One night, we will awaken and celebrate life.
This beautiful journey ahead leads to an unimaginable height.
Lighting a candle is difficult, while cursing the darkness is easy.
This moment is the dawn of humanity…
No matter what he had experienced, or what he had once done, at the very, very end, as a Konoha shinobi, Shimura Danzō finally managed to be bright and glorious for once.
For the profession known as "shinobi," in many cases, what mattered was not how they lived, but how they died. And in Konoha, the highest-level form of sacrifice was the kind that inspired longing:
To die like the Hokage of past generations.
However, this incident also showed just how unconventional Hagoromo was. He had always been using self-destruct skills as throwing techniques, and the more he used them, the smoother he became. He had even gradually figured out a green, safe, pollution-free method of using the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique. It could truly be called a magnificent achievement.
With the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique's spatial lockdown and annihilation ability, it destroyed both the Four Violet Flames Formation and the Rashōmon barrier in one move. Because of their positions, it also wiped out two of the Sound Four who had been maintaining the formation.
Although Danzō had done a decent job, if Hagoromo had been there, he would definitely have told him that this was not how you kicked the ball.
It almost affected Big Sister Tsunade, you know?
Leaving Konoha's matters aside for now, when Hagoromo found Naruto near Konoha, he discovered that Naruto was struggling back while carrying a man over his shoulder and holding a girl by the hand.
After the earlier chaos in Konoha began, no one had paid attention to Naruto. And with his unconventional personality, he naturally would not stay idle, so he started running all over the place.
When Team Six surrounded Sunagakure's squad, and after Shukaku's rampage caused all kinds of chaos, the enemy three-person team had also been forced to scatter. Then, due to a rather accidental factor, Naruto happened to run into the exhausted and panicking Temari and Kankurō, and without much effort, captured two enemy shinobi.
When Hagoromo saw Naruto, his forehead was instantly covered in black lines. No wonder this kid was doomed to be single. Put Kankurō down and carry the girl back instead. Wouldn't that be better?
Fine. Since there was no "destined battle," no one knew whether the CP between the pineapple-head and the blond girl with four skyward ponytails could still stand.
But there was a saying: anyone who maliciously speculated that others were "doomed to be single" seemed to be the one truly cursed to be forever alone. Although Naruto was rather dumb in some aspects, someone was chasing after him, all right?
So the one doomed to be single would not be him.
"Hagoromo, why are you here?"
Hagoromo had appeared in front of Naruto without any concealment, so naturally, Naruto discovered him immediately.
After seeing Hagoromo, Naruto looked quite happy.
Hagoromo, however, felt depressed. Please, are you someone who can just run around wherever you want? What if you were targeted by the Wildlife Protection Association at a time like this?
Fine. Luckily, Konoha had a spy inside the enemy side…
"See? I caught these two guys," Naruto said, his voice carrying a little pride.
"Mm, well done," Hagoromo said helplessly. In any case, he praised him first.
Only then did Hagoromo return to the main issue.
"And now you can release them."
"…"
Naruto: "Huh?"
Kankurō had probably already been knocked unconscious, so he had no awareness. But Hagoromo's words made Temari raise her head.
"The situation has already been clarified. The previous war between Sunagakure and Konoha was a misunderstanding. It was neither Sunagakure invading Konoha, nor Konoha intending to deal with the Fourth Kazekage. The root cause was Orochimaru exploiting the distrust between the villages, setting up a conspiracy that caused misunderstanding and chaos on both sides."
"Once the situation becomes clear, Konoha and Sunagakure will definitely repair their alliance. So… you caught the wrong people."
"In other words… I worked for nothing today?"
Naruto pointed at his own forehead with one finger, and his face collapsed slightly. Still, after hearing Hagoromo's words, he let go of Temari.
Hagoromo nodded, once again confirming this sad news.
Fine. Now Naruto not only had to let Temari go, but also her younger brother. So he stuffed the sack-like Kankurō from his shoulder back into Temari's arms in a princess carry posture.
At this moment, Temari was actually quite confused. Just now, she had been caught by a blond brat and was already imagining all sorts of frightening developments. She had not expected such a sudden turn, where they were actually released.
As for what Hagoromo had just said, she naturally would not believe the empty words of an enemy shinobi. But she was also not stupid enough to question him.
What if the other side suddenly changed their mind?
"Now I'm going after the true culprit, Orochimaru. Are you coming?" Hagoromo ignored Temari's uncertain expression and asked Naruto.
This question undoubtedly hit Naruto's preferences perfectly.
Of course Naruto was going. At this moment, even his depression over releasing two captives was swept away. With his personality, a chance to confront a boss-level enemy instead made him even happier.
Since he was often around Hagoromo and Jiraiya, Naruto had of course heard the name Orochimaru before. A Konoha missing-nin, one of the Sannin like the Pervy Sage. If he had the chance to participate in the capture of a shinobi of this level, Naruto naturally could not ask for more.
So far, he really thought Hagoromo was going to kill Orochimaru.
"Let's hurry up and move. I can hardly wait!"
Hagoromo could already see that without him saying it. Naruto's face was full of eagerness.
In the end, however, Hagoromo still kindly reminded the Sunagakure pair.
"Your younger brother is currently heading toward Sunagakure. If you chase after him quickly, you should be able to catch up… Try to leave the Land of Fire as soon as possible. Although everything I said is true, I can't guarantee what attitude other Konoha shinobi will have after seeing you."
Fine. Hagoromo was still a good person.
After the two left, Temari gritted her teeth, then dragged her dead-dog-like younger brother along the fastest route and began retreating toward the Land of Wind.
...
On Orochimaru's side, his condition was just as Hagoromo had expected. At this moment, he was in an extremely miserable state.
Relying on the ultimate shedding technique to escape the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique, he had already weakened to a certain degree. Now he even needed Yakushi Kabuto's support to move forward.
Then, suddenly, he stopped.
"What is it, Lord Orochimaru?"
"Someone has caught up…"
At this moment, Orochimaru was still rather cautious. After all, he no longer had the strength to fight, so he had secretly placed many sensory ninjutsu along the way. If someone pursued him, these ninjutsu would allow him to detect them immediately.
"I'll stop them. Lord Orochimaru, you can leave first," Kabuto said.
"No need. It should be my 'old friend' chasing after us. Let's wait here for a bit."
Orochimaru responded, then said to the three people other than Kabuto, "You three head to the planned base first. I'll catch up afterward."
Orochimaru's attitude at this moment was still quite bold, but that was also because he had already grasped the pursuer's general behavior pattern.
In ninety percent of situations, Hagoromo's purpose in pursuing him was not to kill him. Otherwise, Hagoromo should have acted back in Konoha, and there would have been no need to wait until now.
When he met him, what kind of dialogue would they have?
At this moment, Uncle Snake was even feeling a little anticipation.
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