Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 18 First Mission

"Don't be too superstitious about the Hyuga clan's Byakugan; strength is the foundation of survival. As long as you are strong enough, you can easily survive even if someone ambushes you."

Even a cold shoulder isn't foolproof. With advance intelligence, expanding the ambush area can still lead to an ambush. War is not static; the enemy might exploit this to their advantage.

Yuan Feiquanxiong and Yueguang Xinhuo exchanged a glance and remained silent.

None of them expected that Hyuga Kanan would point out the weaknesses of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, instead of taking the opportunity to enhance the Hyuga clan's status and prestige in Konoha.

The sun was high in the sky; it was almost noon. A figure appeared faintly in the distance.

"Hey! You're all here!" A figure appeared on the tree that Hyuga Kanan was leaning against, looking down at the group below. The teacher who had been leading the group for nearly half an hour finally appeared. He was a middle-aged man wearing a Konoha-style vest, with long blond hair in a ponytail and a scar on his left cheek. He was clearly a ninja from the Konoha Mountain Clan.

"So, are you all getting to know your new teammates?"

“Ah, Professor Yamanaka Ryuichi.” Yuan Feiquanxiong and Gekko Shinka looked at the middle-aged man in the tree at the same time. After responding, they nodded and then shook their heads.

Hinata Kanan kept a slight distance from the two men, looked up at the middle-aged man, and did not answer.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Yamanaka Ryuichi's lips twitched involuntarily. It seemed the newcomer wasn't quite familiar with his teammates yet.

"Well, there's no way around it. Time is too tight, and there's no time for you to get to know each other slowly. You'll have to get to know each other later. Let's start our mission now!"

Ryuichi Yamanaka took out a mission scroll from his pocket; it was the mission he had just been given in the Hokage's office.

"The village is about to resupply the front-line troops of the Land of Rain, and we will soon be the vanguard of the logistics personnel escorting the supplies. There are many bandits on the way to the Land of Rain, and our task is to help the transport team behind us clear out these bandits and prevent them from delaying or harassing the transport team."

According to intelligence, there are no ninjas among these bandits. Therefore, we only need to quickly eliminate the bandits along the route through the Land of Fire. Once we enter the Land of Rain, there will be supporting troops who will help us protect the transport convoy, deliver the supplies, and escort the wounded back.

This is a war mission directly issued by the village. Our mission is to clear out bandits along the way within the Land of Fire. Upon entering the Land of Rain, it becomes an escort mission. Finally, we must pick up the wounded and safely return them. The mission level is C+B.

Upon hearing this mission, Hyuga Kanan understood. Although they were two missions of different levels, they could only be assigned to the same team, proving that Konoha's ninja resources were also extremely limited.

It's likely that there aren't enough ninja squads available to take on the second half of the mission.

"Ah! Teacher, are we going straight to a B-level mission?" Yuan Fei and Quan Xiong asked nervously.

Speaking of the previous B-level mission, their team lost one member, and now they were about to take on another B-level mission, which made him a little uneasy. Keep in mind that their team had just been re-added with new members, and they hadn't even had a chance to get used to each other before having to carry out another B-level mission.

"There's nothing we can do. The village is severely short of mission ninjas right now. All the ones we can send out have already been sent out. Our team was the only one that hadn't been assigned a mission before because we weren't at full strength. Now that we have new members, the village will naturally assign us missions right away."

Yamanaka Ryuichi gently patted Yuan Feiquanxiong and Gekko Shinka on the shoulders, then looked at Hinata Kanan and said comfortingly.

He also knew that Hyuga Kanan had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, and it was a bit difficult for a newcomer to be given a C+B rank mission right away. But that was the reality of the village at the moment; there was no one else to send.

Hyuga Kanan thought to himself that he could also test whether the Qiankun Inheritance Jade could absorb and transform the souls of the dead, and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, if there are no problems, we'll meet at the main gate in half an hour."

When Yamanaka Ryuichi saw Hyuga Kanan nod, he winked at the other two and announced loudly.

Hyuga Kanan vanished from his spot in an instant. This was something he had developed based on the ninja's Body Flicker Technique. It had a similar effect to the ninja's Body Flicker Technique, both using a powerful burst of internal energy to achieve rapid movement.

Back home, Hyuga Kanan first enjoyed a delicious meal, then packed all her equipment and supplies. She went to her mother's yard to explain that she had to go on a mission and wouldn't be home for a while. After bidding farewell to her worried mother, she quickly went to the gates of Konoha to await her teammates' arrival.

When Xiang Jianan arrived at the main gate of Konoha that day, he saw many familiar faces—all fresh graduates assigned to their posts that day. They were gathered not far from the gate, excitedly discussing mission-related matters, their faces filled with excitement and tension, completely unaware of the extreme danger ninja war missions were. Even logistical personnel transporting supplies faced considerable peril. In the Land of Fire, things were somewhat better, as it was still under Konoha's control. However, once they entered the Land of Rain, amidst the chaos of war between so many nations, the likelihood of logistical transport being attacked would greatly increase, with the possibility of battle constantly looming.

