Immortality begins with the ninjas of Konoha

"Listen to your brother, if you want to gain power, you will inevitably have to pay a price."

"Little one, just be happy every day."

Sasuke didn't understand the meaning of these words, but seeing the handsome smile, a blush rose on his face again, and he shyly squeezed next to Itachi and whispered:

"My brother's teacher is so beautiful, no wonder he always leaves me behind..."

Chapter 218 Minor Success in Immortal Arts

By the end of May, the Konoha ninjas had completely returned to their peaceful lives as they had before the Fourth Shinobi World War.

With the war over, the commission market returned to normal, and thanks to their status as victorious nations, Konoha ninjas could continue to exploit Sunagakure.

A Chunin can support a family; for many, this is the best of times!

With endless tasks, a dazzling array of goods, and the best medical system in the ninja world, the Konoha ninjas felt incredibly happy, and at this moment, they cherished their peaceful life even more.

The village leadership, however, did not relax. Since the enemy's location was determined, the secret service's work has become increasingly demanding.

Although no one knew the village's objective, it was enough for the ninjas to carry out orders. Only a few astute ANBU members noticed the higher-ups' intentions, and a surprise attack was brewing.

-

Late at night, after finishing his dual cultivation, Furukawa Shu returned to Shikkotsu Forest. He would be an adult in a few months, and the slugs, big and small, were very happy.

Fortunately, most of the clones aren't that straightforward, otherwise, just dealing with things like "mating" would have kept Furukawa Osamu on the run...

"Lord Xiu, how is Tsunade's physical condition? Is she able to accept your power to complete mating?"

"Excessive Sage Chakra may affect Lady Tsunade's health, so Master Shu must be careful."

"It's a real pity that Lady Tsunade's body is too frail to immediately reproduce."

"The magic of Ryuchi Cave is truly wondrous; indeed, my true form is more suited for reproduction..."

The atmosphere fell apart after the giant, tens-of-meters-tall slug asked the question, but fortunately, more "shy" little slugs wriggled onto Furukawa Osamu, changing the subject with their soft, sweet voices:

"Master Xiu, shall we continue to try using Ashura Chakra to guide Wood Release and Sage Mode tonight?"

"Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode is a completely new form of expression, and it seems to be closer to the power of the Divine Tree?"

"Lord Xiu's body also contains some of the divine tree's power. If we develop it this time, he might be able to advance even further!"

"This is indeed a wondrous combination of powers, Lord Xiu, please begin as soon as possible!"

Furukawa Osamu hurriedly led the little slugs into the dense forest, where he saw the White Zetsu Jinchuriki clone still running around using the "Four-Legged Technique." He immediately called out loudly:

"You stupid fox, you're back!"

"Only you understand the power of Hashirama Senju's Wood Release. I'm letting you judge it; I'm not trying to extract your chakra. Where do you think you can hide?"

Upon hearing "no extraction," Kurama immediately manipulated the White Zetsu Jinchuriki's body to return, then connected with the split spirit of Furukawa Osamu within her, muttering under her breath:

I feel like you're mocking me!

"It was Madara Uchiha who manipulated me to lose that battle. Otherwise, with my strength, how could Hashirama Senju be my opponent?"

Ignoring the big fox's boasting, Furukawa Osamu sat cross-legged on the boulder. The dense forest suddenly became quiet, and the slugs stopped chattering. They all shook their antennae to carefully sense the surroundings.

When Osamu Furukawa readjusted the energy ratio, his body, modified by Ashura Chakra, seemed to be fully activated, and a special Sage Chakra suddenly appeared.

Circular stripes also appeared around the Hundred Healings Seal on his forehead, and Furukawa Osamu suddenly formed hand seals:

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique!"

Soon, five wooden figures emerged from behind, more suitable for carrying chakra than the Shadow Clone Technique, with each clone being stronger than before.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"

Thick tree trunks suddenly emerged from beneath the boulder, then grew rapidly, eventually transforming into a gigantic wooden dragon hundreds of meters long that lifted up Furukawa Osamu.

The nine-tailed fox inside the sealed space felt a chill run down its spine. It vividly recalled its past memories, and when it saw the wood dragon's eyes suddenly flash with green light, the great fox was so frightened that it shouted loudly at the split spirit:

"Hashirama Senju's Wood Release doesn't have this kind of vitality!"

"Kid, put away your Sage Mode! I remember Wood Release absorbs chakra; it wouldn't be good if it accidentally hurts the live slugs..."

Kurama always felt that Furukawa Osamu developed Wood Release in order to better absorb his power and complete the "purification".

