Infiltrating Konoha

After approaching Konoha, Oguri Hayashi stopped this method of training. This method of self-pressurization, similar to a gravity chamber, was indeed very good for training.

When he canceled the Heavier Rock Technique, he felt his whole body lighten. A slight lift of his leg could send him rushing forward in an instant. In just half a month, the strengthening effect he gained was far superior to weighted training.

No wonder those Super Saiyans liked gravity chambers so much. This kind of weight was all-encompassing, not only affecting your muscles but also your bones, meridians, and internal organs, all being oppressed by gravity. You had to exert all your strength to resist this pressure.

It could be said that this gravity-based strengthening was indeed the best method for training the physical body.

Moreover, Oguri Hayashi's training wasn't just that. While training his body, he maintained the Heavier Rock Technique. While training his body, he was also training his chakra and spirit.

He maintained a delicate balance, striving to balance his spirit, body, and chakra.

Now, whenever he trained, he was training all three simultaneously.

Oguri Hayashi had finally found his path.

Or, in the words of the people of this world, this was his ninja way.

Once he found his most suitable strengthening path, all he had to do was sprint down it.

He deactivated the Heavier Rock Technique as if he were an ordinary person and slowly walked towards Konoha.

Konoha was nothing like Kumogakure, where ordinary people had to climb dozens of mountains and navigate winding mountain paths just to enter the village.

Konoha Village, situated on flat land with well-connected roads, possessed the most prosperous trade routes in the world. It was precisely because these merchants and nobles could easily travel to Konoha to accept missions that the Konoha ninja village achieved its glory.

To put it bluntly, if you had to travel through winding mountain paths just to accept a mission, who would be willing to do it?

Moreover, many missions involved unsavory matters that required personal consultation to ensure secrecy. After accepting a mission in Konoha, you could also spend money and indulge in pleasure in the bustling Konoha. What about Iwagakure and Kumogakure? Even the places to stay were so cramped and unpleasant. No normal person would go there, right?

If Iwagakure and Kumogakure didn't monopolize the ninja missions in the Land of Earth and the Land of Thunder, and if these two countries weren't so far from Konoha, these two ninja villages would be nothing.

On his way to Konoha, the number of people gradually increased. Some were nobles traveling, some were merchants conducting business. Even more were ordinary citizens living in Konoha, bringing their goods to sell in the city.

The people of Konoha had complained many times about the First Hokage placing the village in a location without natural defenses.

However, in Oguri Hayashi's opinion, the First Hokage was truly a visionary leader.

After sealing the Tailed Beasts, he distributed them among the villages based on their strength, maintaining a balance of power. The villages that possessed Tailed Beasts were like those with a nuclear bomb.

They could maintain a basic deterrent force, ensuring that even if a generation was weak, the village wouldn't be destroyed.

Then, the ninja world finally entered a long period of peace, until the rise of the Land of Rain.

The entire Second Shinobi World War was the journey of the ridiculously powerful leader of Amegakure, Hanzo of the Salamander, confronting everyone.

It had to be said that Hanzo of the Salamander, a demigod, was indeed incredibly strong. He confronted everyone, first Iwagakure, then Sunagakure, and then Konoha.

Yet, he managed to survive and lead the Land of Rain to stand proudly amidst the three great nations.

This was the true deterrent power of a Kage-level expert.

Furthermore, Hanzo wasn't just strong himself. The poisonous gas released by his summoned salamander was even more suitable for large-scale ninja warfare. In the perpetually rainy terrain of the Land of Rain, the poisonous gas couldn't dissipate. Most Genin and Chunin enemies would be poisoned before they could even see it.

Hanzo was arguably one of the recognized strongest individuals in the ninja world.

Back then, the Sannin fought Hanzo together but couldn't defeat him and had to retreat. How magnificent and awe-inspiring was Hanzo at that time, making one yearn for it.

It was precisely because of such a leader that the ninjas of the Land of Rain could unhesitatingly accompany him on his expansionist journey.

The interior of Konoha was very peaceful. Any wild beasts appearing on the main roads would immediately result in missions being issued for ninjas to clear them out, including bandits.

This peaceful environment also fostered Konoha's prosperous commerce. The closer Oguri Hayashi got to Konoha, the more he could feel its commercial prosperity.

As he was currently advancing towards Konoha with a merchant caravan, Konoha's scouts would become more numerous.

Although war had never broken out near the Konoha ninja village itself, scouts from various places were always present.

A significant portion of the duty of Konoha ninjas and Anbu members was to screen these incoming individuals, identifying and eliminating scouts without wrongly accusing genuine merchants.

You must understand, this was an enormous task, a workload that could be described as nightmarish. He had done this himself when he was a Genin.

Recalling it now, it was truly a warm memory.

His sight and perception abilities far surpassed those of ordinary ninjas. Every time he sensed a Konoha ninja, he would use his Invisibility Cloak to conceal himself. Once the ninjas left, he would reappear.

Ordinary people couldn't track his ninja speed. He followed the merchant caravan as if he had never disappeared, appearing ordinary and calm, avoiding most trouble on the way to Konoha.

At the entrance of Konoha, there were two sensory ninjas acting as gatekeepers. No transformation jutsu could fool their senses. It could be said that entering through the barrier would be safer than using the main entrance, because those two sensory ninjas belonged to the Uchiha Clan, and were at least Chunin with two tomoe Sharingan. Perhaps they were Jonin.

Anyone attempting to invade Konoha would not take such a foolish route. Therefore, those two Uchiha Clan members appeared lethargic and listless, showing no spirit.

The absence of chakra fluctuations meant they possessed natural invisibility. Apart from the Hyuga Clan, no one could see Oguri Hayashi, clad in an Invisibility Cloak, entering Konoha Village.

Oguri Hayashi thus easily walked into the heavily guarded Konoha Village.

He entered the place where he had lived for 12 years, a place he could, for the time being, call home.