When Does Naruto Learn Sage Mode

Ah, Naruto with all his traveling! When it comes to sage modes,Naruto starts learning that in episode 152 of ‘Naruto: Shippuden’. The extent of this that we're looking at here, is a right Jim Trevelyan History of the World job really. This concept is introduced to Naruto by Jiraiya. He takes it to the next level and makes it his own interpretation. However, that moment of truth for me when he really gets it down pat comes in episode 163. Here he demonstrates the extent of his new skills. With his new powers, he's virtually invincible. You can see the specific changes to his appearance, which equally account for its improvement from base stats on up into something that might just as easily be called 'breaking all limits'. And is really so big! The series arrives at a turning point here and we get another layer in Naruto’s complexity.

If you trace Jiraiya's path in 'Naruto', the short version is that he learned Sage Mode and the toad arts up on Mount Myōboku, the legendary toad mountain. He studied with the giant toads there — most notably under the Great Toad Sage — and picked up the toad summoning techniques and senjutsu training that let him draw in natural energy. Those same toads later helped train Naruto, too, so the lineage is pretty clear. I still get a little thrill thinking about Jiraiya sitting stone-still, risking turning into a toad-faced berserker if the natural energy balance went wrong. He never nailed a ‘perfect’ sage state like some later users; instead he developed a partially mastered form and learned a stack of toad arts: summoning big toads like Gamabunta, using toad-related ninjutsu, and even specialized moves that combine senjutsu with his fire and space to create devastating combos. The toads — Fukasaku and Shima in particular — are woven into his training story, and Mount Myōboku is where it all clicked (and sometimes hilariously failed).

I got chills the first time I noticed Naruto's eyes shift when he tapped into 'Sage Mode'—that visual change is such a cool shorthand for the show’s worldbuilding. When Naruto gathers natural energy (senjutsu) from the environment, his body actually starts to blend that energy with his regular chakra. That mixture alters his physiology in subtle ways, and the eye color and pupil shape are the clearest markers of that internal change. The orange-yellow tint and the toad-like pupils come from the influence of Mt. Myoboku's toad sages; it's like the body adapting to a new sensory mode. Beyond aesthetics, the eye alteration signals a functional upgrade: Naruto can sense chakra and subtle disturbances much better, his reflexes and power change, and the pigment/pupil shift is both symbolic and practical in the story. Mix in Kurama's chakra and the eyes can look different again, because combining natural energy with tailed-beast chakra produces a unique visual signature. It's a mix of biology, mystical rules, and artistic choice—Kishimoto uses eye color to tell us, instantly and without exposition, that Naruto is operating on a totally different level.

Honestly, one of the coolest things about 'Naruto' for me is how physical and spiritual ideas get mixed into ninja training, and that’s exactly why Naruto’s chakra responds so well to 'Sage Mode' training. At the simplest level, 'Sage Mode' isn’t magic — it’s the art of blending your own chakra with natural energy around you. You need to gather natural energy, balance it with your physical and spiritual chakra, and then fuse it so your entire system can use senjutsu. Naruto’s body makes that process far easier: he has a gigantic chakra pool and a crazy-strong life force thanks to his lineage and being a jinchūriki. That means he can hold and process more natural energy without being petrified like someone with a weaker life force might be. Training at Mount Myōboku was about learning to sit still, feel the air, and control the rhythm of your chakras. Fukasaku forced Naruto to calm down and actually sense the world — and that discipline is key. At first the Nine-Tails’ chakra was a huge interference (it’s noisy and imbalanced), so Naruto had to learn to separate or harmonize Kurama’s chakra while still drawing natural energy. His temperament—stubborn, huge reserves, and a healthy life force—let him absorb big amounts of natural energy and maintain balance. Later, after learning to cooperate with Kurama and getting blessings like Six Paths energy, his senjutsu compatibility just skyrocketed. I still get chills remembering the first time he actually pulled off full 'Sage Mode' in combat; it felt earned because of all those tiny, awkward training moments that eventually clicked for him.

