Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 58 Prelude to the Attack

Before long, Hyuga Kanan saw two teammates waiting for them at the rendezvous point.

Shimura Kuranosuke winked at Inoue Shiranui and pointed at Kurama Hotaru, who was following behind Hyuga Kanan. He leaned close to Inoue's ear and whispered teasingly:

"Did you see that? Kurama Ying has been staring at Hyuga Kanan's back, lost in thought. Do you think Kurama Ying has fallen for that aloof and handsome guy, Hyuga Kanan?"

"Then you're doomed. Your strongest rival in love has appeared! It seems you have no hope."

"Huh?" Shiranui Inoue, who was looking at Kurama Hotaru in the direction Shimura Kurōichi was pointing and had a lecherous look on her face, was taken aback and showed a somewhat flustered expression.

At the same time, he shook his head repeatedly at Shimura Kurōichi, his face turning red as he hurriedly denied it:

"no!"

"I have no intention of liking Kurama Hotaru! Don't talk nonsense!"

That expression alone isn't very convincing.

Shimura Kurōichi looked at Inō Shiranui with a sly, mysterious smile, then put his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear:

"Do you want me to help you? Otherwise, you'll really be defeated by that arrogant guy, Hyuga Kanan. And Kurama Hotaru will truly leave you with no chance."

"Huh?" Inoue Shiranui exclaimed softly, bewildered, then blushed and quietly asked Shimura Kōichi:

"What method, how can I... you know!"

Hyuga Kanan sensed the conversation between the two from afar, but chose to ignore Shimura Zōichi's lewd words.

It seems that this month of boring patrol missions has greatly improved the relationship between teammates. However, even Hyuga Kanan, who is completely indifferent and focused on training, knows that Inoue Shiranui likes Kurama Hotaru. It's clear that anyone who sees Inoue's adoring expression can tell! But Inoue thinks that no one knows and continues to keep her secret crush on Kurama Hotaru as her own little secret.

As Shimura Kuroi let out a lewd laugh while Inoue Shiranui was passing on her experience, just as Kurama Hotaru came to her senses and was about to go up and greet her teammates, Hyuga Kanan's expression changed.

"alert!"

Hyuga Kanan immediately activated his Byakugan, turned to look into the distance, and whispered a reminder.

Shimura Zōichi immediately composed himself, drew his kunai, and cautiously surveyed his surroundings. Shiranui Inoue, no longer displaying her earlier shyness, quickly drew her kunai and joined Shimura Zōichi in checking the area.

Kurama Ei quickly moved behind the two to defend the gaps behind them.

Hyuga Kanan, meanwhile, turned his Byakugan in one direction, silently calculating the quantity and distance.

After checking that there was nothing amiss, Shimura Zōichi quickly went to Hyuga Kanan's side and quietly inquired about the situation.

"Chia-Nan, what's going on? Should we fire a signal flare immediately?"

"The Mist Ninja raiding force numbers over 200 and is rapidly approaching our patrol area, now less than 3 kilometers away. Immediately fire a signal flare to warn the patrol headquarters. At the same time, Shimura Kurōichi, you proceed to headquarters as quickly as possible to report the situation. We will set up traps and then retreat quickly."

When Shimura Zangichi heard that more than 200 Mist Ninja were attacking from a distance of only 3 kilometers, he was greatly surprised and immediately began to move backward. Shiranui Inoue immediately took out a signal flare and fired it into the sky, while Kurama Hotaru quickly set up simple traps around them, and Hyuga Kanan continued to observe the route and distance of the Mist Ninja's movement.

Hyuga Kanan was also somewhat annoyed. There had been no movement for some time, and Hyuga Kanan had become so engrossed in his training that he had become very lax. He had even abandoned his most instinctive use of divine sense to probe the surroundings, only using his Byakugan to check the situation. He had almost forgotten that this was the front line of the war.

A signal flare quickly ascended into the air and exploded instantly.

After casually setting up some traps, Hyuga Kanan and the others began to retreat quickly. Their mission did not require them to intercept the enemy, but only to quickly warn the rear after discovering enemy movements.

As Hyuga Kanan retreated, he kept using his Byakugan to observe the actions of the Mist Ninja behind him, while also spreading his spiritual power to explore further afield.

Soon, Hyuga Kanan discovered that behind the 200-plus Mist Ninja team, there was another force of over 3000 people moving rapidly.

This is clearly a prelude to the Mist Ninja preparing for a large-scale battle.

Hyuga Kanan withdrew his spiritual power; long-distance probing was too taxing, and he couldn't maintain it indefinitely, as it would quickly exhaust him. On the battlefield, Hyuga Kanan couldn't risk putting himself in danger for the sake of Konoha's victory. He was only on the battlefield because of the World's will and its arrangements; why would he risk his life against the Kirigakure ninja?

