Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 330 Support

Outside the training grounds, a large group of nearly a hundred people had already assembled, their expressions solemn and fully prepared. This group was the Hyuga clan members who were about to head to Konoha Village to provide support.

Most of the team members were adult members of the Hyuga clan, from various branch families, representing the backbone of the Hyuga clan. Each wore a specially made white robe, and their pure white eyes revealed their status and honor.

Leading this team was Hyuga Hizashi, the younger brother of Hiashi, the current head of the Hyuga clan, and one of the clan's core figures. Hizashi was tall and imposing, with a stern face and resolute, decisive eyes. As the commander of this operation, he bore a heavy responsibility and mission.

Hyuga Hizashi stood at the front of the group, his gaze sweeping over each clansman, and said in a low voice, "Everyone, we are about to head to Konoha Village to provide them with some assistance. This is a matter of clan honor and future development, and we must do our utmost!"

The crowd responded in unison, "Yes, sir!"

Hyuga Hizashi nodded in satisfaction and continued, "We must get to Konoha as quickly as possible to join the other Konoha ninja and intimidate the other villages. Remember, we are the pride of the Hyuga clan, and we must never back down no matter what difficulties we encounter!"

After speaking, Hyuga Hizashi waved to signal the group to set off. Immediately, nearly a hundred members of the Hyuga clan marched in unison towards Konoha Village. Their figures gradually disappeared into the distance, vanishing on the horizon.

Hiashi Hyuga and the others stood outside the barrier, silently watching the departing group recede into the distance. Most of the clansmen sent this time had previously been exposed to Taoist cultivation but hadn't fully transitioned to it, and they were generally older, making it difficult to unlock much more potential even after transitioning. However, despite this, the benefits of Taoist cultivation over the years were still considerable, significantly improving their ninja strength. Even the weakest clansman had reached the level of an elite Chunin, while the vast majority had already entered the ranks of Jonin. Particularly noteworthy was Hizashi Hyuga, who not only possessed Kage-level strength but was far beyond the typical Kage-level ninja.

It remains to be seen whether this support for Konoha will allow the village to accept Hyuga Kanan's Taoist culture, laying the foundation for its future spread and ultimately changing the landscape of the ninja world. This requires not only Hyuga Kanan's own efforts but also the support and understanding of Konoha and other ninja. Only in this way can Taoist culture truly integrate into the lives of the ninja world, bringing more strength and wisdom to everyone. All of this requires time to prove and Hyuga Kanan's hard work to achieve. He believes that as long as he perseveres in spreading Taoist culture, one day the ninja world will become a better place.

At this moment, Konoha Village is at its most vulnerable state in years. Although Tsunade has successfully eradicated most of the village's scourges and brought more hope for its future, she never anticipated that so many scourges lurked within. Having resolved to take action, she cannot show the slightest weakness. Even if it means significantly weakening the village's strength, it is worthwhile. Otherwise, the goal of fundamentally changing the village cannot be achieved. Konoha Village had already lost a large number of ninja over the years. Whether it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's policies, Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan, or Hyuga Kanan's bloody massacre, the number of Konoha ninja had plummeted to an extremely low level. Now, to maintain stability on the border, the village can barely muster a thousand ninja. Tsunade feels somewhat powerless to respond to the renewed requests to send ninja to support the turbulent border outposts.

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade looked at the latest intelligence report with a grim expression. The turmoil in Konoha Village had reignited the suppressed ambitions of other ninja villages, even raising the possibility of another major war.

"Damn it! Can't these ninja villages just maintain peace? They always want to start wars and plunge the ninja world, which has finally achieved peace, back into chaos!" Tsunade cursed angrily, her anger towards the former high-ranking officials who had instigated the conflict in the villages growing even stronger.

After a year of hard work, Konoha Village finally managed to stabilize its external environment, providing the village with an opportunity for stability and recovery. However, at this crucial moment, the actions of these scourges complicated everything. Their actions not only disrupted the village's peace but also gave ambitious ninja villages an opportunity to exploit, putting the border region under renewed threat of war.

Tsunade knew that if war broke out, countless innocent lives would be lost, something she absolutely did not want to see. She decided to take action to protect the village and its inhabitants. At the same time, she realized that only through unity and cooperation could this problem be truly solved. Therefore, she began to gather all the Jonin in the village to prepare for a joint response to this crisis.

