"I heard ten thousand Iwagakure ninja invaded the Land of Lightning. How's the war going? Did Iwa win?"
"No one's really sure. I heard the Tsuchikage personally joined the battlefield—and before that… the Third Raikage died there."
"Iwagakure's impressive. To think they could kill the legendary Third Raikage."
"That's wrong. It wasn't Iwa. According to more accurate information, the one who killed the Raikage was a Konoha spy mixed in with the Iwa forces—a jōnin named Uzumaki Kushina…"
"Eh? Really?"
"Really!"
"Uzumaki Kushina? Sounds like a female ninja's name… Aside from one of the Sannin, Tsunade-hime, I didn't expect Konoha to have someone this terrifying."
"And to think the war's dragged on this long and Konoha still had such a trump card hidden… The Third Hokage is a truly devious old man."
"No, no, not Kushina. The Raikage's death had nothing to do with her. She's just an ordinary jōnin.
The one who killed the Raikage was her disciple. Name unknown for now."
"Her… disciple?"
"If the disciple is already that brutal, then the teacher must be a true monster. I heard she's built like the Raikage himself—strong enough to trade blows head-on. If her student can beat the Raikage to death, then as the teacher she must be even scarier. Just imagine it…"
"How could you be wrong?"
"You know, your brain suddenly feels terrifyingly sharp. That line of reasoning actually left me speechless."
"..."
While this group chatted idly, they paid little attention to the pale-faced youth passing quietly behind them.
Generally speaking, people with fair, almost translucent skin were often deceptively dangerous—like the universe's strongest battle race, the Yato. But at the moment, Hagoromo looked unmistakably weak.
He heard every word clearly, yet behaved as though none of it concerned him. No one realized that he was the so-called "disciple" they were discussing.
A quick glance told him they were all ninja. Their identical forehead protectors marked them as members of the same small village.
The information being spread was wildly inaccurate—borderline disastrous—but the fact that even ninja from minor villages had already heard about it…
Wasn't this spreading a bit too fast?
Something felt off.
Had Iwagakure deliberately leaked the story?
Divert the blame? Shift Kumogakure's hatred elsewhere?
Regardless of victory or defeat, shouldn't this sort of thing wait until after they withdrew from the Land of Lightning?
And even if Iwa hadn't fully identified him yet, they should at least have suspicions by now.
Whatever.
Hagoromo lightly shook his head. Overthinking it wouldn't help. First things first.
Five days had passed since that battle.
He had already crossed the Land of Lightning and sailed to the small island nation opposite it—
The Land of Hot Water.
Yet instead of leaving immediately, he entered an ordinary town.
A brief stop.
He was here to find someone.
"Which way next?" Hagoromo asked softly, as though to himself.
But it wasn't a soliloquy.
"According to the contract's resonance… turn left at the next intersection," a voice replied.
His shoulder twitched. A slug no larger than his palm emerged from his collar.
Hagoromo nodded and followed the guidance without another word.
After wandering for more than three hours, he finally arrived.
"Big Sis… are you sure it's here?"
"No mistake. She's in the crowd."
Before him lay one of the town's main streets—wide, bustling with pedestrians. Across the street stood a group of men dressed like samurai.
Each carried a long sword. They looked less like warriors and more like street thugs.
"Make way—what's going on?" Hagoromo called as he crossed the street, squeezing into the crowd.
At the moment, nothing about him suggested he was a ninja.
Then he saw it.
A disturbing scene.
"Stop! What do you think you're doing to this child?"
Smack.
Hagoromo slapped away a thug's hand reaching toward a little girl and spread his arms protectively in front of her.
Objectively speaking, Hagoromo wasn't overflowing with compassion. He wasn't worried about the girl—
He was worried the thug might get killed by her by accident.
Because inside that small body lived the strength of a nest of gorillas. Her raw power exceeded theirs.
"What do you want with my… little sister?"
Hagoromo's acting was on point. After all, he'd once impersonated others in Iwagakure flawlessly. His tone mixed righteous anger with a hint of fear.
However—
He had once again chosen the path of self-destruction.
Calling an ancient summon "Big Sis" was already risky enough.
But now he dared to call this woman—thirty-eight years old, legendary kunoichi of the ninja world—
His little sister.
That was a fast track to an early grave.
When Lady Tsunade was very young, she had already inherited certain traits from her grandfather, the First Hokage.
Unfortunately, that trait wasn't Wood Release.
It was gambling.
And she always lost.
Her gambling etiquette wasn't terrible—she never denied her losses.
But she did dodge her debts.
Using master-level Transformation Technique to escape creditors.
If the Third Hokage knew what she used his teachings for, he'd probably cry.
And because age was a woman's natural enemy—even Tsunade disliked looking old—
She often transformed into a young girl.
Or an even younger one.
Or—
Like now.
A loli.
A forty-year-old woman disguised as a child under ten caused Tsunade no psychological distress whatsoever. Without Katsuyu's confirmation, Hagoromo wouldn't have dared identify her by appearance alone.
True to his nature, Hagoromo went even further.
While speaking, he placed a hand on Tsunade's head and pulled her behind him protectively.
He even winked at her.
Tsunade froze.
Then realization struck.
Isn't this… Hagoromo?
Why was he here?
This was the Land of Hot Water, right?
She wasn't old enough for her brain to be malfunctioning…
…Or was this just a brutal hangover?
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.If you're enjoying the fic, even a little, supporting me would mean a lot. It helps a student stay independent .
complete fic (all chapters ) are already up on Patreon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789