501. A Series of Plans / 502. Stepping Up Training

"If your body is weak, then no matter how powerful your Ninjutsu is, you won’t be able to bring out your original strength," Izayoi Sakamaki said coldly.

But how could the Hokages care about whether they could fully display their strength? These past few days, this taijutsu training had tortured them terribly!

Yamamura No was the first to test whether his Ninjutsu had become stronger.

After trying it, he shook his head. "I don’t think there’s any need for this. I haven’t felt my Ninjutsu improving at all from training my body these past few days."

"Exactly. This method of yours clearly doesn’t work. You might as well switch to something useful for us. Besides, training taijutsu is just too exhausting. We simply can’t keep it up."

"We’re not sumo wrestlers who fight head-on with our fists. We’re Hokages. There’s no need for us to train our bodies at all."

Other than Uchiha Kagami, all the Hokages noisily agreed that there was simply no need to train their physical fitness.

In truth, they did not know whether Izayoi Sakamaki’s method worked or not. They only knew that continuing the training would be difficult, and for them, hardship was absolutely intolerable.

Izayoi Sakamaki merely watched them with a cold expression and did not answer their words. The Hokages discussed things all at once, completely failing to realize that their lord had grown angry again.

Uchiha Kagami stood beside Izayoi Sakamaki. Looking at the Hokages below who kept complaining, he lowered his voice and asked, "Is this what you wanted to see, my lord?"

At this moment, he still felt that going out to gain experience would be the better choice.

"Don’t you find their arguing interesting? They clearly know that the Body Forging Technique is useful, yet they still pretend not to know anything. I find it amusing," Izayoi Sakamaki said.

A Series of Plans

"I just find these people irritating." Uchiha Kagami looked coldly at the noisy crowd below.

If it had been him a few days ago, he would probably have explained Izayoi Sakamaki’s intentions to these people. But he was vastly different from how he had been a few days ago.

Watching from above, he could see every Hokage’s true face, as well as the way they brazenly lied.

When Yamamura No had checked his Ninjutsu earlier, Uchiha Kagami had also examined the Ninjutsu within his own body. It had indeed improved greatly.

Yet Yamamura No had treated Izayoi Sakamaki like a fool and directly claimed that there had not been the slightest improvement during this time. Was he not afraid of making a complete fool of himself by saying that?

What was even more laughable was that the Hokages all echoed him, with no intention of refuting him whatsoever.

"You’ll get used to it after seeing it enough. Perhaps in the future, you’ll often have to look at them like this. You need to learn to get used to it," Izayoi Sakamaki said quietly.

At this point, his relationship with Kagami Uchiha had begun to resemble friendship. The two of them were gradually becoming more equal.

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not join the fierce discussion below. Instead, he raised his head to look at Izayoi Sakamaki and Kagami Uchiha.

Seeing the two chatting and laughing, though he did not know what they were discussing, jealousy slowly surged within him again.

It was rather laughable. Their whole group of Hokages was arguing endlessly below, while Kagami Uchiha stood beside Lord Izayoi Sakamaki, watching them coldly.

He seemed to stand above every Hokage present, and that realization left Hiruzen Sarutobi feeling sour inside.

Recently, he had constantly been showing Izayoi Sakamaki his control over the others. He had challenged him time and again because he wanted him to see that many Hokages trusted and followed him.

Yet Lord Izayoi Sakamaki seemed unable to see that he could influence so many Hokages. He was truly baffled.

What was so good about Kagami Uchiha?

Izayoi Sakamaki seemed to sense something and lowered his head to glance at Hiruzen Sarutobi. When he saw the intense jealousy in the other man’s eyes, he understood what was happening.

He sneered and said to Uchiha Kagami, "Sometimes jealousy is also a good way to spur people onward. It’s just that many people don’t know how to make use of it."

To Uchiha Kagami, those words seemed completely inexplicable. He did not understand why the conversation had suddenly turned to jealousy.

However, everything his lord said had meaning. Perhaps he was subtly trying to tell him something, so Uchiha Kagami remembered the word jealousy in his heart.

