To move freely within the Land of Water, Hagoromo chose the most suitable form of disguise—
No disguise at all.
When he appeared on the battlefield as a shinobi, he almost always wore the same getup: the white mask and the iron gourd on his back. This was especially true on the Kirigakure front.
A shinobi carrying such distinctive equipment would instinctively be identified by that equipment alone. The enemy would subconsciously treat those conspicuous items as the primary markers of identity, while other physical traits—height, build, posture—were pushed into secondary consideration.
This wasn't a misconception; it was a genuine cognitive phenomenon.
In fact, purely for intimidation purposes, Konoha could've taken a portion of its frontline shinobi, dyed their hair blond, and sent them out pretending to be the Yellow Flash just to scare Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
Hagoromo's gourd worked in much the same way. When he appeared on the battlefield, the iron gourd on his back dominated the enemy's vision, causing everything else about him to be unconsciously ignored.
That was why, when he moved about as an ordinary civilian—showing his real face—he became extraordinarily misleading.
He looked harmless.
His smile was warm and gentle.
Without even trying, he could pass as the friendly boy next door—or, if necessary, a caring older sister.
Men, women, young, old—universally acceptable.
From first impressions alone, it was nearly impossible to associate him with a shinobi who killed without blinking.
In this regard, there was only one person in the entire shinobi world who might outdo him—
Haku of the Yuki Clan.
Which was precisely why judging people by their faces was such a mistake. Looking harmless didn't mean being harmless.
If necessary, Hagoromo could calmly stab someone while saying something like:
"Good and evil don't matter when facing death. Everyone is equal.
So I'll send you off with a smile.
Killing with a smile is simply my etiquette."
In the end, Hagoromo was the kind of person who could belong to the battlefield—who could live there.
In a peaceful former life, he could be an ordinary, law-abiding citizen.
In the chaotic shinobi world, he was a killer at ease with bloodshed.
Which one was his true self?
Both.
Starting tonight, the Konoha shinobi assigned to infiltration duties would enter the Land of Water in batches. Such missions naturally demanded maximum secrecy.
If some unlucky squad was discovered during infiltration, the consequences would be disastrous.
Discovery often meant combat.
Combat on enemy soil meant being surrounded by numerically superior Kirigakure forces.
And being surrounded meant no escape.
If that happened, then for the sake of the overall mission, the best outcome for those Konoha shinobi would be death—whether in battle or by their own hand. Capture was unacceptable. If taken alive, Konoha's operational intent would be exposed.
Even death wasn't entirely safe. One would still have to pray that Kirigakure lacked someone like Konoha's Yamanaka Clan—shinobi capable of extracting intelligence from the minds of the dead.
If such a scenario occurred, even shinobi of Hagoromo's caliber might still manage to hide in the Land of Water, but executing missions under that level of alert would be unimaginably difficult.
Given that Konoha had just launched a large-scale attack, Kirigakure—having realized that Konoha had shifted from defense to offense—was already on high alert.
Strictly speaking, this was not the ideal time to infiltrate the Land of Water.
But war worked that way. Absolute advantage was impossible. Certain missions had to be carried out regardless of conditions.
Konoha's only advantage during infiltration was geographical: the Land of Water was an island nation, surrounded by coastline on all sides. Completely sealing and monitoring it was simply impossible.
After all, Konoha had once gone to tremendous lengths to monitor the Land of Whirlpools—and still failed. Doing the same to the Land of Water was even less feasible.
From a strategic standpoint, Hagoromo's approach was flawless. His use of summoning techniques gave him a massive advantage, allowing him to infiltrate deeply without a sound.
Unfortunately—
Tonight, he was unlucky.
Just as he was about to leave a stretch of forest, he discovered an enemy four-man patrol approaching.
Retreating deeper into the forest to hide?
That risked them searching the area.
And if he was discovered—then even if his appearance was misleading and his clothing didn't resemble a shinobi's at all, a man wandering alone near a deserted coastline in the middle of the night was impossible to explain away.
What was he supposed to say? That he'd come out here to relieve himself into the sea?
So—
Taking advantage of early detection and eliminating them was the safer choice.
Killing the enemy wasn't the hard part.
The real challenge was doing it silently.
Any obvious noise or conspicuous combat under the quiet night sky could draw in additional enemies. If that happened, Hagoromo would be finished.
Being exposed before infiltration even truly began would doom the mission.
Hagoromo hid behind a tree at the forest's edge. The moonlight was bright, but he didn't peek out. Instead, he judged distance purely by the sound of footsteps.
He waited for them to enter his effective range.
Then—
Conversation drifted over.
"Captain, I heard that during Konoha's last attack, Fuguki Suikazan of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen was killed. Is that true?"
"It should be. I never thought even someone of his caliber would fall… Konoha really is going all-out."
"Can we really hold them off?" The voice carried clear unease.
The captain didn't answer, but another voice spoke up.
"Still, we should stay alert. We're on a mission—there could be Konoha shinobi infiltrating the area."
"Relax. Even though we're at high alert, Konoha just launched a large-scale operation. Preparing another offensive takes time. It won't be that fast. And even if someone infiltrated, they wouldn't choose a place like this."
Hagoromo listened and silently noted—
Someone had actually guessed correctly.
A Konoha shinobi really had infiltrated from this exact spot.
Still… chatting openly during a mission?
Didn't they know how far sound carried at night?
These Kirigakure shinobi were still judging the war by outdated standards. In the war's later stages, opportunities changed in an instant. The tempo was far faster than before.
Those who seized the moment won.
Those who hesitated lost.
Konoha launching another operation immediately after its assault wasn't strange at all.
As their conversation continued, the enemies entered range.
Hagoromo formed seals swiftly and silently.
The four Kirigakure shinobi felt as if a shadow flickered before their eyes—
Then everything vanished.
"Captain… doesn't it suddenly feel darker? I can't see anything at all."
"Captain?"
There was no response.
Because the captain was already dead.
A calm, unfamiliar voice spoke beside him:
"The stars are the same stars.
The moon is the same moon.
It's not the night that's grown darker—
You're just under a genjutsu."
"If there's a next time, I sincerely suggest not chatting during missions.
It's terribly careless."
"Who's there?!"
That was as far as it went.
Hagoromo didn't bother answering. He placed a hand on the man's head—
And then there was nothing more to say.
If one spoke of techniques for eliminating enemies without a sound, then one had to mention the skill Hagoromo had mastered while studying Water Release—
Genjutsu.
What he had just used was a high-level illusion originally employed by the First Hokage:
Demonic Illusion: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.
It instantly robbed the target of all vision, completely sealing their sight.
And in that single moment—
Even a shinobi could only wait to be slaughtered.
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