Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Rope Tree said with a smirk.

"Alright, that's enough for now. Let's soak in the hot spring together, and then wait for dinner."

After being scolded by Mito, Kirito lost interest in continuing the fight and promptly ran away.

"You go first, I still have 3,000 repetitions of my daily weightlifting to finish."

Rope Tree sighed, then gritted his teeth and lifted the huge barbell off the ground again to continue his workout.

He set a rule for himself to lift weights 10,000 times every day.

Meanwhile, in the study of the Nawaki family, Mito, with her full head of silver hair, saw that there was no more movement outside and smiled, saying, "Why are you two silly boys being so obedient? It's just one less meal."

Hearing this, Kushina, who was racking her brains to solve a sealing technique problem, secretly glanced at Mito and chuckled to herself, thinking, "Mito-sama seems to be in a good mood today."

"Don't get distracted, you can't eat until you solve it."

The next moment, Mito said with a straight face.

Kushina quickly continued to work on the problem seriously, while inwardly groaning, "This problem is so difficult, Kirito-senpai, why aren't you coming over yet?"

Seeing Kushina continue working diligently on her problem, Mito nodded in satisfaction. Then, she turned to look at the tree outside that she and Hashirama had planted together. Looking at its bare branches, a wave of nostalgia washed over her, and she sighed inwardly, "Another year has passed. Time really flies..."

Kirito was already soaking in the private open-air hot spring at the Nawaki family's house, with a towel on his head.

He looked at the snowflakes falling from above, then turned to look at the place where Mito was. He quietly activated his spiritual vision to look at the soul fire in Mito's body and found that it was weaker than yesterday. He couldn't help but show a trace of sadness on his face.

Then, he closed his eyes, immersed his entire body in the spring water, and sighed to himself, "Let's cherish every moment, such good days won't last long."

A little while later, he finished his bath, changed into a set of dry clothes, put on a smiling face, and slowly walked towards Mito's study with a few prepared sealing techniques.

The gears of time continued to turn.

As winter passed and spring arrived, the tree planted by Mito Uzumaki and Hashirama Senju at the Nawaki family's house finally sprouted new buds after a long winter.

On this peaceful morning, Mito Uzumaki saw the new buds on the treetops and smiled broadly. Then she returned to her room, carefully dressed herself, lay down on her bed, and peacefully closed her eyes, never to open them again.

On the way to the hospital, Kirito suddenly burst into tears.

Chapter 150: Fragments of the Divine Tree and Hashirama Senju

The death of Mito did not alarm the people of Konoha, because Mito had already "died once" before and had a grand funeral.

Therefore, the second funeral for Mito was held in a very low-key and secretive manner, and only a few people who knew that Mito was not dead attended the funeral.

At the funeral, Kirito looked at the familiar person who had permanently stopped breathing, and a wave of pain washed over him, causing him to burst into tears.

Nearby, Nawaki and Tsunade were also sobbing uncontrollably.

Among those attending the funeral were three generations. As he looked at Mito's body on the coffin, a trace of sadness and desolation appeared on his face.

With Mito's passing, all the powerful ninjas who founded Konoha have passed away. Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Tobirama Senju, Mito Uzumaki, and many other renowned names have disappeared into the long river of history.

In the future, only books and people's memories can continue the legends of their lives.

"Where the leaves dance, the fire will never cease. First Hokage, teacher, Mito-sama, the Will of Fire you left behind has been successfully passed on to the new generation. Tsunade, Nawaki, and Kirito are all inheritors of the Will of Fire. Rest assured, I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as Hokage, will definitely protect them and help them grow up smoothly."

The Third Hokage turned to look at Tsunade, Nawaki, and Kirito, and saw that they were all genuinely grieving for Mito's death, and quietly made a promise.

He then went up to each of the three and said a few words of comfort, telling them not to wallow in their grief and to cheer up as soon as possible.

Then, he looked at Kushina, the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.

Now that Lady Mito has passed away, and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has not yet grown up, the work of protecting the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki must be arranged as soon as possible.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is too important to Konoha, but Kushina is still young and lacks the strength to control the Nine-Tails' power.

Konoha is estimated to be unable to obtain the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's help for a long time; on the contrary, they will need to protect her at all times.

"Logically speaking, Kirito is the only person in the village who can reliably control the Nine-Tails' rampage. Having him serve as Kushina's bodyguard is one solution, but Kirito will definitely need to go to the battlefield for training in the future. Who will protect Kushina during this time? It's a real headache."

The third generation frowned slightly as he thought to himself.

With Lord Mito gone, it's time for him to send Nawaki and Kirito to the battlefield for training. This is a necessary thing to do, because without experiencing the trials and tribulations of the outside world, these excellent young buds of Konoha will not be able to grow up smoothly.

He went through the same thing back then.

Although this process is extremely dangerous, this is how a ninja grows; otherwise, they cannot become truly powerful ninjas, nor can they earn the respect of the other ninjas in the village who risk their lives for the village.

Mito once said that he wanted his body to be buried with the First Lord.

After everyone finished paying their respects to Mito, they began to secretly move the coffin.

As the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju's body is undoubtedly of immense value. To prevent desecration of his remains, his tomb is a secret, known only to a few in Konoha.

As a disciple of Mito, Kirito was naturally not an outsider and had the right to know this secret. He quietly left Konoha with Tsunade and the others, and finally arrived at a very secluded valley north of Konoha.

Here, Kirito saw many ancient stone buildings, and some of the stone pillars with a strong historical atmosphere were engraved with the Senju clan's emblem.

