Naruto: The Sage Body of Konoha

Tsunade opened her eyes and found herself face to face with the catgirl. She had sharp feline ears, gem-like cat eyes, and long flowing blue hair that made her undeniably beautiful.

The two "women" locked eyes in a wordless stare.

"You... who are you? Why did you save me?"

Finally, Tsunade broke the silence first.

"..."

Heiyan hesitated.

He originally wanted to reveal his identity, but wearing women's clothes was just too humiliating—he felt too embarrassed to admit it.

Therefore, in response to Tsunade's question, he simply turned his head away slightly, pretending to be an aloof older woman, ignoring her completely.

Receiving no reply from the catgirl, Tsunade felt disappointed yet even more puzzled.

Was this catgirl—who had saved her life—merely refusing to answer her questions, or was she actually mute?

Just as Tsunade was caught up in her thoughts, she suddenly heard a cool voice.

"Can your legs still move?"

The catgirl asked while looking straight at her.

"The external wounds have healed, but my bones were damaged. I can't recover right away."

Tsunade honestly answered.

Is that so?

Heiyan frowned slightly. With no better options available, he once again picked up Tsunade and continued onward.

As Tsunade rested in the catgirl's arms, a faint blush appeared on her face. Even though they were both women, the whole situation still felt oddly off-kilter to her.

Night fell, casting a silvery glow over the land.

In a forest clearing, two figures sat beside a crackling campfire.

"So, you're still not going to tell me who you really are... or where you're from?" Tsunade gazed at the flickering firelight on the catgirl's face and asked again.

"I come from the NekoNinja Clan. My people live in a place called the Void Region."

Heiyan came up with this story in response to Tsunade's persistent questioning.

Actually, he wasn't entirely lying; Two-Tails Matatabi indeed lived in the Void Region and was likely the leader of the NekoNinja Clan.

"NekoNinja? You mean the same ones allied with the Uchiha clan?"

Hearing this, Tsunade looked surprised before nodding in understanding.

She vaguely recalled hearing about the Void Region—it was a wasteland beyond any nation or village, home to NekoNinja spies who worked for the Uchiha.

This catgirl in front of her should be one of them...

"Hmph. I was just passing through that forest, so I helped you out," Heiyan muttered, nodding briefly, indicating to Tsunade not to think too much into it, then closed his eyes to rest, clearly unwilling to speak further.

Tsunade also knew when to stop. Suppressing her curiosity, she refrained from asking anything else.

The next day.

Heiyan brought Tsunade back outside Leaf Village. As he reached the village gate, coincidentally, two female kunoichi happened to be there, so he handed Tsunade over to them. After that, without looking back, he walked into the forest and vanished like that.

Watching the catgirl vanish into the trees, Tsunade couldn't shake a sudden sense of emptiness. But soon, she recalled the mission—the rest of her companions had all died, leaving only her alive.

Thinking about this, Tsunade's expression darkened. It was all her fault—she couldn't master Sage Art or Wood Release and therefore lacked the necessary strength. That's why she had been defeated by Burubi.

If only she could learn the Sage Art of Shikkotsu Forest just like Heiyan did.

Heiyan thought like that, feeling depressed as he recalled his half-year separation from Fugaku. He had gone alone to train in the Land of Lightning—he wondered how he was doing now.

For a moment, his thoughts wandered.

...

After bringing Tsunade back to the village, Heiyan found an isolated spot to remove the Two-Tails Catgirl Armor before heading back.

The three-story home by the hot spring river.

Unconsciously, it had already been a year since he'd left home. Although the house was cleaned regularly, it had been empty for so long that it felt cold and deserted, lacking any sense of warmth.

It was time to reunite with his brothers.

Recalling earlier days, Heiyan remembered how Fugaku Uchiha once taught him the method to summon a shinobi cat. They had made a prior agreement that upon his return, he would use a shinobi cat to send messages to both Fugaku and Hiashi.

So after entering the bedroom and opening the window to let in some fresh air, Heiyan performed the Summoning Seal. With a puff of white smoke, he summoned a small creature.

This was a shinobi cat named Nana from the Void Region. It wore clothes like a human, had soft fox-like fur and pointed ears, and bore the symbol "Ninja" marked on its forehead.

"Young master, why did you suddenly summon me? Don't you know how busy I am?"

Nana stood on the windowsill, hands on her waist, immediately reaching toward Heiyan for money as she spoke.

"My appearance fee is one thousand taels. If you want to send a message, that'll cost another five hundred. Hurry up and pay."

She impatiently nudged Heiyan. Despite being just a tiny kitten, she acted like a spoiled brat.

