The Land of Water, an island nation isolated overseas, somehow managed to involve itself in every Shinobi World War. That, on the surface, was rather miraculous.
You're not even connected to anyone—why not stay on your islands, plant trees, raise kids, and live peacefully?
The answer was simple.
That would be unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable.
If you didn't participate in a Shinobi World War, what kind of great nation were you? The leader of Kirigakure bore the title of Mizukage. As a Kage, during a world war you either beat your enemies until they bled—or got beaten until you bled.
Anything else was dereliction of duty.
Kirigakure clashing with Konoha or Kumogakure was understandable. Geographically speaking, they were separated only by sea—close enough to be considered neighbors.
But being mortal enemies with Iwagakure was harder to justify. That distance was absurd.
Even stranger, to this day Kirigakure and Sunagakure were still officially at war.
An island nation.
An inland desert nation.
They couldn't be more distant if they tried. What kind of hatred required that level of commitment?
Then again, the shinobi world was tiny. Ninja were infamous for their long legs and habit of roaming everywhere, assassinating, infiltrating, sabotaging…
Who knew when grudges were formed?
As for the war between Konoha and Kirigakure, its intensity was on par with other fronts—but its scale was smaller.
The reason was obvious.
Any engagement required crossing the sea.
None of the nations possessed a navy. Strictly speaking, there was no such thing as a "marine ninja" branch.
Logistics alone severely limited how many shinobi could be deployed at once.
Ten thousand Kirigakure ninja invading the Land of Fire wasn't impossible—but maintaining that force long-term? Almost unthinkable.
Supply lines simply wouldn't support it.
Thus, the front commanded by Orochimaru consisted of roughly four thousand Konoha ninja at full strength. Factoring in the high proportion of elite clans like the Uchiha and Hyūga, the average combat capability was slightly higher than that of Jiraiya's front.
And this time, Orochimaru didn't just probe the Land of Water.
He committed two thousand ninja—half his total force.
This wasn't a test.
It was a large-scale offensive.
The war had only just resumed, and Konoha was already making a major move.
Previously, Konoha had remained largely on the defensive, even when dealing with Kirigakure. Occasional infiltration missions existed, but they were always small-unit operations.
An offensive of this magnitude against the Land of Water was unprecedented.
A sea-crossing attack was impossible to fully conceal. The open ocean offered no cover, and the risk of spies was ever-present.
Still, to achieve some degree of surprise, Konoha deliberately chose a day of dense fog, when visibility was abysmal.
The operation was personally directed by Orochimaru.
Given Hagoromo's profile, he was placed without hesitation into the first assault echelon.
By organizational classification, he belonged to the Orochimaru Landing Operation's beachhead force.
Orochimaru had chosen his timing well.
The fog was so thick that even nearby comrades were barely visible.
Konoha's forces launched from the sea in the afternoon, crossed overnight, and reached their target by dawn.
To avoid unnecessary complications, the two thousand ninja were not divided. Instead, they would strike a single Kirigakure coastal stronghold simultaneously.
Their primary objective: destroy it completely.
According to intelligence, the site stored large quantities of Kirigakure war supplies. Moreover, most Kirigakure incursions into the Land of Fire assembled here first.
Destroying it would significantly hinder future enemy operations.
Since Konoha had never launched a large-scale assault on the Land of Water before, Kirigakure's habitual thinking worked against them.
They simply hadn't considered that Konoha would target a coastal base directly.
Dawn. Heavy fog. Near the shores of the Land of Water.
Shadowy figures moved through the mist as Konoha ninja advanced cautiously, doing their best to suppress all sound.
Unfortunately, this was Kirigakure's home turf.
What detection methods they possessed was unknown.
And so, when the Konoha force closed to within five kilometers of the coast—
A shrill alarm suddenly pierced the air.
"Tch…"
Hagoromo clicked his tongue.
So much for stealth.
Still, being detected only at this distance was actually a stroke of luck.
Since they had already been discovered, retreat was no longer an option. On the contrary, there was no need to restrain themselves anymore.
They surged forward at maximum speed.
Frontal assault.
That was the purpose of the vanguard.
Feet skimming across the sea's surface, Hagoromo ran amid the formation—not at the front, not at the rear.
But the moment his feet touched land—
Chidori Current activated instantly.
In a burst of crackling thunder and violent noise, he shot forward, appearing at the very front of the formation almost instantly.
Kirigakure's response was swift. In that brief window, shinobi had already poured out from the stronghold, attempting to intercept the advancing Konoha forces.
Hagoromo, leading the charge, naturally became a priority target.
But—
They couldn't hit him.
They couldn't stop him.
His speed was overwhelming—light as a swallow, fierce as a gale, fast as a thunderbolt. He focused entirely on evasion, refusing to engage.
Because he had a breaching mission.
Only when he was nearly upon the enemy stronghold did his hands finally form seals.
Ninja Art: Summoning Technique — Two-Horned Rhinoceros: "Open Sesame (Breaching Summon)"!
A massive, armor-plated two-horned rhinoceros materialized before him.
With a deep, thunderous bellow—half roar, half snort—the beast slammed its hooves into the ground and charged forward.
It didn't look particularly fast.
But it was unstoppable.
BOOM!
A deafening crash erupted as though a colossal siege ram had smashed into the stronghold's outer wall.
Wood. Stone. Iron.
It didn't matter.
The wall was punched straight through.
As Hagoromo considered whether to charge in immediately—after all, the interior was packed with Kirigakure shinobi, and rushing in blindly would be dangerous—
He realized he'd overthought it.
Someone had already gone in ahead of him.
Who was the fastest in the shinobi world required no debate—
Konoha's Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.
But Hagoromo wasn't the only one capable of extreme speed.
There were others who could be called godlike in movement.
For example—
The pride of the Uchiha Clan.
Shisui of the Body Flicker.
Hagoromo was speechless.
He had been moving fast. Very fast.
Yet Shisui had followed effortlessly.
Using Body Flicker to reach speeds comparable to Lightning Release—
And without the same chakra consumption?
Yeah. He lost.
Still—
Charging in that directly—wouldn't he get swarmed instantly?
That level of confidence was terrifying.
Hagoromo didn't have time to dwell on it.
He immediately followed, plunging into the shattered stronghold behind them.
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