Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 44: The Battle Begins

In the quiet forest, several figures moved quickly and soon arrived at a cave. Several Konoha ninjas were on guard at the cave entrance, but their expressions were very tense. Upon hearing the noise, they immediately drew their weapons to defend themselves, but relaxed their guard when they saw who was coming.

The newcomers were none other than Hyuga Kanan's squad, who had been harassing the Iwa ninja transport team from behind. They all looked exhausted as they headed towards the cave.

This was the meeting point they had arranged beforehand. They agreed to all gather here two days later to report on the situation.

Two days have passed, and it's the third day now. The Hyuga Kanan team kept taking detours, so they only arrived today.

Jiraiya hurriedly stepped forward to inquire about the current situation of the Konoha team. When he heard that less than 200 people had returned, he showed a pained expression. In just two days, 70% of their team had already disappeared.

Upon entering the cave, he was struck by the sight of nearly two hundred children's innocent faces, leaving him frozen in place, his eyes glazed over.

Today is the last day to hold them off, and they may be wiped out soon. Jiraiya's eyes were filled with pain. These were all children of Konoha, and they were all going to die here. Even this usually optimistic man felt frustrated, and a series of throbbing pains pounded in his heart.

Jiraiya made up his mind that if he couldn't stop them, he would let the children retreat first, and he would buy time for the mission. If he died, he wouldn't be in so much pain now, and he could also complete the passing on of the Will of Fire of Konoha.

After looking around, Hyuga Kanan returned to the cave to rest. Their team had rushed over from behind the Iwa ninja, leaving everyone exhausted. They were about to engage in battle again, so they needed to quickly recover their strength before the Iwa ninja advanced, as the most difficult moment was yet to come.

As the Iwa ninja resumed their advance, observed by Hyuga Kanan's Byakugan, all the remaining members of Konoha's Second Team exhaled a breath of stale air and once again revealed resolute expressions—this was their final fighting spirit.

Waiting to die is agonizing. Knowing they're about to die, yet still waiting, makes the Konoha Second Squad ninja feel incredibly depressed and burdened. Hearing the news from Hyuga Kanan, they can finally take action.

Several younger Konoha ninjas also discussed their last words.

"I hope my mother won't be saddened by my death. I sacrificed myself for the safety of Konoha. Konoha will take good care of my mother and sister."

"Yes! Although I want to go back to the village, it's for Konoha! My lovely little brother will be proud of what I did! This mission, after all, protected Konoha and contributed to Konoha's victory!"

Upon hearing someone's words, everyone shouted, "For Konoha's victory!"

......

Hyuga Kanan fought a Jonin from Iwa ninja for a long time, stopping and starting, moving around to dodge, and had already strayed slightly from the main battlefield.

The Konoha Second Squad is now surrounded by Iwa ninja, and more and more Iwa ninja are gathering around them, so they have completely lost any chance of breaking through.

Hyuga Kanan had very little energy left and was also extremely exhausted. He was outside the encirclement of Iwa ninjas and was unable to go out to create an opening to rescue the besieged Konoha ninjas.

The area surrounding the battlefield had long since been transformed into an open field by various ninjutsu and explosions. Under the watchful eyes of the Iwa ninja, it was utterly impossible for Hyuga Kanan to break through the encirclement.

He was being relentlessly pursued by an Iwa ninja, making it difficult for him to shake them off.

Fewer and fewer Konoha ninjas remained standing within the encirclement; most had fallen to the ground, their blood staining the earth, and they were no longer breathing.

In the end, fewer than 50 people remained, still unwilling to give up the fight, even though the densely packed Iwa ninja had completely taken control of the battlefield.

Suddenly, a loud shout came from a corner of the battlefield in the distance. Hyuga Kanan had already seen Jiraiya use the Summoning Jutsu to summon a giant toad after defeating several Iwa ninjas around him. He stood on the toad's head and quickly formed hand seals, while the giant toad beneath his feet also began forming hand seals to cooperate with Jiraiya.

"Combination Ninjutsu - Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

A massive plume of toad oil surged towards the encirclement, then ignited in flames, creating a torrent of fire that pierced through the Iwa ninja's encirclement. Even earth-style defenses were quickly overwhelmed by the intense heat, providing a path for the few remaining Konoha ninja within the encirclement to retreat.

This powerful ninjutsu can directly tear through the Iwa ninja's defenses, and it's the first time it's been used on this battlefield. However, it also reflects that Jiraiya's ninjutsu probably consumes a huge amount of chakra. After using this level of ninjutsu, Jiraiya's current condition is probably not very good.

Hyuga Kanan thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and quickly moved away into the distance. He needed to get rid of the Iwa ninja pursuing him as soon as possible. Although he had only just mastered this move and had never used it before, he could only give it a try now.

He had to get to the gap in the encirclement as quickly as possible to cover the retreat of the remaining Konoha ninja. Jiraiya had spared no expense in using powerful ninjutsu, expending a large amount of chakra, to create an escape route for the Konoha ninja. Now, his job was to ensure that the Konoha ninja could potentially escape through this route.

