Chapter 48: The Old Man

After a meal...

Naruto's gaze couldn't help but drift towards Hinata, and Sasuke on the other side did the same. Only Kakashi was wiping his mouth behind his mask after finishing his meal.

Both Naruto and Sasuke are people who can directly observe elemental power. It's precisely because they saw it that they feel Hinata is outrageous. This girl has been absorbing the surrounding elemental power since the beginning, absorbing all attributes directly, and has been absorbing for a long time.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and gave a look.

'Is it really okay for her to absorb like this?'

Naruto replied with his eyes.

'Her situation is special. There must be something in her body that can consume elemental power. Your situation is not the same as hers, don't think about it.'

The Byakugan is a bloodline inheritance of the Otsutsuki clan. Hinata's Byakugan is very pure, and there must be pure Otsutsuki blood in her body. However, this bloodline is not complete and cannot play any role.

And the chakra fruit of the God Tree is essentially the ultimate aggregation of various elemental powers of the planet, and it also incorporates the power attributes of the God Tree itself. After the Otsutsuki clan ate it, they could gain extremely powerful power.

And now Hinata is like directly absorbing raw elemental power that has not formed a chakra fruit. It's not that there are no effects to say, but if there are any special effects... there really aren't any. If she absorbs more for a while, there will be a big change after the quantity changes cause qualitative changes.

She's also quite pitiful. Her bloodline is pure and her talent is high... but her qualifications are not enough.

Although she has been absorbing, the speed of her absorption is not fast. If her absorption speed was fast, then Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't need to cultivate at all. Sasuke was surprised at the full attribute elemental power rather than continuous absorption.

It's as if everyone isn't passively absorbing elemental power for cultivation? You agree with me, right, Kakashi?

"Let's continue on our way after resting."

Kakashi stood up and said, then sneezed inadvertently and felt puzzled.

...

Konta Village is a very small village. It can't be compared with big villages like Konoha that are like cities. There are only more than ten households in total. There aren't many people on the country roads either, and it looks a bit deserted.

"Next, we need to go to the village head's house at the entrance of the village to explain our identities first, and then we can wait for the bandits to invade and solve the problem." Kakashi said.

Naruto and others nodded slightly and continued to move forward with Kakashi.

Konta Village looks a bit messy, and the houses look very dilapidated, giving people a sense of oppression and desolation. It seems as if there are no people left.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you remember when that commission was sent?" Naruto suddenly stopped and asked.

Kakashi was slightly stunned, thought for a moment, and answered: "In February last year."

As he spoke, his face gradually changed, he couldn't help but lower his head slowly, feeling hot on his face. This village may already be uninhabited now, let alone carrying out tasks. Because it's been too long, villagers may have already been unable to withstand those bandits' harassment...

Reality is so cruel. Some people can get fifty thousand Ryo for simple tasks like finding cats and taking care of children. Some people's life-saving requests can only offer ten thousand Ryo. And it's also on the border side to save them. It's normal that no ninja wants to accept it.

Time-consuming and labor-intensive, and not profitable.

"Let's keep going."

Naruto took the lead in moving forward, walking straight towards a direction in the village.

"Naruto, that's not where the village head..."

Kakashi just wanted to stop him but thinking about Naruto's perception ability and the length of time for the task, he didn't say anything else but just silently followed behind Naruto.

Hinata and Sasuke also followed.

...

An old man sat quietly at the doorstep. His face, as withered as a dried tree, and his murky eyes stared into the distance, gradually reflecting the figure of a blond young man.

"Yo, good afternoon, old man."

Naruto greeted with a smile.

The old man struggled to move, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and his expression somewhat puzzled. He said, "I seem to vaguely remember that I am waiting for someone, someone very important. I just don't know when the person I'm waiting for will come. I'm the only one left in the village who is still waiting here."

"Why are you waiting for someone?"

Naruto approached the old man and gently infused a touch of nourishing elemental power into him as he asked.

The old man's face gradually improved, and there was more luster in his eyes, but his expression was still confused. He lowered his head slightly and said, "I don't know. I've forgotten. I don't know what I'm waiting for. I only know that I'm waiting for someone very important. I don't know what to do after waiting."

"Old man, are you waiting for a ninja from Konoha?" Kakashi stepped forward and asked.

"Ninja?"

The old man suddenly raised his head, his eyes bursting with astonishing light. He said while foaming at the mouth, "They are on the mountain north of the village, just at..."

"Thud!"

He fell down and lost his breath of life.

Kakashi hurriedly helped the old man up. The old man felt even more fragile than paper to him, as if he could die at any time.

"He's beyond saving."

Naruto sighed deeply and said, "This old man's physical condition is very bad. It seems that he hasn't eaten or moved for a month. It's a miracle that he can still live. Just now when he was talking to us, it was just a momentary revival."

Hinata looked at the old man's death image and felt a little unbearable in her heart. She turned around and left. Sasuke had already seen a lot of corpses and blood, so seeing the death of the old man would not be unacceptable, but he always felt very uncomfortable in his heart.

"The mission failed. Let's go back."

Kakashi stood up and divided an illusion to take the old man away. He should be looking for a place to bury him.

"Oh, you guys wait here for me for a while. I'll be back soon." Naruto looked towards the north not far away, with firm killing intent in his eyes.

"Whoosh!"

"Naruto..."

Kakashi wanted to stop him just now, but Naruto's figure disappeared in the next instant. He had no ability to keep Naruto at all. As long as Naruto wanted to leave, no one in Konoha could keep him. Forcing him to stay might even cause Nine Tails to run wild.

Naruto's danger level has changed

...

On the mountain north of the village, a group of bandits were still holding a banquet inside. There were all kinds of fine wines and meats on the banquet. The beautiful women who were like walking corpses fell on the ground twitching, and filthy and dirty breath fermented among them.

Naruto lingered in mid-air, looking down at the bandit base below and whispered softly: "My killing count has begun again."

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