Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 204 Clash

Although Uchiha Shisui was furious, he tried his best to control his emotions and maintain the last shred of rationality. He knew that the person before him was no ordinary person; otherwise, even the Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't be so wary of him. At this moment, he had to remain calm and cautious.

"Hyuga Kanan, a traitor to Konoha, what exactly is your purpose in returning to Konoha this time?" Uchiha Shisui suppressed his anger and probed, trying to extract more useful information from the other party.

"Oh? I didn't expect Konoha to label me a rogue ninja. How interesting!" Hyuga Kanan's lips curled into a contemptuous smile as he spoke sarcastically. "I just solved a huge problem for Konoha, and this is how you repay me? Not only have you pinned a fabricated charge on me, but what, you want to wipe me out?"

"Uh!" Uchiha Shisui was momentarily at a loss for words upon hearing the other's words. He truly knew nothing about these matters; Hiruzen Sarutobi had never mentioned anything related to them. However, when he recalled the corpses of the Konoha ninja he had just seen, he made up his mind—these people before him were undoubtedly traitors to Konoha!

"Hey, kid! Judging from your appearance, you must be a member of the Uchiha clan! How come you're now willing to act as Hiruzen Sarutobi's lackey? Could it be that your Uchiha clan has made up with Hiruzen Sarutobi? Or has that old man finally had a change of heart and stopped targeting your Uchiha clan like before?" Hyuga Kanan asked in an unfriendly tone.

You have to understand, back when I was still in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already started targeting the Uchiha clan. Even I, who had always been indifferent to the power struggles within Konoha, could clearly sense this.

"You! How dare you question the Hokage, a traitor to Konoha? How can you possibly understand the Hokage's good intentions? You have no idea how much effort the Hokage has put into maintaining peace and stability in Konoha! How much energy he has expended to integrate the Uchiha clan into Konoha! If it weren't for the Hokage's mediation, how could the Uchiha clan live peacefully in Konoha?" Uchiha Shisui roared indignantly at the traitor before him. However, Hyuga Kanan, standing nearby, seemed somewhat helpless.

This is truly speechless! Are they idiots? Even someone like Hyuga Kanan, who has been away from Konoha for many years, can see that there are significant problems with the current state of Konoha. Orochimaru's betrayal, Tsunade's departure, and Jiraiya's exodus all prove that Hiruzen Sarutobi is not a competent leader. However, upon closer examination, the reasons become clear. In reality, the entire ninja world is extremely distorted, and its education system is particularly problematic. The ninjas of Konoha have never received a proper education from a young age. The knowledge taught at the ninja academy merely instructs children on how to carry out missions and kill, without providing them with proper moral education. They rely solely on the so-called "Will of Fire" to ignorantly deceive the younger generation of Konoha.

In this turbulent and chaotic ninja world, the "Will of Fire" can be considered an excellent ideal. However, what is the connection between Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions and governing style and the so-called "Will of Fire"? If Hiruzen Sarutobi were truly a steadfast practitioner of the "Will of Fire," then the one currently holding power in Konoha should be the Fourth Hokage, not this aging Hiruzen Sarutobi!

However, whatever the future holds for Konoha, or who governs it, is irrelevant to Hyuga Kanan. What infuriates him is the way they've treated him. He'd only recently returned to Konoha and had just helped the village successfully repel the powerful enemy, Kumogakure. Yet, the village's leadership couldn't contain themselves and was already taking action against him. Hyuga Kanan couldn't understand their thinking.

Hyuga Kanan really didn't want to waste another word on this guy who had been completely brainwashed by Sarutobi Hiruzen. He knew all too well that people who had been deeply brainwashed since childhood couldn't be persuaded with a few words. These people had long lost their ability to think independently, completely equating Konoha with Sarutobi Hiruzen. Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's long-term brainwashing, they could no longer distinguish between the two. Konoha couldn't be simply represented by Sarutobi Hiruzen; it was made up of everyone living there. Sarutobi Hiruzen was merely one of the managers chosen by Konoha to maintain its daily operations, but this person couldn't even understand such a simple principle, which was enough to show that he had no independent thought, or that he had already been trapped in a specific framework by Sarutobi Hiruzen, deeply mired in it and unable to extricate himself.

