After returning to Konoha according to schedule, before Hagoromo could embark on his next step, Kushina personally told him a certain piece of news.
A fact he did not want to hear.
For Konoha itself, this development was undoubtedly excellent news. Just as the peace talks with the Hidden Mist were finally bearing fruit, the dawn of victory in the war against the Hidden Stone arrived almost simultaneously.
Compared to the "peace" brought about by Hagoromo's rather extreme and fortuitous methods, the latter was far more conventional.
For the war against the Hidden Stone, Konoha adopted a much more orthodox approach.
Because the Hidden Stone's strength had been damaged in their battles with the Hidden Cloud, coupled with the Hidden Sand's counterattack, they were somewhat powerless to focus on Konoha.
The enemy's disadvantage was Konoha's advantage. Therefore, after the war restarted, an excellent opportunity for Konoha to counterattack presented itself.
Under the premise that all advantageous conditions were met, Konoha adopted the strategy that would incur the least amount of losses to themselves—against the large Hidden Stone forces that had invaded and stalled in the Hidden Grass, Konoha employed a tactical strategy of using elite squads to cut off the enemy's supply lines.
At this time, for Konoha, the Hidden Stone's supply routes were exceptionally clear and definite. The key nodes and weak points within them were also crystal clear. This was intelligence that Konoha Jonin Kamishiro Hagoromo had conveniently acquired during a certain major mission...
Because of the obscuring curtain of rain, the vision of Hagoromo, who was currently operating in this area, was extremely poor.
The rainwater flowed down from the tips of his hair down his back, bringing a stinging pain that was even worse than the freezing cold.
Using the original Kannabi Bridge as a coordinate, Hagoromo turned northeast. Following the detailed battle reports he received from Konoha, after traversing a stretch of woodland, he finally reached his intended destination.
This was a small-scale battlefield. Even after being washed by heavy rain for several days, the traces that should have been left behind still existed.
The corpses left behind after the battle were no longer there; this place had clearly been artificially cleaned up, most likely by the Hidden Stone.
However, the destruction of the terrain caused by the battle remained, and was particularly obvious. To Hagoromo, this was clear at a glance.
Amidst the heavy rain, the expression on Hagoromo's face was blurred, and his low voice was barely discernible. Exactly what kind of emotion was he feeling right now? He probably couldn't even explain it himself.
Even with poor visibility, he quickly found the traces caused by the Earth Style: Rock Lodging Destruction.
This terrain piled up with earth and stone should probably be considered... a grave?
A Chidori Sharp Spear lit up on one of his hands. Slice by slice, layer by layer, Hagoromo cut open the massive mound of earth in front of him without any hindrance.
From raised to caved in, he finally found some traces.
Hagoromo squatted down, his fingers touching the freezing ground. Beneath his fingertips was a large, long-dried pool of dark brown blood.
"So there really isn't a body?"
There was nothing beneath the mound of earth and stone. As expected, Obito Uchiha's corpse was not there.
Was Obito merely a casual pawn piece for Madara Uchiha?
Hagoromo had no way of knowing the details, but looking at it now, under purely rational analysis, that wasn't the case.
Having evaded large numbers of Hidden Stone ninjas to come to this battlefield from a few days ago, his ultimate goal was simply to confirm the status of Obito's "corpse." He had hoped the corpse was there, but his hopes fell through.
The matters that needed confirming were confirmed. He should have left here directly, but he ultimately couldn't help but stand there in silence, until a puddle of water accumulated at his feet.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
"One, two... six."
Hagoromo wasn't counting the number of enemies.
With his abilities, his control and perception of his own bioelectrical nerve signals were extremely precise and nuanced. And in this very moment, he felt that something else had mixed into his body.
This kind of trick that could deceive ordinary ninjas had no effect on him.
Without Hagoromo seeming to make any movement, an incredibly intense Chidori Current instantly flared up from his body.
Immediately following that, almost simultaneously from the positions of his limbs and torso, white foreign objects resembling rising dough manifested.