"Byakugan - Poké Ball Again!"

Hyuga Kanan slowed down, and as the Iwa ninja approached from a short distance behind him, he channeled most of his energy into one of his Byakugan, employing an energy manipulation technique he had learned a few days prior when refining it. This technique allowed him to project his soul and internal energy directly into his opponent's body through the Byakugan, simultaneously controlling their thoughts and actions. Although he could only manipulate time for a short period, it still gave him the opportunity to severely injure or even kill his opponent.

A milky-white sphere of light instantly emanated from one of Hyuga Kanan's Byakugan eyes, directly reflecting into the eyes of the pursuing Iwa ninja. A connection was quickly established, and Hyuga Kanan's energy and soul power continuously flowed into the opponent's brain through the channel established by the Byakugan. Hyuga Kanan could now read the opponent's memories and control their body.

However, the Iwa ninja on the other side was very determined and resisted fiercely. Hyuga Kanan's energy was constantly depleted, and he felt that he was about to be expelled from the opponent's mind.

Hyuga Kanan maintained stable control as much as possible, causing the Iwa ninja to abandon all defense. He quickly moved to the opponent's side, drew his kunai, and directly severed the opponent's neck before collapsing to the ground, ending the release of his Byakugan at the same time.

Hyuga Kanan felt a burning pain in his right eye. His body was also twitching; the increased energy output he had just released had caused a throbbing pain in his meridians. He was completely too weak to stand up, let alone check on the situation of the Iwa ninja opposite him.

Fortunately, the Iwa ninja on the other side had his neck cut off directly, so he had no power to resist and simply covered his throat to wait for death.

Hyuga Kanan was also somewhat annoyed. This was his first time using this thing, and he hadn't expected it to be so difficult, so energy-consuming, and so burdensome on his body. His internal meridians were fine and would recover quickly, but he was now essentially one-eyed. His right eye was practically useless, just not blind yet, but he couldn't see anything clearly, only sensing faint light.

The optic nerve in the right eye is not damaged, but there is a problem inside the white of the eye. It's like a magical artifact that has suffered a lot of damage after outputting too much energy, with tiny cracks everywhere. Now the eye is just an ornament and can only be restored slowly by nourishing it with the energy in the body. It may take a long time to recover.

After lying on the ground for a while, Hyuga Kanan stood up again and assessed his condition. The convulsions had stopped, and he had returned to normal. However, his internal energy was still greatly depleted, while his soul power was minimally consumed. Only his right eye was in poor condition.

He glanced at the Konoha ninja with his left eye and found the situation wasn't good. Although several dozen people had escaped the encirclement, they were still being pursued by Iwa ninja, and Iwa ninja were constantly blocking their path, slowing down the Konoha ninja's progress and putting them at risk of being surrounded again at any moment.

Hyuga Kanan quickly bandaged his right eye and rushed over to provide support. He didn't need to fight; he just needed to lead the way so that the Konoha ninja could avoid the Iwa ninja ahead. By reducing the fighting, they might be able to avoid being surrounded altogether.

Jiraiya sensed that his chakra was almost depleted, but he still managed to reach the rear of the Konoha ninja, covering their retreat and blocking the Iwa ninja's pursuit and encirclement. The other Konoha ninja weren't in much better shape; almost everyone had some kind of injury, though it hadn't yet affected their mobility. Those Konoha ninja whose mobility was affected simply stopped to cover their comrades' retreat.

Jiraiya's wide-range ninjutsu blocked the Iwa ninja's pursuit, forcing them to keep attacking Jiraiya, quickly defeating him before continuing their pursuit.

The two sides continued to clash. Jiraiya, as expected of a strong fighter, was able to hold his own against a large number of Iwa ninjas at first. However, as time went on, his stamina and chakra were depleted, and his speed and strength continued to decline, allowing the Iwa ninjas to attack his body and cause him to bleed and get injured. Although none of the injuries were fatal, they left Jiraiya covered in blood and looking disheveled.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of Jiraiya blocking the main force of the Iwa ninja pursuit, Hyuga Kanan quickly joined up with the Konoha retreat team to provide some assistance to the Konoha forces.

"Whoosh!" Hyuga Kanan arrived directly beside the Konoha team, and after seeing that the Konoha ninjas had all taken a defensive stance, he called out a reminder:

"It's me, Hyuga Kanan."

Konoha was overjoyed to hear this, but also relieved. Too many battles had made Konoha members extremely wary, and they were happy to see that it was one of their own.

Despite the heavy casualties among their comrades, they were still quite pleased that the Hyuga clan ninja, who had killed several Iwa ninjas at the start of the battle and even lured away the Iwa Jonin, had returned. With Hyuga Kanan's Byakugan, the retreat would be even easier.

Subsequently, Hyuga Kanan quickly led the Konoha team, which now numbered less than 20 men, to retreat, constantly avoiding the Iwa ninja's blocking force ahead, thus preventing the Konoha team from encountering any further attacks.