Touching a female shinobi's face without permission—by the standards of the ninja world—was an extremely immoral act.
In serious cases, the shinobi who did the touching could very well end up dead.
…In fact, in any world, touching someone's face without consent was practically courting annihilation—socially, physically, or both.
Just moments earlier, Hagoromo had approached Terumī Mei from her blind spot. At the time, she was focused on finishing Kakashi off. By the time she noticed Hagoromo, it was already too late to evade.
He activated Lightning Release instantly. With the speed boost, he sprinted in a posture that utterly defied human biomechanics—body lowered, center of gravity forward—and appeared in front of her in a flash.
His lightning-wrapped right arm shot upward like a spear—
Smack!
A palm glowing with crackling electricity slapped squarely into her face.
Then, gripping her head, he slammed her straight into a half-collapsed wall.
Considering the force behind Hagoromo's taijutsu—and the durability of a shinobi's skull—if that blow had landed cleanly, her brain matter would have painted the ruins beautifully.
Unfortunately for him—
She escaped at the last instant with the Substitution Technique.
That genuinely surprised Hagoromo.
Given the speed of his attack, the timing, and the paralysis induced by Lightning Release upon contact, the window for using Substitution against him was extremely small—especially when being ambushed.
That was why he'd made that remark earlier.
Hagoromo smiled faintly beneath his mask—
quite the devastating smile, though no one could see it.
Mei also smiled.
Or rather, she would have smiled beautifully—if her face weren't currently a mixture of rage and humiliation.
Her hair stood up wildly, defying gravity. Small arcs of lightning still crackled around her body. And ruining the image even further—
There was a very clear handprint stamped on her face.
A deep one.
Faced with Hagoromo's "compliment," the emotionally charged Mei didn't respond at all. Her mind was filled entirely with the image of that lightning-wrapped hand expanding in her vision.
Meanwhile, Hagoromo was pondering something else entirely.
If I eliminate the future Mizukage here… would that be a good thing, or a bad thing?
Well—
His actions had already answered that question.
If she hadn't dodged so cleanly, he'd already have succeeded in the assassination.
On the battlefield, enemies were enemies. If you met them, you fought them.
As for the future—
That was too far away to matter.
Just as Hagoromo prepared to press the attack, mist suddenly spread across his vision.
Hidden Mist Technique?
He recognized it instantly—but—
Using chakra-laden fog purely to block vision in such violent wind and snow was extremely inefficient. The cost far outweighed the benefit.
Silent Killing was indeed effective—
But it was a poor choice against a sensor-type ninja.
The Executioner's Blade stirred the fog, radiating an overwhelming presence—
yet making no sound at all.
Momochi Zabuza abandoned Kakashi and launched a sudden ambush on Hagoromo.
Clearly, Hagoromo's earlier display of strength had made Zabuza reassess priorities. The returning enemy posed a greater threat.
But would the attack succeed?
Of course not.
Hagoromo perceived Zabuza's movement clearly. The mist interfered slightly—but it did not blind him.
And more importantly—
Violent Lightning Release flared around Hagoromo's body. The surge of chakra blasted the fog away in an instant.
Zabuza was fully exposed.
He was swinging the Executioner's Blade in a horizontal arc, aiming to bisect Hagoromo at the waist.
Though Zabuza had undergone systematic training with the blade and largely mastered its use, his age, physical strength, and height still limited him. He could not yet wield the massive weapon to its full potential.
Thirty centimeters.
That was the remaining distance between the blade and Hagoromo's waist.
Lightning chakra wrapped around Hagoromo's body began aggressively eroding the rapidly moving metal.
Sparks danced along the blade's edge.
The paralysis conducted through the weapon sent numbness through Zabuza's arms, but he clenched his teeth and forced it through.
Five centimeters.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One—
Hit—?
At that instant, Hagoromo bent sharply at the waist, folding forward as the blade skimmed across his back.
Zabuza reacted instantly. Realizing the slash had missed, he halted the momentum and converted the horizontal swing into a vertical chop.
But before he could complete the transition—
Hagoromo was already moving again.
Faster.
As the blade passed, Hagoromo straightened abruptly. His palms turned inward, fists clenched, forearms driving forward—
Then his right knee rose.
At the same time—
Lightning Release erupted with even greater intensity.
Trapped between two elbow strikes and a knee thrust was the blade of the Executioner's Sword itself.
There were many Lightning Release users, but each wielded it differently.
Hagoromo's Lightning Release was not balanced between offense and defense.
It was pure offense.
He refined his lightning into something as thin and sharp as a cicada's wing.
This was fundamentally different from the Raikage lineage, which emphasized overwhelming offense and defense combined.
Yet this attack—
It was no longer about finesse.
It was brutal.
Raw, compulsory violence.
It carried the unmistakable style of the Raikage—
Like Guillotine Drop or Lightning Release: Lariat.
CLANG—!!
Three strikes landed simultaneously on the blade, yet only a single sound rang out—
metal screaming as violent vibrations tore through it.
If the metal used to forge the Executioner's Blade had possessed sufficient flexibility and memory, the blade might have bent into a grotesque "W" shape.
But it didn't.
Under that savage Lightning Release—
It shattered instantly into four pieces.
Zabuza was smarter than his predecessors.
The moment he sensed the scale of the Lightning Release—and realized Hagoromo's intent—he let go and retreated at once, escaping the lightning's range.
The blade's tip was blasted away, spinning violently through the air.
The handle, along with a short section of the blade, was snatched up by Hagoromo's left hand.
"This feels much better to use."
He casually twirled the broken blade, then turned toward Zabuza as he spoke.
The shortened length suited Hagoromo perfectly.
Zabuza, however—
Was devastated.
A perfectly good Executioner's Blade—
Reduced to a broken sword.
"Hey, eyebrow-less guy," Hagoromo said calmly.
"Can you focus on Kakashi and stop interrupting my conversation with this lady?"
Zabuza didn't respond.
But Kakashi—who had just arrived—shot Hagoromo an extremely complicated look.
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