Immortality begins with the ninjas of Konoha

When the black Tailed Beast Ball collided with the enormous Shukaku statue that shone with golden light, the resulting shockwave caused many ninjas to scream in fear, and those who lost their footing were blown away on the spot.

Scattered gold dust drifted through the air, and soon Shukaku formed hand seals again, inhaling and exhaling a violent stream of air:

"Wind Release: Gold Sand Scattering Bullet!"

"Tu Dun·Tu Liubi!"

The aftershocks from the collision of large-scale ninjutsu caused many ninjas to fall to the ground. Ōnoki knew that this environment was advantageous to Sunagakure, so he silently retreated again.

When Han, who had forcibly transformed into a tailed beast, began to accelerate his charge using the Five-Tails, the battle of the giant beasts began again. Onoki would occasionally appear and attack Gaara, and Rasa could only passively protect his son.

Two tiny humans collided with the giant beast. When Onoki used Earth Release: Light and Heavy Rock Technique to empower the tailed beast, the whipping effect of the multiple tails behind the giant beast erupted like a natural disaster.

"what!!"

The shockwave from afar caused Sunagakure to bury its head and shout, and Shukaku's "Wind Release: Sky Bullet" flew everywhere, causing devastating damage to the dense forests of the Land of Birds.

The Sand Village ninja could only hide behind the earthen wall; they were no longer able to intervene in this battle.

The "white horse," the incarnation of the Jinchūriki Han, suddenly roared. Huang Tu realized that Han couldn't hold on any longer, and while his father was entangled with the opponent, he unleashed all the chakra he had refined:

"Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique!"

Two enormous hemispheres rose from the ground and quickly sandwiched Shukaku. The Iwagakure ninjas, witnessing this scene once again, could only raise their arms and roar in anger.

Both Jinchūriki were unable to hold on any longer. Shukaku let out a frustrated cry as the earth retreated, while Han was carried away by Onoki. This battle ended in a draw once again.

Rocks flew and dust billowed. The Konoha ninjas, far from the front lines, remained silent at the sight of this familiar scene; such a battle was difficult to even approach.

As for moving through the tailed beasts as easily as the two Kage, there aren't many in Konoha who can do that. Even Jiraiya would be in a very awkward situation if he encountered such a situation.

Wearing his Jonin combat uniform, Minato Namikaze had been gazing out from the top of the tree. The two Jinchūriki's behavior was completely different. After observing for so long, he had new ideas about how to use the Tailed Beasts.

"boom!"

Another loud explosion came from afar. The combined ninjutsu "Earth Release: Earth Tremor Core" once again destroyed the terrain. The Iwagakure ninja began to retreat towards the Land of Birds, while the Sunagakure ninja held the border.

"The Hidden Cloud Village must be observing as well! I didn't expect the Hidden Sand Village to have mastered this power."

“That child was only 4 years old. It’s unbelievable how he did it.”

Jiraiya stroked his chin and sighed softly, while Minato, back on the ground, responded with a serious expression:

"The tailed beast inside did not take the opportunity to steal the child's chakra; it even took the initiative to use its power to protect the jinchūriki."

"It seems that we have gone astray in our development direction in the past. Compared with taming the tailed beasts, reconciling with them seems to be able to unleash a stronger force."

Minato used to help Kushina fight the Nine-Tails, but the One-Tail is obviously not like that, otherwise the Jinchuriki would die very quickly.

Jiraiya, who knew about his disciple's past, looked surprised upon hearing this speculation, then sighed regretfully and muttered to himself:

"It's too late to learn all this now..."

In the dense forest, Yamanaka Inoichi opened his eyes, ended the "communication," quickly came to the two's side, and whispered:

"Lord Jiraiya, the Cloud Village ninjas have indeed taken action. We have successfully intercepted them and captured three ninjas, who have been handed over to the Sand Village."

"Very good, we have done our best. As allies, intercepting the Cloud Village ninja is our mission."

Jiraiya praised him, and Minato smiled. In this way, they could give Sunagakure an explanation.

In the southwest direction of the front line, the Uchiha clan ninjas were still exchanging blows with the Sunagakure ninjas. Seeing his son's calm demeanor, Fugaku Uchiha was increasingly satisfied.

Accustomed to killing, Uchiha Itachi was still gazing at the rising dust in the distance. Thinking of the child who was about the same age as his younger brother, he asked in a low voice:

"With this kind of power being released so frequently, is that child really okay?"