After arguing endlessly, the Hokages also realized that something was wrong. They were quarrelling below while Lord Izayoi Sakamaki stood above and watched, showing no intention of stopping them.

It made them look as though they were humiliating themselves like clowns. Their lord had probably already seen through their thoughts, and every Hokage felt a strong sense of shame at that moment.

They finally stopped in unison and all looked at Izayoi Sakamaki, as though waiting for his orders and decision.

Would he make them continue practicing the Body Forging Technique, or would he let them rest first?

Naturally, they hoped most of all to rest, but the Hokages all felt that Lord Izayoi Sakamaki would not let them off so easily.

"Are you done making noise? Why don’t you tell me what you’re really thinking?"

Izayoi Sakamaki looked at the crowd without changing his expression. The Hokages all lowered their heads silently, as though students avoiding a teacher’s random questioning in class.

Especially since Lord Izayoi Sakamaki’s pressure was far too oppressive right now. They were so frightened that they did not even dare speak, much less keep arguing like before. If they continued arguing, would they not simply be courting death?

Izayoi Sakamaki carefully looked over everyone below. When he saw the expressions on their faces, he snorted coldly. These people were not entirely beyond saving. They still had some sense of shame, did they not?

He raised his voice. "You should all know about Tobirama Senju’s death. Put yourselves in his place and think about it. If something happened to you and I did not make it in time to save you, what would the consequences be?"

Once they put themselves in that position, the Hokages’ expressions changed drastically. They had always acted without restraint because Izayoi Sakamaki, who was powerful enough, was supporting them from above.

But now that he had asked this question, how were they supposed to answer?

Everyone felt a chill in their hearts. If Izayoi Sakamaki had not saved Tobirama Senju, then naturally he might not save them either.

After all, he had said at the time that he would not save Tobirama Senju because Tobirama was not as strong as the person behind him.

"Is it really so easy for you to accept entrusting your lives to others?" Izayoi Sakamaki continued.

"The reason I am as powerful as I am today is because I am unwilling to place my life in someone else’s hands."

Every sentence pierced the Hokages’ hearts like a sharp sword. Their lips trembled slightly, yet they could not say anything in rebuttal.

They wanted to say that even if danger arose, they could save one another. But no matter how they put it, they would still be relying on others.

Only now did they truly understand the meaning behind Lord Izayoi Sakamaki’s words. Placing their lives in someone else’s hands was indeed extremely unreliable.

"I told you to forge your bodies. Did you truly not notice the changes in your bodies? Or did you not notice that your Ninjutsu had grown stronger? After training according to my method for over half a month, how could there possibly have been no change at all?" he continued.

Intensified Training

After hearing the examples Izayoi Sakamaki had given, although the Hokages did not know how to refute him, they still felt somewhat uncomfortable. None of them wanted to be failures, especially failures who had lost because of themselves. Moreover, they wanted to prove that they were far stronger than Izayoi Sakamaki.

"Lord Izayoi, you shouldn’t merely want to tell us all this. We need to understand things on a deeper level," Tsunade said to Izayoi Sakamaki.

"That’s right. I want to know why you are like this?" Izayoi Sakamaki asked.

Upon hearing Izayoi Sakamaki’s words, the Hokages looked at one another. In the end, Tsunade was the first to speak.

"Lord Izayoi, I want to ask whether the humans here are all as powerful as your friend?"

"Of course. But I believe there must be many hidden superhuman experts here as well," Izayoi Sakamaki answered.

"Then do you know whether, apart from your friend, there are many other superhuman experts among humans?"

Tsunade continued asking.

"There are indeed some powerful people among humans.

"But most of them do not dare become our enemies. The powerful humans here are very united.

"No matter how strong they are, they would not dare provoke us Hokages lightly.

"So most of the strong people here probably do not appear openly," Izayoi Sakamaki explained.

"In that case, do you mean that the strong people here are all in hiding?"

Tsunade asked again.

