Immortality begins with the ninjas of Konoha

"Because Itachi is my son."

Fugaku Uchiha responded calmly, while Mikoto's face showed a look of pity. She could feel the change in her son over the past year, which was the effect of love.

Seeing her husband like this, Mikoto Uchiha felt fear again. She worried that her son would break down because of it. After all, a ninja is not a tool, and everyone has their limits.

"War will come sooner or later, and that will be the time for the Uchiha to rise."

"Itachi will inherit the will of his predecessors, and once he obtains the legendary power, he may even have the opportunity to become Hokage in the future."

Thinking of his son's talent, Fugaku Uchiha spoke with unwavering certainty. Under his leadership, the Uchiha clan had made a leap forward, successfully entering the Anbu and becoming a core member of the power structure.

If he takes just one more step, he will be able to fulfill his long-cherished wish: the Uchiha clan will lead the village and the Land of Fire!

Noticing his wife's downcast mood, Fugaku Uchiha finally offered a few words of comfort:

"Without the power of the tailed beasts, some ninjutsu will be lost in the future."

"Itachi obtained the legendary power for the sake of the village. In this era where tailed beasts determine the course of war, we must prepare in advance."

Mikoto Uchiha stopped talking. She couldn't change her husband's decision, so she could only continue to pray for her son.

...

In the tranquil forest west of the Naga Shrine, Itachi Uchiha hid behind a large tree, concealing his presence, a smile on his face as he secretly observed his younger brother.

Using ninja techniques in a game of hide-and-seek might seem a bit excessive, but Itachi wanted to take this opportunity to test his younger brother's ninja aptitude, so naturally he had to use some methods.

"elder brother!"

After searching for a long time without finding Itachi, Sasuke raised his voice impatiently. At this moment, Itachi deliberately released some chakra, and then he saw his brother's body stiffen.

Sasuke, clearly focused, sensed something; most children couldn't do that. Itachi was certain his younger brother possessed exceptional ninja talent.

Sensing his brother's presence, Sasuke silently quickened his pace, quickly catching up to a large tree. He leaped over and shouted:

"found it!"

The itachi leaning against the tree turned into a wisp of white smoke, and Sasuke immediately puffed out his cheeks and started complaining:

"Ah! Brother cheated! How can you use Shadow Clone Technique?!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Uchiha Shisui's cheerful voice came from behind:

"A ninja's job is to strike unexpectedly, Sasuke, you've done a great job."

"Huh?!"

Sasuke quickly turned around and saw Shisui wearing a black Uchiha clan coat and carrying a short sword. He immediately squeezed next to Itachi, who had jumped down from the tree.

"My brother promised to guide me in my cultivation today!"

"Forgive me, Sasuke."

Itachi Uchiha pointed a finger at his younger brother's forehead, and Sasuke immediately gasped:

"it hurts!"

"Sasuke, Itachi will be taking the Chunin Exams alone, and he'll need to do some special training during this time."

"You don't want to see Itachi lose to anyone else, do you?"

Shisui approached Sasuke and leaned down to comfort him. Sasuke turned to look at Itachi and immediately nodded, responding softly:

"My brother will definitely defeat everyone and become a Chunin."

"Quan is still waiting for you. Kids should go shopping on the shopping street on weekends."

Sasuke immediately turned around upon hearing Shisui's words, but remembering that Izumi was still waiting for him, he reluctantly said goodbye to his brother and ran out of the dense forest with his short legs.

Seeing his younger brother leave, Itachi Uchiha regained his usual calm demeanor, while Shisui let out a long sigh and said in a deep voice:

"Itachi, let me see if you've made any progress."

"Alright, this will be a good opportunity to test my abilities."

Before the words were even finished, Itachi Uchiha had already jumped to a distance, and the two of them simultaneously reached for their ninja tool pouches behind them, and then the shuriken were quickly thrown out.

"Ding ding ding..."

After activating their three-tomoe Sharingan, both sides were able to pinpoint the trajectory of the shuriken and intercept them accurately. The colliding shuriken sparked and made a series of sounds, spinning continuously after bouncing off the ground.

The shuriken throws were evenly matched, but Shisui suddenly took the initiative and arrived in front of Itachi in the blink of an eye.

When the two locked eyes, Itachi's body did not stiffen noticeably. Although his reaction was slightly slow, he still managed to block Shisui's side kick.

"boom..."

With a muffled thud, Itachi leaned against the tree, then pushed off with his feet and immediately jumped onto the tree. However, Shisui was extremely fast and silently activated his body using Lightning Release.