The young Sand Village ninja's face lit up with pride when he heard the question, and he gave an affirmative answer without hesitation:

"Lord Gaara is a born hero! There won't be any problems."

Several Sand Village ninjas standing nearby also straightened their chests; after three years of silence, they had proven themselves with their strength.

They were even ahead in the use of tailed beasts. Thinking of this, the Sand Village ninja who was being drained of blood felt extremely happy. It was only a matter of time before they left Konoha!

Uchiha Itachi nodded. He keenly sensed the other party's "eagerness." It seemed that the Sand Village ninja didn't really like the identity of an allied nation.

On the way back, a few Uchiha clan ninjas complained a couple of times, but Fugaku Uchiha didn't comfort them. Instead, he looked at his son and asked:

"Itachi, what are your thoughts on the change in the attitude of the Sand Village ninjas?"

Uchiha Itachi lowered his head, recalling the phenomena he had observed recently, and responded seriously:

"Placing our hopes on that child, perhaps one day in the future, Sunagakure will wage war against us."

"The current peace is only because we have greater power. Sunagakure does not recognize our current identity."

Upon hearing his son's answer, Fugaku Uchiha burst out laughing, and several young ninjas also praised Itachi's magnanimity:

"As expected of my son, he has developed the mindset of a Hokage at such a young age, and he can think about problems from the perspective of the village."

“Itachi, remember this, this is what a true ninja is like. Although I don’t like ‘Madara’s followers,’ in the current situation, the Uchiha clan does need more power.”

"As long as we have the strength to instill fear in our enemies, war will not break out."

Itachi Uchiha responded respectfully, and then the group began to speed up their return. Regarding his father's words, the young Itachi inexplicably thought of Madara Uchiha's mention of "the mission of the Uchiha".

Powerful strength seems to truly be able to resolve all conflicts; the conflict between Sunagakure and Iwagakure taught him a vivid lesson.

-

As night fell, the Sand Village ninja stationed at the border celebrated their victory in their camp. Although they did not launch a counterattack, they had successfully driven out the Iwa Village, and they had already won.

Gaara fell into a coma after ending his dormant state. Even though Shukaku did not actively invade his body, the enormous chakra filled with malice still caused considerable harm to the child.

Gaara's spirit entered the sealed space and sat in a corner with his knees drawn up to his chest. A warm feeling constantly surrounded him, which his uncle told him was his mother's protection.

"Those humans were clearly terrified of you before! Why did you still make this choice?"

"Is it just for that so-called recognition?"

"When you grow up, you might regret the choice you've made now."

Shukaku stared at Gaara with its enormous beastly eyes, who trembled with fear, burying his head in his knees. After a long while, he finally spoke:

"I don't want to be seen as a monster; I like to be needed by everyone."

"My mother would definitely want to see me become a hero, and my father would praise me for it..."

"Thank you for saving everyone, you are the real hero."

Gaara secretly raised his head to look at the terrifying monster. Shukaku suddenly burst into maniacal laughter. It didn't correct the child's thoughts, but instead thought of the old monk Bunpuku and sighed inexplicably:

"A hero? I'd love to hear what you'll think when you grow up."

"Kid, my power isn't something you can use carelessly! If you continue to use it for war, you'll pay a heavy price."

Since being accepted by the villagers, Gaara has tried to communicate with monsters. Perhaps because his mother protected him, he is not so afraid of Shukaku.

Young Gaara didn't catch the sarcasm in Shukaku's tone. The boy, with dark circles under his eyes, raised his head and solemnly replied:

"As long as I can be needed and not treated like a monster, I'm willing to give anything!"

"I'm not a monster, I'm a hero recognized by everyone..."

Shukaku did not respond further. The change in the status of the Jinchūriki left it speechless. The world seemed to be heading in another direction, getting further and further away from what the Sage of Six Paths had said.

When Gaara opened his eyes, all the Sand Village ninjas surrounding the tent crowded in, shouting excitedly regardless of whether the child could understand them:

"As expected of Lord Gaara! A treasure bestowed by heaven upon Sunagakure for its rise!"

"With Lord Gaara's power, we will surely be able to get rid of the oppression of the Konoha ninjas."

"In a few years, Lord Gaara will definitely be even stronger, and maybe we can even launch a counterattack against Konoha and Iwagakure..."

"I swear to follow Lord Gaara to the death!"

Although he couldn't understand what everyone was saying, Gaara felt the eager gazes, and a smile appeared on his pale face, a surge of joy welling up inside him.

