No matter which village it was, the shinobi world was unmistakably a stratified society.
Differences in status were very real. Shinobi of different ranks had access to completely different things. The organizational structure was pyramid-shaped—authority flowed from the top down, while information flowed in the opposite direction, concentrated at the peak.
Given Hagoromo's personality, it was hard to imagine him ever pursuing something like status.
That had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was freedom—freedom to live in accordance with his own nature.
The disadvantage was that many things reached him only after the fact.
Konohagakure of the Land of Fire, strictly speaking, wasn't really a "village." It was more accurately described as a medium-to-large city. The number of shinobi alone exceeded ten thousand, and with civilians included, it was far beyond anything that should be called a village.
Yet because it was called a village, people instinctively thought of it that way.
In a village-sized framework, the highest ambition was no more than becoming village chief.
Even though that "village chief" was, in this world, effectively a world-class boss, Hagoromo wasn't ignorant of Konoha's complex internal structure. Still, in such a system, calling him someone with no desires might be an exaggeration—but there truly wasn't anything he needed that status could give him.
So he didn't need status.
Even if he became Hokage, Hagoromo wouldn't gain anything more.
So why step into that mess?
Clock in, do the job well, clock out.
That alone was already a vast improvement over the passive indolence of his earlier days.
"Danzō's current actions are the result of arrangements made years ago," Hagoromo said calmly.
"No matter what outcome they produce, from a formal standpoint this is Konoha fulfilling its obligations under an agreement. Even the Third Hokage has no grounds to stop him."
He first explained the mission he'd carried out alongside Danzō years earlier, then added this clarification.
What he was reminding everyone of was simple:
Whatever consequences Danzō's actions caused now, they were still actions taken in the name of public duty—even if that sense of duty was something Danzō himself had manufactured and justified.
No matter how you looked at it, this was official business.
By contrast, some of Jiraiya's emotions clearly carried a personal element.
Hagoromo pointed this out without mercy—
Though only Jiraiya himself noticed.
Jiraiya was one of the most important figures in the entire Naruto story. Many threads of fate were woven through his actions. His three students—Nagato, Minato, and Naruto—were all regarded, in one way or another, as "Children of Prophecy."
This was among the very few pieces of overarching narrative knowledge Hagoromo possessed.
Nagato.
Minato.
Naruto.
Even phonetically, the three names were remarkably similar.
Naruto was Minato's son. His name came from Jiraiya's novel The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja. Jiraiya had thought of it while eating ramen, but the protagonist represented his ideal image of a shinobi.
And that ideal had originally been modeled after Nagato.
Because Hagoromo was a fan of One Piece, he'd actually gone out of his way to look into the origin of Naruto's name.
That was why he could sort out these connections so clearly.
There were many things Hagoromo didn't care about.
The things he truly cared about were very few.
What happened in the Land of Rain?
What Danzō was scheming?
Whether Nagato lived or died?
Saying "let them live or die" might sound harsh—but in truth, these were matters of strangers, in a foreign land, with no real connection to him.
This wasn't narrow-mindedness.
Nor was it irresponsibility.
He simply felt that it had nothing to do with him.
He already had more than enough to care about. The few things that mattered to him consumed all his attention.
As for the rest—
Who cared?
At this stage, the war had entered its final phase of attrition. Judging by the timeline, Hagoromo had already decided to withdraw from the front lines.
There were more important things waiting for him.
"Withdraw to the rear" might not be the perfect phrase—
but in short, he was preparing to return to Konoha itself.
Which meant that if Jiraiya tried to assign him—or Minato's team—some mission in the Land of Rain right now, the answer would be no.
Under normal circumstances, a Shinobi World War was certainly important.
But sometimes—
What was a Shinobi World War, really?
Hagoromo's words plunged Jiraiya into silence.
Jiraiya didn't believe Hagoromo had said any of this deliberately. After all, there were things only he knew—things Hagoromo couldn't possibly be aware of.
Which made these "unintentional" words all the more piercing.
Hagoromo was right.
Jiraiya was a shinobi of Konoha. He had his own duties and responsibilities. Compared to disciples far away, the one standing before him now was far more important.
Between the withdrawn, melancholic Nagato—
And Namikaze Minato, who embodied nearly every positive trait of a shinobi—
Minato was far closer to being a true Child of Prophecy.
And soon, he would become Hokage.
With that realization, Jiraiya set aside his personal emotions.
Danzō's matter was unsolvable now. The time to stop it had been years ago. Too late meant too late.
Letting the issue pass, Jiraiya changed the subject.
"By the way, Minato—your wedding date is coming up soon, isn't it?"
The topic shift was abrupt and clumsy, but it also signaled that Jiraiya had chosen to simply observe Danzō's actions from afar.
Minato froze for a moment, then scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Yes… probably within the next few months."
"Tch. That happy look of yours really makes people jealous."
If—just if—Jiraiya ever spent the time he used chasing after male friends chasing after Tsunade instead, he'd probably be the kind of life winner people envied even more than Minato.
After all, the Slug Princess Tsunade was someone even enemies respectfully called Lady Tsunade.
That treatment was unique in the entire shinobi world.
Hearing this, Hagoromo laughed as well.
What sounded like envy and jealousy was really blessing and relief.
There was no happiness greater than seeing someone you cared about happy.
Though Jiraiya's feelings were born from Minato's position—
Hagoromo's were not.
"Still," Minato said softly, "these past few years… Kushina's had it rough."
His voice was filled with apology.
Kushina was undeniably a powerhouse shinobi.
She graduated from the Academy at twelve and became a jinchūriki at seventeen. Those years were the peak of her career. In just four or five years, the frequency of her high-level missions alone proved her strength—
Over thirty A-rank missions,
Over twenty S-rank missions.
That was a record surpassing most shinobi's entire lifetimes.
Yet despite that, because of Konoha's policies toward jinchūriki, she could only remain in the village.
From the Second Shinobi World War through the Third, Minato and Kushina had actually spent very little time together.
That was what weighed on Minato the most.
Everyone understood what he meant.
Jiraiya continued, "Right now, the overall situation with Kumogakure is a complete stalemate. Strategically, both sides are silent, though small-scale clashes continue."
"But no matter what—this war is nearing its end."
This conclusion had been stated many times before.
But this time, Jiraiya was confident.
Because this time, it was true—
even if the shinobi at the lowest levels couldn't yet see it.
And that was precisely why Minato's wedding had been scheduled.
Still—
Nearly over meant not over yet.
The war continued.
So did missions.
On the narrow battlefields of the Land of Rice Fields, chance and inevitability intertwined. Crossing paths repeatedly didn't mean never meeting.
The strongest would inevitably clash with the strongest.
This was destiny.
And also the inevitability of balanced power.
The battle between the fastest shinobi in history, the Yellow Flash—future Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato—
And Kumogakure's strongest and fastest, the future Fourth Raikage, A—
Belonged to that very category of inevitability.
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