Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 23 The Real War

Hyuga Kanan, the ascetic, felt somewhat distressed looking at the scene before him.

Following the ANBU's gesture, the group began to advance, preparing to rendezvous with the Konoha ninja on the opposite side.

Moonlight Flame was wielding his long sword, finishing off the wailing Rain Ninja lying on the ground, while Yuan Feiquanxiong beside him was also holding a kunai, constantly slitting the Rain Ninja's throat.

Everyone else around did the same, except for Hyuga Kanan, who just stared blankly at everything without making a move.

Hyuga Kanan's mind was now filled with thoughts of how war revealed the full extent of human evil, devoid of any compassion or kindness, only endless slaughter. Even those who had fallen and were screaming in agony were ruthlessly slit in the throat, their lives taken without hesitation, no different from wild beasts in the wilderness, all turned into bloodthirsty monsters.

A pale blue water needle suddenly shot towards Hyuga Kanan Expressway without warning! It was so fast that it was about to strike his vitals in the blink of an eye.

"Snap!" In the critical moment, Yamanaka Ryuichi suddenly appeared beside Hyuga Kanan, scattering the water needles that were attacking him with a wave of his hand. Hyuga Kanan looked at the small hole in his clothes and the blood trickling from his chest, and he was still shaken.

"Tsk! You're lucky!" Seeing that the Water Needle hadn't succeeded in its sneak attack, the Rain Ninja lying on the ground, bleeding from several shuriken stuck in his body, said with some regret.

"You don't have time to stand around here! This is a battlefield!" Yamanaka Ryuichi roared angrily at Hyuga Kanan, throwing a kunai at the edge of his hand. Ever since entering the battlefield, Yamanaka Ryuichi had been distracted by his squad's newest member, and he almost had him die right before his eyes! And he died while he was distracted.

"Pfft!" Faced with the kunai flying at lightning speed, the Rain Ninja lying on the ground was powerless to dodge. The kunai pierced through his throat, and he instantly fell to the ground and died.

Looking at the Rain Ninja lying dead on the ground, blood flowing from his throat, Hyuga Kanan felt somewhat disheartened. Despite being severely injured, the Rain Ninja had still managed to launch a sneak attack on him with ninjutsu. If the opponent had saved his strength and pretended to be dead, he might have been able to survive. However, the sneak attack that delivered a fatal blow to him exposed his chance of survival.

Isn't it better to be alive? Even if he ambushed and killed Hyuga Kanan, he would still be killed directly by other Konoha ninjas, yet he still launched an attack.

What kind of hatred could there be? Even though Hyuga Kanan and the other party had never met and didn't know each other at all, he still wanted to take them down with him.

"Wake up, Jianan! Don't throw your life away here so easily."

Ryuichi Yamanaka loudly reminded Kanan Hyuga to concentrate and not to daydream or lose focus in such a dangerous place as the battlefield, as he couldn't always save him.

The team quickly cleared out the remaining Rain Ninja and joined up with the Konoha team on the front lines who were also attacking the Rain Ninja. At the same time, they surrounded the Rain Ninja in the distance, forcing them into a retreat.

The Konoha ninja's tactic at the front was to eliminate the Rain Ninja on this battlefield as quickly as possible and then go to support the three disciples of the Third Hokage who were not far away.

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade are currently holding off Hanzo, the leader of the Rain Village, a ninja known as a demigod. The Konoha ninja can only try to eliminate these Rain Village ninja as quickly as possible to provide support to the three of them.

Both sides now clearly understand the current situation and the other's intentions. After all, Hanzo's summoned beast is a deadly weapon on the battlefield; its massive poison gas attack can quickly paralyze the body and render one powerless if even a small amount is inhaled. The Rain Ninja began to lead their troops in a fighting retreat, slowly approaching Hanzo's battlefield.

The Konoha ninjas also began to surround the Amegakure ninjas. With the arrival of Hyuga Kanan, a new reinforcement team, the gap was filled, allowing the Konoha ninjas to form a huge encirclement, completely surrounding the Amegakure ninjas and slowly tightening their grip.

The Rain Ninja also sensed something was wrong. They discovered that the outermost layer was a dense circle of Konoha ninja surrounding them, and their retreat was blocked by a newly arrived team. They began to panic.

"Gather over here! Break out from this side!" Seeing the Konoha ninja's encirclement tactics, a Rain Ninja with a long scar on his face became extremely anxious and shouted a warning to the Rain Ninja around him. He then glared fiercely at Hyuga Kanan's group in front of him.

Several Konoha ANBU ninjas tacitly took up positions at different corners of the formation, standing in a triangular formation. They formed a defensive array, ready to intercept the Rain Ninjas attempting to charge.

Yamanaka Ryuichi glanced at Hyuga Kanan again, and only felt relieved after seeing that he had regained his senses and was no longer spacing out. A life-or-death battle was imminent, and if he hadn't adapted to the battlefield atmosphere, he could easily die here. He didn't want his newly full team to be short-handed again.

Looking at the Konoha ninjas blocking their retreat, although they were outnumbered, there were still more than fifty ninjas, including at least three squads of Konoha Anbu ninjas!

