Naruto: Forbidden Arts and an Immortal Agenda

It wasn't until noon the next day that Aozora finally came to after collapsing.

His head pounded violently, but he still focused his mind to observe the Sea.

At this moment, besides the Wordless Divine Book, there were two golden suns—one large and one small—hanging prominently within his Spiritual Sea.

The larger sun, although somewhat dimmed, still radiated abundant vitality.

The smaller sun's light had faded badly, like a fireball on the verge of extinction.

Aozora quickly activated the Soul Cultivation technique to nurture his separated soul.

Under cultivation, the flame of his divided soul finally grew slightly stronger, no longer appearing as if it could be extinguished with a single breath.

But based on inherited knowledge, Aozora estimated that at this cultivation rate, it would still take at least three to five years for the separated soul to develop into a full-fledged Soul Seed capable of body transference.

The ninja world was full of unseen dangers and shifted in the blink of an eye—he didn't have years to spend training his soul.

He paused for a second, then remembered something else—the Droplets of Gongde could help speed things up.

"I knew soaking my soul in them felt great before, but will they actually accelerate soul recovery and cultivation?"

Although he'd already made up his mind, today was already Thursday—and there were things to do before the weekend-like break began. Plus, he had plans for this week.

A notice about the move had been posted last week; he needed to pack up and go soon.

On Thursday, Aozora rested at home for another day.

The pain from splitting his soul was intense and persistent. Even after cultivating the Soul Cultivation method for a whole day, he only felt slight relief.

It was easy to predict—he would remain accompanied by this pain over the next period until his soul recovered completely.

On Friday, Aozora began moving alone.

First, he summoned Gray Feather to deliver a message to Shisui, asking whether Shisui's house had any hidden chambers or important items inside.

Unfortunately, it didn't.

Without anything particularly important, Aozora proceeded without hesitation.

There were quite a few sealing scrolls at Aozora's home, most left behind by Shisui. Aozora himself had also purchased several, such as Fire-sealing Scrolls.

Sealing scrolls were generally low quality and easily damaged during missions by wear or jutsu, which is why apart from the Fire-sealing Scrolls, Aozora usually carried none.

Therefore, he now faced no concerns about transporting them.

Aozora sorted everything—big and small furniture, pots and pans, clothes, shoes, and blankets—and sealed each type into its own scroll.

After finishing packing, he double-checked whether anything had been left uncollected.

Walking through the now empty and old estate, Aozora suddenly felt reluctant to move.

Twelve years had passed since his reincarnation, and he had lived here for all twelve.

Over these years, amid wind and rain, this house had always sheltered him.

Though the building aged, it remained the place where I grew up.

Though cramped, it held every memory I had.

Aozora let out a quiet sigh and stepped out of the courtyard, scrolls in hand.

After closing the gate behind him, Aozora headed toward the new Uchiha Compound.

Inside the Hokage Tower's grand conference room, the Third Hokage convened a high-level meeting attended by Konoha's top leadership.

"...The Two-Tails Jinchuriki from Hidden Cloud has joined the battlefield. To minimize casualties, Jiraiya has withdrawn our defensive lines...

Because the borderlands are too exposed, we require a group of skilled sensor ninjas for immediate support."

Hiruzen Sarutobi briefly explained the situation at the front lines, then turned his gaze to the clan leaders present.

The battle-loving leader of the Inuzuka Clan slammed the table and stood up. "We request deployment!"

The other clan leaders looked at each other in silence before standing up as well.

"The Aburame Clan requests deployment!"

"The Hyūga Clan requests deployment!"

"The Uchiha Clan requests deployment!"

"..."

Hiruzen nodded with satisfaction. "It brings me great joy to see everyone's enthusiasm for battle and willingness to fight. However, the front line hasn't yet reached a critical point requiring full mobilization. Besides, we still need ninja to guard the village."

The clan leaders sat down upon hearing this, waiting for Hiruzen's assignments.

Hiruzen slowly announced, "This mission will mainly focus on the Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame Clans."

Although these were instructions for the Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans, Hiruzen's eyes landed on Fugaku of the Uchiha Clan.

In his opinion, the Uchiha Clan was ambitious and certainly wouldn't miss an opportunity to prove themselves.

But unexpectedly, Fugaku remained silent.

Actually, Natsuki had already left the village yesterday. Fugaku was preoccupied with how to support Natsuki and deciding which family members should relocate to Kyoto afterward.

Furthermore, preparations for moving their compound were already underway—he genuinely didn't have time to think about any of this.

With no protest coming as expected, Hiruzen felt an odd emptiness inside.

Seeing no objections, he swallowed the explanation he had prepared and proceeded with the arrangements.

"Inuzuka Wolf, your clan will deploy two jonin, ten chunin, and twenty ninja hounds. Can you handle it?"

"Of course!" guaranteed Inuzuka Wolf.

"Shibi Aburame, your clan will deploy two jonin and five chunin."

Aburame Shibi simply nodded in agreement.

After both clan leaders agreed, he turned to Hiashi Hyuga.

"Hiashi!"

Compared to how he addressed Inuzuka Wolf and Aburame Shibi, his tone had now become much gentler—more like seeking consent rather than issuing an order.

"This mission is extremely difficult, and I still need your help! How many ninja can your clan spare?"

Although everyone attending had faced life-and-death situations before, this differential treatment still stirred quiet resentment among them.

Was this the privilege of being a powerful clan like the Hyūga?

Even the Hokage couldn't just issue orders—he had to ask for their opinion first.

Under the unusual gazes from those around him, Hiashi showed no discomfort whatsoever—rather, he felt pride.

This was the dignity befitting the Hyūga Clan.

He replied calmly, "The Hyūga Clan willingly offers five jonin and forty chunin for this support mission!"

That was where his pride came from—the Hyūga would be sending more ninja than the Inuzuka and Aburame combined.

Fugaku silently observed all of this.

In Hiashi, he saw a reflection of his younger self.

From the surrounding stares, he could see why the Uchiha were growing distant from the village.

Actually, it wasn't only the Uchiha; the Hyūga were also becoming estranged from the village.

It wasn't just the Uchiha; the Hyūga were growing distant too. They just kept a lower profile and didn't hold much real power, so they managed to stay out of trouble.

Hiruzen nodded with satisfaction at Hiashi's proposal.

With added concern, he added, "Hiashi, the task at the front line is arduous. The Byakugan is Konoha's treasure—we must prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Therefore, allow Hizashi to lead the Branch Family on this mission."

Though Hiashi Hyuga sensed something was off, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already firmly approved his staffing plan beforehand and couldn't very well refuse now. Thus, he said, "As the Hokage commands."

Upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips.

He then proceeded to arrange the reinforcement deployments and logistics transportation.

A unit of the Uchiha clan was assigned to transport the supplies.

After leaving the Hokage Tower, Fugaku Uchiha's face showed signs of distress.

Previously, when both sides were locked in confrontation, transporting supplies was still considered a relatively safe task.

But now, with Konoha retreating, plenty of Hidden Cloud ninja were likely lying in wait across the Land of Fire.

At that point, the mission's risk level shot up overnight.

Despite his reasoned arguments, each convoy could only be escorted by a single Jonin.

And one Jonin alone wasn't enough to protect an entire convoy.

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