The measurement of time is always a relative concept.
For a medical ninja of Tsunade's caliber, taking a full month to heal someone's injuries could already be considered an extremely long time. Yet, even for a ninja like her, attempting to teach someone medical ninjutsu—and demanding a significant degree of proficiency at that—within a mere month was difficult to the point of impossibility.
A month was barely enough just to cover the absolute basics.
Therefore, Mirai's little scheme was doomed to fail. Although she had harbored such thoughts ever since Hagoromo told her this beautiful Big Sister was the strongest medical ninja, all things must adhere to logical rules.
Using medical ninjutsu, after all, requires a vast reserve of specialized knowledge as a foundation, necessitating long-term, systematic study. It was far more difficult than just grabbing a kunai and stabbing someone.
"Where are you heading next? Back to Konoha?" Tsunade asked Hagoromo at a crossroads street.
Shizune, beside her, was carrying some luggage, seemingly planning to leave the country.
To Tsunade, it didn't really matter which country she stayed in, but she was forced to change locations every so often—an absolute necessity to evade debt collectors.
A crippling gambling addiction is a terrifying thing.
"Extreme Luck" exists, and similarly, there are people inherently born with terrible luck. This is an undeniable objective reality. But in Tsunade's case—losing every single bet, and triggering terrible disasters on the rare occasions she did win—it could no longer be blamed on mere luck. One could only conclude it was a flaw in her "character settings."
"No, not for now. There's no need to return to the village in the short term, and it would likely just lead to annoying encounters. So... I plan to wander around for a while, and look for something while I'm at it."
Hagoromo's treatment was complete. The remaining recovery only required another month or two of rest to heal naturally. Thus, it was time for them to part ways with Tsunade and Shizune once again.
"Look for something?" Tsunade didn't understand.
She naturally ignored Hagoromo's mention of "annoying encounters in Konoha," clearly showing she still had no desire to involve herself with the village's affairs.
Hagoromo didn't specify what he was looking for, instead giving a rather cryptic response. "Humans are very complex creatures. In terms of physiological characteristics, these bipedal primates indeed belong to the same species..."
"But in terms of thought and other aspects, everyone is unique. A hundred thousand people means a hundred thousand different kinds of people."
"So? What are you trying to say?" Tsunade asked again.
"What I mean is, for a person, 'uniqueness' is necessary. Therefore, this world only needs one Hagoromo... Kamishiro Hagoromo."
For Hagoromo, what he hated went without saying. And what he detested? It seemed he had an answer for that too.
Uh, what utter nonsense. Tsunade chalked Hagoromo's words up to another one of his intermittent chuunibyou episodes—she didn't know the term chuunibyou, but she was familiar with this inexplicably cringy vibe he gave off from time to time. Oh, wait, she didn't know the word cringy either.
Regardless, she felt completely justified in ignoring Hagoromo's ramblings.
"Well then, we'll be leaving this country as well. Just... I hope I don't see you again in the future," Tsunade said, shaking her head in incomprehension.
It wasn't that she disliked Hagoromo. If you thought about it, this seemingly cold statement was actually born out of goodwill—every time Hagoromo sought her out, he was either severely injured, or severely injured again.
"About that... I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other quite often."
Hagoromo truly believed this, and the feeling was genuine.
"I..."
Tsunade wanted to say something else, but as her gaze coincidentally drifted over Hagoromo's shoulder, she immediately clamped her mouth shut.
She quickly changed her tune, speaking rapidly: "Anyway, we're leaving now. Be a dear and block the people behind me."
And with that, as her farewell, Tsunade didn't even wait for Hagoromo's response before swiftly fleeing with Shizune. What had Tsunade seen? Debt collectors, hence the hasty escape.
Though, hadn't Hagoromo witnessed this exact fleeing scene once before?
"Hey, kid, have you seen this person?"
Looking at the deliberately ferocious face before him, and the photograph of Tsunade in the man's hand, would Hagoromo answer? He was, after all, a man of great loyalty.
"That way!" x2.
One large finger and one tiny finger pointed in the exact same direction.
Hagoromo and Mirai simultaneously pointed in the direction Tsunade had fled... Yep, the completely correct direction.
The two of them betrayed their "savior" without a second's hesitation.
"After them!"
The group of debt collectors chased in the direction Hagoromo pointed without delay.
"Why point them in the right direction? Big Sister Tsunade and Big Sister Shizune just finished healing my injuries."
After the men left, Hagoromo asked Mirai... He chose to make this a teaching moment. After all, he could do something like "betrayal," but how could a pure, innocent child do such a thing? It made him feel a bit bad.
"I just felt like doing that would make things more interesting."
"..."
This child's logic was so sound that Hagoromo found himself entirely speechless.
