Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 117 Sakumo Hatake's Suicide

Ultimately, his level of understanding was still too low.

Gently stroking the Boundless Flying Ring in his hand, Hyuga Kanan pulled himself out of his thoughts and murmured to himself, "No matter how many methods there are, strength and realm are the foundation."

The most important thing is to cultivate in seclusion and improve one's cultivation level. Hyuga Kanan turned and entered the secret chamber, sat down cross-legged, and began to regulate his breathing. He closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and gathered all the energy in his body into his dantian. As time passed, his body gradually heated up, and beams of spiritual light flickered on his body.

At this moment, everything outside was irrelevant to him; his heart was solely focused on his relentless pursuit of higher realms. In this tranquil environment, he seemed to merge with heaven and earth, constantly absorbing the power of nature while simultaneously analyzing the power of earth elemental rules in his mind.

Time slips away quietly.

Two years have passed since Hyuga Kanan returned to his secluded training grounds, and the ninja world has once again fallen into friction and turmoil.

In the 46th year of the Konoha calendar, signs of conflict appear to be emerging among the major ninja villages. They are acquiring various military supplies and stockpiling food, clearly indicating that the Second Shinobi World War is about to begin again.

Currently, all the ninja villages around the world are eyeing Konoha with covetous intent, yet they are also well aware of Konoha's formidable strength, especially the man known as "Konoha's White Fang," who possesses unparalleled destructive power and intimidation. His incredibly sharp fangs deter any ninja village from easily venturing into them. Therefore, although everyone harbors their own ambitions, no one dares to strike first; they have all chosen to remain inactive, quietly awaiting the opportune moment.

However, this apparent calm could not conceal the escalating tension beneath the surface. As time passed, conflicts arising from missions between the various ninja villages intensified, with even the ninjas responsible for these missions beginning to engage in frequent and violent arguments and brawls. It seemed that a larger-scale war was about to erupt...

Within Konoha Village, Hiruzen Sarutobi was finding it increasingly difficult to keep up, and the pressure from Sakumo Hatake was mounting, while his reputation among the Konoha ninja was also rising.

Some ninjas have already started discussing making Sakumo Hatake the Hokage, since Sakumo Hatake's influence is too great. Whenever he goes on a mission, ninjas from other villages will abandon their missions to avoid conflict with him, which makes Konoha's prestige even higher.

With the Fourth Shinobi World War gaining momentum, most ordinary Konoha ninja believe that having Sakumo Hatake succeed as Hokage would better deter the other four great ninja villages and provide greater protection for Konoha ninjas when they go out on missions.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi has no intention of relinquishing the Hokage position yet, nor does he want to hand it over to Sakumo Hatake. If he did, there would be no place for him within Konoha's power structure and leadership. He would have to relinquish all power, rendering all his future plans futile.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's long-planned scheme could no longer be contained. He immediately sent a private order to Danzo Shimura, informing him that he could proceed with the plan.

After receiving the message from Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, who had been patiently waiting for a long time, immediately mobilized the Root ninja. He was now even more worried than Hiruzen about Sakumo Hatake taking over. If Sakumo Hatake came to power, the Root organization he had established would definitely be abolished. Moreover, given Sakumo Hatake's personality, all the things he had done in secret over the years would be a disqualification for him if Sakumo Hatake became Hokage; he would likely face imprisonment. Therefore, when Hiruzen Sarutobi proposed the plan, Danzo Shimura immediately agreed and secretly began making arrangements, awaiting Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders.

Today, the order finally arrived, and Danzo did not delay, immediately arranging for his subordinates to take action.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan to scheme against Sakumo Hatake was quite simple: exploit Sakumo's emotional attachment and bonds to the Konoha ninja. He would force Sakumo into a dilemma: continue his mission or rescue his comrades. Knowing Sakumo's personality, Hiruzen knew he would abandon the mission to save his friends. When Sakumo returned from the failed mission, Danzo would secretly incite the villagers to exaggerate its importance, accusing him of causing significant losses to Konoha and potentially triggering the Fourth Shinobi World War. This would severely damage Sakumo's reputation within Konoha, creating the illusion that the failure was due to external conflicts and battles, thus tarnishing his image as an invincible war god in the eyes of the villagers. Consequently, Sakumo would find it much harder to gain the support of the village ninjas, ensuring his own succession as Hokage would be secure.

