Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 50 The Chosen One

Orochimaru and Tsunade still have a chance to escape. They are not seriously injured, but they are exhausted. However, it is impossible for them to escape with the wounded. Even when they were at their peak, Orochimaru could not guarantee a safe escape. Now, with such heavy exhaustion, there is no chance of helping the wounded.

Now the two of them only have two options: one is to abandon the injured Konoha ninja and retreat quickly, with a slim chance of success; the other is to hold their ground and continue to delay, waiting for Konoha to come to their rescue.

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya, who had collapsed unconscious, his body covered in wounds and clearly incapacitated. Tsunade, however, couldn't expend too much chakra to heal him; she could only keep him alive and prevent him from dying outright.

After all, Jiraiya was already seriously injured in the previous battle, and his continuous rescue of the retreating Konoha ninjas just now aggravated his already unhealed injuries. At the same time, he was attacked again by Iwa ninjas, making his injuries even more serious now.

After a moment's thought, Orochimaru directly ordered Tsunade to abandon Jiraiya and prepare for retreat. Orochimaru planned to eliminate Jiraiya and retrieve his body. After all, Jiraiya knew a great deal about Konoha's intelligence and ninjutsu; he couldn't let his body fall into the hands of the Iwa ninja. He had no choice but to kill him himself and use the sealing scroll to take the body away.

Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Tsunade immediately stepped forward to stop him. In Tsunade's eyes, Jiraiya was her closest companion, someone she could completely entrust her back to. How could she abandon Jiraiya and let the two of them retreat? Not to mention, she was now being asked to personally kill a companion who was still alive. This kind of action was too much for her to bear. Even though she usually listened carefully to Orochimaru's orders and knew that he always gave the best solution, killing Jiraiya now was clearly beyond Tsunade's bottom line.

In Tsunade's mind, it wasn't time yet. The two of them still had the fighting power. As long as they held on for a while longer, Konoha's reinforcements would definitely arrive, and they could both successfully complete the mission and survive. They just needed to persevere a little longer.

The two had a heated argument. Tsunade was unwilling to give up Jiraiya, let alone kill him and bring back his body.

The argument between the two quickly woke up the sleeping Jiraiya. After hearing what they were arguing about, Jiraiya interrupted them.

"I don't believe Orochimaru would attack me! Tsunade, get out of the way! You should also trust Orochimaru; he's our ally!"

Jiraiya wore a confident smile, clearly not believing that Orochimaru would attack him. Even in this critical moment, Jiraiya was confident that Orochimaru would stay here to protect his comrades.

Orochimaru's expression kept changing as he hesitated and pondered.

On one hand, rational thinking told him to abandon Jiraiya and retreat directly, so that he and Tsunade could survive, which would be better for Konoha. After all, leaving behind two powerful ninjas would make Konoha more deterrent to the outside world and better able to win this war for Konoha in the future.

Meanwhile, his emotional side kept reminding him that Jiraiya had been his friend since childhood. They had studied together, become ninjas together, studied under the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi together, carried out countless difficult missions together, and experienced countless life-and-death situations together, which made them grow and reach their current achievements. This was just a small episode in the countless life-and-death crises. As long as he trusted his comrades, everyone could survive and complete the mission.

Two conflicting thoughts clashed, preventing even the usually composed Orochimaru from making a direct decision. Reason and emotion clashed in his mind, neither gaining the upper hand, resulting in a stalemate that left Orochimaru constantly hesitant and pondering.

In the end, Orochimaru lowered his hand from the kunai. He made his final choice: he didn't choose to act rationally or to trust his comrades emotionally.

He chose to believe in himself, in his abilities, and in his capacity to solve all these problems, rather than getting caught up in a struggle between emotion and reason.

Whether it's retreating or holding their ground and waiting for reinforcements, Orochimaru believes that everything can be resolved with his overwhelming strength. He thinks that as long as one is strong enough, anything is possible.

Tsunade watched Orochimaru put down the kunai and assumed that Orochimaru agreed with her idea, trusted his comrades, and believed that Konoha would send reinforcements in time so that everyone could complete the mission and survive.

Jiraiya grinned smugly. He had never imagined that Orochimaru would hurt him. He was certain that Orochimaru would help his comrades and persevere without abandoning them, even if it meant dying together with them.

Just as the group was feeling sentimental about their comrades, the Iwa ninja wouldn't give them any more time to build camaraderie. After the entire Iwa ninja force withdrew from the Konoha cave stronghold, they immediately began a ninjutsu attack on the small mountain, intending to either force out the Konoha ninja or bury them alive in the cave.

Countless ninjutsu bombarded the mountain, the sound of explosions reaching the ears of the Konoha members inside the cave, followed by a violent tremor, and countless rocks fell from the cave.

Orochimaru and the other two also changed their expressions drastically, realizing the Iwa ninja's plan: they intended to force the group to go out and fight, or they would bury them alive inside.