Bang!

Without saying a word, Heiyan simply pulled out a thick stack of ten thousand tael notes and threw them in front of her.

"!"

When Nana saw the large amount of cash, her eyes instantly widened. She stretched out her paw and quickly stuffed all the money into her clothes, then switched to a sycophantic smile.

"Master, please tell me what I can do for you!"

Heiyan had heard before that shinobi cats from the Void Region were greedy little beasts—and sure enough, this one proved it right away.

Seeing Nana's greedy and fawning mannerism after seeing the money, Heiyan shook his head slightly and calmly said, "I need you to inform Fugaku and Hiashi. Tell them Heiyan has returned and ask them to meet at our usual place at two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Of course, Master! I'll go right away. Farewell, meow~!"

Nana bowed deeply to Heiyan before leaping out the window, disappearing in a flash.

After watching the shinobi cat leave, Heiyan took off his coat, leaned backward, and lay down on the soft bed in his bedroom.

Even an iron man would get tired after such a long period of hard work. Since he still had time before the meeting at two, Heiyan decided to take a short rest.

In the heart of the Uchiha clan's forest.

"Huh!"

With a low shout, Fugaku Uchiha formed the Tiger seal with both hands. Instantly, a massive amount of tangible chakra surged outward, forming Susanoo around his body.

This was nothing like what he could do a year ago.

His Susano'o was no longer the bony skeleton with visible ribs it used to be. Instead, it now had a complete network of veins and flesh, wore a half-body armor forged from radiant chakra, and wielded a weapon in its hands.

The height of his Susano'o had also increased dramatically—from its original five or six meters, it had grown several times larger, now standing nearly thirty meters tall.

In the hands of this armored half-body Susano'o was a massive greatsword, forty meters long.

Whoosh!

Fugaku leaped into the air, and his Susano'o followed. It gripped the greatsword with both hands and swung it powerfully.

Pft!

Row after row of towering trees fell like wheat before a scythe.

Boom!

Even the surface of the Naha River split apart under the slash of the forty-meter blade, briefly exposing the riverbed beneath.

Fugaku felt thoroughly satisfied with the result.

He had always believed his greatest weakness was lacking concentrated, high-impact offensive techniques.

Therefore, when refining his Susano'o, he relentlessly pursued raw destructive power, eventually creating this monstrous forty-meter greatsword.

Moreover, he realized that his Susano'o still had tremendous room for growth. If he could evolve it from its current half-body form into a full-body form, it would surpass one hundred meters in height—and its power would far exceed its current level.

In a clearing within the forest, Fugaku Uchiha released his Susano'o.

His rapid progress wasn't solely due to rigorous training over the past year; there was another even more crucial reason—

With help from Black Zetsu, he had successfully transplanted cells from the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju!

Yes.

Fugaku had received Hashirama's cells. At that moment, a face-shaped pattern resembling Hashirama appeared on his chest.

These cells greatly enhanced his ocular power, allowing him to effortlessly use Mangekyou Sharingan abilities and summon Susano'o at will. According to Black Zetsu, Fugaku's eyes—infused with Hashirama's cellular energy—had already approached the legendary Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

Fugaku never wanted to boast.

However, he could say with absolute certainty: at that moment, among the three of them, he was unquestionably the strongest.

After all, he not only possessed the power of the First Hokage, but had further developed his Susano'o. He was confident he could cleave even a Tailed Beast clean in half with a single strike.

As for Hiashi's techniques? Nothing but flashy illusions.

Even if Heiyan had mastered Sage Arts completely, how could they possibly rival Susano'o?

Thinking this, Fugaku concluded his training session and began heading home.

Just then, the ninja cat named Nana appeared within his sight. Eagerly scurried forward, delivering Heiyan's message.

"Please pay me a thousand ryo delivery fee, mew."

After relaying Heiyan's words, Nana extended her paw and collected a service charge before hurrying off toward the Hyuga clan's territory without delay.

"Heiyan's back? Excellent timing."

Fugaku's eyes gleamed with excitement, filled with anticipation for their upcoming reunion.

In addition, he had prepared special gifts—for Heiyan, and even that fool Hiashi.

Fugaku entered the hidden room of the Naka Shrine and carefully retrieved two test tubes from a secret compartment in the wall. Inside the tubes, green flesh buds could be seen wriggling…

Hyuga Clan, main house.

For the past year, the Hyuga Clan's territory had been under complete lockdown, strictly forbidding any outsiders from entering. This was all because of the main house's young master, Hiashi Hyuga.

