Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 94 Misunderstanding

Orochimaru and Jiraiya both turned their gazes toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was standing not far away. They were both very curious about what Hyuga Kanan had done to make the Hokage, who always presented himself as kind, have murderous intent toward someone who had just returned to the village.

Hyuga Kanan suddenly turned her gaze to the other side, her face still bearing an indifferent expression, and spoke directly:

"Come out, Konoha's White Fang! Are you hiding to attack me? But aren't you underestimating the Hyuga clan's Byakugan?"

From a dark corner, a tall, middle-aged man with silver hair slowly emerged. His face remained serious, but he exuded an aura that was impossible to detect. He was none other than the swordsman whom Hyuga Kanan feared so much, the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo's ability to conceal his presence was truly remarkable; none of the people around him noticed his presence. However, Hyuga Kanan's spiritual sense remained locked onto him. From the moment he entered Hyuga Kanan's perception range, Hyuga Kanan firmly locked onto him. This was no ordinary person; if he were to be careless and allow the other to attack, he would be in serious trouble and could very well be injured.

Seeing that the other person remained silent and simply stood there, easily overlooked, Hyuga Kanan's vigilance rose once more. This subtly oppressive feeling in Hyuga Kanan proved that once the other person made a move, it would undoubtedly be a devastating attack, like a raging storm.

Hyuga Kanan glanced around, his lips twitching involuntarily. The Konoha ninja continued to spread outwards, slowly forming a massive encirclement. Each direction was commanded by at least several Jonin-level ninjas, clearly indicating that the enemy had begun deploying tactics as soon as they sensed the battle, aiming to completely annihilate Hyuga Kanan.

As more figures appeared, Hyuga Kanan finally lost his composure. If Konoha's powerful ninjas continued to reinforce him like this, it wouldn't be easy for Hyuga Kanan to withdraw from Konoha.

Even if Hyuga Kanan was very confident in himself, he did not have the strength of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, who could completely ignore the existence of numbers.

Just as Hyuga Kanan was preparing to leave, Jiraiya spoke up again. He could tell that Hyuga Kanan was about to leave, and since most of Konoha's high-ranking combat forces had arrived, he didn't want Hyuga Kanan, who had once saved his life, to be ganged up on by Konoha ninjas for no reason.

If Hyuga Kanan had really done something to harm Konoha, then Jiraiya wouldn't hesitate to kill him. But Jiraiya couldn't have imagined what Hyuga Kanan had done that required his teacher to personally take action to kill him.

"Sarutobi-sensei, you should come out and explain yourself! We are all from Konoha. If Hyuga Kanan has really done anything detrimental to Konoha, I will not hesitate to take action."

Hyuga Kanan, who was preparing to retreat, also abandoned his plan to leave immediately. After all, Konoha still held many things that could be helpful to him, and he was reluctant to give them up. If Konoha really intended to attack, then he would have no choice but to fight to the death. With his strength, he had a good chance of escaping, albeit with some injuries. But if Konoha didn't intend to attack, then perhaps he could trade with Konoha for the things he needed.

Hyuga Kanan's gaze also fell on Sarutobi Hiruzen. He really wanted to know what he had done to offend the Hokage, but his spiritual power was firmly locked on Hatake Sakumo. If the other party showed any intention of making a move, he would leave quickly.

All eyes were on the somewhat disheveled Hiruzen Sarutobi, awaiting his answer.

After all, Hyuga Kanan is a member of Konoha, and not some insignificant nobody, given his ability to suppress Hiruzen Sarutobi in a direct confrontation. Judging from Kanan's calm demeanor, he probably hasn't unleashed his full power yet.

If Konoha were to forcibly take down the opponent, it would also pay a certain price.

If Hyuga Kanan really does something detrimental to Konoha, then it's worth paying any price, since protecting Konoha would prevent them from saying anything.

However, Hyuga Kanan had only just returned to Konoha and had not done anything to target Konoha. Yet, he had already added a very powerful enemy to Konoha, which made everyone feel that it was a bit troublesome.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi is the Hokage and the supreme ruler of Konoha, and everyone must obey his orders, they do not want to provoke a powerful enemy for Konoha unnecessarily.

Under everyone's gaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat at a loss for words to explain to them. Hyuga Kanan had indeed not done anything to Konoha, but Hiruzen was still quite worried that he would become the next Uchiha Madara, especially given the strength Hyuga Kanan had shown, which made Hiruzen's worries even more serious.

