Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 125 Minato Namikaze

The scene fell silent, save for the mournful cries of the Iwa ninja who had collapsed to the ground.

The young Konoha ninja couldn't help but swallow hard, staring blankly at the battlefield not far away, before his gaze settled on the blond-haired youth who had stopped. For the first time, he realized that ninjutsu could be so elegant and graceful, rather than terrifying and violent. Although both were extremely bloody and cruel, this elegant and graceful method of combat was simply art.

The young ninja couldn't help but ask his excited captain, "What's going on? We can't see the killing methods at all, we can only see countless yellow flashes. So many Iwa ninjas on the other side have been taken care of. This is simply unbelievable."

The captain revealed a smug expression, but couldn't help but excitedly explain to the young ninja beside him, "No matter how many times I've seen it, it's still incredibly awe-inspiring. This is the Flying Thunder God Technique, a ninjutsu used by the Second Hokage. Although I don't know what level of ninjutsu it is, its extreme speed is still so elegant and gorgeous. He is also the first genius to learn this ninjutsu since the Second Hokage, and the strongest genius ninja in our Konoha Village."

"With such ninjutsu, who in the ninja world could be a match for this master? This kind of attack is so powerful that even a large number of ninjas couldn't possibly withstand it!"

The young ninja couldn't help but feel envious. The ninja opposite him, roughly the same age, had dealt with so many Iwa ninjas in the blink of an eye. With that, Konoha was bound to win this war. In his eyes, no one in the ninja world could withstand this man's attack with such incredible speed. If this man went to another battlefield, the war would end quickly.

"Of course, this man is a disciple of Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. His strength is naturally formidable. In fact, I believe he has completely surpassed his master, Jiraiya, and become the strongest ninja in our Konoha Village."

The captain couldn't help but praise him. He had been a ninja for over 20 years and was already a Special Jonin. He had followed Jiraiya in many battles and had witnessed Jiraiya's formidable strength firsthand. However, compared to this disciple of Jiraiya, his efficiency in killing enemies was far inferior. This was why he believed that the person before him was already on par with his teacher, Jiraiya.

Not far away, Hyuga Kanan, like a greedy reaper, devoured the insignificant soul energy on the battlefield while meticulously studying the Flying Thunder God Technique that Namikaze Minato had just used. In reality, they had overestimated Namikaze Minato's strength. Perhaps few in Konoha could match his efficiency in clearing out weaker ninjas. After all, with his extreme speed, weaker ninjas were simply unable to resist or react to his attacks, allowing him to easily dispatch them like slicing vegetables. However, Namikaze Minato was not without weaknesses. At this extreme speed, he lacked powerful offensive methods, relying solely on simple kunai to kill enemy ninjas, which presented a fatal problem. Against ninjas skilled in defense, even without a Kage-level expert, even a regular Jonin would be difficult for Namikaze Minato to defeat easily. While his opponent couldn't attack him, he couldn't defeat them either, forced to rely on a prolonged battle to see who would give in first. When facing a powerful Kage-level ninja, a ninja like Minato Namikaze, whose offensive capabilities are weak, will have his weaknesses magnified instantly. Every truly strong ninja has no obvious weaknesses; even if they aren't the most outstanding in every aspect, they must at least reach a certain level. Clearly, Minato Namikaze is far from having grown to the point where he can contend with a Kage-level expert.

At least in Hyuga Kanan's eyes, he had many ways to defeat, or even kill, a ninja of Minato Namikaze's caliber. The Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't an invincible ninjutsu. While Minato was highly proficient in it and his talent was perfectly suited to it—his natural reflexes were incredibly fast—a large-scale, area-of-effect ninjutsu could easily keep him at bay, and he could even use his powerful defenses to seize the opportunity to counterattack the moment Minato attacked. Furthermore, Hyuga Kanan's spiritual senses could completely lock onto Minato's figure; unless Minato constantly used spatial manipulation, he would inevitably be affected by the powerful attack.

Minato Namikaze was far from being able to compare with a ninja of the same caliber as Sakumo Hatake. In fact, if Sakumo Hatake were still alive, Minato Namikaze would likely be killed within a few rounds against a ninja whose attack power had reached its peak. It should be noted that Sakumo Hatake's ultimate attack could even shatter space, making him extremely effective against ninjas who used space-time ninjutsu.