The group moved quickly through the woods, away from the patrol area, which was about to become a battlefield.

Inoue Shiranui and Hotaru Kurama wanted to turn back and stop the Kirigakure forces for Konoha, but their mission was to retreat immediately upon spotting the enemy and then report back to headquarters. Kanan Hyuga, on the other hand, was completely indifferent to the war between the ninja worlds; he only wanted to quietly train and improve himself, and he had no intention of risking his life for Konoha.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" More than a dozen figures quickly approached Hyuga Kanan and his two companions. Upon spotting them, the leader immediately used a Body Flicker Technique to appear beside Hyuga Kanan, blocking their retreat.

Hyuga Kanan had already noticed the arrival of this Konoha team. When he saw the leader approaching him quickly, he stopped and waited for his question.

"We are the 8th Squadron of the Mobile Force. The signal flare was fired by your patrol team. Now, we are reporting the intelligence we have discovered."

Hyuga Kanan looked at the somewhat familiar face in front of him. It wasn't that Hyuga Kanan had seen this person before, but rather that this person looked very much like the face of the original author, Shimura Danzo, except that his eyes were still intact and not half of his face was covered by bandages.

Hyuga Kanan wasn't sure if this person was Shimura Danzo, the high-ranking official hidden within Konoha, but these subsequent events in Konoha were none of his concern.

"The Mist Ninja force has entered our patrol area. There are more than 200 of them. They are advancing steadily. They should be the vanguard of the Mist Ninja. There should be more Mist Ninja forces preparing to attack from behind."

Hyuga Kanan answered quickly, also serving as a reminder to Konoha. This was his final contribution to Konoha, and he didn't care how they planned their next move.

"Why don't you stay put and gather more information? Do you even resemble a Konoha ninja anymore?!"

Danzo Shimura shouted angrily, his eyes revealing a serious expression.

"Uh!" Hyuga Kanan had no idea why he'd encountered such a bizarre situation. An attack by over 200 Mist Ninja, and they were expected to stay put and gather intelligence? Wasn't this just sending their patrol squad to their deaths?

Moreover, their patrol squads were not assigned any intelligence-gathering missions; their sole purpose was to provide early warning to the main Konoha forces behind the lines, preventing the Mist Ninja from launching a surprise attack on Konoha's headquarters.

Kurama Hotaru, standing next to her, also looked at the ninja in charge with a blank expression, unsure how to answer his question. After all, their patrol team had already completed their mission, and done it quite well.

A ninja wearing clothing bearing the Uchiha clan insignia, standing not far away, quickly approached after witnessing this scene. He smiled at the Hyuga Kanan team members before speaking to the leader of the group:

“Danzo, they are just a patrol team, not your ANBU ninjas. This kind of intelligence gathering work is not something they can do.”

"Hmph! I know they are a patrol team, but such opportunities to investigate the movements of the Mist Ninja are rare. They should strive to make greater contributions to Konoha, even if they die there, it is worth it as long as they can bring more intelligence to Konoha."

"I think they retreated because they were afraid of dying!"

After saying that, Shimura Danzo gave Hyuga Kanan and his group a vicious look. He clearly believed that patrol teams like Hyuga Kanan should die on the front lines to gather more intelligence and make greater contributions to Konoha.

Afterwards, the group discussed their plans for the future.

Shimura Danzo went directly to Hyuga Kanan and his two companions, glanced at them a few times, and then spoke:

"The Hyuga clan ninja will stay behind; the other two, quickly return and report the situation."

"Huh?" Hyuga Kanan pointed to himself with a bewildered look, then looked at the others and immediately understood that he had been forcibly recruited into their mobile unit.

"Don't worry, we only need Byakugan's help to gather intelligence, we're not going to fight directly. And once you get close to the Mist Ninja team and gather information about them, you can retreat immediately. We'll hold off the pursuing enemies for you. You don't need to participate in the battle."

The young man from the Uchiha clan gently comforted Hyuga Kanan, clearly mistaking Kanan's earlier dazed expression as fear of directly engaging in battle with the Mist Ninja.

“Mirror, this cowardly brat needs to fight more Mist Ninjas to grow stronger. You shouldn’t have made the choice to let him retreat with the information.”

Shimura Danzo looked at Hyuga Kanan with some dissatisfaction. In his mind, Konoha ninjas should simply obey orders as long as they were given, regardless of the situation, instead of showing any other expression.

“I’m sorry, everyone! My mission is to patrol that area, and once I spot the enemy, I’m to immediately warn the rear and then retreat, not to gather intelligence. So I won’t be traveling with you. My mission is complete, and now it’s time to retreat.”

After saying that, Hyuga Kanan prepared to leave directly. He had no interest in joining the mobile unit to do any intelligence gathering work; participating in battles would only be a waste of his time.