100% of her power, not including the seal.
Okay... But you're only explaining that the quantity of already developed chakra was restricted in flow throughout her circulatory system because of the need to allocate a portion of it to the seal. That doesn't address her inadequate capacity when making the chakra. The metaphorical glass is still the same size. You're just pouring a quarter supply of the water from the jug into a separate water bottle for later.
The way I see it, by separating her chakra into two, it works the same as Jinchuurikis.
It really does nothing to magnify her chakra capacity like a bijuu when their own naturally large chakra reserves are infused with your own.
Because once you mix a prepared chakra to use and add it to your own,
Again, I don't think you're understanding what I mean. The chakra you're describing has already been made. But the way Fukakusaku described it, the sage chakra is created when you're fusing the two basic elements of chakra together. Yin Seal is already a step too late because that chakra has already been made and cannot be altered with the known limits of the creation process (that could be subject to change in the future).
it's essentially the same as the Bijuus' chakra is essentially a certain amount of chakra being kept in reserve. Just like how the seal is a reservoir of chakra being stored separately.
It really does nothing to magnify her chakra capacity like a bijuu when their own naturally large chakra reserves are infused with your own.The Yin Seal's chakra is Sakura's which she stored in a corner for later usage. There's nothing different about it except the quantity. When the seal is released, that chakra reenters her chakra network and is available to use but that's useless when creating sage chakra since it takes place in the chakra development cycle.
A bijuu is an entirely separate entity composed of a fraction of the Jubi's natural energy. They're practically gods in their own rite. When you seal a bijuu into a human their personality and chakra becomes intertwined with the human who becomes jinchuuriki's. It's through this continual exchange of change and gradual influencing that they begin to develop larger than normal chakra capacities (or greater than large in Naruto's situation).
A bijuu's impact on the jinchuuriki and Sakura's unadulterated seal don't really have much of anything in common with each other.
The chakras doesn't have to come from two different sources of beings.
It does actually depending on the relations of the bijuu and the human. Or how adept the human is with taking and manipulating the chakra entity's supply.
Yin Seal = Chakra battery made from creator's own chakra supply that can be used later
Jinchuuriki = Has the two reservoirs of his own reserves and the bijuu's to use which mix to create new results
As long as there's two chakra containers, in theory, it's essentially the same as Jinchuurikis. Then, once you mix those together, it works the same way Jinchuurikis' chakras do.
I already explained the differences. Yin Seal is a battery that you charge for later usage that has no bearing on what you could originally make when mixing physical stamina and spiritual energy together.
The bijuu is a completely different entity that, when sealed into you, can change the makeup of your capacity and raise it to new heights along with possibly changing the nature of it depending on their personality. It can be a source of chakra, but it has a much more profound impact on your body in general than Yin Seal.
Naruto just has an aptitude over it, while Orochimaru did not. Sakura could learn sage mode...but what would be the point, unless it grants her an amazing healing and regeneration ability.
As a credit to her character, we were taught that the basic strategy of a medical operative is to survive and you do that by avoiding the enemy's attacks. If there's one consistent ability which everyone can agree on the universality of is chakra sensing and enhanced reflexes. Something like that would increase Sakura's probability of survival enormously.
Something to consider though is how often she's put into a combat situation or is the target of an enemy. We can safely say that it's not that often and when she is the prime focus someone else usually arrives in time to rescue her. That really challenges the worth of giving her such an ability if it's only going to be used in a few rare instances.
Now do we want Kishi to give Sakura sage mode? Hell yes! Is he going to do it? Based on latest chapters, the only way to defeat Juubito is by senjutsu, and Sakura did say she was going to fight with them together, also she is healing millions of people right now, so you have to give her time.
We know that ninjutsu is ineffective against Tobi and that senjutsu is the most practical method to take but what about genjutsu and taijutsu? I'm surprised no one else has brought that up. Shouldn't they at least attempt to try these different methods of attack? It would at least provide some worth to the other characters who aren't sages. Provided they aren't massacred in a instant or something.
Edited by Atheck, 01 September 2013 - 05:26 AM.
