Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 77 Perceiving the Rules of Heaven and Earth

With the Second Shinobi World War coming to an end, the shinobi world returned to peace, and the small countries breathed a sigh of relief. They no longer had to worry about their countries becoming battlefields between major powers, and could finally clean up the mess caused by the war.

Meanwhile, major powers return to a state of recuperation and preparation for the next war.

Although Konoha won the war, no country paid war reparations, meaning Konoha gained nothing from the war except for the casualties of over 5000 ninjas.

However, Konoha ensured that no other country could enter the Land of Fire, and blocked all other ninja villages that were preparing to invade the Land of Fire from entering its territory. In return, Konoha received a large amount of financial assistance from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, so that Konoha did not have to worry about compensation.

The Third Hokage's victory over Kirigakure and the Third Mizukage brought Hiruzen Sarutobi unimaginable prestige, further solidifying his position as Hokage.

Time passed, and two years went by. The various ninja villages gradually recovered from the damage caused by the war and silently prepared for the start of the Third Shinobi World War.

Meanwhile, Hyuga Kanan, who was training in the mountains of the permanently neutral Land of Iron, paid no attention to the situation of the Shinobi World War and continued to quietly cultivate in the mountains in pursuit of breaking through to the Innate Realm.

In the crevice of the rock, Ri Xiangjianan sat cross-legged in tranquility, relaxed and at ease. His lips and teeth were lightly closed, his breathing slow and gentle, his hands clenched, his eyes looking straight ahead, gathering his divine light, reaching the state of heavenly mind.

After nearly three years of training, Hyuga Kanan has quickly come into contact with the rules of heaven and earth through the elemental laws, and can now vaguely sense and learn the rules of heaven and earth.

Hyuga Kanan has been extremely dedicated to his cultivation these past few years, spending almost all his time on it. He also has the pure soul energy refined from the Qiankun Inheritance Jade to accelerate his cultivation.

The soul energy cluster of Mizuki-hen was already very dim. It would only take a little more time to completely refine it. Hyuga Kanan believed that this was his chance to leap over the dragon gate and gain a clearer and faster understanding of the rules of heaven and earth. He had to wait patiently.

These years of cultivation have allowed Hyuga Kanan to regain a peaceful state of mind, free from his previous impatience. After several years of hard work, he has been able to grasp some of the content and essence of the rules of heaven and earth.

This kind of cultivation requires a calm and tranquil mind, and slow, gradual comprehension. Hyuga Kanan sat cross-legged, palms facing upwards, eyes closed. He analyzed the elemental laws while attempting to comprehend the existence of the rules of heaven and earth.

Hyuga Kanan wasn't in a hurry to succeed quickly. He knew that the essence of cultivation was following the natural way, and that learning and comprehending step by step was the true path.

Moreover, he knew in his heart that comprehending the rules of heaven and earth was a very time-consuming thing, and it was impossible to achieve it in a short period of time. Even with all the experience of Shui Wuyuehen in the Qiankun Inheritance Jade, it would still take time to learn.

As evening approached and darkness fell completely, Hyuga Kanan withdrew his senses.

Evenings are for practicing visualization techniques. To enhance one's spiritual power, one can only rely on the slow and steady practice of visualization techniques. Although the speed is very slow, one cannot relax even a little if one wants to continuously improve one's spiritual power and eventually evolve into a divine soul. Every night, one needs to practice visualization techniques to enhance one's spiritual power, and one cannot stop even if the efficiency is very low.

Hyuga Kanan now needs to get into the right mindset and prepare for tonight's training.

As he ate the dry rations, Hyuga Kanan began to summarize the results of his training over the past period.

"The power of divine sense can only be gradually improved through visualization, but the efficiency is really very low. It would probably take more than a hundred years to reach the Divine Soul Realm. However, one cannot relax in cultivation. This is the key to taking the final step."

"My comprehension of the rules of heaven and earth is progressing very smoothly, and it seems that I can achieve it within ten years. The soul energy cluster of Shui Wuyuehen in the Qiankun Inheritance Jade is almost finished being refined. It should take another month to complete. At that time, with the experience and insights inside, the speed should be able to be improved a lot. It just depends on how much experience and insights can be contained inside."

"Forget it, I should just focus on practicing hard. Effort will never lie to myself. As long as I make progress every day, that's good enough."

Hyuga Kanan silently pondered this, while simultaneously adjusting his state of mind to prepare for his visualization practice that evening.

The sunset painted the entire sky golden, making it incredibly beautiful and enchanting.

However, Hinata Kanan had no mind to appreciate the beauty of the sunset. His mind was completely focused on cultivation, and he had forgotten about his surroundings. All he wanted to do now was to cultivate hard and break through to the Innate Realm as soon as possible, so as to make every effort to take the first step into true immortal cultivation.

The previous body refinement and qi refinement were merely at the mortal stage, laying the foundation and preparing for future cultivation. They did not yet qualify them to call themselves cultivators.

After all, he hasn't truly crossed the threshold of cultivation yet; he's still in the adaptation phase. He's not qualified to learn Taoist magic and supernatural powers yet, and can only rely on his honed physical abilities to fight enemies. Moreover, he doesn't have the ability to forge his own natal magic weapon.