Shisui, wielding his short sword, always managed to find the perfect point of attack. Itachi, holding kunai in both hands, observed the trajectory of the sword swings and, after gradually adapting, even began to launch counterattacks.

As Itachi seized the opportunity and turned to attack, he suddenly exhaled, and the moment the kunai was imbued with wind-attribute chakra, a light blade gleaming with yellow light suddenly appeared.

The stabber arrived in front of Shisui in the blink of an eye. The short sword that had blocked the attack was now covered with a layer of white light.

"hiss!"

The wind-attribute chakra flowing in different ways collided with each other, producing a sharp sound. Short swords and kunai clashed one after another, and the two sides began a new round of competition.

Neither of them used ninjutsu. Shisui's speed in ending the activation of his body decreased slightly. Itachi failed to seize the opportunity, and his chakra also encountered some problems, making it impossible for him to maintain the light blade stably.

As the short sword clashed with the kunai again, the relatively short-statured Itachi Uchiha suddenly spoke up:

"I never thought you'd feel lost, Shisui. What are you afraid of?"

"As always, I'm perceptive; I'm just afraid of the truth."

Shisui attempted to suppress it with force, but Itachi retreated again, then resumed wielding two kunai, assuming a fighting stance and responding seriously:

"The teacher you imagine in your fear is a lie, and there's no point in dwelling on it."

"It was a good thing for the village that the teacher obtained the Nine-Tails. The power of the tailed beasts should be controlled by the truly strong. Only in this way can the conflict be resolved."

Shisui hadn't expected Itachi to have such extreme thoughts, and his expression grew even more solemn. He held his short sword to the side and said in a deep voice:

"The Tailed Beasts belong to the village. Collecting the Tailed Beasts means starting a war."

"I will not let the children in the clan repeat the same mistakes. Think about Sasuke, do you want to see him on the battlefield before he is even 12 years old?"

As Itachi Uchiha charged forward, he increased his attack speed. Perhaps due to his unwavering will, his Sharingan was able to more clearly predict his friend's moves.

"Why should Konoha get involved in the war? Having lost the Nine-Tails, the village has no reason to intervene in the battle."

You're just fooling yourself.

As Shisui continued to parry and seized opportunities to counterattack, the suppressed Uchiha Itachi once again responded expressionlessly:

"I simply trust the teacher's magnanimity."

The sparring match ended with Itachi Uchiha exhausted. With his age advantage and richer combat experience, Shisui was currently in a better position.

The two lying on the grass eventually fell silent, gazing at the azure sky. Uchiha Itachi, feeling he knew more, turned to his friend and whispered:

"Our teacher protected the village. If one day our teacher can collect all the tailed beasts, the conflicts in the ninja world may no longer exist."

Shisui didn't respond. He was genuinely afraid, worried that the senior he once admired might suddenly change, and he wanted to maintain his current happy life.

"Itachi, what would you do if the worst-case scenario really happened?"

Upon hearing Shisui's question, Itachi didn't hesitate; he already had the answer long ago:

"I will help my teacher resolve the conflicts in the ninja world. That powerful force is enough to allow Sasuke to live a healthy and happy life without having to experience war."

-

Late at night, in the dense forest on the west side of the village, Furukawa Osamu's wooden clone was still diligently conducting experiments in the underground laboratory.

Although the main body trains in taijutsu with Tsunade every day, the clones have not relaxed. Over the years, they have worked hard to learn and experiment whenever they have time.

Unlike Orochimaru's style, the biggest change in Furukawa Osamu's laboratory was that it was much brighter. Yakushi Kabuto lay on the lab table, feeling a chill run down his spine as he looked at the green liquid he was mixing.

"Don't worry, you have to believe in your research results."

"This is another application of immortal arts. After being injected into your body, it will slowly transform your body. Combined with the incantation seal, this will allow you to better control this power."

Furukawa Osamu smiled reassuringly, and Yakushi Kabuto immediately forced a smile onto his face before giving a simple reply:

"Lord Shu, are we really going to collect the power of the Tailed Beasts? Should we sabotage the Raikage's visit?"

“Collecting the Tailed Beasts isn’t as difficult as you think. As for the Raikage, no matter what decision he makes, he can’t change the predetermined future.”

Ignoring the pharmacist's puzzled expression, Furukawa Osamu continued injecting the boy with the prepared medicine while adjusting the curse seal's form:

"It's been more successful than expected. Once you enter your period of rapid physical development, you'll be able to master the power of the second-stage curse seal."