Then, from nothing to something, from a little to a lot, these things multiplied like foam until they wrapped around half of Hagoromo's face.
The Chidori Current had no effect. In fact, in Hagoromo's perception, the opponent was absorbing his chakra, and it was precisely because they were absorbing his chakra that it caused them to expand like that.
That was indeed his own chakra. If going purely by perception, these white monstrosities were just like a part of Hagoromo's own body.
"Who are you?" Hagoromo asked in an icy tone.
In reality, he roughly knew what these things were, he just hadn't expected to run into them here.
Or rather, was it only natural to run into them here?
"Konoha ninja, what exactly is your purpose in coming here?" The other party didn't answer Hagoromo's question. Instead, six heads and six half-faces emitted this voice simultaneously.
Just a moment ago, six White Zetsus had blended into Hagoromo's body.
He took a deep breath. Although from his outward appearance he currently looked like a monstrosity covered in pustules, aside from his chakra continuously draining, he felt no other anomalies.
He first terminated the Chidori Current on his body, then said:
"To retrieve the Sharingan."
"Is that so?" White Zetsu continued speaking in that overlapping six-fold voice. "Then it's a pity, but your mission cannot be completed."
This was indeed a very standard and persuasive reason.
"Those words, 'Is that so?', are for me to say right now." Did White Zetsu really think that he could deal with Hagoromo merely through means like absorbing chakra?
An even more terrifying energy began to brew, and lightning of a far grander scale instantly pierced through the grotesquely swollen White Zetsus clinging to Hagoromo's body.
At such a close distance, this method of attack from Hagoromo would make even ghosts and gods retreat.
"Lightning Style... is it not Lightning Style?"
"...It is Lightning Style. This jutsu is called Chidori Current: Second Stage."
Whether to confuse them or for some other reason, Hagoromo answered White Zetsu's final question.
The charred objects peeled completely off his body. The traces White Zetsu had left on Hagoromo disappeared instantly after being washed away by the rainwater.
Hagoromo faced White Zetsu's corpses in silence. After thinking for a while, he decided to bring these things back to Konoha; this way, many things could be somewhat explained.
However, just as he pulled out a scroll and before he could do anything, White Zetsu's corpses began to swell.
Hagoromo violently retreated!
Immediately following that, the sound of an explosion rang out.
With a loud BOOM, the monstrous White Zetsus instantly disintegrated. By the time Hagoromo turned back to look, the opponent had left nothing behind...
Destroying the corpses and erasing the traces, while simultaneously eliminating the source of intelligence. After all, there were countless White Zetsus.
With such a loud noise, it would probably attract the surrounding Hidden Stone ninjas very soon, so he couldn't stay for long. Hagoromo glanced back at this place one last time, then turned and walked away, step by step.
He did not notice that in the dark shadows of the forest, an aloe-vera head was watching his retreating back.
...
The intelligence networks of the Five Great Ninja Villages ultimately couldn't compare to this unique entity. Right now, the biggest change in the course of the war was that the war between Konoha and the Hidden Mist would end completely about two years ahead of schedule. In fact, starting from now, the "Hidden Mist Battlefield" no longer existed.
The things that were supposed to happen on the Hidden Mist battlefield would no longer happen.
It was impossible for the mastermind behind the scenes not to know about these changes. In order to allow his long-chosen pawn to walk down the original path step by step, and to adapt to the changes in the war, he also needed to make certain alterations.
Therefore, the results caused by the Battle of Kannabi Bridge were somewhat different:
The Hidden Stone ninjas deployed in the Land of Grass would retreat shortly due to supply issues. Konoha gained an even more leading advantage in the Great Ninja War. The name of the Jonin Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, shone even brighter. Jonin Kakashi Hatake obtained a Sharingan. Obito Uchiha died first...And Rin Nohara died after...
------------------------------------------
Stones are appreciated if you can spare any.
Vol 1 of this fanfic is already completed on patreon.
P(a)treon.com/GoatMama