Eight days after Hagoromo parted ways with Orochimaru—
The location was the Land of Earth, and the weather had been relentless: days of continuous, torrential rain.
After returning to Konoha according to the scheduled plan, and before taking his next step forward, Hagoromo learned a piece of news directly from Uzumaki Kushina.
A truth he did not wish to hear.
From Konoha's perspective, however, this development was unquestionably good news.
Almost simultaneously with the successful peace talks with Kirigakure, signs of victory in the war against Iwagakure also began to emerge.
Compared to the extreme, almost accidental path through which Hagoromo had forced "peace" with the Hidden Mist, Konoha's progress against the Hidden Stone followed a far more conventional trajectory.
Against Iwagakure, Konoha employed orthodox wartime strategy.
Iwa had already suffered heavy losses fighting Kumogakure, and Sand's counteroffensive further stretched their strength thin. They no longer had the capacity to fully address Konoha's movements.
The enemy's weakness became Konoha's opportunity.
When the war reignited, the moment for a decisive counterattack arrived.
With all favorable conditions in place, Konoha chose the strategy that minimized its own losses:
Using elite squads to sever the supply lines of the large Iwagakure force that had infiltrated and remained deep within the Land of Grass.
At this stage, Iwa's supply routes were exceptionally clear to Konoha—key nodes and vulnerabilities alike.
This intelligence had been obtained during a previous critical mission… by none other than Konoha jōnin Kamishiro Hagoromo.
The curtain of rain severely limited Hagoromo's vision.
Water streamed down from his hair and soaked his back, the cold biting deeper than ice.
Using the original Kannabi Bridge as a reference point, he veered northeast.
Following the detailed battle reports received from Konoha, he crossed a stretch of forest and finally reached his destination.
This was a small battlefield.
Even after days of heavy rain, the traces of combat remained unmistakable.
The corpses left behind after the battle were gone—clearly cleaned up by Iwagakure.
Yet the scars carved into the terrain were far too obvious to erase.
"…This should be the place."
Under the downpour, Hagoromo's expression was unreadable, his low voice barely audible.
What he felt at that moment—even he could not clearly say.
Despite the poor visibility, he quickly found the telltale signs of Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction.
The mound of piled earth and stone before him—
Could it even be called a grave?
Lightning flickered in his palm as Chidori Sharp Spear formed.
Layer by layer, cut by cut, Hagoromo sliced through the massive earthen pile without resistance.
From raised ground to a hollowed depression, traces finally emerged.
He crouched down, fingers touching the icy mud.
Beneath them lay a large patch of dried, dark-brown blood.
"…So there really is no body."
As expected, there was no corpse beneath the rubble.
No body of Uchiha Obito.
Was Obito merely a disposable piece on Uchiha Madara's board?
Hagoromo did not know the full truth.
But from a purely rational standpoint, that conclusion felt incomplete.
Avoiding Iwagakure patrols, Hagoromo had come here for only one reason:
To confirm Obito's "death."
He had hoped a body would be found.
But hope came up empty.
What needed confirming had been confirmed. He should have left immediately.
Yet he remained standing there in silence—until water pooled around his feet.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
"One… two… six."
He was not counting enemies.
Hagoromo's control and perception of his own bioelectric signals were extraordinarily precise.
At that moment, he sensed something foreign mixed into his body.
A trick that might fool ordinary ninja was meaningless to him.
Without any visible movement, Chidori Current erupted violently around his body.
Almost simultaneously, pale, dough-like white masses began to surface from his limbs and torso.
From nothing to something—from few to many—
They multiplied like foam, spreading until half his face was engulfed.
Chidori Current had no effect.
Worse still, Hagoromo sensed that they were absorbing his chakra—and swelling because of it.
It was undeniably his chakra.
To his senses, these white abnormalities felt like extensions of his own body.
"…Who are you?" Hagoromo asked coldly.
In truth, he already had a good idea what this was.
He simply hadn't expected to encounter them here.
Or perhaps—this was exactly where he was meant to encounter them.
"Konoha ninja," came the reply—six heads, six half-faces speaking in unison.
"For what purpose did you come here?"
Six White Zetsu had infiltrated his body.
Hagoromo took a deep breath.
Judging by appearance alone, he now looked like a grotesque creature covered in tumors—but aside from the steady loss of chakra, he felt no other abnormality.
He dispersed the Chidori Current and answered calmly:
"To recover a Sharingan."
"Is that so?" White Zetsu replied.
"Then unfortunately, your mission cannot be completed."
A reasonable, even convincing response.
"Those words should be spoken by me."
White Zetsu truly believed that chakra absorption alone could deal with Hagoromo?
A far more terrifying power surged forth.
Blinding lightning erupted at point-blank range, piercing through the bloated White Zetsu masses clinging to him.
At this distance, such an attack was something even gods and demons could not withstand.
"Lightning Release…? That wasn't Lightning Release, was it?"
"…It was," Hagoromo replied calmly.
"This technique is called Chidori Current: Second Stage."
Whether confusion or deception no longer mattered—he answered White Zetsu's final question.
Charred remains peeled away from his body.
Whatever traces White Zetsu had left were quickly washed away by the rain.
Hagoromo stared silently at the remains, thinking.
After a moment, he decided to take the body back to Konoha—there was much that could be learned from it.
But just as he pulled out a sealing scroll—
The corpse began to swell.
Hagoromo leapt backward.
A split second later—
BOOM!
The White Zetsu body detonated completely, leaving nothing behind.
Evidence erased. Intelligence destroyed.
After all, White Zetsu were countless.
Such a blast would soon draw Iwagakure ninja to the area. He could not stay.
Hagoromo cast one final glance at the battlefield, then turned and walked away, step by step.
He did not notice—
From the shadows of the forest, a figure with an cap-like head was watching his retreating back.
The intelligence networks of the Five Great Nations could not compare to this singular existence.
The greatest shift in the war was that the conflict between Konoha and Kirigakure would end nearly two years earlier than it should have.
In fact, from this moment on, the so-called "Mist Front" no longer existed.
Events that were meant to occur there would never come to pass.
The one manipulating events from behind the scenes could not be unaware of this.
To ensure that the chosen chess pieces continued moving along their original paths, adjustments had to be made.
Thus, the outcome of the Battle of Kannabi Bridge subtly diverged:
The Iwagakure forces stationed in the Land of Grass would soon withdraw due to supply collapse
Konoha gained a decisive advantage in the war
The name Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, shone even brighter
Kakashi Hatake obtained a Sharingan
Uchiha Obito died before—
—
—and Nohara Rin died after.
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