However, Minato Namikaze's talent cannot be denied. He's still quite inexperienced, but his growth rate is astonishing. If he continues to develop and overcomes his current weaknesses, he can secure a place among Kage-level shinobi. Even if he's not defeated, he can remain undefeated against these powerful figures.

Minato Namikaze is clearly still in a period of rapid growth. Whether it's his chakra reserves, combat experience, or methods of dealing with enemies, he has not yet reached his peak.

Furthermore, he has a powerful mentor like Jiraiya to guide him, and abundant Konoha resources to support his growth. Add to that his spatial abilities, which even Hyuga Kanan greatly envies, and it shouldn't be a problem for him to grow into a ninja surpassing Hiruzen Sarutobi. However, all of this will require time.

Although Hyuga Kanan and Namikaze Minato are roughly the same age, and Kanan might even have less combat experience, Kanan has never been someone with a natural talent for combat. From the moment he grew up, he didn't rely on combat experience or fighting techniques to directly confront strong opponents. He always relied on his powerful divine sense to sense and lock onto his enemies, and then used the powerful rules of a cultivator to fight them. The locking of his divine sense allowed Kanan to perceive all of his enemies' movements, and the powerful rules ensured that he had an advantage in attack. This was the source of Kanan's confidence in confronting Hatake Sakumo head-on.

If Orochimaru and other powerful figures possessed Hyuga Kanan's strength, there would likely be few in the ninja world who could rival them. However, Hyuga Kanan only reached a level where he could contend with them, which suggests that he lacked talent in combat, and his combat intelligence was far inferior to that of these geniuses.

However, Minato Namikaze completely surpassed Kanan Hyuga in this aspect, and even surpassed many renowned and powerful ninjas. At his current level, Minato's strength is at most that of an elite Jonin, close to Kage level. But the power he displayed far exceeded that level. This is the result of Minato's combat talent.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and Hyuga Kanan is still wandering among various battlefields, hiding in the shadows and silently absorbing the soul energy of those who died on the battlefield.

During that battle, Minato Namikaze instantly killed more than 50 Iwa ninja teams, including some of the more elite Iwa ninja teams, which made Minato Namikaze famous in this war.

Furthermore, the Fire Country Daimyo's growing dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude has even affected the entire Hidden Leaf Village, making Hiruzen realize he can no longer serve as Hokage, as this would cause resentment among all the ninjas in the village. Therefore, he is now considering who should succeed him as Hokage. Such a ninja is extremely difficult to find in Hiruzen, as even if he becomes Hokage, Hiruzen wouldn't relinquish his power or willingly become his puppet. In fact, Hiruzen's most desired candidate is Jiraiya. Jiraiya deeply loves Hiruzen but has little interest in power. If Jiraiya becomes Hokage, the power of the Hokage would remain in Hiruzen's hands. However, Jiraiya's repeated refusals have made Hiruzen realize that Jiraiya truly has no interest in becoming Hokage. However, the appearance of Minato Namikaze, who was deeply influenced by Jiraiya, stirred up Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts again. In terms of both talent and strength, the other party was a perfect successor to the Hokage, and his personality was completely inherited from Jiraiya. Therefore, if the other party became the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi could still retain the power in his hands.

Thus, Minato Namikaze has become a household name in Konoha. Previously, it was all about promoting his talent. But this time, Minato's single-handedly defeating over 50 Iwa ninja will truly qualify him to become Hokage. Coupled with Hiruzen Sarutobi's efforts in promoting him, Minato's chances of inheriting the Hokage position are at least 80%.

On the battlefield, although Konoha ninjas have withstood the attacks of various ninja villages, the fact remains that their borders have been breached. Moreover, the situation on the battlefield has not improved at all, and Konoha is already facing a shortage of ninjas.

After more than a year of fighting, both sides have suffered considerable losses on various battlefields, but Konoha is facing multiple battlefields. The losses on each battlefield have been substantial, and combined, Konoha has been severely weakened. Yet, there is still no sign of victory. Most importantly, the turmoil caused by the death of the Third Raikage in the battle between Kumogakure and Iwagakure has gradually subsided, and Kumogakure is now planning to rejoin the battle. However, instead of retaliating against Iwagakure for the killing of the Third Raikage, they intend to join the attack on Konoha. The mobilization of various forces indicates an impending offensive against Konoha.