At times, human beings could indeed be compared to rather precise "machines." More often than not, however, that precision was limited to a certain specialty or field. As for other areas? Those fell outside the scope of that "specialization." Thus, once someone encountered a situation with an extremely low margin for error, failure would often occur.
Shinobi were even more so. Depending on individual talent and the extent of their training, different shinobi had different areas of expertise. Some shinobi might be suited to frontal combat, while others were suited to reconnaissance and infiltration. For shinobi, "balance" was actually more difficult than "specialization." That was precisely why the rank of "special jōnin," which sat between chūnin and jōnin, existed.
Therefore, there was nothing strange about Zetsu being able to infiltrate Konoha silently and without anyone knowing. He himself possessed that kind of ability. Conversely, after entering such a heavily guarded great shinobi village so "easily," it was also perfectly normal that, in his urgency, he would casually pick up the long-nosed mask.
Was it momentary excitement? Momentary carelessness? Or both? The key point was, who could have imagined that such a rundown shrine would still be hiding a large-yield trigger-type bomb?
That was equivalent to one Kakashi self-destructing here. Who could withstand that?
According to Hagoromo's thinking from who knew how many years ago, he had probably felt that no one would ever casually come into this shrine anyway. On top of that, the Shinigami mask was the only key to undoing the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. With those two factors combined, his brain short-circuited, so he made a fake, then stuffed a large pile of explosive tags inside it.
Back then, it had only been something he did casually. But who could have imagined that, after so many years, it would actually explode?
"This place is… I remember it should be the Uzumaki clan's shrine, right?"
Perhaps because of her grandmother, Tsunade clearly still had an impression of the Uzumaki clan's shrine.
Due to Orochimaru's earlier infiltration incident, Konoha was especially vigilant at the moment. Therefore, after the explosion occurred, a large number of shinobi, including Tsunade, had quickly arrived here.
Only after the Anbu investigated first and then reported that there was no longer any danger was Tsunade permitted to enter… Although she herself did not take this procedure seriously, her identity as "Hokage" meant that, most of the time, she had to follow this kind of safety protocol.
"It's the Uzumaki clan's Mask Storage Temple."
To be more accurate, however, this place "used to be" the Uzumaki Mask Storage Temple. Now, in its blasted state, it had already become a "Mask Storage Temple: Tragedy Edition."
As Hagoromo spoke, he picked up a mask from the ground that had already been shattered in half. He briefly held it up to his own face… The mask could only cover the lower half of his face. Everything above the bridge of the nose had already been blown away.
It was clearly no longer usable. Hagoromo shook his head and tossed the mask back onto the ground.
Looking around, one could see that only a few masks remained intact… The Uzumaki clan had preserved these "collectibles" for who knew how long, even going so far as to transfer an entire room of them to Konoha after their nation had been destroyed. And just like that, they had all been blown away.
With this level of wastefulness, sometimes one really had no choice but to admire Hagoromo.
"If it was the Mask Storage Temple, then what it stored should only have been masks, right? So why would an explosion happen here?"
Mm. That was a very meaningful question.
And Tsunade's question was very targeted, because she kept feeling that Hagoromo knew something.
An old woman's sixth sense really is a rather terrifying thing… Hagoromo muttered inwardly.
"Ahem. Suppose I said there was once a mask that had always been coldly observing the world from the sidelines, but at this moment, because it could no longer endure cruel reality, it finally chose to explode on the spot with the great sorrow and resolute attitude of a pessimist. Would you believe me?"
Tsunade did not speak. She answered Hagoromo with her eyes. The meaning in her gaze seemed to be asking in return: Do you think I'm an idiot?
She was neither stupid nor deficient, so she did not believe him.
"Actually, the reason for the explosion should be fairly clear. A long time ago, I stuffed a bundle of explosive tags here. I just didn't expect those things to have such a long shelf life." Hagoromo finally adopted a matter-of-fact attitude.
Tsunade: "…"
Her intuition had indeed been correct. This matter was still connected to Hagoromo. That gave her a strong urge to sigh.
At this moment, standing from the position of Hokage, Tsunade finally understood a little of what the Third Hokage's mood had been like every time he saw Hagoromo. She also understood why the Third Hokage had specifically left behind a top-secret document called the White Yaksha Usage Manual.
Of course, Hagoromo had not set up an explosive trap here simply because he had nothing better to do. Naturally, he had his own reasons for doing so.
"If we're talking about the cause behind this matter, it is still related to the Nine-Tails incident many years ago. At the time, the sealing technique used by the Fourth Hokage on the Nine-Tails, the 'Dead Demon Consuming Seal,' could be regarded as an 'absolute seal.' However, it had a key capable of undoing it…"
Hagoromo explained the cause and effect to Tsunade. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal could seal everything into the Shinigami's stomach. It should have been unsolvable, but the Shinigami mask in the Mask Storage Temple was the key to cutting open the Shinigami's stomach.
"So, in order to prevent someone with ulterior motives from summoning the Fourth Hokage, not long after the Nine-Tails incident, I took that mask away."
Back then, the main person Hagoromo had been guarding against was actually Orochimaru. Given Orochimaru's curiosity, the kind that made him research forbidden techniques whenever he had nothing else to do, there was no telling when he might start getting his hands on the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
But those explosive tags only went off now… At this moment, Hagoromo felt this was probably mostly an accident. Perhaps his mechanism had already "fallen into disrepair with age."
"So there's no need to worry too much. Maybe a rat accidentally knocked that mask down."
If not for the explosion, Hagoromo himself would have long since forgotten about this matter. Perhaps at some point in the future, when he came back here and took a look, he would say, "Huh, this tengu mask is pretty interesting," and then pick it up himself…
But if this really had been done by a "rat," then it was absolutely the rat with the richest grave goods in history: a pile of explosive tags plus a large number of the Uzumaki clan's collections…
"Unfortunately, Hagoromo, this matter is not as simple as you say." As soon as Hagoromo had given his hypothesis, Uncle Jiraiya immediately slapped him in the face with reality.
Just now, he had been conducting an on-site investigation together with several Anbu. Then, from a pile of rubble, he dug out a pale white hand.
"This thing probably isn't part of the Uzumaki collection, right?"
The Uzumaki clan was still quite normal. They really did not have such peculiar hobbies. Hagoromo glanced at the hand. Judging by its freshness, it had to be something that had only just been severed.
His expression grew serious.
The matter really was not as simple as he had imagined. Instead, it was developing in a bad direction… According to his judgment and experience, this kind of pale, bloodless arm should belong to White Zetsu, right?
In other words, White Zetsu had infiltrated this place?
Through this discovery, Hagoromo seemed able to determine that Akatsuki had not given up on their plan to collect the tailed beasts. On the contrary, their progress had become even more urgent, and their methods had become even more varied.
In that case, should Hagoromo's own actions also become more proactive?
...
As for Zetsu, after taking that blast, he naturally withdrew from Konoha with all possible speed.
Ideals were full and beautiful, but reality was bony and harsh. Although obtaining the other half of the Nine-Tails from within the Dead Demon Consuming Seal was not simple either, compared to directly seizing it under Hagoromo's watch, it was undoubtedly a more feasible method. Unfortunately, this trip was destined to end with them returning empty-handed.
More importantly, White Zetsu's main body had already been blown half to death. Now that half of his aloe was gone, even if Zetsu continued staying there, it would only amount to delivering himself as free food.
Besides, White Zetsu's other half was quite worried about him. After all, they had agreed to travel together, and that was the only willful insistence Black Zetsu still clung to now.
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