I still get goosebumps watching the scene where everything clicks together for Naruto. It’s important to clear up a common mix-up first: Hagoromo Otsutsuki is the original Sage of Six Paths, an ancient figure who founded much of shinobi lore. Naruto didn’t literally turn into Hagoromo, but he was gifted Hagoromo’s chakra and authority, which let him access the Six Paths power. In the middle of the fight against Kaguya in 'Naruto Shippuden', Hagoromo appears in spirit and recognizes Naruto as the reincarnation of Asura. Because Naruto had already trained in natural senjutsu at Mount Myoboku and forged a bond with Kurama, Hagoromo chose him to inherit Asura’s legacy. He split his remaining chakra and gave half to Naruto (and half to Sasuke), boosting Naruto’s Sage Mode into what fans call Six Paths Sage Mode. That blessing granted Naruto phenomenal enhancements: access to all chakra natures, Yin–Yang Release-like abilities, levitation, dramatically amplified sensory perception, and the iconic Truth-Seeking Orbs. So, in my book, Naruto becomes a kind of spiritual successor rather than a reincarnation literal copy of Hagoromo. It’s the mix of his own growth, Kurama’s cooperation, and Hagoromo’s trust that elevates him to fight on a completely different level—and watching that transformation still makes me cheer every time.

Man, whenever I think about the Sage of Six Paths in 'Naruto' I get this giddy nerd-buzz—his toolkit is massive, but it's not untouchable. On the plus side he hands Naruto things like Six Paths Sage Mode: vastly amplified senses, flight, Yin–Yang Release that can cancel or heal ninjutsu, and those iconic Truth-Seeking Balls that nullify standard chakra techniques and reshape into lethal weapons. He also gives Naruto huge chakra reserves (part Kurama, part Hagoromo), healing boost, and a kind of battlefield omniscience that makes him a nightmare to sneak up on. That said, limits remain. Chakra is still finite: prolonged mega-jutsu or a multi-front war will drain him. Sealing techniques (classic handy tacticians love these), chakra absorption or redirection, and space–time ninjutsu can circumvent or trap him. Unique counters like dimension manipulation or abilities that bypass ninjutsu entirely (think of what Kaguya or certain Otsutsuki-level tech did) can nullify his advantages. Also, cooperation matters: he often needed a partner with complementary eyes or abilities to finish cosmic-level threats. So, ridiculously powerful? Yes. Omnipotent? No—strategy, sealing, and exotic jutsus can still win the day, especially if Naruto's reserves or allies are compromised.

The moment when Naruto finally gets the power associated with the Sage of Six Paths happens during the Fourth Great Ninja War arc in 'Naruto Shippuden', and it’s one of those goosebump-inducing turning points. To be more specific: after the whole Ten-Tails/Kaguya mess escalates and black Zetsu revives Kaguya, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki (the actual Sage of Six Paths) appears and bestows a portion of his chakra onto both Naruto and Sasuke. That grant of chakra is what unlocks Naruto’s Six Paths abilities—people usually call it Six Paths Sage Mode—giving him Truth-Seeking Balls, flight-like movement, massive boosts to sensory and healing powers, and access to Six Paths senjutsu. It’s not a power he randomly sprouted overnight; it’s a divine-level boost given by Hagoromo to help them seal Kaguya and restore balance. If you’re tracking Naruto’s power progression, it’s helpful to view this as an additive upgrade rather than a replacement. Before Hagoromo’s intervention, Naruto already had two major things working for him: the toad-derived Sage Mode from Mount Myōboku, and a gradually improving cooperative relationship with Kurama (the Nine-Tails). Hagoromo essentially recognized Naruto and Sasuke as spiritual heirs and split his chakra between them—Naruto got the yang/seal-ish aspects that synergized a lot with his Kurama partnership, while Sasuke got a lot of the ocular-related power pathway, which manifested as the Rinnegan in his left eye. The canonical moment you see Naruto display the new signature stuff—Truth-Seeking Orbs, being able to affect Kaguya with Six Paths chakra—is during the Kaguya confrontation itself, after Hagoromo’s blessing. That’s when the scale of his abilities visibly jumps and he can hold his own against divine-level threats. I’ll never forget how that scene hit me the first time—watching it with friends, everyone shouting at the TV when the Truth-Seeking Balls appeared, me clutching a bowl of popcorn like it was a prop. What’s great is that the narrative treats Hagoromo’s gift as both power and responsibility: it’s meant to balance Sasuke and Naruto so they can act as yin and yang together. Functionally, it answered a lot of plot questions (how to deal with Kaguya) and thematically capped Naruto’s growth from an underdog to a true spiritual successor. If you want exact episode/chapter timestamps, they’re in the late-war arc of 'Naruto Shippuden', but the gist is clear—Naruto receives the Sage of Six Paths-related chakra mid-to-late in the war when Hagoromo intervenes to empower both him and Sasuke for the final showdown. It’s one of those moments that roped in years of character growth into a single, powerful legacy transfer, and I still smile thinking about how perfectly it plays into Naruto’s whole journey.

