Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 37 Pursuit

"I'm sorry, powerful Iwa ninja," Hyuga Kanan thought to himself.

Hyuga Kanan mobilized his soul power to envelop the soul energy cluster within the stone sculpture, directly absorbing it into the Qiankun Inheritance Jade, preparing to refine this massive soul energy cluster, which was the first time he had absorbed such a large amount.

Hyuga Kanan had only sensed this cluster of soul energy a few times on the previous battlefield, and he didn't dare to absorb it at all. It was the fruit of the Sage of Six Paths, and a rather conspicuous ripe fruit at that. He could only watch it float away and drool.

Now, having obtained this enormous energy cluster from within the stone sculpture—which has not drifted away at all—can greatly enhance one's abilities after refining it.

Based on Hyuga Kanan's intuition, this cluster of soul energy could bring him something different, possibly resulting in an unimaginable boost to his soul power.

The towering Iwagakure's soul energy seemed to contain something different, something that made Hyuga Kanan's soul yearn for it, making Hyuga Kanan even more excited.

Once the soul energy within the stone carving was absorbed, the carving began to slowly crumble, with cracks appearing on it. Soon, pieces fell off one by one, but before they even hit the ground, they turned into specks of dust and drifted into the air, slowly disappearing from the spot, as if the stone carving had never existed at all.

This phenomenon surprised Hyuga Kanan slightly, but he quickly abandoned his plan to investigate.

Hyuga Kanan's body is covered in tiny wounds, and his energy is greatly depleted. He has no strength left to support the other battlefield not far away and can only pray for them.

Hyuga Kanan's consciousness was completely immersed in refining the soul energy cluster she had just absorbed. She casually found a place to sit cross-legged and began to activate the refining function of the Qiankun Inheritance Jade by mobilizing her soul power, drawing the energy cluster into it and starting to refine it.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Hyuga Kanan began to absorb natural energy into his dantian vortex, restoring his internal energy.

However, without the aid of soul power, the recovery speed is somewhat slow.

On the distant battlefield, the fighting continued. Several Iwa ninja were using all their skills to try to break out from one direction. After trying several different directions, they were all blocked by the Konoha ninja who were not afraid of sacrifice.

Finally, a Jonin from Iwagakure couldn't hold back any longer and decided to sacrifice himself so his comrade could escape. If this dragged on any longer, more and more Konoha ninja would arrive, and powerful figures like the Legendary Sannin would soon be there to reinforce them. At that point, it would be truly difficult to send out intelligence.

"Earth Release - Mountain Earth Technique!"

Instantly, the surrounding ground cracked open, forming a small hill that temporarily forced all the Konoha ninjas back. At the same time, it also caused the Konoha ninjas to lose sight of the three Iwa ninjas, thus allowing them to temporarily escape Konoha's encirclement.

"Ryu, Haito, you two use stealth techniques to retreat immediately. I'll hold off these Konoha ninja and prevent them from pursuing you soon. You must deliver the complete intelligence to Lord Takashi, quick!"

"Noda-kun! And what about you?" The two Iwa ninjas named Takashi and Haito immediately asked anxiously, appearing somewhat flustered.

"Hurry! Don't waste time!" Noda shouted, interrupting the two Iwa ninja who were about to say something, his voice decisive and resolute.

The two Iwa ninja were about to say something when they saw the resolute look on Noda's face. They immediately shut their mouths and began to quickly form hand seals to prepare for their retreat. They did not want to waste the time Noda was willing to sacrifice himself to create for their escape.

"Earth Release - Earth Navigation Technique!"

After completing the hand seals, the two activated their ninjutsu and slowly submerged into the ground. Just before they were completely submerged, they took a deep look at Jonin Noda and nodded as a final farewell. Then, they both disappeared into the ground.

Noda smiled as he watched the two men completely submerge into the ground. His expression immediately turned serious; he needed to buy his two companions a final chance to escape.

Noda raised his eyelids and glanced at the Konoha ninjas who had surrounded him again, showing no trace of the tension he had displayed earlier. He simply silently and rapidly formed hand seals, preparing to use a wide-range ninjutsu to delay the Konoha ninjas' advance.

After being forced back by the previous ninjutsu, the Konoha ninja immediately surrounded them again. Having already lost so many comrades, they couldn't afford to let any more Iwa ninja escape. When they saw only one Iwa ninja standing there, their hearts tightened, and they immediately prepared to send out a pursuit force, determined not to let any of the Iwa ninja escape.

Seeing that the Konoha ninjas were preparing to split up and pursue, Noda immediately used ninjutsu. He wouldn't allow the Konoha ninjas to send more people to chase them! He had to stop the Konoha ninjas from splitting up! Noda secretly hardened his heart and accelerated the ninjutsu he launched towards the Konoha ninjas.

The Konoha leader saw the Iwa ninja preparing to unleash a ninjutsu, but still quickly arranged for his men to give chase. They couldn't let any Iwa ninja escape, or things would get complicated.

"Earth Release - Earth Tremor Core Technique!"

The Konoha ninjas, who had just finished splitting up and were preparing to give chase, had only run a few meters when the shockwaves from their feet alerted the pursuit team, and they quickly sped away from the area.

After Noda completed the hand seals, he immediately slammed his hands onto the ground, causing the surrounding earth to sink and trap all the Konoha ninjas who were preparing to split up and pursue him. This deprived the Konoha ninjas of any immediate space to pursue him, forcing them to leave the range of this ninjutsu before they could chase him.

The Konoha ninja who had fallen to the ground were also anxious. The time wasted by this ninjutsu could allow the other two Iwa ninja to escape. With this in mind, the Konoha ninja pursuit team moved quickly, preparing to leave the pit.

