Hidden Wounds and Spiritual Energy

Hiruzen Sarutobi's father, Sasuke Sarutobi, was likewise a ninja who mastered the Five-Style Composite Ninjutsu.

Sasuke Sarutobi was likewise a widely recognized ninja, and even the Uchiha Clan held him in relatively high esteem.

The name Sasuke Uchiha was actually chosen to pay homage to this ninja.

Asuma Sarutobi only possessed the wind release, while Shinnosuke Sarutobi inherited the earth release, failing to inherit the interconnected five elements.

Looking at his son and daughter-in-law, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a slightly complicated mix of emotions within.

In his previous life, as a cultivation practitioner who lived for over a hundred years, he naturally had bloodline descendants passed down, and his family also held no small amount of influence in the mortal world.

It was just that all of this was nothing more than illusion in the face of longevity.

A hundred years of glory and wealth were merely a passing flash.

No matter how lofty one's status, in the end, wasn't one just a handful of dust?

"Shinnosuke, the recent Konoha... might experience some upheaval, so you must prepare yourself and lead the Sarutobi Clan to stand by at all times."

Shinnosuke Sarutobi suddenly widened his eyes, looking at his father with disbelief.

He understood his father extremely well, knowing that for Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha was his personal domain. Having developed to the present day, the Sarutobi Clan had already become quite prosperous, with their numbers growing steadily and showing a subtle trend of becoming one of Konoha's largest clans.

Actually, as Hiruzen Sarutobi's son, his pressure was very heavy.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi kept saying that everything was for him and Asuma, and that working so hard was just wanting the family to become better, in reality, this was all just Hiruzen Sarutobi's wishful thinking.

With such innate talent and different aspirations, what good was it to have it forced upon oneself?

"I am not joking. Get ready and have the clansmen stand by at all times."

"Why?"

Shinnosuke, who was usually quite dissatisfied with Hiruzen Sarutobi's bureaucratic methods, felt a sense of grievance now, even suspecting whether Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to make a move against the Uchiha Clan.

The shadow of war loomed over the village.

"You only need to obey my words. With your strength, you still have no way to participate in the village's decision-making."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with blunt honesty, leaving Shinnosuke not a shred of face.

Such direct words left Shinnosuke Sarutobi stunned; in his impression, Hiruzen Sarutobi had never been so direct.

"That's enough. As my direct ANBU, you only need to follow my orders."

Seeing Shinnosuke Sarutobi's appearance, Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart still softened, and he spoke up to offer an explanation.

In his memory, Shinnosuke Sarutobi and his daughter-in-law Naeko Sarutobi had lost their lives during a mission.

However, Konohamaru Sarutobi had already been born at that time, and Naeko was not yet pregnant now, meaning there were still a few years left before the two of them met with disaster.

Watching his son die young was definitely out of the question. As a former modern person, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not the sort of cultivation practitioner who only knew how to practice in bitter seclusion.

He understood very well that cultivation practitioners were not immortals, and the difference between them and ordinary humans was not large. Before one's cultivation reached a certain level, a person's strength was very limited.

In his previous life, he managed to reach Perfected Qi Refinement precisely because he had the help of his clan, gathering quite a few rare medicinal herbs from all over the world.

Living his life anew, he needed both the power of his family and the help of the village. Making Konoha stronger would only benefit him and do him no harm.

At the same time, as a father, he did not wish for Shinnosuke to die young.

"All right, don't carry too much pressure. Being a guidance Jonin and taking out Genin squads in the future is also quite good."

Having said that, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked toward his daughter-in-law, Naeko Sarutobi.

"The two of you have been married for a while now. When will I get to hold a grandson?"

"Don't tell me I have to rely on that brat Asuma?"

When this topic came up, Naeko Sarutobi's face turned instantly red.

She came from a commoner background with mediocre talent, and currently only held the rank of Chunin, holding no grand ambitions in her heart.

Compared to fighting, killing, and contending for power and profit, she would much rather stay at home to assist her husband and educate their children.

Seeing that Shinnosuke Sarutobi still wanted to say something, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand.

"I have already made my decision. You just need to follow my arrangements and have the clan members stand by at all times."

Hearing his father put it this way, Shinnosuke Sarutobi finally realized that the man beneath the fire hat had already grown senile, his figure hunchbacked.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at only around 163cm tall, and coupled with his graying hair and the age spots that had already appeared on his face, it all hinted that this Third Hokage—who had ruled Konoha for the longest time, single-handedly created Konoha's golden age, and with his own hands led Konoha down the slope—had grown old.

Shinnosuke nodded silently, saying nothing more.

"Do not spread word of this matter."

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to his own room.

During the Nine-Tails Uprising, his wife Biwako Sarutobi had passed away, leaving him entirely alone now.

However, this also suited Hiruzen Sarutobi's wishes. Once he dispersed this chakra to nourish his physical body, if anyone were living closely alongside him day and night, they would surely notice.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Hiruzen Sarutobi began to examine this aging physical body.

Cultivation was to wander the bitter sea alone; the bitter sea knew no bounds, and the physical body was the boat. The only thing one could truly trust was one's own flesh.

This was the path of Hiruzen Sarutobi's cultivation. Although after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, all the essence of one's flesh and blood would be refined into the Nascent Soul, allowing one to recreate a physical body even if the flesh was destroyed, so long as the Nascent Soul remained.

Yet even a newly recreated body was still one's own bloodline, and seizing someone else's body was a great taboo in cultivation.

However, when Sun Xiaolong crossed over into Hiruzen Sarutobi's physical body, aside from the extra memories in his mind, he felt no sense of rejection or obscurity.

Zhuang Zhou dreamed of the butterfly, and the butterfly dreamed of Zhuang Zhou.

Who could really say how it all worked?

The only thing he could trust right now was this aging physical body.

Because of developing chakra, the cells throughout a ninja's entire body underwent excessive division, making a ninja's aging generally much faster.

The current Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer prop up the title of the Shinobi Hero.

The Hiruzen Sarutobi of his youth had forged this illustrious reputation through battle after battle, relying on the Five-Style Composite Ninjutsu to be hailed as a great weapon of mass destruction on the battlefield.

A body full of hidden wounds thus seemed somewhat a matter of course.

Fortunately, aside from those hidden wounds, there were no other chronic illnesses; his limbs were still sound, and all bodily functions operated normally.

In that case, so long as he sought out some medicinal herbs to refine pills, coupled with the abundant spiritual energy of this world, he could still slowly recover.

Taking a deep breath, Hiruzen Sarutobi began trying to absorb spiritual energy.

Although the spiritual energy of this world was dense, its attributes were extremely chaotic, and Hiruzen Sarutobi could even sense that a small portion of it had been polluted.

This ought to be related to the so-called "holy lands," which were the regions where summoning beasts resided.

These summoning beasts called spiritual energy "natural energy." Through absorbing this spiritual energy, they gained long lifespans, massive physical forms, and various special abilities.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, these fellows were nothing more than substandard little demons.