Furthermore, he discovered that there was a very powerful shielding seal barrier here, which could confuse other people's senses. Without someone to guide them, ordinary people would not be able to find this valley at all and would only get lost in it.

In addition, the valley is home to many powerful beasts. If a ninja who is not strong enough to become a Jonin accidentally enters it, he will be killed by these powerful beasts in no time.

"This is the cemetery of the Senju clan. Members of the Senju clan have always been buried here, including the First and Second Generation Senju."

Momoka, who was standing next to Kirito, took the initiative to introduce him.

Kirito nodded upon hearing this, then secretly glanced at Orochimaru standing not far away next to the Third Hokage, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Ok?"

Orochimaru was highly vigilant. Even though he was observing the powerful sealing barrier of the valley with great interest, as usual, trying to find loopholes in it for fun, he immediately sensed that someone was showing him a very familiar hostility.

He immediately looked over, following his instincts, and discovered that the hostility was coming from Kirito's side.

However, Kirito had already looked away, leaving him wondering who had just shown hostility towards him.

Who could it be?

Orochimaru couldn't tell who it was, so he quickly looked away and thought to himself.

At the same time, he was also curious about why the person who had suddenly become hostile towards him had done so.

Led by Momoka, an elder of the Thousand Hands clan, the group avoided several hidden and deadly traps and successfully entered the depths of the valley, venturing into a vast underground tomb.

Here, Kirito and his companions saw a large number of stone coffins, each engraved with a name, mostly belonging to members of the Senju clan.

"This is the burial ground of the clan leaders of all generations. Except for Tsunade, Nawaki, Kirito and Kushina, everyone else, please wait here for now."

Momoka led everyone to a huge stone gate deep inside the tomb, then turned to the Third Generation, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and the others and said.

The third generation and others understood the importance of the core area of ​​the clan's cemetery, so they naturally had no complaints and tactfully nodded, waiting outside.

Seeing this, Tao Hua was very pleased with the Third Generation's understanding, then turned around and began to quickly form hand seals to break the seal on the stone gate.

As the seal was broken, the stone gate slowly and automatically opened.

Upon seeing this, Nawaki and Kirito immediately lifted Mito's coffin one after the other and entered, followed by Momoka and the others.

Behind the stone gate is a long underground passage that goes even deeper into the earth.

A few minutes later, Kirito and the others arrived in a huge underground space.

Surprisingly, there is an underground lake here. Under the firelight, the lake water is emerald green and crystal clear.

In the middle of the lake is an island, and on the island grows a dead tree.

Dozens of stone coffins were placed around the dead tree.

Here, Kirito sensed a very familiar energy—natural energy.

The concentration of natural energy in this underground space is more than ten times that of the outside world.

The lake water gave him the feeling of liquefied natural energy.

However, what he found most amazing was the dead tree on the island in the middle of the lake. Although the tree seemed to be dead, it still had a life force. This life force was very weak, but incredibly resilient, and it contained an astonishing amount of chakra.

The amount of chakra might not be as high as that of a tailed beast, but it felt about the same to him.

Using his natural energy perception, Kirito sensed a very familiar Wood Release chakra within the withered tree.

It was this Wood Release chakra that allowed the life force within the withered tree to continue.

Furthermore, it is actually gathering and absorbing the surrounding natural energy, and then converting it into chakra.

Perhaps it is because it constantly gathers natural energy from the outside world that this underground space is filled with rich natural energy.

"Could it be a part of the Divine Tree? I remember in the original anime storyline, all the fragments of the Divine Tree were destroyed by the Sage of Six Paths. How could there be a fragment of the Divine Tree here?"

Kirito stared intently at the withered tree on the island in the middle of the lake, his mind filled with doubt and uncertainty.

"Kirito, can you use your Magnet Release to construct a bridge that is also an island in the middle of the lake? This lake is not simple; it is a terrifying trap. If we ninjas are accidentally touched by this water, we might die in an instant unless we have a huge amount of chakra."

Suddenly, Momoka's voice reached Kirito's ears, bringing him back to his senses.

"No problem, Lady Momoka."

Kirito immediately answered, then carefully lowered the coffin, took out a summoning card from his person, and used the Summoning Technique: Release Technique to retrieve the Magnet Release Black Rod.

He held the Magnet Release black rod, channeled Lightning Release chakra into it, creating a powerful magnetic force, and then manipulated the magnetic force to quickly draw out the iron sand from the ground.

Soon, a bridge made of iron sand appeared in front of Tao Hua and the others.

"That's fine, Lady Momoka."

Kirito walked up to Momoka and spoke to her.

Momoka immediately told the others to follow, and with the help of the bridge created by Kirito's Magnet Release, they successfully entered the island in the middle of the lake.

As soon as Momoka arrived at the island in the middle of the lake, she hurried to a stone coffin, her face filled with grief, and murmured, "Lord Hashirama, I'm sorry to disturb you."

After saying that, she placed her hands on the stone coffin, infused them with chakra, and then quickly formed hand seals.

Once the hand seals were completed, the stone coffin slowly opened.

Hashirama Senju's body suddenly appeared before Kirito and the others.

It is quite astonishing that Hashirama Senju, who had been dead for more than 20 years, still had a lifelike body with vigorous vitality, and did not look like a person who had been dead for many years.

"Tsunade, Nawaki, come and see your grandfather!"

Momoka stared blankly at Hashirama Senju, who looked as if he were asleep, for a moment, then turned to Tsunade and Nawaki and said.

"grandfather."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade walked over and saw Hashirama's body. She was both excited and saddened, and tears streamed down her face.