"Compared to Orochimaru's Heavenly Curse Seal, the one on you is more stable."

Yekura, as the experimental assistant, showed envy at this moment. She had almost died on the spot in order to resist the corruption of Orochimaru's cursed seal, and the power she finally obtained was not stable.

"Lord Xiu, is there an easier way to control the Earth Curse Mark on my body?"

"That's the 'eye' left behind by Orochimaru-sensei. Unless you want to give up this power, you can only use the exorcism seal to control the cursed seal."

Kabuto wanted to ask more questions after hearing Furukawa Osamu's answer, but soon everything went black and he completely lost consciousness. He had to die once before he could continue his training.

After recording the changes in her body data, Yekura breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, biting her lip, she took off her green coat and voluntarily lay down on another experimental table.

"We can begin, Master Xiu."

Ignoring the pale skin of Yekura's chest, Furukawa Osamu proactively released part of the seal on the exorcism seal. Then, after carefully sensing the curse seal on his chest with his right hand, a smile reappeared on his face:

"The Kaguya clan should like this gift. Although there are quite a few side effects, those lunatics definitely won't care."

"You deserve credit for the development of the degraded version of the cursed seal. It is indeed a powerful tool for training ninja forces."

As his body gradually turned black and horns sprouted from his head, Yekura suppressed his urge to kill, took the medicine from Furukawa Osamu and swallowed it, quickly controlling the strangeness in his body.

As Furukawa Osamu began the next stage of the experiment, he would occasionally glance at Yokura's reactions and physical data. By the time he finished recording the day's herbal reactions, Yokura had already fainted.

Taking out a scroll, Furukawa Osamu used a summoning jutsu, and soon White Zetsu Tobi appeared, followed by a comical voice:

"It's definitely more enjoyable to be by Lord Xiu's side! I've completed my mission!"

"I found and retrieved that special experimental body, and the mother and daughter of the Uzumaki clan were also sent to the Land of Water."

"We are still searching for other children with bloodline limits. Is Master Xiu gathering strength for the war?"

Furukawa Osamu shook his head helplessly at Tobi's strange cries. The ancient White Zetsu was very intelligent and had good execution skills, but sometimes it talked too much.

"Children can't help; I just want to continue my research."

"As for war, that's a means to be used when we fail to reach a consensus with other countries in the future."

"Perhaps some ninja villages will make the right choice. After all, most ninjas hate war, and a so-called 'hero' should contribute to the village."

Chapter 237 Unifying the Ninja World?

In late May of Konoha Year 57, the Fourth Raikage, A, who was preparing for his trip to Konoha, once again displayed a tough stance, leaving the Jonin in the village who intended to join the Tailed Beast Alliance Agreement feeling powerless.

The Sand Village, the Stone Village, and the Leaf Village have been working together to hunt down the Akatsuki for over a year. During this time, the three parties have achieved considerable success and have been making every effort to invite the Fourth Raikage.

The Hidden Cloud Village also wanted to participate in the operation, but the Jonin team's suggestion was not approved by the Fourth Raikage. Recently, after Jiraiya sent a letter, A even replied with a sarcastic remark:

"No rogue ninja from Kumogakure will join Akatsuki. The so-called agreement will only leak more information."

"I refuse to cooperate with those who condone rogue ninjas!"

Despite the somewhat tactful wording of the letter, it still infuriated the Konoha and Sunagakure ninjas when it was returned to Jiraiya.

Although the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, supported the alliance agreement, the old man laughed after learning of the Fourth Raikage's reply. When discussing the matter with his son, he even praised it.

"The Raikage kid is finally showing some of the flair of a Kage!"

"When it comes to managing villages, Iwagakure and Kumogakure are indeed superior. There won't be any rogue ninja here."

Huang Tu really couldn't comment on his father's "winning strategy." It might work for fooling the genin and chunin, but the jonin team completely stopped buying it after the conflict with Sunagakure.

Huang Tu, worried about the future of the village, eventually sent a handwritten letter to the Fourth Raikage. Upon seeing the Iwagakure ninja's plea, the Fourth Raikage began to reconsider the agreement.

-

After being invaded a few years ago, the Hidden Cloud Village, nestled among the mountains, not only changed its barrier spells but also carried out a major purge of its ANBU members.

Most of the Cloud Village ninja are still unaware that Turtle Island has been "occupied," and they've been completely baffled by the village's repeated use of barriers over the past few years...

Fortunately, the Fourth Raikage acted unilaterally, and some doubts did not affect the village's defensive measures.