However, once you break through to the Innate Realm, you will truly enter the ranks of cultivators. Being able to mobilize the power of heaven and earth is one aspect, but most importantly, you will be qualified to truly cultivate Taoist magic and supernatural powers, and you can also refine your own natal magic weapon to defend against enemies.

This kind of natal magic weapon is the most powerful means of attack. Just like the natal magic weapon crafted by the Otsutsuki clan is a type of bloodline magic weapon, such as the Byakugan, which is a very powerful bloodline magic weapon. This kind of magic weapon is usually crafted by large families to protect the growth of their descendants. It is passed down in the family's own bloodline. As long as the bloodline concentration is not too low, it can exert a little bit of the magic weapon's effect.

The Sage of Six Paths, relying on the world's will within the Divine Tree and his own bloodline artifact, forged a new bloodline artifact, the Rinnegan, which is also a powerful bloodline artifact. However, this kind of forging based on inherited bloodline artifacts is likely very common among the Otsutsuki clan, given that they have acquired many worlds and successfully absorbed many Divine Trees; forging new bloodline artifacts by combining bloodline artifacts with Divine Trees is relatively easy for them.

From this perspective, the Otsutsuki clan is likely an extremely powerful family even in the upper realms. After all, a family capable of crafting such powerful bloodline artifacts must possess abundant personnel and a rich heritage. Furthermore, they are constantly seeking out World Seeds—life weapons—for devouring newly enlightened worlds. Therefore, this family would rank among the top families even in the upper realms.

As can be seen from the records in the Qiankun Inheritance Jade, this newly enlightened world is an extremely valuable thing, and it is the object of competition among various clans. How could a clan without strength directly obtain this world of ninja?

However, an unexpected incident occurred: the two dispatched personnel encountered a problem, resulting in a communication disruption between this world and the Otsutsuki clan, and the loss of their location coordinates.

Hyuga Kanan speculated that the coordinates of the Otsutsuki clan must be on the Divine Tree. After the Divine Tree was revived during the Fourth Shinobi World War, the coordinates were reactivated, and it was normal for them to send people back to check on it again.

But the resurrection of the Divine Tree seems to be a deliberate act by the Sage of Six Paths. Isn't he afraid that the Otsutsuki clan will send powerful warriors to seize this world?

Hyuga Kanan was always an outsider, completely unaware of the truth behind this world, and had never been to the Upper Realm. He could only make a guess about the Upper Realm based on some records and inherited information in the Qiankun Inheritance Jade.

But as long as you cultivate diligently, you will eventually break through the void yourself and go to that world to witness it firsthand.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

After the soul energy of the Water Without Moon Mark in the Qiankun Inheritance Jade was refined, it contained a great deal of experience and insights into the rules of heaven and earth, which was an invaluable treasure for Hyuga Kanan.

After three years of study and reflection, Hyuga Kanan felt that he was only a thin membrane away from breaking through, and could break through it at any time to achieve a breakthrough.

In the early morning, a damp, cold wind kept blowing into the cracks in the rocks, and frost appeared all around. Hyuga Kanan remained sitting cross-legged. As the fluctuations around him grew stronger, a massive vortex finally appeared around him. He sensed a fluctuation in the rules of heaven and earth, and could clearly perceive the traces of that fluctuation.

Countless shimmering innate patterns floated around Hyuga Kanan's body, with one of the rules drifting along a predetermined trajectory.

Hyuga Kanan, who was already exhausted from practicing visualization techniques the night before, was suddenly invigorated and filled with excitement.

He finally took the first step in cultivating immortality, which means that he has officially bid farewell to mortals and entered the ranks of cultivators, with the opportunity to become an immortal who lives forever.

Soon, Hyuga Kanan calmed his excited thoughts. He needed to focus all his attention on the rule he had learned and comprehended, to see if he could break through to the Innate Realm in one go.

As his mind focused on that rule, the world gradually changed. The bright morning sky was instantly enveloped by clusters of dark clouds, and the mountain range where Hyuga Kanan was located became dark. Countless bolts of lightning streaked through the clouds, emitting bursts of thunder, and continuously converged on the place where Hyuga Kanan was training.

Clearly, a lightning tribulation was about to form to block Hyuga Kanan's final breakthrough.

But soon, something strange seemed to happen around them. The dark clouds slowly began to dissipate, and the raging lightning seemed to become docile, heading towards Hyuga Kanan's body.

The gentle lightning entered Hyuga Kanan's body, breaking the shackles that restricted his body's evolution. It then merged into his cells, constantly breaking down their interiors. Hyuga Kanan's internal energy also entered his cells along with the lightning power, frantically consuming it to allow the cells to recombine.

Meanwhile, the surrounding natural forces were rapidly drawn into the vortex in Hyuga Kanan's dantian. The vortex spun wildly, refining the incoming natural energy at an even faster pace. The vortex also began to shrink and become smaller, but its efficiency increased rapidly.

And so, Hyuga Kanan continued his training, his whole body trembling.