Uchiha Shisui was even more furious when he saw Hyuga Kanan's disdainful expression and his unwillingness to speak to him anymore. He believed that Hyuga Kanan had tarnished his beliefs.

"Hmph, as expected, he's just a rogue ninja. He can't possibly understand the greatness of the Hokage! In that case, let me capture him and await the Hokage's judgment!" Uchiha Shisui thought to himself. He didn't want to waste any more words with this guy, because the other party clearly had no respect for Konoha Village, let alone agree with its ideals.

Uchiha Shisui swiftly drew his short sword from his back, formed a hand seal, and attacked Hyuga Kanan like a whirlwind. In the blink of an eye, Uchiha Shisui's figure split into countless phantoms, completely surrounding Hyuga Kanan. Each clone gripped a ninja sword tightly, slashing at Hyuga Kanan simultaneously, as if to tear him to pieces.

Uchiha Shisui was a renowned figure in the ninja world, known as "Shisui of the Body Flicker Technique." His greatest skill was the Body Flicker Technique, which he further incorporated into genjutsu, creating a unique technique of his own. To this day, no one has been able to break this technique, making it his signature move.

Hyuga Kanan watched the scene unfold before him, a sense of novelty welling up within him. This technique, integrating genjutsu into the Body Flicker Technique, was indeed quite innovative, and there were aspects worth learning from it. While it wouldn't be difficult for those with strong mental power to see through such a simple illusionary body flicker, there were no specific methods for cultivating mental power in the ninja world. Even the Yamanaka and Uchiha clans had only dabbled in mental power cultivation, far from mastering any methods that truly enhanced mental power; they merely used techniques that borrowed from mental power.

However, in Hyuga Kanan's eyes, Uchiha Shisui's technique seemed utterly laughable. After all, he had long since advanced from the realm of mere spiritual power to the far more profound level of divine sense. To him, these phantom body-flickering techniques were nothing short of a farce, far less practical than the purely speed-based Body Flicker Technique. Facing the countless phantom body-flickering attacks, Hyuga Kanan simply raised a finger and lightly pointed in a certain direction. In an instant, Uchiha Shisui's figure was sent flying backward as if struck by a heavy blow, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Uchiha Shisui's eyes widened in shock. He had no idea how his opponent had broken his prized Phantom Body Flicker Technique, and so easily at that. This was the first time Uchiha Shisui had been so deeply impressed. The opponent's playful expression proved that his technique hadn't been broken by chance. But making him admit defeat so easily was far from enough. His three-tomoe Sharingan swirled rapidly, and his hands formed hand seals in a split second.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The enormous fireball, carrying intense heat, hurtled towards Hyuga Kanan, creating a trench in the ground. The surrounding grass was baked yellow by the intense heat.

Hyuga Kanan glanced at Uchiha Shisui with amusement, then slightly waved his hand.

"Water Curtain Sky Splendor!"

Countless crystal-clear water droplets suddenly appeared beside Hyuga Kanan, following his palm like a shadow and gathering together to form a massive, almost tangible water curtain. Then, it resolutely rushed towards the enormous, scorching fireball! In the blink of an eye, the once raging, unbearably hot fireball paled in comparison to this mysterious water curtain, completely enveloped within it. Surprisingly, not even a wisp of steam had time to form before the once arrogant fireball silently extinguished itself, as if it had never existed.

Uchiha Shisui, who had been confidently planning to use a fire-style feint to create an excellent opportunity to attack, was momentarily stunned, frozen in place. In his past combat experience, when faced with a sudden fire-style attack, he usually chose one of the following strategies: either use water-style or earth-style techniques to defend, or rely on his extraordinary speed to dodge. Either method would provide him with a chance—the billowing smoke and mist created by water-style or earth-style defenses, or the slightest openings revealed by his movements during dodges, could all become perfect opportunities for a sneak attack. However, the scene before him was completely unbelievable—the water curtain that appeared out of thin air not only easily enveloped and quickly extinguished the fireball, but also produced no mist whatsoever! This was entirely beyond his comprehension.