Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 110 The Impact of the War

Hyuga Kanan merely glanced at the few people present, nodded to Orochimaru, and then drifted away from the air towards the Hyuga clan.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was extremely ugly. Hyuga Kanan's attitude and behavior showed him no respect whatsoever as the Hokage of Konoha. He left without even the most basic respect.

Watching Hyuga Kanan's departing figure, Tsunade clenched her fists tightly. After glancing casually at her teacher, she went to Hatake Sakumo's side and helped him up to leave.

Jiraiya said nothing and followed closely behind Tsunade.

Orochimaru, with a smile on his face, disappeared without even saying goodbye to Hiruzen Sarutobi. He needed to go down and study the findings of the battle; he didn't have time to waste words with his teacher.

The surrounding ninjas, seeing that the incident was over, quickly disappeared. They didn't want to face the wrath of the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, so it was best to leave as soon as possible.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face had turned ashen, and anger was burning in his eyes. He could no longer maintain the fake, benevolent expression he had been putting on for so long. After waving to the ANBU ninja beside him, he quickly headed towards the Hokage Building.

Back in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi's worries intensified. Through his observations over the past few days, he no longer had any concerns about Hyuga Kanan. While Kanan was incredibly powerful, he showed absolutely no interest in Konoha's power struggles, posing no threat to his position. As long as Konoha didn't bother him, Kanan wouldn't even bother with Konoha. However, Sakumo Hatake, who had displayed his full strength today, was the most troublesome opponent. Sakumo wielded immense influence in Konoha in terms of both strength and reputation, and had displayed formidable power. Moreover, Sakumo was considered the Daimyo's top choice for Hokage, with numerous supporters, and most importantly, he had expressed his desire for the Hokage position. Now, it could be said that Sakumo had become the greatest threat to his own Hokage status.

If he wants to keep his position as Hokage, he must quickly find a way to disqualify Sakumo Hatake from becoming Hokage.

"It seems I need to have a serious talk with Danzo about how to deal with Sakumo Hatake."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office chair with a worried expression, his mind racing.

Although Danzo also harbored ambitions for the Hokage position, Danzo remained under Danzo's control, someone Danzo could manipulate at any time, leaving him no chance. Most importantly, even if Danzo became Hokage, it wouldn't affect the interests of their group.

Furthermore, it wouldn't be convenient for the Hokage to personally orchestrate the plan against Sakumo Hatake, making Danzo the best candidate. Danzo, already disreputable in Konoha, would be the one to plot against Sakumo, preventing others from blaming him. For the sake of Konoha's stability, others wouldn't easily cause trouble or harm the village.

Meanwhile, Tsunade was also talking with Sakumo Hatake, discussing the impact of Sakumo Hatake's actions against Kanan Hyuga that day.

"Brother Hatake Sakumo, how did you end up clashing with Hyuga Kanan? And right here in the village."

Tsunade grumbled, clearly displeased that Sakumo Hatake had clashed with Kanan Hyuga today. She believed it would affect Sakumo's future succession to the Hokage position, especially since Kanan was now a member of the powerful Hyuga clan of Konoha, and his influence within the clan was growing. Today's battle might shake the Hyuga clan's long-standing neutrality in Konoha, leading them to oppose Sakumo's claim to the Hokage position.

Don't underestimate the influence of a powerful clan on Konoha. Moreover, the Hyuga clan ninjas already hold a special position among all Konoha ninjas, and are teammates with many Konoha ninjas. If they clearly express their opposition to Sakumo Hatake becoming Hokage, it will still affect the attitude of many Konoha ninjas.

"I believe Hyuga Kanan has already affected the stability of Konoha, and he even attacked Konoha ninjas, which is why I couldn't help but take action against him. Furthermore, I believe that whether or not one becomes Hokage should not affect the stability of Konoha. If my existence affects the stability of Konoha, then I will give up becoming Hokage immediately. We can't disregard the stability and safety of Konoha just because we want to become Hokage, Tsunade!"

Sakumo Hatake spoke firmly, his face serious, and earnestly addressed Tsunade, saying that this was the principle and ninja way he had always adhered to.

Tsunade was momentarily at a loss for words when it came to answering Sakumo Hatake. The Senju clan had been very active lately, constantly emphasizing the benefits of Sakumo becoming Hokage to the Daimyo in the Fire Country capital, putting increasing pressure on Konoha and indeed affecting the village's stability. In Tsunade's heart, becoming Hokage wasn't that important, but Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions in Konoha over the years had made her dissatisfied with her teacher.