It wasn't just because Hiashi had a bounty of fifty million ryō on his head, drawing countless bounty hunters.

More importantly, his Byakugan had evolved—an unprecedented event in the Hyuga Clan's thousand-year history.

Because of this, the entire clan revolved around Hiashi, pooling all their resources to help him train and develop his Byakugan.

Over this past year, Hiashi had lived in seclusion; nobody knew exactly how powerful he'd become.

At this moment, out on Konoha's streets.

By the Konoha River stood a solitary telephone pole, seemingly unremarkable at first glance.

However, upon closer inspection, one would be horrified to discover an eye tightly stuck to the pole—clearly visible and constantly rotating.

That was a Byakugan, continuously shifting its gaze. Blue veins surrounded the eye like limbs, allowing it to silently move about the village unnoticed—from the Ninja Academy, past the police force, all the way to every corner of the commercial district, observing everything happening in the village.

After touring the entire village, the Byakugan returned to the Hyuga Clan's estate and flew straight into Hiashi's room, whooshing quietly back inside the sleeve of the latter.

Inside the room, Hiashi—who had been meditating—slowly opened his eyes.

Just moments ago, a ninja cat named Nana had sneaked into his room and brought him some good news: Heiyan had returned.

Upon hearing this, Hiashi's usual cold expression lit up with surprise and joy.

Without hesitation, he rose immediately, dressed in his combat gear, and walked over to the bow stand within the room.

There lay a silver longbow—over two meters tall. Together with its quiver and arrows, it bore the Hyuga Clan's crest—an extravagant piece specially crafted for Hiashi by expert artisans.

He slung the silver bow across his back but paused before departing, glancing down at both palms.

Two Byakugans slid silently from his sleeves, settling onto his hands and staring at him without blinking.

These were gifts he'd especially prepared—for Heiyan and Fugaku himself.

Hiashi smiled faintly, stepped outside, and then lifted off the ground, soaring into the sky.

Whoosh!

He soared through the air, flying over the Hyuga estate and speeding toward the outskirts of the village.

...

The so-called "usual meeting place" was actually Training Ground 3, located just outside Leaf Village.

As always, Fugaku Uchiha arrived the earliest. He had come more than half an hour ahead of schedule.

Standing still in place, he closed his eyes and waited calmly for a moment.

Suddenly—

Whoosh!

An arrow whistled sharply through the air from above Fugaku Uchiha and came hurtling directly toward him.

Fugaku frowned. With the dynamic vision of his Sharingan, he clearly observed the path of the flying arrow. Remaining composed, he made no attempt to dodge or evade it. Instead, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the arrow midair.

Buzzzzz!

The captured arrow seemed to possess life, struggling violently in his grip.

That was because someone's telekinesis had been imbued into it.

Crack!

Fugaku clenched his fist and snapped the arrow in half. He then turned a cold stare toward the sky two or three hundred meters away—sure enough, Hiashi Hyuga hovered there, holding a silver longbow and sending him a challenging glare from afar.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Hiashi showed no sign of stopping—he continuously drew back his bow and released. One after another, arrows flew rapidly toward Fugaku.

These arrows not only moved at incredible speed but also carried various bizarre abilities: some could explode, others could split apart, while certain ones could even turn corners unpredictably—truly difficult to guard against.

Swoosh!

Within the training grounds, Fugaku activated the Body Flicker Technique to evade these relentless attacks. Before long, he grew frustrated and impatient.

As he turned his gaze toward the distant Hiashi, preparing to get serious, the latter had already sheathed his bow and flown down from the distant sky.

"We haven't seen each other in some time, and yet you've barely improved," Hiashi sneered deliberately, floating slightly above Fugaku and looking down on him.

"I simply refuse to stoop to your narrow-minded level," Fugaku coldly replied, showing extreme contempt for Hiashi.

Indeed, he currently lacked an effective counter against Hiashi's cowardly tactic of attacking from a distance with arrows—but that was only when he wasn't serious.

In a true battle to the death, someone like Hiashi wouldn't even have the chance to demonstrate his clumsy archery techniques.

"If you can't defeat me, just admit it instead of posturing," Hiashi folded his arms and continued smirking mockingly.

"Hmph!" Fugaku grunted, ignoring Hiashi's childish provocations.

Though both regarded each other as comrades deep down, every time they met, they couldn't help but exchange sarcastic barbs.

Perhaps this was simply how men forged brotherhood.

Just then, both of them suddenly turned their heads toward the distance—the reason being they had sensed an extremely familiar chakra signature approaching.

Heiyan has arrived.

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