Orochimaru immediately stood up, preparing to go out and engage the enemy, while Tsunade took Jiraiya and retreated. Tsunade also helped Jiraiya up, preparing for a final battle with the Iwa ninja.

Deep inside the cave, Hyuga Kanan's expression shifted, but he showed no sign of tension.

He had long sensed a formidable Konoha force rapidly approaching from afar, clearly indicating that Konoha reinforcements would arrive soon, and the threat posed by the Iwa ninja forces was no longer significant.

When Hyuga Kanan scanned Jiraiya with his divine sense, he discovered something very interesting: Jiraiya actually possessed the power of destiny bestowed upon him by the will of the world. Although it was constantly dissipating, this was the first time Hyuga Kanan had seen the chosen one of this world's destiny, and he never expected it to be Jiraiya.

Recalling Jiraiya's upbringing is reminiscent of Guo Jing from The Legend of the Condor Heroes. An orphan who lost both parents, and a hopelessly slow-witted student at the ninja academy, he was still accepted as a disciple by Hiruzen Sarutobi, a high-ranking official in Konoha at the time. It's very similar to Guo Jing, who was also considered slow-witted in his youth, and inexplicably became a disciple of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. Consider who Hiruzen Sarutobi's other two disciples were: Orochimaru, the top genius of the ninja academy, and Tsunade, the princess of the Senju clan. They were either geniuses or had powerful clans supporting them. Jiraiya, on the other hand, was an orphan who hadn't yet shown any talent, yet he was accepted as a disciple despite having nothing. It's simply unbelievable.

What followed was even more miraculous. Lacking talent, he was immediately given an opportunity, inexplicably becoming a disciple of the toads of Mount Myōboku. He was continuously taught advanced knowledge and ninjutsu. He directly caught up with the exceptionally talented Orochimaru, even rivaling Tsunade, who was showered with affection in Konoha. It's almost surreal. Just like Guo Jing, whose cultivation was too slow and whose talent was too poor, the Nine Yin Manual immediately came into his hands, instantly making him comparable to a genius.

Just like now, when he was about to be surrounded and killed by the Iwa ninja, Konoha reinforcements arrived immediately to rescue him from the brink of death, allowing him to live freely again.

However, Jiraiya's aura of destiny was rapidly dissipating, seemingly about to vanish completely. This puzzled Hyuga Kanan, as the aura of a chosen one usually didn't dissipate like this; it was a rule imposed by the world's will, and those protected by this aura were generally invincible. Seeing Jiraiya's aura rapidly dissipating suggested that unless the world's will abandoned him and directly reclaimed it, preparing to bestow it upon a new chosen one, the situation seemed unlikely.

As can be seen from the original work, the world's will did not choose a new chosen one in the future. Instead, the Sage of Six Paths gave Naruto and Sasuke the power of destiny on behalf of the world's will.

So why did the World Will grant Jiraiya the power of destiny, only to take it back later? Judging from the current situation of the World Will, it is fighting against the Sage of Six Paths. Therefore, Jiraiya may have been an experiment by the World Will, which abandoned the opponent after discovering its failure.

But what aspect of Jiraiya deserves the world's will to bestow upon him the power of destiny?

Hyuga Kanan suddenly had a flash of inspiration. What was Jiraiya's most admirable quality? It wasn't his strength or talent, but rather his relentless pursuit. He could spend most of his life searching for the vague prophecy of the giant toad, even setting aside his childhood crush, Tsunade. Furthermore, his ability to sense natural energy proved that, given the right guidance, he might be able to create a realm where he could directly utilize natural energy for cultivation and evolution. These two factors combined led the world's will to choose him.

However, it was clear that the world's will was a step too slow, and the Sage of Six Paths struck first, using the giant toad of Mount Myōboku to guide the young Jiraiya down the wrong path and misuse natural energy. He also used a prophecy of a savior to keep the other's unwavering character in check, ultimately making him the puppet of the Sage of Six Paths.

This may be why the world's will, upon realizing that Jiraiya, the chosen one of destiny, could no longer help it fight against the Sage of Six Paths and might even become an ally to him, abandoned him.

Hyuga Kanan thought to himself and sighed slightly. The world's will can only act according to the rules. How could it possibly be a match for the Sage of Six Paths? The Sage of Six Paths, the chosen one of destiny, has plenty of ways to scheme against his opponent.

In fact, Hyuga Kanan thought that it might be better if the world's will chose Orochimaru as the chosen one. Although Orochimaru might become a new Sage of Six Paths after succeeding, it would still be much better than someone like Jiraiya who could be easily fooled, even if it was a bit more dangerous.

As his thoughts wandered, Hyuga Kanan felt a pang of emotion for this chosen one of the world, who was about to lose his power of destiny, and his apprehension towards the Sage of Six Paths grew even stronger. With neither side making a direct move, the Sage of Six Paths' strategy was clearly superior.