Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 13 The War Is Coming

Time flies like water, and a year passes quickly.

In early 37 of Konoha, the ninja world had been in turmoil since the previous year, and many outstanding students had already graduated early. Only Hyuga Kanan had no intention of graduating early.

Every Shinobi World War is an opportunity created by the Sage of Six Paths to reap the rewards. It's best not to get involved. Just stay out of it and don't become food for the Sage of Six Paths.

The Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, the Land of Water, and the Land of Lightning are all subtly targeting Konoha, putting Konoha under immense pressure. If all four were to attack the Land of Fire simultaneously, the Land of Fire would likely also be in a very dangerous situation.

Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage of Konoha, was indeed an exceptionally talented individual. He excelled in management, learning, creation, and politics, seemingly without any weaknesses, except that his physical strength wasn't as invincible as his brother, Hashirama Senju. However, his outstanding political talent allowed him to always find a way to break through difficult situations.

Tobirama Senju began contacting Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) in the Land of Lightning, offering them various preferential policies and continuously extending goodwill. He even proposed a strategic alliance between the two villages, supporting Kumogakure's annexation of surrounding smaller countries and jointly deterring Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) of the Land of Earth and Sand Village of the Land of Wind from their discontent. He also agreed to provide loans to the Land of Lightning for port construction to counter Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village) of the Land of Water. Furthermore, he offered to sell grain from the Land of Fire to the Land of Lightning at low prices.

And so, the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning gradually stabilized.

Most of the people in Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) of the Land of Lightning also realized that they could gain many benefits without incurring heavy casualties, so there was no need to continue targeting Konoha (Hidden Leaf Village) of the Land of Fire. After all, Konoha was not an easy target; not only did it have a large number of high-quality ninjas, but it also possessed various powerful clans with bloodline limits and secret techniques. There was no need to fight Konoha to the death. It would be better to wait until Konoha had finished fighting the other ninja villages, and then they could pick off the remaining powerful ninja villages, especially Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) of the Land of Earth.

After two months of communication, Konoha and Kumogakure decided to sign an alliance treaty. To express its sincerity, Konoha took the initiative to go to the border of the Land of Lightning to sign the treaty. Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning was also very satisfied and agreed. Both villages sent their second-generation Kage to the site to discuss the details of the treaty.

In Konoha Village, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, along with his guards—Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, Torifu Akimichi, and Kagami Uchiha—set off for the border of the Land of Lightning to meet with the Second Raikage.

Upon hearing this news, Xiang Jianan understood that the Second Shinobi World War was about to begin, and he would soon be forced to graduate. With the start of the Shinobi World War, it wasn't a matter of not graduating if you didn't want to. After all, Konoha would face a powerful siege from three nations simultaneously, and the number of ninjas would definitely be insufficient. Those several ranks below him might have to graduate early and go to the battlefield. How could someone about to graduate like him possibly miss out, unless he gave up being a ninja and became an ordinary civilian?

At that time, Hyuga Kanan will probably be bothered to death by the Hyuga clan, and he won't be able to train in peace.

In a normal ninja academy graduation process, in addition to a written exam, students will be assessed on one of three subjects: the Three Body Techniques, ninja tool usage, or survival drills. Graduation is granted as long as the student passes the randomly selected exam.

During wartime graduation assessments, anyone possessing chakra and the ability to use ninja tools would graduate. Skills like the Three Body Techniques and survival drills could only be learned on the battlefield, where the survival rate was terrifyingly low—one in ten was considered lucky. Therefore, this forced early graduation during wartime would have been something the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, would never have agreed to. But this time, he would die in the rebellion of Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning, and Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't mobilize the retired clan ninjas, leaving him no choice but to send these youngsters to their deaths.

A month later, when Hiruzen Sarutobi and his companions returned to the village with the body of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and his last words, the various clans were in an uproar. After all, the guards had returned, but the person they were supposed to protect was dead; it all seemed rather farcical.

It's important to know that the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, possessed the space-time ninjutsu Flying Thunder God Technique. He was determined to escape, and virtually no one could stop him. However, he still died in the rebellion and turmoil in Kumogakure, and even managed to bring his guards back safely with his last wishes. This was quite unbelievable to many clans, and various conspiracy theories spread among them.

Regardless of the conspiracy theories, Konoha still established a high-ranking leadership, headed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and including Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and other disciples of the Second Hokage. This officially ushered in the era of the Third Hokage.

However, Hyuga Kanan was well aware that the Sage of Six Paths was definitely behind Tobirama Senju's death. After all, someone with such high talent and expertise in researching various forbidden techniques might have noticed something about chakra conspiracies. Even the Sage of Six Paths' own harvest space technique had been researched using the Impure World Reincarnation method, which was close to the essence of the chakra harvesting behind the scenes. If Tobirama Senju continued to research it, it would probably become another technique like the Reaper Death Seal of the Uzumaki clan, a technique bestowed by the will of heaven and earth. It was better to eliminate such a person who had a significant impact on the behind-the-scenes plans as soon as possible.