He had been reverse-educated. Interesting is the most important thing—this was indeed the fruit of Hagoromo's upbringing.
"Hagoromo, where are we going next?"
While Hagoromo was staring blankly in the direction Tsunade fled, pondering whether he needed to adjust his teaching methods, Mirai tugged at his collar and asked.
"Where to?" He thought for a moment before answering, "Let's go to the Land of Water. There's a pet there I'd like to check on."
"A pet like Doggy?" Mirai asked.
"If I had to describe it, it's a pet several times larger than the Multi-Headed Dog," Hagoromo replied.
Mirai nodded, trying to imagine just how big "several times larger than the Multi-Headed Dog" was... It must be really big.
In reality, Mirai didn't know where the Land of Water was, but to her, as long as they weren't going back to Shikkotsu Forest, it didn't matter. She had already explored every interesting spot there and didn't want to stay any longer.
As for the Land of Water, the Fourth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, had rather progressive policies. At the very least, the country was no longer experiencing "isolationism" or the "Blood Mist" era. Thus, travel and communication between the Land of Water and other nations were unobstructed, prompting Hagoromo to decide to take a boat there with Mirai.
For Mirai, taking a boat was a much fresher experience than flying—after all, she was already used to flying. And there was no rush to go see a pet anyway.
Departing from the Land of Artisans, a leisurely boat ride of about seven or eight hours was all it took to reach the Land of Water.
The moment they stepped onto the shore, Hagoromo leaned down and tightened the scarf around Mirai's neck.
"Are you cold, Mirai?"
"No, it's warm and cozy... It's snowing."
Just as they set foot in the country, snow began to fall from the sky.
Snowing in this month? Had the ninja world's climate also become erratic?
But as long as Mirai wasn't cold, it was fine... right? The weather couldn't possibly limit her wild imagination anyway—a child raised by someone with a wild imagination would inevitably develop one of their own.
"Wandering around feeling warm and cozy like this... is this the legendary Warm Journey Around the World?"
"Uh... there's nothing wrong with putting it that way, it's just a pity..."
A pity that Hagoromo didn't have that many outfits to change the child into.
Therefore, the "fairy tales" he told were both too numerous and entirely unnecessary.
Just as Hagoromo was about to say something else, the expression on Mirai's face—who had been reveling in the first snow—suddenly changed. Her excited mood vanished.
"Hagoromo, over there... I can sense a strange chakra." Saying this, she pointed in a certain direction.
"Strange?"
What kind of chakra qualified as "strange"? Mirai definitely needed to study more adjectives.
But since she called it strange, they might as well go take a look.
The ninja world never lacks for battle and slaughter.
Just as two ninjas were about to eliminate their target, a long sword crackling with lightning suddenly embedded itself in the ground between them and their prey.
"Extra people? What should we do?"
"Eliminate all involved parties. That is the mission requirement, naturally including any witnesses."
The conversation between the two fell perfectly into Hagoromo's ears, so he reached down and patted Mirai's head.
And so, the two ninjas watched as the little red-haired girl walked forward step by step, then somewhat struggled to pull the long sword out of the ground.
This ninja tool was clearly unsuitable for her to use. It looked somewhat comical and ridiculous.
Initially, her hands gripped the very top of the hilt, but perhaps feeling it was awkward, or thinking the attack range wouldn't be long enough from there, she shifted her tiny hands down inch by inch to the very bottom of the hilt.
Her hands gripped the hilt... Actually, she couldn't wrap her fingers all the way around, so she could only half-grip it.
The blade pointed diagonally upward. Even under the gloomy sky, the cold glint and flowing light on its edge were clearly visible.
But she still felt it was awkward, as the sword was taller than she was.
So Mirai flipped her hands, and the long sword was now held in a reverse grip by her side... Ah, that feels much more natural.
Human knowledge comes from experience and education. To Mirai, whatever Hagoromo told her was the correct and proper thing to do.
Hagoromo had said that everyone must eventually learn to protect themselves. She didn't quite understand—would Hagoromo not protect her forever?
Hagoromo had told her that the most important thing in life is to never do things you will regret. But what is regret?
Hagoromo had also said that ninjas must eventually kill people. Compared to the first two, she actually understood this one.
The corners of her eyebrows raised slightly, and her eyelids lowered a fraction. The cold glint of the blade seemed to reflect within her pupils... This look utterly destroyed the cuteness of her round face.
The people in front of her just said they were going to eliminate her and Hagoromo, making them enemies. So what should she do right now?
She knew.
The warm breath exhaled from her mouth melted the falling snow before her, but the words she spoke held no warmth at all.
"Strike down all enemies!" "Sever all that must be severed!"
The exact tone Hagoromo had used when telling her these words was the exact tone she used to repeat them now.