Not only were they constantly eliminating the Senju clan's influence in Konoha, but they also used their power to continuously channel Konoha's overall interests into their own interest group, strengthening their own group. Of course, Tsunade didn't care about any of this, but the fact that they were secretly researching her grandfather's body greatly displeased her. However, their carelessness in allowing Wood Release to reappear in Konoha left Tsunade powerless to stop them. After all, the reappearance of Wood Release in Konoha would be extremely beneficial for the entire village, and it would also dispel the external threats that were eyeing Konoha covetously.

The current Konoha feels increasingly unfamiliar to Tsunade; the unity and harmony of the past are completely gone. This has led her to believe that perhaps a new Hokage could restore Konoha to its former glory, which is why she explicitly supported Sakumo Hatake's succession. Based on Tsunade's understanding of Sakumo, his personality and mindset are very suitable for the Hokage position, and it's highly likely that his ascension could restore Konoha to its former state.

Unfortunately, neither Tsunade nor anyone else expected that Hiruzen Sarutobi had no intention of relinquishing his position as Hokage. The current turmoil was completely beyond Tsunade's expectations.

Sakumo Hatake's actions today caught Tsunade and the others completely off guard. However, the strength he displayed today greatly inspired them.

Although they did not defeat Hyuga Kanan, the strength they displayed far exceeded their understanding of Kage-level powerhouses. It can be said that the strength shown by Hatake Sakumo and Hyuga Kanan today has completely exceeded people's assessment of Kage-level combat power, and may have approached the strength of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the Asura of the Shinobi World, Uchiha Madara.

Moreover, Sakumo Hatake gives the impression that he is far from reaching his peak and can continue to grow, potentially becoming the next God of Shinobi.

As for Hyuga Kanan, they hadn't been idle during this time either. They had been constantly investigating his behavior and personality traits, and finally concluded that he was a complete cultivation fanatic who wasn't interested in power or management. He usually cultivated quietly by himself. As long as they didn't interfere with him, they could simply ignore him.

They all subconsciously didn't want Hyuga Kanan to become their opponent, nor was there any need for him to become an enemy. Moreover, the talent and effort he displayed made it highly likely he would become the strongest ninja in the world. However, he seemed completely uninterested in anything related to the ninja world, making him completely unfathomable to those of them who were studying him.

However, the fact that Sakumo Hatake could grow to a level where he could rival him reassured his supporters. Even if Kanan Hyuga became like Madara Uchiha, Konoha could still produce someone like Sakumo Hatake, comparable to Hashirama Senju.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had already returned to his laboratory. He took out the scroll containing the fundamental mechanisms of ninjutsu that Hyuga Kanan had given him. After seeing Hyuga Kanan use Ice Release ninjutsu today, he realized that he had underestimated the potential of the knowledge in this scroll. If the knowledge in this scroll were studied properly, then the so-called elemental bloodline ninjutsu would no longer be something that could only be inherited through bloodlines and that other ninjas could not master.

The scroll explained that ninjutsu is essentially a technique for applying rules. By learning, understanding, and analyzing these attribute rules, one can unleash corresponding ninjutsu. It also described how to learn and analyze attribute rules. This made Orochimaru realize that what Hyuga Kanan had learned and mastered went far beyond the ninjutsu learned by ninjas. It was a fundamental understanding of how ninjutsu operated, far beyond simply mastering the form and nature changes of attributes; it was a deeper analysis of the operational rules of attributes.

Of course, this kind of learning and analysis is extremely difficult. But Orochimaru is a renowned genius ninja of Konoha, and he is very confident in his learning abilities. He believes that as long as he spends the time, he will definitely be able to understand and master the secrets. This is confidence in his learning talent; after all, he has never felt that there is any knowledge he cannot learn, only whether it is suitable for him or not.

Even the Flying Thunder God Technique, Konoha's most notoriously difficult space-time ninjutsu, was one he was confident he could learn. However, the techniques within it were completely unsuitable for his body. The Flying Thunder God Technique required exceptionally strong nerve reflexes and the body's ability to adapt to space, qualities largely innate, though they could be cultivated over an extremely long period. Therefore, for Orochimaru, learning such a technique was a complete waste of time; he could acquire far more knowledge. But what Hyuga Kanan gave him, once mastered, meant he had completely grasped all the rules governing this elemental attribute, allowing him to freely utilize all its transformations.