"People need me, Mother, I want to protect them..."

Chapter 213 "Teacher, this is how you use magic!..."

In mid-March, Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure, suffered another setback, forcing the Iwagakure ninja to retreat and hold their ground on the front lines of the Land of Birds.

Fortunately, neither side committed too many ninja units, and the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, did not insist on using his son to launch an attack.

At this time, the ninjas of Kusagakure appeared silently at the front line, and the ninjas hired by Onoki began to harass the ninjas of Sunagakure frequently.

The Konoha ninja, as allies, also played a role at this time, suppressing the Cloud Village while blocking the Grass Village.

The front lines reached a stalemate once again. Without the interference of the tailed beasts' power, the ninja forces began to increase in number, and the Sand Village, with its morale greatly boosted, began to prepare for a counterattack. The war continued.

-

As the pitch-black night enveloped Konoha Village, Orochimaru stood behind sophisticated instruments in the Root Laboratory on the eastern side of the dense forest, slowly collecting the final experimental data.

Mitarashi Anko looked at her teacher sleepily. She was exhausted from helping out these past few days. The girl looked up and asked groggily:

"Orochimaru-sensei, isn't the experiment over yet? Should we come back to collect data tomorrow?"

"Innocent little red bean, haven't you noticed something's wrong yet?"

Orochimaru suddenly chuckled. After recording the data from the substitution experiment with the cursed seal, he looked at his innocent disciple with a smile.

"What's wrong, teacher?"

Red Bean opened her eyes wide, asking in confusion, but Orochimaru stepped forward, smiling as he ruffled the girl's hair. Then, he waved to Yekura and looked at the two of them, saying softly:

"The experiment went very smoothly, and it's time for me to leave and move on to the next phase of the plan."

Before we part, I need to give you some small gifts.

Hongdou remained bewildered, while Yecang, with her long, flowing green hair, turned pale and instinctively took a step back, questioning her with fear:

"What...what do you want to do?"

"Just a parting gift!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a large white snake silently bit Yekura's ankle. At the same time, Orochimaru suddenly stretched out his neck and bit down on Anko's neck.

As the Sage Chakra imbued with consciousness was injected into their bodies, Anko and Yekura simultaneously let out screams.

"what!!"

"Teacher...?! Why...?"

Seeing their reactions, Orochimaru smiled again. The incomplete Earth Curse Seal and Heaven Curse Seal were his backup plans, which would allow him to avoid complete annihilation.

"Red Bean, keep up that innocence!"

"I believe you can survive and try to master this power. You'll thank me then..."

Curled up, Anko watched Orochimaru's departing figure and finally realized something. The girl tried to stop him, but the intense pain quickly made her lose most of her consciousness.

Looking at Yekura lying on the ground on the other side, Anko clutched her neck and murmured:

"Teacher, why... is it necessary to notify the senior...?"

Hongdou struggled to her feet, but before she could move, she was entangled by a large snake lying in ambush. As she felt suffocated, the girl quickly fainted.

When Orochimaru emerged from the laboratory onto the ground, several Anbu members and Konoha ninjas had gathered before him; these were all his loyal subordinates.

"You all leave first and go to the base in the Land of Fields to take care of the experiments."

"If I fail to reach the village, you will continue to work for the village as intelligence agents."

Orochimaru, having changed into his Jonin combat uniform, gave a low-pitched instruction. Suddenly, a middle-aged Jonin with an ordinary-looking face and wearing sunglasses looked up:

"Lord Orochimaru, why won't you come with us?"

"Naive idea! All your actions were detected; you still know too little about power."

After Orochimaru finished speaking, he turned to look in the direction of the Shadow Rock. For him, with the cooperation of the Root ninjas, avoiding the Anbu was not difficult, and the sensory barrier was also supported by the Yamanaka clan ninjas.

However, Orochimaru could not avoid disciples who possessed the power of Sage Mode. He knew that natural energy would amplify perception, and his modified body was a blatant "coordinate."

"Is that Lord Xiu?"

“That’s right. There are important experimental subjects of mine in the Land of Fields. Just proceed according to plan and prepare to awaken the container.”

Several members of the Anbu responded immediately upon hearing Orochimaru's instructions. The group knew that Orochimaru had already prepared for the worst.

"Are the Root members still not planning to participate in the operation?"

Orochimaru walked into the dense forest while confirming in a low voice. When he heard his subordinate's affirmative answer, a slight smile immediately appeared on his lips.