In the meeting room, Tsunade looked sternly at everyone present: "We must unite and fight the enemy together. No matter what difficulties we encounter, we cannot back down. Because we are ninjas of Konoha, we have the responsibility to protect the village. Now, I hope everyone will actively participate in the discussion and offer their opinions and suggestions."

The ninjas present nodded in agreement, knowing this was a battle concerning the village's survival. Everyone was willing to contribute their strength to defend their home. The atmosphere in the meeting room was tense and enthusiastic as they discussed various strategies and formulated detailed plans.

Tsunade believed that as long as everyone worked together, they would be able to defeat the enemy and bring the village back to peace and prosperity. She was determined to lead everyone through this difficult period and protect this land.

Those present sensed the crisis. They knew perfectly well that the village was now only maintaining stability with a few clan ninja, and lacked the strength to support the border. After all, Konoha had lost too many ninja during this period. However, they also knew that Tsunade's orders were correct; without a stable rear, the border ninja forces would only be plunged into greater trouble. Unfortunately, those former Konoha high-ranking officials never considered the village's situation; they only cared about their own power, plunging the village into crisis.

Just as they were at their wits' end, a Nara clan ninja rushed in from outside, panting, and said, "Lord Hokage, there's an emergency!" After saying that, he hurriedly went to Tsunade's side, handed her a scroll, and his face was full of joy.

Tsunade took the scroll with a puzzled look, unfolded it, and a hint of surprise and excitement flashed in her eyes. She looked up at the Nara clan ninja and asked, "What is this?"

The Nara clan ninja excitedly replied, "Lord Hokage, this is the intelligence we just received. According to this intelligence, the Hyuga clan, which has been away from Konoha for a long time, has dispatched a hundred-strong team to support the village, and most of the team members are Jonin-level fighters."

Upon hearing this news, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their faces beaming with smiles of satisfaction. Tsunade couldn't help but laugh as well, saying, "That's wonderful! With the support of the Hyuga clan's top-tier combat power, the border will definitely be stabilized. Most importantly, it lets the other ninja villages know that the Hyuga clan has not completely broken with Konoha, and Konoha will once again possess the Byakugan as a strategic force."

"Now that we've decided to have the Hyuga clan provide support, we should carefully plan the specific arrangements," Tsunade said. She looked at everyone in the meeting room, hoping they would offer some good suggestions.

“I think we can send elite Hyuga clan ninjas to the border region to cooperate with the local Konoha ninjas and jointly deal with the enemy’s threat,” Nara Shikaku suggested.

“That’s a good idea, but we also need to consider the characteristics and strengths of the Hyuga clan.” Another Jonin added, “The Hyuga clan is skilled in the Byakugan, which allows them to perceive the enemy’s movements and weaknesses. Therefore, we can have them in charge of reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, providing strong support for our operations.”

“In addition, we can also involve the Hyuga clan in the battle, using their taijutsu and Gentle Fist techniques to effectively strike the enemy,” a middle-aged ninja said. “At the same time, their Byakugan can help us better understand the enemy’s strength and tactics, thereby formulating more effective strategies.”

“These are all good suggestions.” Tsunade nodded in agreement. “But we must also be careful to protect the safety of the Hyuga clan. After all, they are an important fighting force supporting Konoha. If they suffer too many losses, it will affect our current situation.”

"There's no need to worry about that. The Hyuga clan is very strong, and they also have good self-protection measures," a young ninja said confidently. "As long as we give them enough support and cooperation, they will definitely be able to play their greatest role."

“That’s right!” Tsunade smiled with satisfaction. “Then let’s proceed according to everyone’s opinion. I hope this time the Hyuga clan won’t be disappointed in the village again, and that we can bring victory and glory to Konoha.”

With the meeting concluded, Konoha began intensive preparations for supporting the Hyuga clan. Meanwhile, the situation in the border region grew increasingly tense.

However, once the Hyuga clan's ninjas arrived to reinforce the border garrison, they quickly thwarted the other ninja villages' probing attempts. This also revealed to the other villages that Konoha was welcoming back the Hyuga clan, rendering their tests meaningless. They were well aware that the Hyuga clan had a top-tier powerhouse behind them, whose influence dominated the ninja world.