Immortality begins with the ninjas of Konoha.

Chapter 96 The Prelude to the Siege

In March of Konoha Year 49, the annual cherry blossom season arrived as scheduled.

Orochimaru, dressed in casual black clothes, watched the children running towards the school with a slight smile as he temporarily returned to the village to rest.

"It's rare to see you back to normal, Orochimaru. Several advisors are complaining about your reckless behavior."

Tsunade, dressed in her Jonin uniform, offered a reminder, but Orochimaru paid it no mind. His experiments were progressing smoothly, and he couldn't be bothered with those outdated old guys: "I plan to take on a disciple. The lab needs management, and I'll also leave behind some legacy."

Tsunade's eyes widened, and Orochimaru, ignoring his companion's shock, continued, "Every time I see Xiu, I sincerely envy you. Although you have been surpassed by your disciple, he still maintains the utmost respect for you."

"Inheritance is, in a sense, eternal."

Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief at the end, saying that these nonsensical words were the Orochimaru she knew: "Regarding the merger of Root and Anbu, the teacher neither approved nor opposed it."

"I noticed that the Root has its own independent expenses, which are supported by the ninja clans."

"In a way, the Root absorbed ninjas with psychological trauma, which helped the ninja clan solve some of their problems."

To have a voice in a village, one must possess power.

The Root is Danzo's power, the assistance of the two advisors, and the existence that Hiruzen Sarutobi tacitly approves of in maintaining balance.

Orochimaru, of course, understood all the intricacies of the situation. He looked at Tsunade with amusement and asked, "Would you allow such power to exist?"

"I have no interest in knowing what Sarutobi-sensei's companions think; I only want to receive the experimental materials accumulated by Danzo's Root."

"This is my job. You can pretend you don't know anything, just like Sarutobi-sensei."

In the end, Orochimaru burst out laughing, as if he had seen something amusing, and muttered to himself, "This is the Hokage. No matter who holds this position, they have to learn to compromise. No wonder this isn't what you're after."

Tsunade crossed her arms and sighed. Jiraiya was unreliable, and Orochimaru was neurotic. She began to miss Osamu Furukawa, who could listen to her ramblings.

"Your secret technique seems to have changed?"

Orochimaru suddenly looked at Tsunade, who exuded a strong life force, and before his old friend could answer, he muttered to himself, "There seems to be a familiar aura here, even her chakra has changed?"

Thinking about the changes in her body, Tsunade awkwardly turned her head to change the subject: "I should go see Sarutobi-sensei now. I shouldn't keep him waiting too long, or those old guys will start nagging me again."

Might Guy's squad recently received a patrol mission in the eastern part of the Land of Fire, and the three of them went to meet up with Osamu Furukawa in high spirits.

Before leaving the village, Matt Kai didn't forget to promote the "Youth Showdown," as he had already mastered the Du Gate and was preparing to face off against the even more formidable Rilian Hua.

The patrol mission was taken over by Kai, and Kakashi eventually brought back a C-rank escort mission for the team.

Nohara Rin didn't care about the mission level. The girl happily checked the medical kit and would occasionally ask Kakashi for some mission details.

Raido Nami protects his longsword. He doesn't care about the mission level either; easier missions would give him a chance to spar with Kakashi.

Obito Uchiha reacted the most, perhaps because he knew Kakashi would be promoted to Jonin in a few months, and he didn't want to fall too far behind his sweetheart: "Kakashi, why didn't you get that patrol mission?"

"I heard there's a chance to fight the Hidden Mist ninjas. You're not worried about your safety, are you?"

"I will protect you."

Obito tilted his head back, adjusting his goggles, and occasionally stole glances at Rin Nohara's reaction. After waiting for a long time, only Kakashi responded: "Let's go!"

"Damn it, all you do is show off!"

When the four left the village gate, they were unaware of the White Zetsu's observation. After Obito was chosen as the "Agent," the White Zetsu began to continuously gather intelligence.

"I always felt like he was an idiot, and he didn't seem to have any talent at all."

White Zetsu nodded as he reunited with his companions. According to the intelligence gathered, Obito was practically an oddity among the Uchiha clan, practically invisible within the clan.

As the two White Zetsu were preparing to relay the message back, on the Iron Country peninsula, Osamu Furukawa's spirit was manipulating a White Zetsu clone to carefully sense the flow of energy at the roots of the Divine Tree.

White Zetsu's clone instinctively sensed a piece of information, and Furukawa Osamu's spirit hurriedly tried to sense it as well. The scattered information was of little use; this body was clearly not suitable for this task.

"Master Xiu, the root system area has been determined."

"It would take a very long time to absorb this energy."

The slug crawled onto his shoulder, quickly resonating the information. Furukawa Osamu secretly calculated the energy he could collect at once, and finally muttered helplessly, "My spiritual strength is not enough to absorb more energy at once."

"Fortunately, the existence of the Gedo Mazo has been confirmed. This is our destination. We will send the map back over the next few months."

Where there is the Gedo Mazo, there is Madara Uchiha. The old guy can't live without the "ventilator," so Osamu Furukawa has confirmed his lair.

"Once Lord Xiu can use Magnet Release, moving the roots of these divine trees will be much easier."

The slug encouraged Furukawa Osamu in a lighthearted tone, saying that these tree roots were good materials and should not be wasted.

"Chakra is indeed the source of all power. In just two weeks, my body has undergone a transformation."

Furukawa Osamu sighed. This was the first time he had completed the evolution of his bloodline limit by relying on the chakra he had gathered.

Shukaku's power gave rise to Magnet Release, and the chakra theory came into effect once again.

