Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 25 Orochimaru

In fact, when providing support to this battlefield, Hyuga Kanan had already anticipated that Hanzo of the Salamander would not kill Orochimaru and the other two, since Tsunade was among the three on the other side.

It's important to understand that Tsunade was personally appointed as the Princess of Konoha by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, and was also the most beloved granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the founder of Konoha. She held an extraordinary position in Konoha; even the Third Hokage relied on taking her as a disciple to enhance his prestige and solidify his position. Unless someone wanted to forge a true, irreconcilable feud with Konoha and fight them to the death, they wouldn't easily kill her.

The Land of Rain is just a small country. Even if it doesn't care about Konoha's pursuit, the entire Land of Rain will probably face Konoha's crazy retaliation, and then the Land of Rain will truly be finished.

Furthermore, Tsunade isn't so easy to kill. Tsunade, along with Orochimaru and Jiraiya, are all formidable opponents. If Hanzo of the Salamander were to truly kill all three, he would likely pay a price. However, the Land of Rain cannot afford to lose Hanzo's deterrent power. If he becomes too seriously injured, the Iwa and Sand ninjas are not benevolent; they would undoubtedly take advantage of his misfortune. In that case, the Rain Ninja might suffer even greater losses.

From Hyuga Kanan's perspective, the situation is still within Hanzo's acceptable range. Although they did not gain any advantage from invading the Land of Fire, the losses suffered by the Rain Village were not crippling. They also served as a strong deterrent to Konoha, at least ensuring that Konoha would not dare to have any improper thoughts about the Land of Rain.

If Hanzo were to fight the Iwa and Sunagakure ninjas again, it would ensure that the Land of Rain would not be annexed by other countries, thus guaranteeing its independence and preventing it from becoming a puppet of powerful nations.

However, the battlefield between Konoha and Iwagakure/Sunagakure will likely still be in the Land of Rain. After all, even if Hanzo is very powerful, he is only powerful in one person. The other Rain Ninja are far behind the ninjas of the major countries. At most, they can only ensure that their country will not be destroyed or that Amegakure will be attacked.

Hyuga Kanan's current concern is the upcoming war. These are nations of equal strength, and they won't care about Konoha's retaliation or hatred; they'll only care about gaining benefits from the Land of Fire. Even if the major powers want a ceasefire, the Sage of Six Paths will intervene to keep the war going. He can't allow his seedlings to grow indefinitely. To maintain the distribution of his will fragments, the number of ninjas must be kept at a certain level. Once that number is reached, the harvesting will continue until the number drops to a certain point, at which point the will fragments will be redistributed, allowing the ninja world to cultivate new seedlings for harvesting.

Hyuga Kanan also noticed a phenomenon: the strength of the ninjas was declining with each generation, while their numbers were constantly increasing. Once a certain number was reached, a new war would immediately begin.

This cyclical harvesting method likely allows the Sage of Six Paths' strength to continuously increase. No one knows the current level of the Sage of Six Paths' power, or what level they themselves need to reach to contend with him. Otherwise, they'd live in constant fear, afraid that he would discover their anomaly and eliminate them.

Hyuga Kanan, who was even more eager to train, had a somewhat lost look in her eyes. She didn't even notice that her eyes were fixed on the disheveled Orochimaru on the battlefield.

At this moment, Orochimaru's already gloomy face darkened even more after the crushing defeat and Hanzo's humiliating words. A sense of oppression surrounded him, making people reluctant to approach him.

Orochimaru, a genius from a young age, learned everything incredibly quickly, and his strength increased accordingly. Despite his immense confidence in his abilities, he suffered a defeat even with the help of his teammates, and was humiliatingly given the title of one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. This was an incredibly heavy blow to his spirit, driving him to seek even greater power.

Orochimaru stood there alone, his stamina and chakra completely depleted, yet unlike Jiraiya and Tsunade, he didn't support each other to stay upright. In his view, this defeat simply meant he hadn't reached his peak yet; he could still learn more ninjutsu, more powerful ninjutsu, to improve himself.

Orochimaru, his eyes cold and menacing, suppressed his resentment and glanced at the surrounding crowd, causing everyone to instinctively avert their gazes. Suddenly, he noticed a brat whose eyes were fixed on him, showing no intention of looking away. But unlike the eagerness and excitement in the eyes of those around him, his gaze held only confusion and helplessness.

Orochimaru's interest was piqued. It was strange that someone with a bewildered expression appeared on the battlefield after a victory. He strode towards the figure, and those around him quickly made way for him.

Hyuga Kanan was still in a daze, completely unaware of Orochimaru's arrival. When Orochimaru reached him, he remained in the same posture, his eyes still looking forward, but somewhat listless, the confusion in his eyes not fading.