The thought of its chakra being drained made the giant fox curl up into a ball again, and it stopped secretly pulling at the seal.

Ignoring the Nine-Tailed Fox's complaints, Furukawa Osamu continued to sit cross-legged on the wooden dragon, carefully sensing the surroundings. After the slug completed its resonance, his spirit suddenly felt an instinctive intuition.

“Living Slug, it seems I can integrate these special magical techniques into my spirit body, and I can bear this power.”

The slug seemed a little confused, but she quickly understood what Osamu Furukawa was talking about.

The collected energy information eventually converged in the spirit body, which, having been replenished with death energy over the past few months, was not overwhelmed and disintegrated by the energy information.

The spirit instinctively merged all energy information into the attribute-less liquid sage chakra that carried the spirit. The information blended seamlessly, and the vast sage chakra seemed to undergo inexplicable changes.

As the body's cells once again absorb Sage Chakra through the Hundred Healings Seal technique, the cells, nourished by this energy, enter a "transformation period" once more.

"A miraculous change! Is this Master Xiu's unique immortal technique? It seems to have combined three qualities."

"Once the body adapts, there is no need to change attributes."

The slug's soft, sweet voice was filled with a cheerful tone. Furukawa Osamu snapped out of his daze; the spirit body had indeed undergone another transformation thanks to its powerful "stats":

"It's just an energy attribute; there's still room for improvement in energy itself."

"Give me a little more time, and I should be able to try fusing the two initial chakras. Only after fusing them will I truly achieve mastery!"

The slug that had broken the resonance appeared on her shoulder. She didn't understand "Da Cheng," but she was certain that the energy of its kind was indeed approaching the "alien" she remembered.

"Time is not a problem for Master Xiu. Although he will still die before his original body for now, it shouldn't be difficult for this body to survive for several hundred years."

"..."

Upon hearing this comment, Furukawa Osamu immediately sighed; longevity was truly enviable.

The live slug's body is filled with Sage Chakra, which is not the ordinary liquid form it has. I don't know how it managed to do that.

"The plan is progressing very smoothly; now it's up to the stupid fox!"

With a smile, Furukawa Osamu manipulated the wooden dragon to appear in front of the White Zetsu Jinchuriki. Receiving no response, his eyes immediately turned crimson, and then his spiritual consciousness appeared in the sealed space.

"Continue your cultivation; you've already wasted far too much time!"

"If I had realized this sooner, I might have already met the requirements of the Sage of Six Paths."

Hearing Furukawa Osamu's words, Kurama wanted to bare its teeth, but upon seeing those three-tomoe scarlet eyes, it immediately lost its temper. Thinking of the wooden dragon outside, it finally pleaded pitifully:

"Evil brat, slow down your absorption of my chakra."

"Damn it, from now on I'll have to rely on my body to fight off evil humans..."

"Do you know how long it took to accumulate these evil thoughts? This is all my power!"

Ignoring the resentful fox, Furukawa Osamu "understood" the Nine-Tails and merged the two chakra within his body, allowing him to "collect" the Sage of Six Paths.

Since it concerns immortality, he needs the Nine-Tailed Fox to help him cultivate.

-

The Child of Prophecy was unaware that he had lost his power, and Naruto Uzumaki was even happier after Minato Namikaze returned home.

Sasuke Uchiha's father had some issues, but Naruto's father was full of love.

Aside from training, Minato would generally fulfill any request Naruto made.

Kushina understood her husband and relaxed her discipline of Naruto during this time, but as a result, her son became increasingly unruly...

Hinata Hyuga was almost taken home by Naruto. After Minato returned the eldest daughter of the main branch of the Hyuga clan to the Hyuga mansion, Kushina completely lost her temper and beat her son up...

Naruto, yelling and screaming, didn't think he had done anything wrong. Even at dinner time, he didn't forget to complain to Minato:

"Dad, I'm helping Hinata! She gets hurt every day, why can't she come and stay with us for a while?"

"What is Gentle Fist? Is it very powerful? Is it as powerful as Dad's ninjutsu?"

Minato chuckled dryly without explaining, while Kushina tapped her son's head impatiently.

"The Hyuga clan is different! You can play with her, but you can't just disappear with her!"

Seeing his son rubbing his forehead, Minato burst out laughing. Disciplining their son was his wife's job; he was responsible for fulfilling his son's wishes.

"Gentle Fist is amazing! But my ninjutsu is just as good. Do you remember Jiraiya-sensei?"

“We are all disciples of immortals. When you grow up, you may be able to inherit this power.”

"Watergate!"

Kushina suddenly raised her voice, and Minato scratched his head when he saw his wife's angry expression. Naruto, meanwhile, looked at her with starry eyes and shouted longingly:

"I also want to become a disciple of an immortal!"

