Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 104 A New Beginning

Time flowed on, day after day passing by. Hyuga Kanan continued to absorb the ninja knowledge collected by the Hyuga clan in their archives, without any further displays of arrogance, backstabbing, or intrigue. During this period of peace in Konoha, he quietly absorbed the best of the ninja world.

Konoha was developing under the leadership of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. But a storm was brewing in the ninja world, something every Konoha ninja could sense.

Friction between major powers is increasing, constantly foreshadowing the possibility of war breaking out at any moment. The struggle for the Hokage position within Konoha is also overshadowed by the turmoil in the ninja world.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is under increasing pressure as the Daimyo of the Land of Fire uses friction between various countries to put pressure on him, hoping to secure the right to inherit the Hokage position from Sakumo Hatake.

To outsiders, Konoha appears very peaceful, but the undercurrents within are surging more frequently. With the support of the Daimyo, Hatake Sakumo's prestige in Konoha is rising, and he seems determined to become Hokage.

However, as a member of a samurai family, Hatake Sakumo was completely unprepared to become Hokage and remained loyal to Konoha. In his mind, there wasn't much scheming and backstabbing; power resided in one's own world. Flattery and sycophancy were less important. In Konoha's militarized organization, everything was determined by one's own strength.

Sakumo Hatake was clearly very confident in his own strength. In his eyes, becoming Hokage was not that important. However, if the villagers of Konoha supported him to become Hokage, then it wouldn't matter. In any case, when someone stronger than him appeared in Konoha, he would just hand over the Hokage position to that person.

Perhaps in Sakumo Hatake's eyes, as long as the villagers supported him and he was strong enough, it didn't matter who became Hokage. After all, the First and Second Hokage were called Hokage in this way, and the Third Hokage gained everyone's support after proving his strength.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi is now almost 50 years old, nearing the end of his peak as a ninja. As his strength declines, it would be perfectly normal for him to relinquish the Hokage position. The Daimyo supports him because he is currently at the peak of his power, and his succession to the Hokage position is perfectly timed as the Third Hokage's strength declines.

He never imagined that becoming Hokage would mean no longer being simply a ninja, nor would it be solely about strength. Even in a militarized organization, becoming Hokage would gradually transform one into a politician.

Neither the Uchiha clan nor Sakumo Hatake understood this, clinging to the old tradition of letting one's strength dictate the Hokage position, forgetting that public opinion can be manipulated. Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, clearly grasped this after becoming Hokage, gradually changing the perceptions of the Konoha villagers through propaganda.

Strength is no longer the most important thing to becoming Hokage; rather, it's the villagers' approval. This indirectly increases the villagers' voice, making them feel more important.

But they all forgot one thing: Konoha is a military organization, and there isn't much room for democracy. It wasn't until Tsunade and Naruto Uzumaki came to power that the tradition of letting strength decide the outcome returned.

In a world where every day is uncertain and war is a constant threat, if a militarized organization starts talking about democracy, its decline is inevitable.

In this world called the Ninja World, war and bloodshed break out in every corner of the world at any time. Everyone in Konoha Village is born preparing for war, and obviously has no opportunity to properly learn about ideology and politics.

Konoha's stable existence wasn't due to democracy, which made it the most powerful military organization in the ninja world. Rather, it was established thanks to the immense strength of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, and it was the formidable strength of Konoha's ninjas that enabled them to achieve victory in war time and time again.

Judging from the current situation in Konoha, the village has entered a period of decline. From the moment Hiruzen Sarutobi clung to the Hokage position and refused to resign, using politics to suppress Konoha ninjas stronger than himself, Konoha was destined for a downward spiral.

But power is like a tempting poison. Even knowing that it would lead to the decline of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi would not give up the power he had obtained. So he has now begun to use the villagers to force Sakumo Hatake to give up his succession to the Hokage position.

He has already begun planning for his son to inherit the Hokage position, wanting the title to be firmly held by his group. He doesn't want Sakumo Hatake, who isn't part of his group, to have a chance of becoming Hokage.

Deep down, they had already labeled Hatake Sakumo as an enemy. Most people in Konoha still thought of him as the selfless Third Hokage, but in reality, he had already changed before the Daimyo bestowed half of the Hokage's sleeve upon him.

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat alone in his seat, looking at a chart in his hand.

In the center is his eldest son, now the Konoha ANBU squad leader, Sarutobi Shinnosuke. Around him are many other names.

