In the eyes of shinobi like Minato and Jiraiya, war was often attributed to the very existence of the shinobi system itself.
In this world, that viewpoint could not be called wrong. Shinobi represented an extreme form of suppressive military power, so it was natural for people to question the system as a whole.
But it could not be called entirely correct either.
Whenever such discussions arose in the past, Hagoromo never took part. From his perspective, as long as human beings existed, war would exist.
It had nothing to do with what systems humanity created.
Every system merely planted the seeds of conflict in a different form.
So the idea of seeking a permanent end to war was itself an illusion—trying to eradicate the root of a problem while trapped inside limited thinking could never succeed.
Even if shinobi vanished entirely, the world would still fight the same wars—only with different weapons.
Judged purely by efficiency and results, Uchiha Madara's peace was more realistic than Senju Hashirama's peace.
Uchiha Sasuke's peace was more efficient than Uzumaki Naruto's peace.
There was a way to eliminate war.
But no one would accept it.
It was called the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Only when humanity no longer existed would war between humans finally disappear.
Conflicts born from belief and purpose were simple matters for the powerful—they could act directly. For the powerless, they required more extreme methods.
At the front line between Konoha and Kumogakure, a small Cloud shinobi squad was moving quietly. Their objective was unclear.
It didn't need to be clear.
Because in the next instant, a shadow flashed past them—
And everything fell silent.
A figure carrying a massive scroll had slaughtered the squad.
There was no strategic reason tied to the war.
They died for a single reason only.
Hagoromo needed their hands—just briefly.
At this moment, he was at his weakest.
His esper ability was sluggish, unresponsive.
His right arm was so badly injured that he couldn't even form hand seals on his own.
And yet—
This was also the moment he had the greatest freedom of action.
Never before had his objective been so clear.
Humans possessed five senses, but they relied most heavily on sight.
Which made night the perfect cover.
A lack of vision didn't always cause panic—but it almost always bred confusion.
The Fourth Hokage's death had brought Kumogakure a glimmer of hope in the war against Konoha. As the conflict entered its final phase, the balance between offense and defense had shifted.
The atmosphere in the Cloud Village had changed.
Until tonight.
Something fell from the bottomless night sky, shrieking sharply as it descended.
White, oval objects slammed into every corner of Kumogakure almost simultaneously.
Then—
Explosions rang out in overlapping waves.
Firelight rose in layers.
Facing an unseen enemy and a sudden assault, chaos erupted instantly.
The explosions didn't stop.
Even larger objects followed, crashing down onto buildings and streets—
Their sheer mass and flesh-and-blood impact causing destruction that could not be resisted.
This was Hagoromo's first visit to Kumogakure.
It was also the first time his three summons had appeared in another village.
For both sides, it was a night that would never be forgotten.
Perhaps the Sage of Six Paths himself had been face-blind—forced to distinguish the tailed beasts by the obvious trait of their tails.
The number of tails determining a beast's strength wasn't universally accepted among the tailed beasts themselves—
But it was an easy misconception to make.
After all, the Nine-Tails truly was powerful.
And the One-Tail seemed comparatively weak.
Whether emotionally or logically, Hagoromo believed that the Eight-Tails possessed even greater destructive potential than the Two-Tails.
But attacking the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki directly was difficult.
Killer B was almost always accompanied by an overwhelming force—
The Fourth Raikage.
In his current condition, Hagoromo could not defeat the Fourth Raikage.
In a straight fight, he wasn't even a match for the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki.
But tonight, he wasn't here to fight.
He was here to destroy.
There were people in this world who could plant a bomb in their own heart and choose death if they failed.
Before an action was taken, no one could know the true limit of a human being.
That was what made humanity terrifying.
In the midst of the chaos, the Raikage and the jinchūriki stood out clearly.
Hagoromo found them almost immediately.
With the clang of metal chains, Rashōmon descended from the sky, slamming down between the Raikage and the jinchūriki.
Then a second.
A third.
A fourth.
A fifth.
The gates formed a circular enclosure, trapping one person inside.
An impregnable defense—both from within and without.