"That is certain. And I believe you have investigated such information quite a bit all this time, have you not?"

Izayoi Sakamaki said with a smile.

"Indeed, I learned about many of the strong people here from other factions.

"But that does not mean all these strong people are good people.

"On the contrary, some are very bad. Their strength is far greater than your friend’s. It could even be said that they are stronger than your friend," Tsunade said.

"Mm, I have noticed that as well.

"But I believe this group of strong people will not become enemies with ordinary humans like us.

"Because they have no need to become enemies with ordinary humans like us.

"And many of the humans here are my friends, so I will not doubt them," Izayoi Sakamaki said seriously.

"Then, Lord Izayoi, how would you assess the strength of this group of experts here?"

Tsunade continued.

Hearing Tsunade ask that question, Izayoi Sakamaki froze slightly before smiling.

Izayoi Sakamaki told the Hokages that if they wanted to become stronger and stop being failures, they could only intensify their training.

Thus, Izayoi Sakamaki formulated a series of plans for them.

First, they would increase the amount of training. Then, they would gain experience. After that, they would train their techniques, and so on.

Finally, they would train their physical fitness and build endurance.

At that moment, the Hokages also understood why the Hokages here had chosen such a place to cultivate. It was because the training methods here were indeed highly suitable.

The Hokages also discovered that after cultivating here, their physical fitness would improve greatly.

At the same time, they learned that the Hokages who cultivated here were outstanding in both strength and physical fitness.

Every Hokage who cultivated here was among the best of the Hokages.

Furthermore, the Hokages here did not merely possess exceptional physical fitness. Their physical fitness was also stronger than that of ordinary humans.

This shocked the Hokages and made them worry about the direction of their future cultivation.

They now understood that their former strength had been far too weak.

They also had many weaknesses. Under such circumstances, if they wished to walk further down the road ahead, it would likely not be easy.

After all, their physical fitness was simply too poor.

This was also why the Hokages chose to cultivate here.

"If not for you, we outstanding Hokages might have been eliminated long ago."

A Konoha ninja looked at Izayoi Sakamaki and said this.

Hearing the Hokages’ words, Izayoi Sakamaki shook his head.

"This is a holy land for Hokages. The people here are not allowed to be disturbed by any outside influences. Everything here exists for the sake of the Hokages."

Hearing Izayoi Sakamaki say that the Hokages here were not allowed to be disturbed by any outside influences, the Konoha ninjas felt admiration rise in their hearts.

The Hokages could not help recalling their history, a history that belonged to them.

The fathers of the Hokages had relied on this land to rise step by step, eventually becoming some of the strongest Hokages in the world and reaching the pinnacle of the world.

Izayoi Sakamaki made the Hokages practice like this every day.

Izayoi Sakamaki was wholeheartedly devoted to them. Such selflessness would make anyone who saw it feel ashamed.

Utterly Helpless

The Hokages followed Izayoi Sakamaki’s plan and gritted their teeth through an entire day of training. Here, they could be said to have suffered greatly, but they had also learned some things that would make them stronger on their future path of cultivation.

Moreover, Izayoi Sakamaki brought the Hokages some new cultivation methods that would allow them to become even stronger in battle.

Izayoi Sakamaki also told the Hokages something.

"There are many humans in this world whom you will never be able to imagine.

"Perhaps they are not as powerful as you, but they possess many secrets.

"Some possess miraculous powers, while others possess strength beyond your imagination.

"Some possess speed that you cannot imagine.

"Some possess great wisdom, while others possess mysterious abilities.

"In short, every one of them has secrets unknown to others.

"And they are all very mysterious, so do not underestimate them. Otherwise, you will pay a painful price."

Hearing Izayoi Sakamaki’s words, everyone fell silent.

During this period of cultivation, they had felt many things. They had also gradually discovered that they held great misunderstandings and prejudices toward those who possessed powerful and mysterious abilities.

They also discovered that their strength seemed to have stagnated at its original level, without the slightest progress.

This left them all somewhat worried.