Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 189 Fearless

With Hyuga Kanan's breakthrough, his understanding and application of the wood element's rules reached a whole new level. The limitations that had previously bound him were easily broken, and his control over the wood element became beyond imagination. At this moment, the wood element power he unleashed had surpassed the limits in the ordinary sense, its strength comparable to Hashirama Senju's Wood Release when using Sage Mode.

At this moment, Hyuga Kanan seemed to have become the master of the wood element. He could manipulate it at will, making it act according to his own will. Every move he made contained boundless vitality, and the wood element shone with unprecedented brilliance in his hands. Whether in defense or offense, Hyuga Kanan's wood elemental power displayed astonishing might. His existence was like a dazzling light, illuminating the entire world.

Facing the numerous Cloud Ninja troops not far away, Hyuga Kanan had no intention of killing them. He simply wanted to intimidate these hot-tempered Cloud Ninja, make them clearly realize the gap in strength, and completely give up their covetousness of the Hyuga clan.

At this moment, the Cloud Ninja forces were utterly stunned by the wooden dragon displayed by Hyuga Kanan. Their will to resist crumbled instantly, and their weapons fell to the ground. Only now did these Cloud Ninja truly understand why their ancestors had been overwhelmed by the immense pressure of Senju Hashirama's power throughout the entire era. Such extraordinary ninjutsu, surpassing the limits of ninja, left them bewildered and at a loss for how to respond. More importantly, no one knew if this was the enemy's full strength. Although the Cloud Ninja's commander was equally stunned by the magnificent sight before him, as a high-ranking member of the Cloud Ninja Village, he would never easily admit defeat. He firmly believed that in the ninja world, no one could withstand an army composed of thousands of elite ninjas. Even someone like their Third Raikage, whose attack and defense surpassed the limits of ordinary ninjas, eventually succumbed to exhaustion and died facing the siege of countless Iwa ninjas. This undoubtedly proved that anyone still within the realm of humanity would inevitably be exhausted by a massive number of people.

What he needed now was to restore the morale of the Cloud Ninja troops and regain their confidence in fighting the enemy. He believed that as long as the Cloud Ninja troops were united and disregarded sacrifices, they could definitely wear down the enemy. Moreover, the use of ninjutsu of this scale would certainly be costly, and as long as the Cloud Ninja troops held their ground and continuously wore down the enemy, they would surely achieve final victory. He no longer stayed in the rear to command the battle, but went to the front lines to boost morale.

Hyuga Kanan did not rush to attack, but calmly observed the demoralized Cloud Ninja forces before him. He knew that the outcome of a war depended not only on the contest of strength, but more importantly on the mentality and strategic choices of both sides. At this moment, he hoped that the Cloud Ninja forces could recognize reality and voluntarily withdraw to the Cloud Village, thus ending this unnecessary conflict.

He firmly believed that the powerful ninjutsu he displayed in battle was enough to pose a significant deterrent to the Hidden Cloud Village. This would not only make them realize that the Hyuga clan's strength was not to be underestimated, but also buy the Hyuga clan valuable time and space for future development. However, just as Hyuga Kanan was confident that the Hidden Cloud Village would inevitably retreat, the commander of the Hidden Cloud Village forces rushed to the front lines.

The commander was anxious, but remained steadfast in his belief. Standing before the Cloud Ninja, his voice booming and passionate, he began to recount the founding principles of the Cloud Village and the struggles of their ancestors. He then recounted the heroic sacrifice of the Third Raikage on the battlefield of the Land of Earth, using this to inspire the Cloud Ninja forces: "We, the ninja of the Cloud Village, will never be inferior to anyone! Even when facing an enemy many times our size, we will never back down!"

His words were like a fire, igniting the fighting spirit deep within the hearts of the Cloud Ninja. They remembered their past glory and sacrifices, and felt the responsibility and mission of being Cloud Ninja. Their previously low morale gradually rose, and the warriors' eyes regained their resolute light.

At this moment, Hyuga Kanan realized that the Cloud Ninja forces had not easily given in; they still possessed a tenacious fighting spirit. This conflict was perhaps far more complex than he had imagined.

In reality, when it comes to large-scale army warfare, Kumogakure (the Hidden Cloud Village) simply cannot compare to Iwagakure (the Hidden Stone Village). While Kumogakure ninjas might have an advantage in individual combat against Iwagakure, once their numbers reach a certain scale, the combined Earth Release techniques used by Iwagakure far surpass those of Kumogakure in both power and range. This is because Lightning Release techniques have always focused on single-target attacks, requiring the concentration of power on a single point to maximize destructive force. This characteristic makes them far less effective in large-scale battles than wide-range Earth Release techniques that can alter the entire battlefield's course. Furthermore, Kumogakure ninjas are clearly inferior to Iwagakure ninjas in attrition and encirclement of individually powerful ninjas.