With the deaths of the Second Hokage and the Second Raikage of Konoha, the alliance between Konoha and Kumogakure was put on hold. Kumogakure suffered a devastating blow due to the rebellion and unrest, losing not only the Second Raikage but also many other powerful ninja. Konoha fared better, suffering only the death of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, which preserved much of Konoha's strength. However, this also added fuel to the fire of war in the already unsettled ninja world.

The Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Water thus gained more confidence. Through an unknown conspirator, the three countries decided to test Konoha's strength once more, forming an alliance to attack Konoha's ally, the Land of Whirlpools. This would not only allow them to probe Konoha's true strength but also allow them to acquire a large number of sealing techniques researched by the Whirlpool Clan of the Land of Whirlpools.

Thus, the war between the three countries and the Land of Whirlpools began. The Uzumaki clan of the Land of Whirlpools immediately sought help from Konoha in order to protect their country. Even if they could not protect the Land of Whirlpools, they could at least ensure the continuation of the Uzumaki clan.

When Hyuga Kanan heard his father say at the clan meeting that the Hyuga, Senju, and even Uchiha clans were preparing to mobilize most of their ninja to join the Konoha ninja in a rescue effort, he shook his head. How could Hiruzen Sarutobi allow Konoha ninja to go to the rescue? It's clear from the anime that Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't a decisive person; he was even quite weak-willed and lacked political acumen.

As Hyuga Kanan had predicted, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just become the Third Hokage, rejected the Land of Whirlpools' request for help without hesitation, and even ordered all the major clans to abandon their mobilization efforts and not send anyone to the country.

The issuance of this order came as a great surprise to all the major clans. After all, the Land of Whirlpools was a strategic ally of Konoha. Abandoning the rescue would be tantamount to violating the alliance treaty and would also make other countries think that Konoha was all bark and no bite.

Upon hearing this order, Mito Uzumaki, who was in charge of the Senju clan, was furious. She announced that Hiruzen Sarutobi and other high-ranking members of Konoha were not allowed to set foot in the Senju clan. At the same time, she dispatched Senju clan members of level eight or above to the Land of Whirlpools for rescue, completely ignoring the order to become the Third Hokage.

In the following month, news spread that the Senju clan's ninjas sent to rescue them had been completely wiped out within the Land of Fire, and the Uzumaki clan had also been exterminated. This left Hyuga Kanan, the transmigrator, dumbfounded. To be completely wiped out even in the Land of Fire, coupled with his Byakugan observations of the large-scale mobilization of Konoha's Anbu or Root forces recently, bringing back countless supplies, and considering the attitude of the Uzumaki clan's surviving members towards Konoha in the anime, it was clear that the Konoha leadership had taken drastic measures. They had not only weakened the overly prestigious Senju clan but also seized the Uzumaki clan's legacy. In the short term, Hiruzen Sarutobi had completely achieved his political goals and maintained his rule. However, this was done at the cost of weakening Konoha's overall strength, sowing the seeds for Orochimaru's later Konoha collapse plan, where no one came to his aid.

It's important to know that the Senju clan was incredibly powerful. During the Warring States period, they could hold their own against powerful clans like the Uchiha. In the Konoha era, they produced two Hokage. The Senju clan had over a thousand members, all of whom were very strong. Even when the three kingdoms were besieging them, they were able to reach the Land of Fire, which shows their strength. Yet, they all died within the Land of Fire's borders, which is quite a joke.

Upon receiving this news, Mito Uzumaki fell seriously ill and, having seen through the character of the Konoha leadership, began to plan for the future of the Senju clan. First, she dismissed the remaining members of the Senju clan, relinquishing their surname. Some were integrated into the capital of the Land of Fire, while others were integrated into the common people of Konoha. At the same time, she requested the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to bestow the title of Princess upon her granddaughter Tsunade, leaving only her grandson to inherit the Senju surname, thus preserving the last legacy for the entire Senju clan.

With the fall of the Land of Whirlpools, the three nations, having seen through Konoha's true strength and weaknesses, began preparing to launch a war against Konoha.

However, something unbelievable happened: Kirigakure and Iwagakure had a dispute over the distribution of the Land of Whirlpools' inheritance, which escalated into a full-blown fight. In order to avoid harming their respective villages, the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage made a bet, agreeing to a one-on-one duel to determine the ownership of the inheritance. In the end, both fought to the death and perished together.

However, Kirigakure and Iwagakure soon had new third-generation leaders who continued their previous plans and launched a war against Konoha.

Because of its discord with Iwagakure, Kirigakure launched a separate attack on Konoha, while Iwagakure and Sunagakure conspired together and entered the Land of Rain to attack Konoha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's attempt to betray the Land of Whirlpools to avoid war failed, leaving him with no choice but to fight.

Thus, the Second Shinobi World War officially broke out.