In the time that followed, Shimura Danzo proceeded strictly according to the plan, and things developed just as Hiruzen Sarutobi had planned. Hatake Sakumo returned to Konoha with his badly injured comrades and reported the failure of the mission to the Konoha leadership.

Subsequently, rumors began to circulate in the village that when Hatake Sakumo went out to carry out an important mission for Konoha, he voluntarily abandoned the mission and returned to the village, causing Konoha to suffer heavy losses in this mission, and possibly even leading to the start of the Shinobi World War.

Upon hearing that this mission might trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War, panic and chaos finally erupted among the villagers of Konoha. Most of the adults in Konoha knew the cruelty of war; in each Fourth Shinobi World War, Konoha had to sacrifice countless ninja. The countless names on the memorial stone, stretching almost to the bottom, showed how many ninja had been lost in the previous two Fourth Shinobi World Wars, shattering countless families in Konoha.

Now, there's no need for Shimura Danzo to secretly incite the villagers anymore. After hearing that Hatake Sakumo's mission failure could lead to the outbreak of war, many villagers have automatically joined the ranks of those criticizing Hatake Sakumo.

Less than five days later, the criticism of Sakumo Hatake grew louder and louder. Even some Konoha ninja joined in, saying that Sakumo Hatake needed to be held accountable and punished. Finally, even the ninja that Sakumo Hatake had rescued couldn't withstand the pressure from the villagers and began to criticize Sakumo Hatake.

Sakumo Hatake hadn't been worried at all. No ninja could guarantee a 100% success rate in their missions; mission failures were always a possibility. He had simply chosen to abandon the mission and focus all his efforts on rescuing his comrades—what was wrong with that?

But as the villagers' casual conversations gradually turned into calls for Sakumo Hatake to be held accountable and punished, it was only then that Sakumo Hatake first sensed the villagers' disgust towards him.

In the following days, Sakumo Hatake voluntarily gave up his work in the Anbu and returned home to spend time with his son, Kakashi Hatake, hoping to use this time to properly teach him.

When some ninjas and villagers surrounded his house and hurled insults at him from outside, Sakumo Hatake truly felt the deep malice emanating from Konoha. When he saw the ninjas he had rescued appear outside to berate him, Sakumo Hatake finally began to doubt whether he had really done something wrong, realizing that he was simply not worthy of being a Konoha ninja.

Sakumo Hatake decided to give up his identity as a ninja. Since so many people in Konoha Village hated him, he would simply stop being a Konoha ninja.

That night, after Danzo Shimura's arrival and a private conversation, Sakumo Hatake truly realized that he had become an unstable factor in Konoha, just like Kanan Hyuga had been.

When Shimura Danzo had to choose between the stability of the village and his own life, and when he kept mentioning Hatake Kakashi, Hatake Sakumo knew the path he had to choose.

After everyone had left, only Hatake Sakumo remained in the room, sitting quietly. He stared blankly ahead, as if the whole world had abandoned him. He gently stroked the short sword that had been with him for many years, feeling the cold touch of the blade.

Recalling every moment—the battles, the glory, and the lost loved ones and friends—flashed before his eyes like a movie. A wave of pain and helplessness washed over him, making it hard to breathe.

Yet, faced with endless sorrow and loneliness, Sakumo Hatake chose the most extreme way to end it all—suicide. He slowly raised the short sword, aimed it at his chest, and plunged it in without hesitation…

Blood stained his white clothes, slowly flowing down to form a poignant blood flower on the ground. As his life gradually faded, a relieved smile appeared on Hatake Sakumo's face; perhaps only in this way could he truly escape the torment deep within his heart.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi heard the news, he was enraged. The situation in the ninja world was so delicate; how could Danzo Shimura still resort to such coercion? Hiruzen had never intended for Sakumo Hatake to die; he was Konoha's strategic deterrent. He only wanted to suppress Sakumo's reputation, reduce his chances of becoming Hokage, and ultimately eliminate him altogether. But now, with news of Sakumo's suicide spreading, other villages in the ninja world might be itching to launch an attack on Konoha.

Upon hearing this news, Tsunade truly understood her Hokage teacher for the first time. This utterly unsophisticated plan was obvious to anyone with even a modicum of political acumen. Hatake Sakumo likely discovered Hiruzen Sarutobi's scheme, but as a descendant of a traditional samurai family, once his beliefs wavered, he probably lost his edge.

But after realizing that he had become a destabilizing factor in Konoha, he knew that only his death could bring Konoha back to stability and leave a chance for his son, Kakashi Hatake, to survive.