It had to be said that, when talking to Hagoromo, one often had to exercise restraint. Because failing to restrain yourself would lead to extremely serious consequences: you would be unable to resist trying to beat him to death, only to end up being beaten to death by him instead.
Had it not been for the fact that nobody could beat him, there was no telling how many times he would have been killed already.
Tsunade repeatedly told herself to stay calm, then calmer still. But once something exceeded the limits of tolerance, that kind of self-suggestion was obviously useless… At this point, even if she started hopping back and forth, she still would not be able to calm down.
So when she spoke, there was always a sense that she might "erupt like a volcano" at any moment.
She ignored Hagoromo's purely-for-the-sake-of-comfort comforting words. Rather than paying attention to those utterly insincere attempts at consolation, it was better to ask some more practical questions. Only after grasping the whole situation could she use it as reference for Konoha's next "major policies."
Because of Hagoromo's actions, Konoha's overall strategy would now have to be adjusted.
"So what exactly was the result?"
"The result?" Hagoromo asked back, somewhat confused. He, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm the entire time.
This was somewhat like being fearless because he had something to rely on. After all, even if Tsunade got angry, she could not really do anything to him.
"Of course I mean the result of invading Amegakure! Did you blow the entire village into the sky?" The lady's words came out with a sneer. By now, she could no longer stop herself from speaking in a mocking tone.
"…"
Hagoromo did not really care about her tone, but the question in Tsunade's words instantly made him feel that the whole world had a huge misunderstanding about him. Why did everyone see him as some kind of terrorist? That hurt, didn't it?
Fundamentally speaking, he was different from the sort of person who wanted to blow up someone else's village at the drop of a hat… probably different.
Fine. At most, he had only blown up part of someone else's village before. As for sending an entire village sky-high, he had yet to do anything like that.
"As for the result, I suppose part of the problem was solved… Akatsuki's leader was dealt with, but things can't be considered perfectly resolved. Because of a space-time ninjutsu the other side had set up in advance, the Rinnegan was transferred away."
Hagoromo had, of course, wanted to destroy the Rinnegan directly. But Kamui had activated in that single instant, and he simply had no time to stop it.
"The Rinnegan still exists? In other words, the matter still hasn't been completely resolved?"
This was exactly why Tsunade was upset this time. It was not because Hagoromo had only done half the job, but because although he had solved part of the problem, he had also provoked even more serious consequences at the same time.
Depending on how every side reacted to "Konoha" invading Amegakure, a new war might very well break out because of this incident.
The issue truly had not been resolved perfectly, and Hagoromo himself was not satisfied with that either. After thinking for a moment, he put on a more serious expression and said, "But no matter what, now that the leader has been dealt with, the people hiding in the shadows this time will have no choice but to step onto the stage… assuming they don't want to abandon their 'grand' plan."
What action would Akatsuki take next? To be honest, Hagoromo had no way of judging that at all. After facing so many setbacks, would they abandon their original plan?
Only on this point did Hagoromo feel it was impossible. They would continue stubbornly down the wrong path.
"Uchiha… Obito?" Tsunade murmured the name.
"Furthermore, while invading Amegakure is certainly a major matter, there's no need to worry too much about the other villages having an extreme reaction. Because there will be an even bigger matter that overshadows what I did." Hagoromo scratched his head. What was with this faintly shy feeling?
Perhaps he was gratified that the rising star of the troublemaking world had finally stolen his spotlight this time.
"What happened? What do you mean by that?" Tsunade frowned. Hagoromo's unserious attitude only made her more serious.
Could it be that while invading Amegakure, Hagoromo had done something else as well?
"Because compared to Amegakure being invaded, Kirigakure being invaded should be a much bigger deal…"
If Kirigakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, had been harassed, that would be far more serious than Amegakure being violated. What was more, Kirigakure had been the losing side this time… It had probably lost the jinchūriki of both the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails at the same time.
But this was only Hagoromo's personal feeling at best. As for which of the two incidents would receive more international attention, it was still hard to judge at present.
Sunagakure had previously suffered the same treatment, but up to now, that matter had also remained in a state of being quietly left unresolved.
Compared to "an unidentified force invading Kirigakure," there was a greater possibility that "Konoha openly invading and defeating Amegakure" would attract more attention and seize more eyes.
A Great Shinobi Village getting targeted was not frightening. After all, that sort of thing happened often. But if the reverse occurred, if a Great Shinobi Village wanted to target someone else, then the situation became far more serious.
Because that meant war.