After glancing around at everyone, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that even if he were the Hokage, he couldn't simply ask everyone to take down Hyuga Kanan from the same village, thus creating a powerful enemy for Konoha out of nowhere.

Of course, if I force them to do it, they will still carry out my orders. But if the investigation later finds that Hyuga Kanan has not done anything detrimental to Konoha, my carefully cultivated image over the years will be completely lost, and the Hokage's authority will be questioned.

After careful consideration, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to explain to everyone present, letting them know his good intentions and preventing any doubts about his Hokage status from arising in Konoha.

Then, the narrative begins with the events surrounding the First Hokage of Konoha and Madara Uchiha, recounting the events of that time. Finally, it turns its attention back to Kanan Hyuga, explaining their conversation and attitude during the Second Shinobi World War.

Now that Hyuga Kanan has returned to Konoha, I came immediately to test his attitude towards the village and whether he had any plans. Kanan admitted to having plans and showed no sense of belonging to Konoha. Most importantly, Kanan possesses a method to break the Caged Bird Seal, meaning all the branch family members of the Hyuga clan would become his allies. Therefore, I acted directly, intending to subdue him first and prevent him from contacting the Hyuga clan.

Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was talking non-stop, Kanan Hyuga was truly on the verge of tears. What was going on? Just because of Hiruzen Sarutobi's speculation, he was going to take him down.

Comparing himself to Madara Uchiha, Hyuga Kanan felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi was giving him far too much credit. Leaving aside whether he possessed Madara's immense ambition and vision, his current strength was at least a level below Madara's. He lacked Madara's domineering presence, capable of single-handedly suppressing an entire village.

Hyuga Kanan was well aware of this; he was a selfish person, lacking the magnanimity of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, who had the world at heart. He only wanted to focus on his training, transcend this world as soon as possible, and achieve immortality.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi continued to elaborate on his speculations, Kanan Hyuga realized that the other party had overestimated him, and his lips twitched involuntarily.

As Jiraiya listened to his teacher's explanation, his eyes kept glancing at Hyuga Kanan. But seeing Kanan's helpless expression and twitching lips, he knew that his teacher must have made a mistake.

He directly interrupted Hiruzen Sarutobi's incessant chatter, "Sarutobi-sensei, please stop. Don't you want to hear what Hyuga Kanan has to say?" Then, turning to look at Hyuga Kanan not far away with a smile, he said, "Hyuga Kanan, don't you want to say something? Doesn't Sarutobi-sensei have anything to explain regarding your judgment?"

Seeing Jiraiya's teasing tone and gaze, Hyuga Kanan sighed slightly before speaking directly:

"Lord Hokage, I should thank you for overestimating me and treating that ninja world demon as the same kind of person, but didn't you ever consider that this was just your own unfounded speculation? Putting aside whether I had such thoughts, Lord Hokage, I just want to ask one question: I didn't do anything, yet you directly regard me as a criminal. What kind of behavior is this? Prejudice-based conviction?"

Is it possible for someone to be convicted of a crime for something they haven't even done yet, simply because you believe they will commit a crime in the future?

Upon hearing Hyuga Kanan's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned. He truly didn't know what to say. His actions were exactly as Hyuga Kanan had described; without Kanan doing anything, he had already labeled him an enemy who would harm Konoha.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's grim expression, Yoshino Hyuga spoke again.

"I don't know where you got the idea that I would take action against Konoha like Madara Uchiha did. I just want to say that you're really overthinking it. My return to Konoha this time does have a plan, but it actually has nothing to do with Konoha."

"I've returned for two purposes. First, I want to visit my mother; I've been away for many years and want to see my family. Second, I want to make a deal with the Hyuga clan to help me collect some valuable materials. Does the Hokage know my purpose now?"

The Konoha members around them looked somewhat embarrassed after hearing Hyuga Kanan's words. Their mission was to surround and kill him. Now it seemed that he had no intention of having any dealings with Konoha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi also showed a hint of embarrassment, but as a politician, this was not enough to make him give up his conjecture. He simply nodded silently and prepared to leave.

Jiraiya quickly stepped in to smooth things over, speaking to Hyuga Kanan:

"What precious materials do you need? And what help do you need your Hyuga clan to collect them? Tell me, and maybe I can help you find out where to get them."

Hyuga Kanan understood what the other party meant, so she stopped bringing up the previous matter and started talking to Jiraiya directly.