Using Rashōmon as the foundation, Hagoromo deployed a barrier equivalent to the one Minato had once used to restrain the Nine-Tails—
Smaller in scale, but denser and more physically reinforced.
Short-term, it was even harder to break.
Extracting a tailed beast required time and a stable environment.
And the one sealed away was—
The Fourth Raikage.
The Fourth Hokage could restrain the Nine-Tails.
The Fourth Raikage could certainly restrain the Eight-Tails.
That was not something Hagoromo wanted.
His judgment was absolutely correct.
The last time the Eight-Tails rampaged, Kumogakure lost—
Eighteen shinobi.
Because A was there.
The Yatagarasu dove from the sky.
Hagoromo and his shadow clone landed in front of Killer B.
"Who are you?" Killer B demanded.
Hagoromo's current appearance made identification difficult—but with the Eight-Tails' warning, B quickly realized who he was.
The Eight-Tails remembered him clearly.
After all, Hagoromo had once nearly killed it.
"Everyone, stay back!" Killer B shouted.
"Don't interfere—this intruder is mine!"
Partly because ordinary shinobi stood no chance.
Partly because—
He wanted revenge.
The Raikage struggled inside the barrier, trying to shout warnings—but no sound escaped.
The moment Killer B charged forward, Hagoromo had already removed the massive scroll from his back.
He and his clone grabbed either end, kicked off simultaneously, and unfurled it completely.
Hagoromo brought both left hands together and began forming seals at high speed.
By the time Killer B reached him—
The seals were already complete.
He couldn't advance.
A vast mass of milky-white substance erupted from the ground, instantly engulfing both Hagoromo and the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki.
Hagoromo's fifth summon—
Katsuyu of Shikkotsu Forest.
This was a special summoning method, similar in nature to Jiraiya's Toad Mouth Bind.
Hagoromo had no stone toads of Mount Myōboku.
He had only Katsuyu.
"A summoning technique?" Killer B scoffed.
"You think this can hold me?"
Though compressed by Katsuyu's body, a surge of Lightning Release tore open enough space for him to move freely.
He didn't even need to enter full tailed-beast form to break out.
But Hagoromo didn't need long-term confinement.
He needed only a moment of isolation.
Because his second scroll was already prepared.
More than a dozen shining silver chakra chains burst forth, wrapping tightly around the jinchūriki.
This—
Was the real binding technique.
Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Kushina's signature technique.
It had been Hagoromo's sixteenth-birthday gift.
Tailored specifically for him—
Because he had an uncanny tendency to attract jinchūriki and tailed beasts.
This was the last chakra Kushina had left to him.
And Hagoromo used it without hesitation.
If used here—
It was surely what Kushina would have wanted.
No matter how Killer B struggled, he couldn't break free in a short time.
The Uzumaki clan's suppressive chakra even prevented him from entering full tailed-beast transformation.
Then—
Gray mist spread through the confined space.
Orochimaru's special concoction.
According to its creator, it had only one effect—
To drive a tailed beast into berserk frenzy.
Tailed beasts were already violent by nature. Hagoromo had never understood why Orochimaru invented something so redundant.
But used on a perfect jinchūriki—
It was ideal.
As the tailed beast gradually lost control, sealing formulas emerged across Killer B's body—
Iron Armor Seal.
Hagoromo's true body stepped forward, extending his left hand toward the jinchūriki.
His fingers spread apart.
Azure chakra flames ignited at each fingertip.
Lightning.
Fire.
Both were innate affinities.
Water—balanced offense and defense—had been the first nature transformation he mastered.
Earth—heavy defense—had been his second choice.
Wind—focused on offense—had been learned last, difficult to control, barely usable.
Over more than five years, Hagoromo had mastered Water and Earth, and achieved limited control over Wind.
That was enough.
A sealing technique requiring all five elemental natures—
A technique that allowed simultaneous chakra division through a special structure—
A Fūinjutsu: Release Technique—
Hagoromo could now use it.
This had been another birthday gift from his teacher.
Five Elements Unsealing.
With a heavy, echoing clang—
It was as though a gate sealed shut for a hundred years had finally opened.
In Kumogakure—
The Eight-Tails, Gyūki, lost its reason.
And gained—
Freedom.
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