"What an interesting brat!" Orochimaru licked his lips, looking at the child in front of him, and said in a hoarse voice.

Hyuga Kanan was jolted back to reality by the voice before her. Her gaze refocused, and she was taken aback when she saw the pale face in front of her, disheveled yet smiling.

"What's your name, you brat from the Hyuga clan? Can you tell me what you were thinking just now? Your expression was very interesting; there was no joy of victory at all, but rather a look of confusion and bewilderment!"

Orochimaru looked at Hyuga Kanan, who had already come to her senses, and asked with a curious gaze.

He was genuinely curious about the child's expression after the war was won. He always wanted to understand the reasons behind anything that interested him or that was unknown. This was true of ninjutsu, and it was also true of people.

"Ah! Lord Orochimaru, I am Hyuga Kanan. It's nothing, I'm just a little envious of seeing such a powerful ninja for the first time!" Hyuga Kanan replied somewhat perfunctorily.

Based on the impressions left by the original work, I can somewhat agree with Orochimaru, even though he went astray. For someone who frequently witnessed the deaths of friends, family, and companions from a young age, it's understandable that he developed a disregard for life and engaged in indiscriminate human experimentation. When he saw life disappear so easily, he lost his reverence for it.

However, it must be said that Orochimaru's talent is still very high. Even if he doesn't have the creativity and imagination of the Second Hokage, he still has a strong thirst for knowledge and outstanding learning ability.

If his own Qiankun Inheritance Jade were in his possession, his achievements would undoubtedly surpass those of this transmigrator. He might not be a creator, but given the corresponding knowledge and experience, his thirst for knowledge would allow him to surpass most people. This also includes those two who once dominated the ninja world: Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

Unfortunately, this world is already controlled by the Sage of Six Paths. High talent and strong learning ability don't guarantee strength. As long as you cultivate the chakra system, strength becomes completely unrelated to talent or learning ability. It all depends on how many fragments of will the Sage of Six Paths bestows upon you and how much of his bloodline you inherit. Without these things, your strength is essentially capped.

Once your talent surpasses these things, your life is nearing its end. Take the Uzumaki clan, for example. Their talent was extraordinary, capable of creating a sealing technique like the Reaper Death Seal, a rudimentary connection to the consciousness of heaven and earth beyond chakra. However, they were quickly wiped out under the guidance of the Sage of Six Paths, leaving only a few individuals with little talent to ensure the continuation of the Uzumaki clan's exceptional physical energy.

"Judging from your appearance, you must be a member of the Hyuga clan. It's a pity you're just a member of a branch family, so you're unlikely to achieve anything greater."

Upon hearing Hyuga Kanan's answer, Orochimaru immediately lost interest, appearing somewhat disinterested. He had thought he'd encountered another interesting child, but it turned out to be just another one blinded by power.

"Oh!" Hyuga Kanan said nonchalantly, nodding to Orochimaru, "The branch family is fine too. As for not achieving greater strength, so be it. I just want to survive this war."

"Hmm?" Orochimaru laughed upon hearing Hyuga Kanan's words.

"Just wanting to survive? Interesting thought. But it's hard to survive without the guarantee of strength. Just like me today, I only survived because I lacked the strength and relied on your support. I hope that next time we can survive by improving our strength through our own efforts. After all, we won't always be so lucky."

"Hmm!" Hyuga Kanan straightened his back, a slight smile playing on his lips, and a hint of amusement in his eyes. "I think you're right! That's what I think too."

Orochimaru smiled slightly at Hyuga Kanan, turned around, waved, and strode away, his voice carrying over: "Good luck, kid. I hope you can achieve your goal and live a good life."

Hyuga Kanan watched Orochimaru's departing figure with some surprise. This Orochimaru was somewhat different from the one in the anime; he didn't have that dark, unapproachable aura, but rather a cold and lonely demeanor.

Orochimaru may not have experienced so many deaths of his comrades yet. He may still be someone who dreams of becoming the Hokage of Konoha, and like most Konoha ninjas, a young man fighting to protect the village.

Only when you witness countless lives dying so easily and appearing so fragile should you begin your own unorthodox body modification plans.

Humans are the most intelligent of all beings, seemingly incredibly fragile and lacking the strength of other creatures. Yet, why have humans become rulers? Because humans evolve continuously. No matter how unsuitable something may seem for human survival, humans always adapt and evolve to adapt to external circumstances. Cultivation is one such evolutionary process, allowing the human body to continuously strengthen, break through to higher realms, achieve immortality, and attain eternal life.

Orochimaru's method of modifying humans to resemble snakes is destroying the very foundations of humanity.

The seemingly powerful three holy lands of the ninja world are actually just a form of evolution for wild beasts. If they were truly holy lands, then the ninja world would not be ruled by humans, and they would only be able to hide in small places and tempt those who do not understand them.