There’s a particular thrill I still get watching the Kaguya showdown in 'Naruto Shippuden'—the whole fight feels like an existential test of everything Naruto learned about teamwork and willpower. From my perspective as a thirty-something who grew up reading the manga and bingeing the anime late at night, the comparison between Sage of Six Paths Naruto and Kaguya is less about raw numbers and more about what each represents: Naruto’s power is the culmination of human bonds and inherited divine power, while Kaguya is the raw, alien origin of chakra itself — cold, limitless, and fundamentally other. Kaguya’s toolkit is basically “reality-level” manipulation. She creates and shifts dimensions, fires planet-splitting beam attacks, absorbs chakra, and can instantly change the battlefield in ways that break standard ninja logic. Her Rinne Sharingan gives her enormous sensory reach and genjutsu-level control on a massive scale (hello, Infinite Tsukuyomi). Durability- and regeneration-wise she’s insane; she can take Rasenshuriken-level strikes and shrug them off by shifting dimensions or reforming. That makes her feel like a cosmic boss, an entity that doesn’t play by the same rules as normal shinobi fights. When I first read that chapter, I was half in awe and half panicking for Team 7 — she’s the kind of villain that forces the heroes to be creative rather than just overpowering her. Naruto as the Sage of Six Paths, though, is fascinating because his power is both divine and deeply human. Hagoromo’s chakra gives Naruto Six Paths Senjutsu, Truth-Seeking Balls, enormous boosts to his already crazy stamina thanks to Kurama, and an ability to infuse clones with real power. Beyond the toolkit, Naruto brings strategy, improvisation, and a stabilizing empathy — he can resist and undo certain genjutsu effects and, crucially, he can share chakra to support allies. The fights against Kaguya show that Naruto’s not winning by being a better god; he wins by combining his god-tier boost with teamwork (Sasuke’s space-time Rinnegan, Sakura’s strength and healing, tactical use of sealing techniques) and a refusal to give up. In raw destructive potential, Kaguya feels like she has the edge; in practical combat where sealing and coordinated tactics matter, Naruto’s Six Paths power is designed to counter her specific threats. If you’re into the meta side of things, it’s also meaningful how the story frames them: Kaguya is the origin of chakra, a near-mythic threat, while Naruto embodies the cycle’s hopeful resolution—Hagoromo’s power passed down, but remixed with human resilience. So yes, Kaguya is scarier on paper and more versatile in terms of dimension-warping and scale, but Sage of Six Paths Naruto is built to neutralize those exact attributes by amplifying shinobi virtues — resilience, friends, and sealing strategies — until even a near-godlike foe can be cornered and dealt with. Watching that sequence still gets my heart pounding; it’s a blend of spectacle and a reminder that power alone isn’t always the deciding factor, and that’s what I love about the way the fight plays out.