From an outside perspective, there was no doubt that Hagoromo represented Konoha. His actions effectively represented Konoha declaring war on Amegakure… Once news spread that Amegakure had been invaded, and once it was confirmed that the invader was Hagoromo, every village would arrive at such a conclusion.
Tsunade: "…"
For something this important, why the hell had he not said it directly from the start?
After Hagoromo recounted the entire course of events—what had happened in the Land of Rice Fields, how he had received a secret message, how Kirigakure had been infiltrated by Akatsuki, and how he had decided to take advantage of their weakened forces to invade Amegakure in one move—Tsunade was rendered utterly speechless.
Wasn't living peacefully a good thing? Why did your life experience have to be so exceptionally rich?
However, there was no need to doubt the authenticity of Hagoromo's information. The fact that Kirigakure had been suddenly invaded, and had even lost tailed beasts, meant Tsunade now had to leave the hospital in a hurry. In that case, many things would have to be adjusted all over again.
But at that moment, Hagoromo called out to stop her again. After all, there were some things he was rather concerned about as well. "Lady Tsunade, speaking of which, where are Naruto and Uncle Jiraiya?"
After returning to the village, he had not seen either of them. Logically speaking, at a critical time like this, Jiraiya should have been by Tsunade's side. Similarly, with Mirai and the other two injured, given Naruto's personality, if he had heard about this situation, he should have appeared here too.
And yet, neither of them was present.
Could Naruto have already set out so quickly to capture his best friend back?
Surely not. If he wanted to find Sasuke, at the very least, they would first have to figure out Orochimaru's hiding place. But searching for Orochimaru was at least a ten-year mission.
"Jiraiya and Naruto? They're not in the village. Right now, they should be at Mount Myōboku."
Hagoromo's heart stirred. "Training in senjutsu?"
He had not expected Jiraiya to act so quickly. Or perhaps Jiraiya was beginning to grow anxious as well?
"Not just senjutsu…" Tsunade only said half of what she meant and did not continue explaining. But the look in her eyes had already made Hagoromo understand what she wanted to say next.
"So that's how it is? If it can be put to use, then that's all for the better," Hagoromo said.
…
There was a saying that peace was merely the pause between two wars. If applied to the shinobi world, that sentence could not be more fitting.
If one took Konoha and Kumogakure signing a peace agreement as the final marker, then by now, less than ten years had passed since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, which had bled the entire shinobi world dry. It could be said that the wounds each village had suffered in the last war had only just begun to heal. Yet now, it seemed the gloom of war was gathering once again.
Or perhaps "the calm before the storm" would be a more fitting description at this moment. Because the overall state of the shinobi world could no longer be summed up simply with the words "not peaceful."
"Turmoil" would be more appropriate.
And it was turmoil on a global scale.
Counting the incidents that had occurred recently: Sunagakure had been invaded, Konoha had been invaded during the joint Chūnin Exams, the Third Hokage and Fourth Kazekage had died one after another, Amegakure had been invaded, and Kirigakure had been invaded…
At least three of the Five Great Shinobi Villages had already suffered disaster.
In this chaotic and somewhat inexplicable situation, distrust between the villages would gradually take root and then intensify. In truth, the warning signs were already quite obvious.
For shinobi, there was only one step between distrust and war.
Especially for villages that favored militant action, rather than waiting for war to arrive, their way of thinking advocated taking the initiative. But who would be the enemy they struck?
No one could know.
But one thing might happen at this point: with Akatsuki knowing it lacked the strength to make enemies of the entire world, it might instead turn to fanning the flames everywhere, creating hostility between the villages.
After all, hidden villages had a "tradition" of mutual hostility.
The Five Kage Summit advocated by the Fifth Hokage had originally been intended to clean up the mess caused by Hagoromo's tailed-beast-hunting actions. But looking at things now, it seemed that the number of issues to be resolved at the summit had suddenly increased greatly…
Assuming the summit could proceed smoothly.
With Konoha advocating the summit, needless to say, Sunagakure, as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, would certainly respond.
Although some unpleasantness had occurred between the two sides recently, the two villages remained allies. Moreover, because it had lost its Kazekage, Sunagakure was currently leaderless. When necessary, they would need Konoha's cooperation. But if they wanted to obtain that cooperation, the prerequisite was that they occasionally had to listen to what Big Brother Konoha had to say.
Therefore, when it came to something like the Five Kage Summit, whether Sunagakure agreed with Konoha's proposals was another matter, but at the very least, they could not refuse even to give Konoha a chance to speak.
So there should be no problem with Sunagakure responding to this summit.
However, contrary to Konoha's expectations, the first village to respond to this matter was not Sunagakure.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789