Pregnancy

Those sacred beings of the myriad heavens and worlds had long since become Buddhas and patriarchs by his age.

The main reason was that he did not possess a true method of immortality.

And the current ritual required the right timing, the right location—Mount Sumeru—and a third condition: the appearance of a Golden Ring Eclipse.

Thinking of how the day of the Golden Ring Eclipse was still far away, requiring him to wait decades, Hiruko's expression grew increasingly grim.

By then, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha would already be grown, while he would still be struggling bitterly for a path to immortality.

Although Golden Ring Eclipses were not rare astronomical phenomena and occurred roughly two to five times a year, annular solar eclipses could usually only be observed from specific regions.

To witness their splendor again from the same region, one would have to wait as long as a decade.

And Mount Sumeru, as an indispensable part of heaven, earth, and man, was unquestionably sacred.

It could not chase Golden Ring Eclipses all over the world.

Life was short. How many decades did he have to squander?

Hiruko pondered in secret. What if he failed once? What then?

Was he supposed to extend his life like Orochimaru, relying on constant body replacements?

But how was he supposed to solve the problem of spiritual decay?

He was now completely certain that he was the original owner of this body. His original body had crossed into this world, directly devoured this ninja-world body, and obtained its identity.

This body was the most suitable vessel for him.

Replace his body?

That was impossible.

His soul and flesh had already become tightly connected. If he forcibly changed bodies, the mismatch between soul and body would bring unforeseeable consequences.

Perhaps one day, when the compatibility between his soul and body reached its limit, he would face a crisis where the path ahead was completely cut off.

The unity of soul and flesh was the best path. Once he reached the peak, perhaps even that 0.0000001 percent incompatibility could leave him stuck there forever.

Moreover, whenever Hiruko recalled those figures from his memories who had become neither human nor ghost due to spiritual decay, he felt sick to his stomach.

The Five Decays of Heaven and Man were an unavoidable trial on the path to an immortal soul.

He secretly resolved that he would obtain the power of true spiritual immortality.

"Chimera Technique!"

Hiruko silently recited it in his heart. He knew he could not slack off now.

To attain true immortality, he had to pursue more and more comprehensive contingencies, ensuring that he could go farther down the road of eternal life.

Seeing Hiruko lost in thought, old man Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and said, "Hiruko, I watched both you and Tsunade grow up. I can rest assured leaving Tsunade to you."

He then began making small talk, but Hiruko's thoughts had already drifted far away, and he did not seriously listen to the old man's rambling.

In his heart, he had already found more directions for the future.

Hiruzen Sarutobi thought Hiruko was considering matters between himself and Tsunade.

But in truth, his words were like a fuse, completely igniting Hiruko's deep-seated obsession with immortality.

After Hiruko chatted with old man Hiruzen for a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and ultimately decided to leave.

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly wanted to bring Hiruko and Tsunade together. They were both outstanding children he thought highly of.

He had originally been very optimistic about Jiraiya and Tsunade getting together, but then Hiruko had appeared—a far more exceptional man.

As a result, Tsunade no longer thought much of Jiraiya.

After all, one was a gentle, handsome man, while the other was a lecherous, greasy guy. With their qualifications about the same, it was really hard to guess whom a girl would choose!

Furthermore, Hiruko's importance to the village was growing greater and greater. Without any bonds tying him down, if the village could no longer satisfy Hiruko one day, he might just leave.

Whenever he thought of his eldest disciple, Orochimaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi got a headache.

Orochimaru's feelings for Konoha had grown increasingly weak.

If Hiruko and Tsunade could come together, then with love between them, they would certainly not reject the collective that was Konoha.

Konoha was Tsunade's most precious thing.

He also hoped Hiruko could heal Tsunade's heart and restore her mental state as soon as possible.

A dispirited Tsunade and a Tsunade at full strength naturally possessed completely different combat power, and the contributions they could make to Konoha were likewise worlds apart.

Take Tsunade and Hiruko, for example. If they truly married—

Then, in a sense, it would indeed deepen the bond between Hiruko and Konoha.

It would reduce the risk of him becoming like Orochimaru in the future, indifferent to life and detached from Konoha, directly binding Hiruko to the village.

Moreover, old man Hiruzen could tell that Hiruko was an honest, responsible young man.

Although he had been poor at socializing as a child and somewhat withdrawn, that was because his parents had died before his eyes when he was very young.

His nature was not bad, and he and Tsunade could be considered childhood sweethearts.

For all these years, he had silently supported Tsunade from behind the scenes, and the understanding between them ran very deep.

Their relationship was only one step away from breaking through that final layer.

In old man Hiruzen's view, since they had an emotional foundation and were both no longer young, would it not be better for them to marry sooner?

Once a man got married, his heart would change.

If they had children, that would be even better. A man's sense of responsibility would quickly change Hiruko, and the affection between family members would melt the coldness in his heart.

That way, Hiruko would have something to care about.

Although old man Hiruzen did not know why Hiruko seemed separated from everyone else in the world by an invisible barrier, he always felt that Hiruko would naturally change once he had a family.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi had indeed guessed correctly.

As a transmigrator, how could Hiruko possibly feel no sense of distance from these NPCs in an anime?

When he had first arrived, he had always believed that the people here were NPCs following a predetermined plot.

Old man Hiruzen and Danzo had completely different styles.

Danzo was cold by nature. Setting aside how he treated his own people, he had always upheld the ninja world's cruel principles toward outsiders.

He was extremely demanding of his subordinates, believing that only ninjas who abandoned emotion and killed decisively were qualified.

Old man Hiruzen, meanwhile, understood the complexity of human nature. He valued using emotion to win people over, because he understood that humans were ultimately creatures with feelings.

No matter how oppressive the rules or how forceful the brainwashing methods, they could not completely erase human emotions.

Therefore, it was best to follow human nature, use emotion as kindling, ignite the Will of Fire in people's hearts, and contribute to Konoha's prosperity.

"I came to see you today because there are indeed some matters I wanted to discuss with you, regarding Wood Release." He took a puff of his cigarette and spoke slowly.

"You mentioned to Minato that achieving Wood Release itself is not difficult. The difficult part is obtaining the First Hokage's immense power."

"And Kushina Uzumaki—she is the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, a woman, and she has been pregnant for quite some time."

"I want..."