A deeply regrettable thing had happened. Team Kakashi, which had always emphasized "TeamWork," could no longer teamwork. A major crisis had occurred within the team, because one of them had produced a traitor.
After Hagoromo confirmed Uchiha Sasuke's movements, his status as a "missing-nin" was also confirmed at the same time.
Originally, there was not much room to question this matter. Sasuke had left Konoha of his own will, or at least semi-voluntarily. There was not the slightest hint of coercion. So if he was not a missing-nin, then who was?
In the end, the reason Uncle Snake had made such a huge commotion and proved that he was a shinobi of real strength was precisely for this kind of "willingness."
At this point, Uncle Snake's principle had already changed into this routine: he was only responsible for seduction, never forceful coercion.
But in that case, Kakashi's heart was pierced. It would have made him feel better if Uncle Snake had simply knocked Sasuke unconscious and carried him away.
After all, if one made a comprehensive comparison, whether in terms of overall strength, teaching ability, or development and modification capabilities, Uncle Snake and Kakashi were not on the same level. Although Kakashi was known as the "Copy Ninja" who had copied over a thousand ninjutsu, even if one looked only at the number and quality of techniques mastered, Orochimaru was still overwhelmingly superior.
Uncle Snake could give Sasuke what he wanted most in the shortest amount of time, so of course the latter followed him. What else could Kakashi do?
You hurt me, and I can only pretend to smile and let it pass.
And now, the main problem placed before Old Kakashi was that after losing Sasuke, Team Seven had a vacancy. Therefore, he still needed to find a shinobi of roughly the same age and similar strength to Naruto and the others to fill the gap. Otherwise, the team would be unable to form proper combat strength.
As for Naruto's attitude toward Sasuke after learning about this matter? It was rather subtle.
Because of their completely different circumstances growing up, and because Naruto had already met both his parents when the Nine-Tails was extracted from him, and also because Hagoromo had cut away something important from him when he was young, Sasuke was merely a teammate to Naruto. Nothing more, and nothing less.
However, even if Sasuke was only a teammate, given Naruto's personality, he naturally still had the idea of bringing Sasuke back. But he would absolutely not be obsessed to that almost pathological degree.
Sasuke had made the decision to leave Konoha based on his own will. If Naruto insisted on twisting that will and dragging him back, that would not be good for anyone. It would merely be a crude form of "arrogance."
Wanting someone else to act against their own will? That was not doing something for that person's own good. It was just another form of "control."
After the Fourth Hokage told Naruto all sorts of things, Naruto now had an urgent desire to improve his own strength. Otherwise, no matter what he wanted to do, he would have no power to intervene. No matter what happened in the future, he would have no power to change it.
So when it came to Sasuke's matter, it seemed the only one truly saddened was the pink-haired girl. Who told her to be in the throes of adolescent love and so deeply devoted… The looks-are-everything club had truly harmed countless ignorant young girls.
As for Konoha losing its only Uchiha… Fine, that was actually similar to the feeling of losing a rare panda.
For the moment, let us set aside the troubles of the pink-haired youth. Earlier, Uncle Jiraiya had expressed that there were certain conversations between Hagoromo and Tsunade that he could not understand. Considering that by now, there was no longer any need to keep many things hidden, Hagoromo repeated to Jiraiya what he had previously told Tsunade.
And not only that, he also added some other supplementary information.
So to Jiraiya, Hagoromo's behavior of attacking tailed beasts without a second word suddenly became filled with reason.
Although Jiraiya had already had a premonition before that Akatsuki's leader was Nagato, after it was truly confirmed, his feelings were undoubtedly extremely complicated.
Perhaps Jiraiya attributed some of the previous incidents to his own mistakes. As the guide of the "Child of Prophecy who would bring great change" spoken of by the Great Toad Sage, it seemed he had guided him in the wrong direction?
However, that was not the case. At most, Jiraiya was only a "guide." There was nothing wrong with the direction he had given. It was just that the path had to be walked by Nagato himself, and if Nagato turned aside while walking, that could only be said to be his own problem.
But after realizing that the problem facing the entire shinobi world was serious enough, Jiraiya discovered that he still had a chance to "make amends."
"I'm preparing to teach Naruto and Mirai senjutsu…"
Not long after the Uzumaki shrine's self-detonation incident, Jiraiya found Hagoromo and suddenly said these words to him.
In a certain sense, Hagoromo played the role of Naruto and Mirai's guardian. So for the time being, Jiraiya had to inform him of this first, lest Hagoromo have some objection or lest it interfere with his original teaching plans.
As far as Hagoromo was concerned, if someone was willing to take over this kind of matter, he could not ask for more. With Jiraiya teaching Naruto senjutsu, there was no way he would have any objections.
"Of course, that's fine. Just don't teach him until he turns into a wooden person."
However, the situation Hagoromo was worried about would never happen. If Jiraiya taught Naruto senjutsu, it would be Mount Myōboku's senjutsu. That was somewhat different from Hagoromo's senjutsu. The worst possible result of learning senjutsu was undoubtedly failure, and after failing, Naruto would at most turn into a stone person, not a wooden person like in Shikkotsu Forest.
After thinking for a moment, Hagoromo added, "Naruto is fine, but forget about Mirai. In a few days, I'll take her along and begin taking action."
"You're preparing to make your move? You don't need to make any more preparations?" Hagoromo's words surprised Jiraiya somewhat. Although the other party had mentioned this matter before, he had not expected him to decide to begin so quickly.
"I won't begin immediately. I still need to remain in Konoha for a while longer. After all, at this time, I should not leave Konoha." Hagoromo explained.
Jiraiya nodded to show that he understood. He would not try to persuade him further, but he still added, "Konoha's Intelligence Division will cooperate with you fully."
"Mm."
That was exactly how things should be. In a certain sense, Hagoromo had wanted Tsunade to become the Fifth Hokage precisely for this kind of "convenience."
At this point, certain matters truly ought to be brought to an end.
...
Hagoromo did not immediately begin taking action. During this period, he chose to remain in Konoha not because he still needed to make any other preparations, but because Mirai and Naruto's birthday was approaching.
When new lives were born, old lives always passed away. This should be considered a normal law of nature. But when that law applied to parents and children one after the other, it always made people feel that it carried an unusual sense of irony.
In the cherry blossom grove near Konoha's outskirts, there were no longer any cherry blossoms at this time of year. Hagoromo placed a bouquet of white flowers on the ground, then stood there silently for a long time.
At a time like this, there was no need for him to say anything.
Life was like this. Sometimes, even if one said ten thousand words to someone, no matter how correct those words were, the other party might not necessarily be able to listen. At other times, perhaps being told just a few short words could make a person change the way they had always acted.
The "unpredictability" of life happened just like that. After many years, Hagoromo once again received a message from Kushina, and it was only this short sentence.
And yet, this alone was enough to make him feel that Kushina was still Kushina.
At this point, no matter what Hagoromo had done before, what he was doing now, or what he intended to do in the future, Kushina had only one sentence to tell him. She said:
Hagoromo, just walk forward boldly.
Was it trust? Indulgence? Doting? Or something else?
Who knew? Perhaps only Hagoromo himself could distinguish it clearly. But no matter what, he decided that next, he truly would walk forward boldly.
If he was going to make trouble, then he had to make it thoroughly satisfying.
If he was going to stir things up, then he would turn heaven and earth upside down.
Hagoromo was still Hagoromo, too.
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