The wind and snow were fierce, but they couldn't block Hagoromo's vision.
He could clearly see Kakashi running ahead of him.
Sometimes close.
Sometimes far.
As if some invisible force were driving Kakashi's footsteps forward.
That force did exist—and it could be summed up in two words:
The mission.
If one were to dissect Kakashi's deeper psychology, it wasn't difficult to understand just how much weight those two words carried for him.
At this moment, Hagoromo and Kakashi were in pursuit of Momochi Zabuza and Terumī Mei. Earlier, the two Kirigakure shinobi had withdrawn abruptly from their respective battles, as though they had received a clear retreat signal.
Coupled with the fact that Hagoromo had just been hit by a direct, long-range attack from a Jinchūriki, he had been completely unable to track the enemies' movements at the time.
As a result, the situation had slipped into a passive state.
Naturally, the enemy hadn't been careless enough to leave obvious traces. And as for subtle ones—
In weather like this, they were erased almost instantly.
Neither Hagoromo nor Kakashi possessed long-range reconnaissance methods suitable for this environment.
So their current direction of movement was based purely on probability.
If that signal really had meant "retreat," then the most logical direction for the enemy to flee would be—
The Land of Water.
The Land of Water was surrounded by sea and lay to the northeast of the former Land of Whirlpools.
That was exactly where they were heading.
Kakashi appeared calm as ever, but there was a faint undercurrent in his demeanor—one that wasn't hard to guess.
A clear retreat signal often meant only one thing:
The enemy had already secured the Byakugan.
Which, in turn, meant that Konoha's operation had failed.
That meant everyone involved in the mission had failed.
Kakashi included.
As for Hagoromo—
He wasn't particularly obsessed with mission success rates, but if things truly ended this way, it would likely be his first failure in a high-rank mission.
"By the way…" Kakashi suddenly spoke, as if recalling something.
"What happened to the Executioner's Blade?"
He didn't turn around, nor did his pace slow. But there was a note of concern in his voice.
His interest wasn't because the blade was a rare ninja tool.
It was because it had been lost while in his custody.
Out of professional responsibility, he wanted to recover it if possible.
"I broke it into several pieces," Hagoromo replied casually.
"It's unusable now, right?"
What use was a broken blade?
Unless someone specialized in broken sword techniques.
In reality, the Executioner's Blade could be restored through special means—but Hagoromo didn't know that. To be fair, neither did Kakashi. He simply found it strange.
"If it could be classified as one of the Seven Ninja Swords," Kakashi said thoughtfully,
"it feels odd that it would be destroyed so easily…"
Surely it had some unique property beyond mere sharpness.
Hagoromo sighed internally.
'So easily'?
He'd gone all out. His knee was still bruised.
"And didn't you grab half of it afterward?" Kakashi added.
At this moment, Hagoromo's hands were empty.
"Well… I got a little excited and tossed it into a ditch."
During his fight with Mei, he really had thrown the broken blade away without thinking. As for where exactly—it hadn't seemed important at the time.
"If you really want to look for it, go back to that village," Hagoromo added.
"Though it's a lake now."
That answer left Kakashi with nothing to say.
Focus on the mission.
They soon crossed the island entirely, yet still found no trace of the enemy.
"So… should we turn back and continue searching the island, or—"
As he spoke, Kakashi turned his gaze toward the sea ahead.
The implication was obvious.
The ocean was far from calm. The wind and waves were far stronger than when they had arrived two days earlier.
And with the snowfall, visibility was poor.
"We keep going," Hagoromo said.
He didn't have concrete evidence—just instinct.
But his instinct told him the enemy was already out at sea.
Kakashi didn't object.
Even if he wanted to, he'd have to shelve it for now.
So, two days after their first crossing, the two of them returned to the open sea once again.
In truth, Hagoromo's intuition was even more pessimistic.
He felt that continuing the mission was probably meaningless.
Even if they caught up to Mei and Zabuza—
Would they still be carrying the Byakugan?
Unlikely.
Even if they killed every Kirigakure shinobi they found, the Byakugan probably wouldn't be recovered.
Because of that, once they reached the sea, Hagoromo took the lead. He abandoned wide lateral searches and moved almost in a straight line toward the Land of Water.
Soon, they passed beyond the mission's designated maximum search radius.
Suddenly, Hagoromo raised his right hand, signaling Kakashi to stop.
"What is it?" Kakashi asked. He hadn't noticed anything unusual.
"Can you smell it?" Hagoromo asked.
"Blood."
Kakashi inhaled deeply.
Nothing.
In this kind of cold environment, even a shinobi's sense of smell was dulled.
But Hagoromo's tone was certain. He began circling the area.
"Found it."
He pointed toward a patch of water.
The seawater there carried the faintest hint of crimson—
so subtle that it would be easy to miss without careful observation.
With Hagoromo's guidance, Kakashi immediately understood.
Blood.
He looked at Hagoromo with disbelief.
At that moment, he seriously considered getting himself a pack of ninja dogs.
Hagoromo crouched down, dipped his fingers into the water, and rubbed them together.
There was a faint stickiness—
the texture of blood.
"If I remember correctly, this area should have had Konoha reconnaissance shinobi stationed here."
"Clearly, our people were taken out…"
"And not long ago."
The blood most likely belonged to Konoha ninja.
"Move!" Hagoromo said sharply.
From the direction alone, their earlier judgment had been correct.
Unfortunately—
They were one step too late.
The enemy had somehow slipped past Konoha's surveillance net without a sound.
The situation was no longer under Konoha's control.
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