Chapter 219 The Mysterious "Monk"

In mid-August of Konoha Year 55, after three months of searching and investigation by Konoha ninja, the situation surrounding the unknown enemy's stronghold in the Land of Rivers had been fully ascertained.

Not only did they find suspicious outposts, but the Konoha ninjas also discovered the "secret construction" in the Land of Rivers.

Along the southeastern coastline, the land of rivers not only developed ports but also had shipbuilding bases.

It seems that a large portion of the ships that monopolize maritime trade between the Land of Tea, the Land of the Sea, and the Land of Water originate from here. Considering the mysterious organization, the Konoha ninjas hurriedly relayed the news back to the village.

Most ninjas didn't care about technological development; Konoha was more focused on medical equipment. When the news got back, even the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was alarmed.

Small countries are constantly poaching our resources, and the Land of Fire must strike back hard. They should have a share of this business.

-

Not many Konoha ninja knew that the Nine-Tails was missing; most of them simply hated the enemy who destroyed the village back then.

At the Jonin meeting, there was a lot of opposition when they learned that Jiraiya wanted to take this opportunity to destroy the enemy's stronghold. Most of the ninjas just wanted to live a peaceful life, which was a rare treat.

Given this situation, the few who knew the truth did not disclose the news of the Nine-Tails' disappearance. This matter had too great an impact, and if the news leaked out, it could even trigger another war.

Being unable to control the Nine-Tails' power is completely different from losing the Nine-Tails' power. The nature of the war has changed, and the tailed beasts are the cornerstone that ensures the village's "eternal prosperity."

Ninjas grow old and their ninjutsu is lost, but tailed beasts never die and their power never diminishes!

Most members of the Jonin team believed that sooner or later, Konoha would be able to completely control the power of the Tailed Beasts.

Inside the Hokage Building's meeting room, Minato Namikaze sensed the aversion to battle among the crowd and sighed inwardly. He knew that few cared about what his teacher had said about the "future of the ninja world."

Perhaps because there were too many voices arguing, Aburame Shiki, who was usually not very noticeable, suddenly pushed up her sunglasses and asked:

"Hokage-sama, in the surprise attack on the Land of Rivers, will Lord Shu also participate in the operation? If we cannot kill the enemy, should we consider the enemy's retaliation?"

"After all, the other party is just a small organization with that kind of space-time ninjutsu, and they can abandon everything and run away at any time. The village is a bigger target, and it seems that there is a huge risk in taking rash action."

Aburame Shii, who had always unconditionally supported Operation Minato, suddenly spoke up, causing Nara Shikaku and the others to pause slightly before falling silent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, sitting to the left, nodded slightly. He also did not support rash action and was about to take over when Jiraiya spoke again with an anxious expression:

"Everyone, this organization is still in the process of being established, and it may affect the future direction of the ninja world!"

"We must weaken their strength as soon as possible. Only in this way can the ninja world usher in true peace."

The Child of Prophecy has lost his power, while the forces of destruction continue to grow stronger. As the guide, Jiraiya is troubled every day, and he can only helplessly watch these things happen.

All the Jonin in the room sensed Jiraiya's anxiety, but they didn't understand it at all. Nara Shikaku, as the vice-class leader, sighed and responded in a low voice:

"Lord Jiraiya, true peace does not exist."

"Everyone here is an elite, and we all know that the current peace is merely a way to build up strength for the next war."

"If we want to maintain the current situation and continue to draw resources from Sunagakure, a battle between the two sides is inevitable in the future."

"Unless we are willing to give up this benefit, war will break out sooner or later. As for this dangerous organization, I would suggest that we issue warnings to the other ninja villages and ensure the safety of the Jinchuriki."

Upon hearing these words, the Jonin team members all expressed their support. Rather than fighting against powerful enemies, they should focus on development. As long as they protected the Tailed Beasts, the dangerous organizations could only cause some chaos at most.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado agreed with Shikaku's point of view and remained silent. Tsunade looked at the three advisors, then at her hesitant old friend, and had no choice but to listen to the majority opinion:

"Jiraiya, defeating the enemy in one fell swoop is not a simple matter. As for how to restrict space-time ninjutsu, we still don't have a good way."

"The operation in the Land of Rivers should still focus on the port issue. We need to confirm whether the trade is related to funding the rogue ninja organization."

"Xiu has already led the Dark Guard members to investigate this matter in detail. For the time being, you should stay in the village."

"I'll leave the visiting to other villages to you guys, Shikaku. Share some key information, and I'm sure you'll take it seriously."