Whether it was "I came all the way from Konoha just to deliver you a bento"…
or "Lightning cleaves, sparing no one whose name is unknown"…
Biwa Jūzō was already dead.
A single engagement, a single outcome.
If the fight were repeated, Hagoromo couldn't guarantee it would go so smoothly again. But in truth, once an enemy was caught within the paralysis range of Chidori Nagashi, their fate was essentially sealed.
Compared to a year ago, the effectiveness of his Chidori Nagashi had undeniably improved.
If one had to pinpoint the key factor in this battle, it was that Biwa Jūzō made the wrong decision. He shouldn't have pursued Kakashi after that initial misstep—he should have shifted his focus to Hagoromo instead.
Had Jūzō been a shinobi from Sunagakure, he likely wouldn't have underestimated Hagoromo so easily. It couldn't be helped—the reputation of "White Fang"–type lightning users varied greatly between villages.
Besides, being attacked from both front and back was something most shinobi simply couldn't handle.
What was Sunagakure's standard tactic against the Uchiha?
Two-on-one, then flank from behind.
As for Jūzō himself—what was his final thought before death?
"I never imagined I'd die at the hands of a pair of twins like this…"
Well… could you really blame him for thinking that?
Same white hair.
Same Lightning Release.
Same face coverings.
So the question was—
Who was the older brother, and who was the younger?
If he had known the truth, even in death, tears would've fallen from his eyes.
Damn it—this level of coordination! These two practically had telepathy!
Wasn't that just bullying?
Good thing he was already dead. Otherwise, if Hagoromo ever learned what he'd been thinking, he'd probably kill him all over again.
Hagoromo handed the Executioner's Blade to Kakashi, then began searching Jūzō's body.
At this point, a slightly awkward thought crossed his mind.
If he really had been carrying the Byakugan…
Wouldn't that "honeycomb-style" impalement earlier have damaged the eye?
Would the Hyūga clan make him pay compensation?
In reality, the core issue was simple: the Byakugan could not be allowed to fall into the hands of anyone outside the Hyūga clan. Whether it was brought back to Konoha or destroyed on the spot made little difference.
They weren't like certain "relatives" who had a disturbingly obsessive habit of collecting Byakugan.
After sifting through various odds and ends, Hagoromo actually found something.
A transparent glass container filled with green liquid.
Suspended inside it was a white object.
Was the mission really completed just like that?
Hagoromo examined it carefully, then clicked his tongue and tossed it to Kakashi.
As expected—nothing was ever that simple.
"Byakugan?" Kakashi asked, not bothering to study the object himself.
Hagoromo replied:
"Byakugan?"
"Keep it. You can use it as a ping-pong ball."
It was obviously fake—painfully obvious. Even Hagoromo could tell at a glance.
Floating in the liquid was nothing more than a small wooden ball painted white. Calling it camouflage was generous—this was outright mockery.
If not for ping-pong, it could at least be strung into prayer beads.
Jūzō carried very little of value, and the intelligence gained from his body was minimal. As for information directly related to their mission—
Practically zero.
Leaving the corpse behind, the two continued deeper toward the Land of Whirlpools.
Neither Hagoromo nor Kakashi spared a thought for the dead enemy.
Unfortunately, even though they had cleanly eliminated a jōnin, the mission was far from over.
The squad's objective was the Byakugan. Until it was recovered, everything else—no matter how dramatic—was secondary.
Even if they killed the Third Mizukage, the mission would still continue without the Byakugan.
Based on Konoha's assessment, Kirigakure was highly likely to attempt a dispersed breakout to smuggle the Byakugan off the island.
This would divide Konoha's attention. After all, aside from the individual actually carrying the Byakugan, everyone else would merely be decoys.
A collective breakout might increase combat strength, but it was strategically unsound. Once detected by Konoha's reconnaissance network, they would be encircled and annihilated.
In short—
Kirigakure intended to escape in a way that minimized the risk of being wiped out in one sweep.
Judging by the fact that Hagoromo's team encountered only Biwa Jūzō, Konoha's analysis appeared correct. Even a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen was merely bait—hence the ping-pong ball.
Jūzō was clearly a fast-moving operative. By the time they encountered him, he had already left the island and reached the outer sea. One step further, and he would have entered the outermost layer of Konoha's surveillance perimeter.
At his level, if he plunged directly into the reconnaissance net—so long as he didn't charge straight into a Hyūga cluster—there was a real chance he could have broken through.
From there, by causing chaos on the perimeter, he might have shattered Konoha's deployment entirely, potentially guiding the full Kirigakure force to a successful retreat.
The plan was idealistic.
Reality was cruel.
He had run headfirst into a pair of "twins."
After that, Hagoromo and Kakashi continued sweeping their assigned sector of the sea. For the time being, no new enemies appeared.
"The first phase of the mission is basically complete," Hagoromo said.
"No more enemies on the sea surface. Next, we move inland—into the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools."
At the shoreline, Hagoromo squatted down and used a thin stick to sketch a rough map in the sand.
Each squad was responsible for a wedge-shaped area—wide in the outer sea, narrowing toward the island. Once they entered the complex terrain inland, however, all squads would transition into independent search and hunt operations.
"Our squad is among the fastest," Hagoromo continued.
"Once we're inside, it's unclear whether Konoha or Kirigakure holds the overall advantage in strength. We need to be especially careful."
The situation within the island was genuinely uncertain.
If Minato-senpai was already inside—and happened to encounter the enemy before they fully dispersed—there was a real chance he'd wipe them out on his own.
In Hagoromo's memory, there was no clear Hokage-era canon event tied to a Byakugan incident like this. He didn't know whether Konoha ultimately succeeded or failed in the "original" timeline.
His own involvement was already a variable.
For all he knew, Kakashi might not even have participated in this operation originally.
Everything remained uncertain.
The terrain inland was complex—not just forests, but the ruins of abandoned cities and an entire destroyed shinobi village.
After the fall of the Land of Whirlpools, those remaining structures were perfect for concealment. This could easily turn into a prolonged operation.
If Minato acted with his usual efficiency, that would be the best-case scenario. Of course, it was also possible that he hadn't encountered a single enemy yet.
That was why Hagoromo issued the reminder:
Be wary of the enemy.
And be prepared for a long fight.
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