Now that Noda has temporarily trapped the Konoha ninjas with this ninjutsu, how could he possibly let them leave so easily?

He quickly formed hand seals again, using the surrounding environment of the pit to prepare to use ninjutsu to trap the Konoha ninjas trapped inside, preventing them from escaping.

"Earth Release - Multiple Earth Spear Technique!"

Countless spikes immediately appeared on the walls surrounding the pit, constantly blocking the Konoha ninjas who were trying to escape through the walls, causing them to return to the bottom and preventing them from leaving immediately to pursue the enemy.

The Konoha ninja had no choice but to stop, preparing to deal with the Iwa ninja first before pursuing him. If they could quickly kill the Iwa ninja, they could leave quickly to give chase. But they had to be fast; they couldn't afford to be held up.

Having achieved his goal, Noda began preparing for a final delay. His intention was to use his own life to hold off the Konoha ninja for as long as possible, until he himself perished.

The Konoha ninjas also began their assault, preparing to eliminate the Iwa ninja as quickly as possible.

The two sides clashed again.

Hyuga Kanan was still there, refining the soul energy he had absorbed, and didn't immediately notice that some of the Iwa ninja had escaped. His body was still recovering, and he hadn't activated his Byakugan to observe his surroundings.

A few minutes later, several figures moved quickly to Hyuga Kanan's side, startling him awake while he was still refining.

Hyuga Kanan looked up and saw Orochimaru with a very grim expression, along with several ninjas following behind him. He immediately knew something was wrong, and without even bothering with the refining process, he stood up to find out what was going on.

Orochimaru wasted no time and immediately inquired about the situation of the Iwa ninja that Hyuga Kanan had just stopped.

"Hyuga Kanan, which direction did the Iwa ninja you stopped escape from? Lock onto him quickly. There are two more Iwa ninjas escaping behind him that we need to pursue. There's no time for you to recover."

Orochimaru's hoarse, magnetic voice betrayed a hint of anxiety. If the Iwa ninja escaped with the intelligence, the second step of their plan would fail, leading directly to the final battle. Konoha's plan to stall for time would then be completely ineffective, leaving them with no choice but to use everyone present to buy time. But how many would survive?

Hyuga Kanan was also taken aback. How could Iwa ninjas escape? They had a large number of people on their side. How could Iwa ninjas escape? But now was not the time to think about why the Iwa ninjas were able to escape. Now was to immediately pursue them.

"I've successfully stopped the Iwa ninja on my side. The other Iwa ninja are escaping in that direction. How long have they been escaping?" Hyuga Kanan quickly explained and asked.

Orochimaru glanced at Hyuga Kanan with surprise, but didn't have time to ask about the details of the kill. The most important thing now was to chase after the other fleeing Iwa ninja. He simply nodded to indicate that he understood, and then immediately looked at the few Konoha ninja behind him, asking them to point out the direction so that Hyuga Kanan could quickly locate the fleeing ninja and chase after them to intercept them.

The Konoha ninja exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to explain. They hadn't seen the direction the Iwa ninja had fled. If they had quickly shaken off the ninja named Noda, allowing their sensory ninjas to quickly locate the Iwa ninjas who hadn't gone far, they could have given chase. However, the Iwa ninja had delayed them for a few minutes, allowing the fleeing ninjas to escape the sensory ninjas' range. Now, they were completely lost and had no idea where to go.

"Two Iwa ninja escaped in no more than ten minutes, but we are not sure of their direction. They probably used a stealth technique or similar ninjutsu to escape from underground."

A Konoha ninja, forcing a smile, said that now was not the time to assign blame. He could only quickly explain the information he knew so that everyone could understand and quickly analyze the location of the Iwa ninja's escape, allowing for a swift pursuit.

"Uh!" Hyuga Kanan's face stiffened. He quickly mobilized his soul power, probing towards the Iwa ninja camp, hoping to find something. At the same time, he activated his Byakugan, constantly examining the area beneath the ground where the battlefield had been. After all, any use of ninjutsu would leave a trace. Even a trace would give him a rough idea of ​​the direction the Iwa ninja had fled.

Orochimaru watched as Hyuga Kanan activated his Byakugan, silently observing the situation. He sighed inwardly. So many Konoha ninja hadn't stopped the Iwa ninja's escape, yet Hyuga Kanan, a mere genin, had blocked the escape of an Iwa jonin. Judging from the scene, the Iwa ninja must have been killed. Another genius ninja from a major Konoha clan? Too bad he was sent here to die!

Hyuga Kanan quickly spotted the trail, nodded rapidly to Orochimaru and the others, pointed in a direction, and told them to give chase.

Orochimaru and the others also moved quickly in the indicated direction, trying to stop the other side.

A few minutes later, Hyuga Kanan's expression changed drastically, and he quickly said to Orochimaru and the others who were pursuing them:

"Lord Orochimaru, the two Iwa ninja who escaped split into two groups and fled in different directions. The Jonin from Iwa fled in the southwest direction at a very fast speed, covering a distance of five kilometers. The other fled in the northwest direction at a slower speed, but stayed underground the entire way, covering a distance of three kilometers."

Orochimaru and the others were slightly taken aback. The fact that they were splitting into two groups meant the enemy knew there was only one Hyuga clan ninja in the Konoha group. If they split and fled in different directions, Hyuga Kanan would only be able to pursue one person, while the other could use Iwagakure's ninjutsu to evade Konoha's pursuit.

Immediately, Orochimaru ordered the Konoha pursuit team to split into two groups. Hyuga Kanan would follow him to chase the Jonin, catch up with him as quickly as possible, kill him, and then come to support the other pursuit team to see if they could stop him in time.

Orochimaru immediately ordered Hyuga Kanan to follow him, and they quickly pursued the direction of the Iwa ninja.