"Keep drawing the map!"

Upon hearing Furukawa Osamu's enthusiastic instructions, the slug immediately entered resonance mode to guide the way. Uchiha Madara's underground project was extensive, but as long as it wasn't discovered, the base would be found sooner or later.

At the end of March, Osamu Furukawa, who was on a routine patrol in the eastern part of the Land of Fire, received instructions from his superiors to return quickly.

Some of the Jonin captains were also summoned. When they gathered at the Hokage Building in the afternoon, they were all discussing in hushed tones whether to launch a general offensive.

Osamu Furukawa, already wearing a Jonin vest, kept greeting people. When he saw Shikaku Nara waving, he immediately came over to the three of them.

"This is a major operation by Iwagakure! The intelligence is still uncertain, but it seems they have ambushed the Third Raikage."

Nara Shikaku looked melancholy. The news sounded a bit far-fetched, but if it were true, the battle situation could change drastically.

"If the Third Raikage dies at the hands of Iwagakure, we can use this opportunity to launch a pincer attack on Iwagakure together with Kumogakure."

Akimichi Choza optimistically predicted that since the Raikage died in the Land of Earth, the Hidden Cloud Village would definitely seek revenge.

Yamanaka Inoichi shook his head, pointed to the map on the wall, and whispered a reminder: "The Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth are very far apart."

When the meeting was held, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, co-chaired it with Tsunade. Danzo announced the intelligence brought back by the Root ninjas with a blank expression: "The Third Raikage has fallen into a trap set by Iwagakure and is currently facing an attack by more than 2000 Iwagakure ninjas, and Iwagakure reinforcements are still coming."

Upon hearing that the Raikage had indeed fallen into a trap, most of the Jonin wore expressions of disbelief.

The meeting's topic was not offense, but rather preventing a counterattack from Iwagakure after eliminating the Kumogakure ninja.

The thought that killing the Third Raikage would greatly boost the enemy's morale has led some hardliners to question the Third Hokage's conservative plan once again.

After the meeting ended in the evening, news of the meeting began to spread throughout the village, and ninjas with different opinions began their routine debate.

Back in her apartment, Tsunade looked exhausted; reaching a consensus was far more difficult than a high-level mission.

"Is the teacher still worried about the front lines in the Land of Grass?"

"Even if we encounter an emergency, with Minato-kun here, we can handle any difficulty."

Osamu Furukawa offered a few words of comfort in the kitchen, and Shizune sat down next to Tsunade and added, "Sensei, you haven't had a proper rest lately, you must take good care of yourself."

Tsunade, inexplicably thinking about the changes in her body, suppressed the strange emotions in her heart and retorted irritably, "Do you two think I'm a child?"

"This isn't my first time experiencing war. Whatever happens, I can accept it."

The three quickly returned to their usual noisy state. After dinner, Tsunade, dressed in her Shinnin casual clothes, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately invited Furukawa Osamu to train together.

Both remained seated. Tsunade watched Furukawa Osamu form hand seals, subconsciously adjusting her breathing. Soon, her spiritual body appeared within the Hundred Healings Seal.

Compared to the previous few months, the technique has changed considerably. Complex incantations have appeared on the "Myojin Gate," and the chakra above has been "pulled down."

"Xiu, why is my body undergoing these changes?"

Tsunade's spirit asked the question that had been bothering her, and Furukawa Osamu took her hands, then his entire spirit merged into her body.

"Teacher, Sage Chakra will activate your body. Your cells will absorb the chakra through the technique to repair past damage."

"Don't worry about my Sage Chakra. It's only a small portion, enough to replenish what my teacher's body is expending."

Tsunade nodded subconsciously, sat cross-legged beneath the accumulated chakra, and the feeling of having complete control over her body resurfaced in her mind.

After completing her daily training, Tsunade opened her eyes and found that Furukawa Osamu was no longer there. She subconsciously let out a long sigh of relief.

"Teacher, your skin is getting better and better! It looks like it's glowing."

Shizune appeared beside Tsunade with an envious look on her face, and even touched her as she spoke.

"Looks like I'll have to be stricter with you. Ninjas don't need to worry about these things!"

Tsunade pushed her disciple aside, stood up, and power surged from her body, accompanied by a thrilling sensation that dominated every cell in her body: "Is this what Sage Mode is like?"

In early April, the Tsuchikage, Onoki, suddenly and publicly announced that the Iwagakure ninja had killed the Third Raikage: "To withstand an attack from 5000 Iwagakure ninja for three days and three nights, the Third Raikage is a worthy opponent!"

The mobilization speech from Iwagakure spread rapidly across various countries, while Konoha, on the other hand, lacked the momentum it had at the beginning of the year.

The Hidden Cloud Village finally confirmed the death of the Third Raikage and pointed out the mistake of the Hidden Stone Village ninja: "The Third Raikage covered the retreat of his comrades, fighting to the very end against 10000 Hidden Stone Village ninja!"

At this time, Sunagakure also regained its presence, and the Sunagakure ninja no longer "hidden in the sand," launching a high-profile counterattack on the front lines of the Land of Rain.

When the Konoha leadership confirmed that Iwagakure and Sunagakure had joined forces, supply lines had to be readjusted, and a full-scale war suddenly broke out.

Inside the Hokage Building, Osamu Furukawa was summoned from the hospital to the Third Hokage: "Osamu, you need to go to Kikyo Castle as soon as possible to provide support. The Land of Rivers has violated the neutrality treaty..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi solemnly gave him some instructions. Furukawa Osamu felt the place name sounded familiar, but immediately bowed and replied, "Yes, Hokage-sama!"