But this was their only way to quickly approach Lord Hanzo of the Salamander, and they could only rely on their numbers to desperately break through. Once they successfully broke through and reached Lord Hanzo's battlefield, ordinary Konoha ninjas wouldn't dare to approach easily, since the area was filled with the poisonous mist of the Salamander, which could easily block the Konoha ninjas' attacks.

There's also the hope that the sounds of battle here will attract the attention of Lord Hanzo of the Salamander, so that he can keep a close eye on the situation and come to our aid as soon as possible.

They took a deep breath, and neither of them spoke. The battle immediately began.

At this moment, each Konoha ninja in Hyuga Kanan's group had to deal with at least two Rain Ninja. But all they needed to do was stall for time, since the Konoha ninja surrounding them would arrive soon.

Seeing the Rain Ninja charging towards him, Hyuga Kanan finally understood and composed himself. The battlefield is never merciful; if you don't kill, the enemy will kill you. There is no right or wrong.

Hyuga Kanan faced an attack from two Rain Ninjas alone, constantly wielding kunai to parry and dodge. Whenever his opponents tried to escape, he would immediately close in to block them, clinging to them like a piece of chewing gum.

Meanwhile, Yuan Feiquanxiong and Yueguang Xinhuo were fighting against five Rain Ninjas. They were a bit overwhelmed. As a ninjutsu-type ninja, Yuan Feiquanxiong was at a disadvantage in this close combat. He was accidentally slashed on the thigh, which made the two of them struggle to defend themselves and they were about to be overwhelmed.

Seeing this, Hyuga Kanan no longer cared about holding back. He instantly used Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams Killing Palm, quickly controlling and killing one of them while repelling another. He then immediately went to support Yuan Feiquanxiong, allowing him to stop the bleeding and heal his wounds.

"Huh? Watch out! It's a Hyuga clan ninja." The Rain Ninja in the battle immediately alerted their teammates after recognizing the approaching figure. After all, the Hyuga clan was a renowned ninja clan in the ninja world. Although they weren't as well-rounded in combat as the Uchiha clan, they were still famous for their close-combat prowess, and Gentle Fist was a powerful technique within taijutsu.

Hyuga Kanan didn't use Gentle Fist; he simply swung kunai to deal with the attacks, his figure flashing rapidly.

"Clang! Clang!" The sounds of fierce clashes between ninja swords and kunai rang out.

A Rain Ninja, wielding two ninja swords, tightly gripped Hyuga Kanan, whose figure darted elusively to his side in a sneak attack, and gave a bitter smile:

"Let's all die together, you brats of the Hyuga clan!"

Another Rain Ninja was already rapidly forming hand seals, directly using "Water Release: Rain of a Thousand Needles Technique" on the entangled Hyuga Kanan!

The surging chakra transformed the surrounding rain into a large number of senbon needles, which instantly rushed towards Hyuga Kanan and the entangled Rain Ninja, mercilessly covering the two of them.

"Bagua Palm - Reversal of Heaven!"

"Clang, clang, clang..." The water-transformed senbon needles crashed into a blue semi-circular dome in the direction of Hyuga Kanan. At the same time, the Rain Ninja who was entangled with him was sent flying, covered in blood bullets, with senbon needles stuck all over his body.

"What? It actually blocked my all-around attack ninjutsu! What kind of ninjutsu is this?"

"Bagua Palm - Deadly Strike!" Hyuga Kanan seized the moment when the opposing Rain Ninja was stunned, instantly appearing in front of him. The Bagua pattern immediately bound him, and Hyuga Kanan's sword finger swiftly and decisively struck the opponent's heart.

"Pfft!" A bloody hole appeared in the heart of the Rain Ninja, and his body flew backward, falling to the ground lifeless.

In fact, when the Rain Ninja were using taijutsu to entangle him and create an opportunity for their comrades, Hyuga Kanan had already sensed their true intentions. Knowing full well that he was a taijutsu ninja, he kept using taijutsu to harass them, just to create an opportunity for the other to attack him with ninjutsu.

The Rain Ninja have gone mad. They're risking their lives for opportunities, some to escape, others to perish together. The battlefield is instantly littered with corpses.

Under such a frenzied attack, Hyuga Kanan's team suffered many casualties, and the entire defensive line was on the verge of collapse. Several people had already escaped.

As it turns out, this kind of frantic attack, as long as you hold on to the first wave, will cause the other side to lose hope and give up resistance. After all, once they lose hope, they will naturally lose the courage to fight.

As the surrounding Konoha ninjas arrived, the Rain Ninjas finally gave up resisting. Even those who still put up a stubborn fight were quickly beaten to death, and the battlefield slowly returned to calm.

Although the Rain Ninja on the battlefield had already given up resistance, it was not time to relax at all. Hyuga Kanan put the kunai into his ninja tool pouch, glanced around the scene casually, and then paid no more attention.

His eyes involuntarily rolled back as he looked westward.

Although it was quite far away, the booming sounds could still be heard from there; it was the battlefield where Hanzo of the Salamander was fighting Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade.

That place is the real key to deciding the outcome of the battle against the Rain Village's Rain Ninja, but once the battle ends there, powerful ninjas can be sent there to provide support, and the scales of victory have completely tipped in Konoha's favor.