"Who asked you about that? I'm asking how your first real battle felt." Kushina's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
Her student was being a bit dense. Shouldn't there be a little more unspoken understanding between a master and her disciple?
Hagoromo thought for a moment. "I suppose I'm fairly satisfied with my performance," he replied.
"Thanks to my sensory abilities, fighting at night worked to my advantage. The entire battle lasted less than two minutes from start to finish."
"In fact, I only used a single strike against each of the four enemies. You could call it a lightning-blitz tactic."
"The results were pretty good: three dead and one injured. That Sand Jonin whose arm I severed probably won't make it out of the country safely, either."
"Objectively speaking, I held all the advantages. If the enemy had a sensory ninja, I definitely wouldn't have won so easily."
"In a head-on clash, the gap between me and a Jonin is still very obvious, both in combat experience and raw strength."
Through this battle, Hagoromo also came to understand his biggest flaw: his lack of chakra reserves.
The high-power ninjutsu he favored required massive amounts of chakra to execute. Clearly, he simply hadn't grown old enough to possess those kinds of reserves yet.
"I'm extremely satisfied with you, Hagoromo," Kushina said. "You have to understand that ninja are not samurai. There aren't that many 'ifs' on the battlefield."
"I knew you were excellent before, but tonight you've truly proven it."
Actually, this wasn't what Kushina wanted to ask at all. She had been trying to gauge if Hagoromo was dealing with any psychological trauma after his first real battle and first kill.
She hadn't expected him to analyze the fight so naturally. That meant his mental state was perfectly fine.
Hagoromo nodded, indicating he understood. Ninja were not samurai, and they certainly weren't knights.
A ninja's goal was a one-hit kill, not a fair and square one-on-one duel. The method didn't matter.
If you could kill a Chunin, you had Chunin-level capabilities. If you could kill a Jonin, you had Jonin-level strength. Whether you used a blade or poison, the end result was exactly the same.
If he had known Kushina was worried about his psychological state, he would have told her not to bother.
Those who aspired to be ninja were taught how to kill from the moment they were born. They learned how to do it efficiently, and how to do it while keeping themselves alive.
For a perfect top student like Hagoromo, executing what he had learned on a real battlefield was second nature. He had already mentally rehearsed these combat scenarios millions of times, making Kushina's worries entirely redundant.
"Still, I used up a massive chunk of my chakra," Hagoromo added with a wry smile.
His output had simply been too intense.
This was especially true for the Chidori Sharp Spear. Projecting chakra five meters away from the body was an absolute drain.
Even with Hagoromo's talent for refining and controlling his chakra, the consumption of the Chidori Sharp Spear was a bit much to handle.
"Haha!" Kushina burst out laughing. "That's what you get for only having eyes for A-rank and S-rank ninjutsu!"
"Now you know your chakra isn't enough, right?" she teased, forcefully slapping him on the shoulder.
This left Hagoromo feeling completely exasperated.
You Uzumakis and Senjus are all chakra monsters, he thought. Of course you wouldn't understand the struggles of someone with low reserves.
Meanwhile, the Anbu ninja were still cleaning up the battlefield in the woods.
Their first priority was to glean any remaining intel from the Sand Ninja corpses. Their second was to scrub away all traces of the fight.
By this time, practically everyone in the camp was awake. After all, a battle had just taken place right next door.
They were all ninja and possessed the basic vigilance expected of their profession. It was impossible for them to sleep through a fight breaking out so close by.
Hagoromo's cloak was stained with some blood. Fortunately, since the fabric was black, it wasn't very noticeable.
The Anbu ninja swept the camp's perimeter once more. After confirming there were no more enemies lurking about, the group finally settled back down to rest.
However, the active Anbu guard detail was increased from one squad to two.
Hagoromo returned to Kushina's tent and rolled out his sleeping gear. He lay on the ground, resting while passively recovering his chakra.
That intense battle had left him feeling quite exhausted.
About ten minutes later, he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up again, it was already 6:00 AM.
Hagoromo picked up the forehead protector resting by his pillow and tied it around his head.
Today, they would enter the Konoha general headquarters on the Sand Ninja frontlines. Without this headband, he might be mistaken for an enemy and attacked by his own side.
Looking around, he noticed Kushina was already gone. Realizing he might have slept in, he quickly got up and stepped out of the tent.
Sure enough, everyone was gathered by the stream, freshening up.
Hagoromo hurried over to join them. Afterwards, they all grimaced as they choked down their breakfast.
Honestly, Konoha's field rations were truly awful. Hagoromo felt more inclined to pop two food pills than to chew on those rock-hard biscuits.
Once the meal was over, the Anbu meticulously cleaned up all traces of their encampment.
They didn't stop until the area looked exactly as it had before they arrived. Only then did the group of nearly forty people set out once more.
This caution was necessary to prevent enemy trackers from picking up their trail.
After all, medical ninja were quite frail in terms of combat power. The Anbu didn't want to be caught in a fight while trying to protect them.
Due to these escort requirements, the Konoha ninja arranged themselves into a Manji formation.
One Anbu squad cleared the path at the front, while two more guarded the flanks. Kushina, Hagoromo, and the final Anbu squad took up the rear.
The twenty medical ninja were kept safely in the center of the formation.
To accommodate the medics, they advanced toward the frontline headquarters at thirty kilometers per hour.
Covering the two-hundred-kilometer distance meant running non-stop for about seven hours.
This pace wasn't considered fast for a ninja, but it was still a moderate endurance test for some members of the group.
Those with poor stamina simply had to grit their teeth and push through. This was no longer the safe heartland of the Land of Fire.
There was no time for leisurely travel. Last night's ambush clearly proved they were on a volatile border where combat could erupt at any second.
The faster they crossed this stretch and reached the headquarters, the safer everyone would be.
Fortunately, they encountered no further enemies along the way.
By early afternoon, they finally began to approach the Konoha frontline headquarters.