But how could the ninjas of Kumogakure possibly admit that their village was inferior to Iwagakure? Moreover, what was needed now was to boost the morale and fighting spirit of the Kumogakure troops, and the Kumogakure commander had clearly done an excellent job. After his words of encouragement, the Kumogakure troops visibly regained their fighting spirit, displaying expressions of resignation, clearly determined to continue fighting Hyuga Kanan, hoping to replicate the victory of the Iwagakure ninja who had worn down the Third Raikage.

Hyuga Kanan frowned slightly as he looked at the Cloud Ninja troops before him, their fighting spirit rekindled. After years of self-cultivation, he was no longer as bloodthirsty as he once was, nor did he wish to excessively slaughter these people. Even though he knew that absorbing more ninja souls to refine energy would allow him to accelerate his cultivation, he had never intended to kill them easily from the beginning.

Deep down, Hyuga Kanan firmly believed that there's no such thing as a free lunch. While the World Will had granted him the ability to refine ninja souls, accelerating his training, he knew there was some conspiracy or scheme hidden behind it. He understood that the World Will wouldn't let him benefit without reason, and unexpected events would surely follow.

After all, to this world, she was merely an outsider. The world's will couldn't allow her to continuously increase her strength without any defenses, even if it was to defend against the enemy attempting to seize her. Therefore, Hyuga Kanan remained vigilant, carefully observing everything around her and contemplating how to deal with potential challenges and crises in the future.

Knowing that Hyuga Kanan, once fully grown, might very well do the same thing as the person hiding behind the scenes—possess this world! He knew very well that the world's will would not trust him so easily. After all, as the dominant consciousness of the entire world, it shouldn't possess feelings like "trust." Therefore, it was obvious that some kind of backup plan was silently waiting for him. Since his cultivation techniques and knowledge all came from the Qiankun Inheritance Jade, the world's will probably have little trickery up its sleeve in this regard. After much thought, the most likely point of attack was undoubtedly the area where the ninja's soul energy was refined. There must be some mysteries hidden there that he couldn't yet comprehend, and these mysteries might be the key the world's will used to control or even punish him. Therefore, it was best to be cautious and not excessively absorb and refine the ninjas' soul energy, lest he be tricked by the world's will.

However, the Cloud Ninjas appearing before him now were clearly no longer as easily demoralized as before. Their expressions revealed that many were prepared to sacrifice themselves. Clearly, they were attempting to gradually deplete Hyuga Kanan's power through such sacrifice.

Seeing this, Hyuga Kanan felt a surge of anger. He felt these Cloud Ninja were utterly ungrateful. The reason he hadn't attacked earlier was that he hoped they would back down, thus reducing his own bloodshed. But things hadn't gone as planned. Given the current situation, he probably had no choice but to harden his heart and take action. Only by making them clearly realize the vast difference in strength between them would they possibly choose to retreat.

As the Cloud Ninja forces surged towards him like a tidal wave once again, the trace of kindness in Hyuga Kanan's eyes vanished, replaced by endless indifference and resolve! The originally calm chakra energy within his body instantly became agitated, as if sensing the change in its master's state of mind, flowing and surging wildly through his meridians.

Along with this surge of powerful energy, the giant dragon that had been quietly coiled beneath Hyuga Kanan's feet let out an angry roar! Then, like an arrow released from a bow, it charged straight at the oncoming Cloud Ninja!

The colossal dragon's massive body blotted out the sky, covering the large number of Cloud Ninjas charging at the forefront. Its body thrashed about, each swing creating gusts of wind that mercilessly crushed any Cloud Ninjas who tried to approach! In just a short moment, the battlefield was littered with severed limbs and blood, staining the entire land crimson.

However, although these Cloud Ninja soldiers were also shocked by such a terrifying attack, they showed no sign of retreat or fear! Wielding various ninja tools, they continued to charge forward fearlessly! At the same time, the Cloud Ninjas standing at the rear were also constantly releasing various ninjutsu, raining down on the giant dragon's massive body like a storm, attempting to inflict some damage on it.

However, it was clear that this level of ninjutsu attack wouldn't cause any damage to Hyuga Kanan's wooden dragon; it would only produce a few splinters, which would quickly be repaired by energy. The charging Cloud Ninja obviously knew there was no need to attack the wooden dragon, and instead rushed towards Hyuga Kanan. However, just trying to break through the wooden dragon's massive body resulted in heavy casualties.