After being grilled by the Third Hokage for a good while, Hagoromo was finally set free.
Having heard the full report of Hagoromo's exploits, the Third was more certain than ever that Suna was backed into a corner. It wasn't that Hagoromo's infiltration and sabotage had dealt a fatal blow on its own, but for a village already reeling from a crushing defeat on the front lines, having their infrastructure trashed was the ultimate "fuck you" from Konoha.
If the Hokage's victory on the battlefield was a 99 on the damage scale, Hagoromo's sabotage was the final 1. But that 1 was the most conspicuous, soul-crushing point of all—it was the point that tipped Suna's losses from a manageable double-digit nightmare into a triple-digit catastrophe.
Most people can grit their teeth through a 99. But once that counter hits 100, the will to fight snaps. They stop holding on; they compromise.
Wars between nations follow the same cold math. There is only so much blood and treasure a village can lose before the breaking point. Right now, Suna had reached its limit.
Despite winning the battle, the Leaf didn't push deeper into the Land of Wind. Instead, they pulled back slightly—not a retreat, but a repositioning to set up camp just behind the day's battlefield.
The Hokage knew Suna scouts were still watching. This "measured withdrawal" was a silent long-distance call to the Kazekage: Konoha has no interest in a total invasion of your desert, which is why we moved back. However, this mercy comes with a price. Suna needs to show some skin. Yield and surrender, or this war continues on your front porch.
As the battlefield was cleared, the Leaf shinobi began to rotate back. The campsite had been pre-designated; by the time the combat units arrived, the logistics team already had the tents pitched and the campfires roaring.
The field hospital was the heart of the camp, packed with medical ninja ready to stitch the army back together. Of course, they hadn't just been waiting around; the critically wounded had been ferried back in waves throughout the day. By now, the "walking wounded" finally had their turn.
A certain unlucky Hagoromo was among them. That rough landing earlier had caused some of his deeper, older wounds to reopen. It wasn't life-threatening, but the fresh crimson seeping through his white bandages was a clear sign he needed a patch job.
Since he wasn't a priority case, he behaved himself and joined the queue. He wasn't about to go bother a titan like Tsunade for a few scratches.
After about thirty minutes of waiting in the dust, he finally stepped into a medical tent.
"Wait, Rin? Is that you?"
Hagoromo blinked, surprised to see Nohara Rin bustling about in her white medical gear.
She was currently busy bandaging a shirtless Kakashi. Judging by the pile of blood-soaked gauze on the floor and the pale, hollow look on Kakashi's face, the "prodigy" had taken a hell of a beating.
To be honest, this was the first time Hagoromo had seen Kakashi's actual face. Without the mask, the kid still had those signature "dead-fish eyes" that seemed far too cynical for someone his age.
"Hagoromo? Just a second, you're next."
"Take your time with Kakashi," Hagoromo said, waving a hand. "I'm fine. I didn't exactly have any head-on collisions today."
He figured he'd let Rin focus on her favorite person for a bit.
Kakashi really was in rough shape. Nominally, he'd been in the "second wave" of the attack—but since the "first wave" consisted of exactly two people (the Third Hokage and Minato Namikaze), the second wave was effectively the front line. Kakashi had been right in the thick of the meat grinder.
His body was covered in as many scars as a veteran twice his age. Hagoromo had caught glimpses of him from the air; the kid's short-blade technique was terrifying, and his fighting spirit was even worse. Hagoromo thought he was ruthless, but in a messy, close-quarters brawl, Kakashi seemed even more like a cold-blooded machine.
Unlike Hagoromo, Kakashi was a "Shinobi" in the truest, darkest sense. The trauma surrounding his father, the White Fang, had left a deep scar on his soul. At this stage of his life, he was actively trying to murder his own emotions to become the perfect tool for the mission.
Hagoromo didn't know the full psychological backstory, but he could see the kid was pushing himself to the brink.
However, Kakashi's biggest injury wasn't inflicted by the enemy—it was self-inflicted.
Observing closely, Hagoromo noticed Kakashi's right hand was trembling—a faint, rhythmic shudder. The limb looked almost entirely numb. The skin on his forearm and palm was a mess of necrotic patches and raised, cord-like welts.
He hadn't been hit by a secret technique. To Hagoromo, the diagnosis was obvious: Kakashi had used an incomplete Chidori (Raikiri) during the battle. And he'd used it more than once. His arm simply couldn't handle the sheer output of high-intensity Lightning Style.
At this point, Kakashi had already mastered the nature transformations for Lightning, Water, and Earth. In that sense, he was a genuine monster of a genius. While Hagoromo was born with Fire and Lightning affinities, he was still a student when it came to the actual manipulation of those elements.
Hagoromo's learning curve was lopsided: once he understood a jutsu, he could execute it perfectly, but mastering the underlying nature transformation was a slow, manual grind. For him, nature transformation was like scouting a path through a jungle; for Kakashi, the path was already paved, he just didn't have a car strong enough to drive on it yet.
Rin finished the basic treatment. Kakashi's arm would need time to heal from the inside out; medicine could only do so much for nerve and cellular damage caused by lightning.
Then it was Hagoromo's turn. Compared to the boy wonder, his case was a breeze. Rin unspooled his messy bandages, applied some fresh salve, and wrapped him back up with professional efficiency.
Done with his appointment, Hagoromo stepped out of the tent, only to find Kakashi sitting alone by a campfire.
Hagoromo could catch the subtle way Rin's eyes lingered on the silver-haired boy, but Kakashi remained as unresponsive as a stone. To him, the mission was the only thing that existed.
Hagoromo watched this display of emotional stuntedness and shook his head.
Their love life wasn't his concern.