Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 24 The Shadow's Combat Power

Many people appeared around Hyuga Kanan, including Yamanaka Ryuichi and the ANBU members. This situation occurred around every member of the Hyuga clan.

Yamanaka Ryuichi glanced at the people surrounding Hyuga Kanan, who looked like they wanted to speak but were too embarrassed to. He was in the same team as Kanan and they were fairly familiar with each other, so he took the initiative to ask on their behalf:

"Chia-Nan, what's the situation over there? Do we need to send reinforcements immediately?"

The Anbu members around them were also keeping a close eye on Hyuga Kanan, wanting him to tell them about the situation on the battlefield. After all, Kanan was the Third Hokage's prized disciple, and most importantly, Tsunade was still there. If anything happened to her, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire would lose faith in Konoha's fighting strength.

Hyuga Kanan was also observing the situation on the battlefield with his Byakugan.

Under the Byakugan's observation, Hanzo of the Salamander was suppressing the three Konoha members, gaining the upper hand. However, this was only a slight advantage; Orochimaru and his companions, relying on their excellent teamwork, could barely manage to hold their own. But if the battle dragged on too long, there was a high possibility of casualties. After all, the attacker was stronger than the defender, and defense can never remain flawless indefinitely. Both physical and mental exertion were far greater for the struggling defenders. A single mistake could expose a weakness in the defense, leading to its complete collapse.

Seeing that Hyuga Kanan did not answer immediately, Yamanaka Ryuichi continued to press:

"What's the situation? Judging from the strength of Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, they should be able to deal with Hanzo of the Salamander, who is only one person, right? After all, he is the disciple of the Third Hokage, so he should have many trump cards, right?"

Hyuga Kanan's attention was interrupted by Yamanaka Ryuichi's words. He shook his head at Yamanaka Ryuichi and said, "The situation over there isn't good. The three of us are completely suppressed and can only passively defend. The main problem is that the other side has summoned a giant summoning beast that can not only hide underground and launch sneak attacks at any time, but also spray a large amount of poisonous mist, which can only be dispersed with powerful wind release. This forces the three of us to expend a lot of chakra to use wind release. The other side has the advantage in speed, strength, and chakra, and the rhythm of the attack is entirely in their hands."

"Hmm? Have we fallen into a disadvantageous position?" Yamanaka Ryuichi asked in surprise.

"It seems we need to go and provide support immediately. We also need to gather a large number of Wind Release ninjas to ensure that we can suppress that giant summoning beast on the other side. I will notify the command center immediately and have them arrange personnel to go there as soon as possible."

The Anbu members nearby also heard Hyuga Kanan's words and immediately made arrangements with their comrades. They glanced at Hyuga Kanan again, a hint of worry in their eyes. After all, he was the Hokage's prized disciple and a rare talent in Konoha. It would be troublesome if he were to suffer casualties before reaching his peak.

As the message was relayed, it quickly reached the command center. Less than five minutes later, the command issued an order requiring all Chunin and above ninjas to go and provide support. All Hyuga clan ninjas were to go to provide vision and intelligence support for the giant summoning beast that could only burrow underground.

Meanwhile, the Rain Ninja on the scene were imprisoned on the spot, their chakra sealed, and gathered together and handed over to the Genin for safekeeping.

Soon, the support team completed its assembly and headed towards the battlefield one kilometer away to provide assistance.

Extremely fast speed, completely abandoning the need to conceal their presence!

Hyuga Kanan, still with his Byakugan activated, sped along while watching the fight between Hanzo of the Salamander and Orochimaru.

Jiraiya's chest bulged, and his lips parted sharply, unleashing a massive, cannonball-like flame towards Hanzo of the Salamander. Orochimaru, standing nearby, raised his already prepared hand seals and used a C-rank ninjutsu, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!", converging the flames to complete the combination ninjutsu. Instantly, the wind fueled the fire, more than doubling the already enormous flameball's size, greatly increasing its speed and coverage. Hanzo was engulfed by flames nearly a hundred meters high, and the surrounding rainwater and stagnant water evaporated instantly, quickly leaving the ground scorched and cracked.

The moment Hanzo the Salamander arrived, his figure vanished. Even Hyuga Kanan, observing with his Byakugan, couldn't clearly see his direction of movement. This speed exceeded Hyuga Kanan's physical reflexes; at this speed, one could only catch a glimpse of him before reacting based on battlefield experience.

Clearly, if Hyuga Kanan were to fight someone of this caliber now, even if his soul power could lock onto the target's figure and attack pattern, his body would absolutely be unable to react in time.

However, just because their bodies couldn't react in time didn't mean Orochimaru and the other two couldn't. Even if they couldn't see it with their eyes, their keen senses and physical experience allowed them to quickly adopt a defensive stance, with Tsunade even violently slamming her fist into the ground.

Tsunade slammed her fist into the ground, creating a wide crack that shot towards her fist. A section of the ground was also blasted away, flying towards Orochimaru and his companion's right. Orochimaru, completely trusting his teammates, neither dodged nor evaded, but instead quickly formed hand seals, preparing to unleash a ninjutsu.

Orochimaru raised his right arm and swung it sharply in the direction he had flown towards the ground: "Wind Release - Wind Blade!"

The chakra emanating from his fingertips was like a sharp knife, a small yet incredibly sharp gust of wind, like an extremely sharp blade, swept across that direction at great speed, covering a distance of nearly ten meters to the right.

A figure appeared in the direction of the wind blades, paused slightly, and activated the Instantaneous Movement Technique again. The chaotic wind blades grazed the figure's direction, but still failed to hit it.