For those students who have only studied at school for two or three years, engaging in combat would be like sending them to their deaths. After all, they are far from being qualified to become ninjas.

Soon, the teammates they had just met that day arrived. At Yamanaka Ryuichi's command, the four of them quickly headed towards the gate. They were the advance team, responsible for clearing out and scouting all factors that could affect the transport team along the route from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain within the Land of Fire.

Although ninjas could run at full speed and reach the Land of Rain in just two or three days, the four weren't rushing there. Instead, they needed to scout and reconnoiter the area. Therefore, their pace wasn't very fast, and since they were still near Konoha, they exchanged basic information about their abilities along the way to prepare for any potential battles.

"Jianan, what is the approximate detection range of your White Eye? I need to make arrangements for the subsequent operations."

Ryuichi Yamanaka, who was leaping from tree to tree leading the way, turned around and asked Kanan Hyuga.

"If we conduct a detailed survey, the range is only about five kilometers. If we only make a rough observation, it's close to ten kilometers."

Hyuga Kanan answered casually. Actually, if he fully channeled his internal energy into his Byakugan, he could detect a distance of 15 kilometers. With the aid of his soul power, this could be doubled. However, based on his understanding, the Hyuga clan's Byakugan generally only detects distances around five kilometers, not much beyond that. He figured it was best not to attract unnecessary attention, otherwise, if too many people noticed his difference, it might attract the attention of the cunning schemers behind the scenes. When your strength isn't enough, don't show off too much; that will only lead to your early demise.

"Five kilometers! That's quite a distance. It seems you're a genius among your clan. Right now, we're still near Konoha Village, so there's nothing to be careful about. But once we're more than 50 kilometers away from Konoha, we need to be extra vigilant. At that point, you'll need to activate your Byakugan every five minutes to observe the area and report any developments immediately. I'll then make further arrangements. Understand?"

Ryuichi Yamanaka solemnly gave instructions to Kanan Hyuga behind him, while also glancing at the other two.

"Understood!" the three replied simultaneously.

Time flew by, and when the group was more than 50 kilometers away from Konoha, Hyuga Kanan took the initiative to open his Byakugan to observe the area. After finding nothing amiss, he reported back and closed his Byakugan before continuing on his way. He traveled swiftly all the way.

As dusk approached, Hyuga Kanan activated his Byakugan again and suddenly called out:

"Stop! There's trouble ahead!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to look.

“A large number of people are gathered in a valley about 4 kilometers ahead, some of them carrying weapons.”

Hyuga Kanan explained that he had actually discovered the situation at this location long ago, but he only reported it after getting close enough to appear normal.

"There are more than a dozen thatched huts inside, and thirty-seven people are carrying weapons. Four of them are different from the others. They have a certain amount of chakra fluctuations in their bodies, but they should not be ninjas. There are no signs of chakra flow like those of ninjas."

Hyuga Kanan pretended to examine it carefully, then added something.

Ryuichi Yamanaka nodded slightly, indicating that he understood, and then explained in a low voice, "Those four people with chakra fluctuations but no flow should be samurai. Let's approach slowly without disturbing them."

When everyone arrived at that valley, they all hid in hiding without prior arrangement.

Hyuga Kanan and the others gathered together, and he said, "It seems they haven't noticed our arrival, and there's still nothing unusual about them."

As he spoke, he drew a rough map of the terrain and the distribution of people in the valley on the ground.

Yamanaka Ryuichi glanced at the rough map on the ground and then began to assign the mission objectives and routes to the group.

Since the target's strength was not very strong, Yamanaka Ryuichi ordered Hyuga Kanan to monitor and observe from the outside, and to intercept any personnel who tried to escape, preventing anyone from escaping.

According to the plan, Yamanaka Ryuichi, Yuan Feiquanxiong, and Gekko Shinka infiltrated the enemy's hideout separately.

Soon, screams and pleas for mercy came from inside, but then silence fell.

Hyuga Kanan, with his Byakugan activated, watched his teammates' ruthless slaughter from afar, showing no fear or panic, but rather a chill in his heart.

Yamanaka Ryuichi was alright, after all, he was an adult. But the way Yuan Feiquanxiong and Gekko Shinka, who were only 14 years old, slashed at their opponents without the slightest hesitation or delay, made Hyuga Kanan truly feel the distortion of this world.

It's a nightmare for humanity to see children, not even adults, learning to kill ruthlessly without feeling anything is wrong. The most terrifying thing is that those in power feel no remorse whatsoever for exposing children to bloodshed and death every day.

The Sage of Six Paths' millennia-long scheme has caused the people of this world to lose their respect for life, leaving only indifference and apathy.