To prevent the corrosive slime from touching him—and to blow Lava Release away entirely—Hagoromo decisively paid a steep price and unleashed an S-rank Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade.
Reality proved once again that S-rank jutsu deserved their rank.
That explosive torrent of ultra-high-speed, ultra-dense, ultra-pressurized water could not be corroded instantly.
However, Lava Release was still Lava Release.
The corrosion continued—just more slowly.
Hagoromo stared intently at the distant water tornado. Because it was entangled with Lava Release, the jutsu's scale steadily shrank, and before its full duration elapsed, it dispersed prematurely.
Yet—
Terumī Mei did not reappear.
Did she really just… melt herself?
The situation was not that simple.
Within Hagoromo's sensory range, something was racing beneath the water's surface, rapidly closing in on his position.
He immediately retreated, activating Lightning Release defense.
Against an unknown threat, evasion was the correct choice.
As expected—
The water at his original position suddenly exploded upward.
Mei burst out from below and launched her attack.
Unfortunately for her, Hagoromo had already detected it.
With no flashy movements, Mei surfaced completely.
Looking closely, she hadn't suffered any damage from her own Lava Release—
But portions of her clothing had been corroded away.
A section of her calf was exposed.
Looking higher—
And higher—
And—
Apologies. Imagination is innocent, but description would be a crime. Let's keep things healthy.
In any case, this was a rather unconventional form of self-inflicted disaster.
Hagoromo took a deep breath and spoke sincerely.
"I suddenly feel the urge to express my gratitude…"
Such an expensive fanservice deserved a ninety-degree bow.
The Three Shinobi Prohibitions, remember?
The Academy instructors didn't teach that for nothing.
Mei had absolutely no intention of exchanging words now.
She was preparing to switch to Boil Release: Skillful Mist Technique—planning to completely melt the Konoha shinobi before her.
Cruelly enough, she didn't even want to leave residue behind.
She intended to erase his existence in every possible sense.
But at that moment—
From Hagoromo's front—that is, from behind Mei—came a strange yet piercing sound.
What was that?
A signal?
Hagoromo finally tore his gaze away from places he really shouldn't have been looking and focused on the distance—but saw nothing.
He couldn't determine whether it was truly a signal, nor what it meant.
Yet there was no time to think.
Not because Mei had launched another attack—
But because an overwhelming sense of danger erupted behind him.
Something extremely bad had just happened.
There was no time to worry about what Mei was doing.
Almost purely on instinct, Hagoromo bit down hard on his finger and began forming seals—
Boar → Dog → Rooster → Monkey → Goat!
Summoning Technique: Rashōmon!
A massive iron gate engraved with a ferocious demonic face was summoned instantly.
One-third of it was submerged in water.
Two-thirds towered above the surface.
At the same time, Hagoromo fled desperately in the opposite direction.
He hadn't even made it a few steps—
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion struck, enough to cause temporary hearing loss.
The shockwave compressed the air to its limit.
The water surface erupted violently—
A surge even more ferocious than the earlier Great Water Surge rose up like a colossal tsunami!
Hagoromo was swallowed instantly.
Still wrapped in Chidori Current, having lost all balance, he flailed helplessly underwater—
Like a very ugly electric eel.
After an unknown amount of time, once the waters finally calmed, Hagoromo resurfaced.
The Rashōmon he had summoned was gone.
There was only one possible explanation—
It had taken a catastrophic impact.
The abandoned village that had once partially protruded above the water was now completely erased, as though this lake had existed forever.
Damn it… a second strike?
"Cough—cough—!"
Hagoromo spat out the water that had flooded his lungs.
He didn't even need to think to know who had launched that attack.
But he didn't blame the attacker.
He blamed Orochimaru.
Orochimaru, what the hell did you do?
Can't even hold aggro while fighting a boss?!
That was clearly a Tailed Beast Ball.
He had nearly been erased by a completely uncalled-for shot.
And worse—
That Tailed Beast Ball had been aimed directly at him.
Hagoromo was internally screaming.
At least there was one thing to be grateful for—
This hadn't been fired by a fully transformed tailed beast.
If it had been, a single Rashōmon wouldn't have blocked it at all.
"Orochimaru… just what did you do to Rōshi?" Hagoromo muttered.
"He's resisting this fiercely."
Barely having surfaced, Hagoromo's mind was already running wild.
At that moment, a hand extended toward him.
It was Kakashi.
Hagoromo was completely soaked, but Kakashi looked as though he'd barely been affected by the blast.
Hagoromo grasped Kakashi's hand, and with a firm pull, Kakashi hauled him up.
"Hagoromo… that attack just now was—?"
Kakashi had his suspicions, but he wasn't certain.
After all, he'd seen the Rashōmon, heard the explosion, and felt the impact—
But he hadn't seen a massive black sphere.
"It was a Tailed Beast Ball," Hagoromo said firmly.
Kakashi stiffened.
"As expected… but is there a tailed beast on this island? A wild one?"
Hagoromo shot him a sideways look.
That question made about as much sense as asking whether there were wild rabbits living on the island.
"It's a Jinchūriki. The Four-Tails Jinchūriki."
"When we first encountered that eyebrow-less guy, I already sensed another enemy. I didn't expect it to be Rōshi of Iwagakure."
"I exchanged a few blows with him and disengaged—then just happened to arrive here in time to save you."
Kakashi had no interest in debating whether Zabuza had eyebrows.
"What is Iwagakure's Jinchūriki doing here?" he asked.
"And if you withdrew, who's fighting him now?"
For the first question, Hagoromo could only shake his head.
After a brief pause, he answered the second.
"Orochimaru is dealing with the Jinchūriki."
"Orochimaru…"
Hearing that name, Kakashi relaxed slightly.
A Legendary Sannin handling a Jinchūriki should be fine… right?
"Should we go help?"
"No," Hagoromo replied decisively.
"We're chasing the Kirigakure shinobi. Both enemies vanished during the chaos—most likely they used the explosion to retreat."
"I suspect that signal earlier was an evacuation order for all Kirigakure forces on the island."
Even if Orochimaru couldn't truly subdue a Jinchūriki, escaping unscathed would be trivial for someone like him.
There was no need for Hagoromo and Kakashi to interfere.
"But—" Kakashi hesitated.
Hagoromo cut him off with a single sentence:
"Whether aiding Orochimaru or fighting a Jinchūriki—neither is our mission."
"Our mission has only one objective."
"Recover the Byakugan."
The word mission carried overwhelming weight for Kakashi.
With that, he had nothing left to say.
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