Hanzo of the Salamander easily dodged Orochimaru's Wind Release, his figure quickly appearing behind Orochimaru, his scythe slashing fiercely at Orochimaru.

The speed was so fast that Orochimaru, who had just used a ninjutsu, had no chance to dodge! But Jiraiya, who had been on the defensive, reacted immediately and moved behind Orochimaru, raising his arms to block him.

"Clang!" The scythe clashed with the metal armor on Jiraiya's arm, producing a metallic clang, and Jiraiya was sent flying. Tsunade also unleashed a fierce punch at Hanzo of the Salamander, who had paused in the impact.

Hanzo of the Salamander used another Body Flicker Technique to dodge Tsunade's fist once more. Orochimaru also extended his right hand, and several thin snakes appeared from his arm, quickly extending out and wrapping around Jiraiya, who had been knocked away, pulling Jiraiya back to his side and allowing him to stand steadily again.

Jiraiya returned to Orochimaru's side, panting heavily, still shaken. His clash with Hanzo of the Salamander had been incredibly close; he had barely managed to parry the slash with his arm armor, but the difference in strength was too great. He had been sent flying and lost his balance. If Orochimaru hadn't pulled him back in time, he would likely have been the next target. After all, losing balance immediately meant he couldn't defend himself and could have been severely injured.

The battle continues.

Hyuga Kanan swallowed hard, feeling somewhat alarmed. Orochimaru and his companions had done a near-perfect job, but they were still being suppressed by Hanzo of the Salamander. If they weren't careful, they would be severely injured or killed.

Suddenly, Hyuga Kanan saw a giant beast moving towards Orochimaru and his two companions from the ground. However, the three of them seemed unaware of it. Unfortunately, he couldn't warn them now and could only worry about them in silence.

As expected, Hanzo's summoning beast, the Salamander, suddenly emerged from the ground and rammed into the three of them. Jiraiya reacted a little too slowly and was sent flying by the impact, while Orochimaru and Tsunade dodged it immediately and moved towards Jiraiya.

Sure enough, just as Jiraiya landed and before he could even get up, a sharp scythe slashed down at him.

Jiraiya reacted quickly. He knew that the moment he fell would be the moment his opponent attacked, so he could only instinctively twist his body to avoid his vital points as much as possible.

The scythe still came down, instantly slicing a huge wound on Jiraiya's waist, from which blood gushed out.

Orochimaru and Tsunade attacked simultaneously, repelling Hanzo. Orochimaru stood in front of Jiraiya to protect him, while Tsunade immediately crouched down, her hands radiating chakra, and reached towards Jiraiya's wounds to examine and treat him.

Hanzo instantly returned to his position atop the salamander's head, silently observing the three people opposite him without launching an attack immediately.

The light rain was still falling. The battlefield looked as if it had been saturated with missiles, with cracks and craters everywhere, and wisps of white smoke rising from it.

The rain intensified, turning from a light drizzle into a downpour, and then Hanzo the Salamander made his move.

Hanzo crouched down slightly, patted the salamander at his feet, then stood up and began forming hand seals. The salamander immediately opened its gaping maw.

Instantly, the salamander spewed out a large amount of poisonous mist, enveloping Orochimaru and his two companions.

Orochimaru, disregarding the need to conserve chakra, formed hand seals, instantly creating a whirlwind that blew towards the approaching poisonous mist. The poisonous mist and the whirlwind met, the howling wind dispersing the mist.

Hanzo remained atop the salamander's head, smiling gently as he activated the technique he had prepared.

The poisonous mist spewed out by the salamander immediately became even thicker and sprayed towards the three of them at high speed, forming a compressed water column that broke through Orochimaru's wind release and spread around them.

When the poisonous fog completely enveloped the area where the three of them were, they quickly used the Instantaneous Movement Technique to leave the area, but they still inhaled some of the poisonous gas, and their bodies gradually became numb, affecting their movement speed and reaction speed.

Hanzo formed another hand seal, and his figure instantly chased after the three figures. Another series of metallic clanging sounds rang out as the figures clashed repeatedly. The battle intensified.

The constant, rapid movement and exchange of blows between the two sides, with occasional use of ninjutsu interspersed with taijutsu, created a dazzling spectacle.

Upon hearing the report from the Hyuga clan members beside him, the leader of the ANBU at the front immediately waved his hand, signaling them to speed up and reach the battlefield as quickly as possible to support Orochimaru and his companions.

Soon, the Konoha members arrived at the battlefield and saw Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, all in a sorry state, supporting each other and panting heavily.

Hyuga Kanan watched the entire battle between the two using his Byakugan and soul power. It can only be said that Hanzo truly deserves the title of demigod, possessing Kage-level combat power, and not just any ordinary Kage.

He has no weaknesses in taijutsu, ninjutsu, or experience. Is this the true fighting power of a Kage in the ninja world?

Hyuga Kanan also assessed the strength of the ninja he wanted to fight against, concluding that he would need to reach the peak of the Innate Realm to have the ability to defeat him.

Hanzo turned around and stood atop the head of his summoning beast, the Salamander. He surveyed the Konoha members who had come to his aid, and immediately understood. He then focused his gaze back on the three disheveled figures and uttered the classic line from the original story:

"It seems the Leaf Village ninjas have won this war, so I'll let you go this time. From now on, I, Hanzo, will call you the Legendary Sannin of Leaf Village. As the price for your survival, each of you must bear your own honor!"

After saying that, he used a teleportation technique to leave the scene.

These words signify the surrender of the Rain Ninja, and Konoha has won a victory over the Rain Ninja of the Land of Rain.

Immediately, the ninjas on the scene cheered. They had won the war against the Rain Ninja.