The six names highlighted in red are Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, Yamanaka Inoichi, Inuzuka Hana, Aburame Shiki, and Gekko Hayashiyama. All are from medium-sized clans in Konoha, the backbone of the village, and their most loyal supporters.

There are many other people's names.

These were all supporters that Hiruzen Sarutobi had chosen for his son.

However, his son is far from being able to become Hokage, both in terms of age and experience. He needs a successor. He originally chose his disciple Jiraiya, but it is clear that Jiraiya has no intention of becoming Hokage.

Orochimaru is out of the question, and Tsunade is even less likely. Neither of them would follow through on his plans. Tsunade is currently the biggest threat to his position as Hokage, after all, she was one of the staunchest supporters of the Daimyo's decision to choose Hatake Sakumo, since after Hatake Sakumo, it would be her younger brother Senju Nawaki who would succeed him.

As for Orochimaru's thoughts, his teacher did not understand them at all. However, he knew that if Orochimaru came to power, he would not be content to be a puppet and be manipulated by him. He would definitely take back all the rights that belonged to the Hokage, and then the path that he had planned for his eldest son would become a pipe dream.

So now we can only eliminate the few people who pose the greatest threat to the Hokage position, and then work hard for a while to allow our son to grow up more quickly.

However, Sakumo Hatake is now considered by everyone to be the best successor, and even the daimyo has stood up for him and expressed his support, which puts a lot of pressure on him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi kept thinking about the perfect method.

"Unfortunately, neither the Uchiha nor the Hyuga clans, two powerful families, could persuade the other to support them. The Uchiha clan even revealed their ambition for the Hokage position, and knowing they had no chance, they were more inclined to support Hatake Sakumo. That leaves only the Hyuga clan. Unfortunately, the Hyuga clan has always maintained a neutral stance, and they even clashed with Hyuga Kanan before. Otherwise, if they could improve their relationship with Hyuga Kanan, then gaining the Hyuga clan's support would not be difficult."

Hiruzen Sarutobi is now filled with regret. He knows that Kanan Hyuga broke the Caged Bird Seal. If he had built a good relationship with Kanan, the entire branch family of the Hyuga clan would have been his supporters.

"By the way, wasn't Hyuga Kanan's plan upon returning to Konoha to collect some valuable materials? If the entire Konoha helps him collect them, it will definitely be much faster than if only the Hyuga clan were involved. So, could I use this deal to get Hyuga Kanan to support my side?"

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly tapped the table three times.

Soon, an ANBU ninja appeared at the office desk, kneeling on one knee, awaiting Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't waste any words and said directly, "Go and investigate what kinds of materials Hyuga Kanan needs, what the Hyuga clan has collected for him, and what they still need. After you've investigated, come back and report to me as soon as possible."

"Yes." The ANBU ninja simply replied and then disappeared from the office, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi deep in thought.

"I hope the other side collects the materials slowly, so that I will have a chance to intervene and gain Hyuga Kanan's support."

The Hyuga clan has already collected almost all the materials needed by Hyuga Kanan, except for one material that is completely unavailable in the Land of Fire. Merchants have been dispatched to the Land of Wind to collect it, and they have been there for nearly a month. However, the intelligence they have received indicates that the material is also very difficult to obtain within the Land of Wind, and it may take even longer to gather it.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, directly arranged for his subordinates to help collect the scrolls. Orochimaru also shared the second scroll that Hyuga Kanan had traded to Ryo with Danzo, so that Danzo could arrange for Root ninjas to help him collect it. Orochimaru even promised to help Danzo research certain things.

Danzo Shimura originally wanted to personally contact Hyuga Kanan to see if he could recruit him. However, Hyuga Kanan was completely engrossed in the Hyuga clan's collection, spending all his time in the storage room and never appearing in Konoha. This made it impossible for Danzo to find an opportunity to contact him. He could only order his men to secretly monitor Kanan and notify him immediately if Kanan left the Hyuga clan's territory so he could make contact.

Within the Hyuga clan, all clan members were directly instructed to access the scroll given to them by Hyuga Kanan, allowing them to begin practicing the Taoist Subduing Demon Fist and simultaneously cultivating methods to enhance the purity of the Byakugan.

The entire Hidden Leaf Village fell silent, but the Anbu ninjas began to move around more frequently.

Hyuga Kanan, on the other hand, paid no attention to anything outside the family and devoted all his energy to studying the Hyuga clan's collection.