This towering and highly unique architectural style could only be described as looking brutal enough to violently impale the Sky.
It made Hagoromo, currently standing on the back of his flying bird, blink his eyes hard.
"Roran, huh... As expected of the place rumored to be where the Divine Tree once grew. Even their artificial buildings are built this ridiculously high."
Hagoromo sighed inwardly. Regardless of whether Kushina's rumors were accurate, this country's architectural style was indeed very exotic.
He approached the city from the sky, rapidly closing the distance.
As a sovereign nation, Roran's footprint was truly limited. Compared to expanding horizontally, this country clearly preferred—and was much better at—building vertically.
Getting closer, Hagoromo discovered a glaring issue with the city... It wasn't nearly as peaceful as he had imagined.
Thick smoke and the glow of fires billowed into the sky above the entire city.
Many of the tower-like buildings had been snapped in half, and the debris of collapsed structures littered the streets.
The city was dead silent. There was no sign of human activity; it looked completely devoid of life.
What was going on? Didn't they say this country had a population of tens of thousands?
As for why the city looked like a war zone, there was no doubt about it—it had indeed become a battlefield.
Certain craters and scorch marks were clearly the result of destructive ninjutsu.
As for the combatants, one side was undoubtedly Minato's squad. So the question was, who was their enemy?
The scene before him didn't look like one side held an overwhelming advantage; the sheer scale of the destruction suggested it had been an evenly matched brawl.
Judging by this, the enemy possessed considerable combat strength.
Hagoromo released his Summoning Jutsu and dropped to the ground. Just as he was considering tracking the battle scars to find Minato's team, visibly fluctuating chakra rippled out from a nearby building.
"Over there!"
There was no need to search anymore. Hagoromo pivoted and dashed straight toward the tallest tower-like structure in the center of the city.
The path inside was littered with the wrecked remains of puppets... The sheer volume of them made Hagoromo wonder if Sasori of the Red Sand had taken a vacation over here.
A reunion after over a year or so? Just thinking about it made him a little excited.
But he quickly dismissed the thought. Although there were a massive number of them, these puppets clearly weren't what Sasori's.
Upon entering the building, Hagoromo quickly sensed that the source of the chakra fluctuation was deep underground. Following a spiral staircase clinging to the tower's inner wall, he rapidly descended.
He maintained high vigilance the entire way down, because the deeper he went, the fiercer the traces of battle became.
To guard against a hidden enemy popping out to launch a surprise attack, the Iron Sand from his gourd had already drifted into the air around him.
However, this was clearly an overabundance of caution. Even when he occasionally stumbled upon an intact, standing puppet, it was just a harmless husk that had long since lost its controller.
Just like that, Hagoromo swiftly reached the very bottom.
Stepping off the staircase and taking his first step around the corner, before he could even sweep his eyes over his new surroundings, he heard a voice that froze him perfectly in his tracks.
"Hey, Hagoromo!"
An unfamiliar female voice cheerfully called out his name.
Someone here recognized him? Was this a trap?
Hagoromo's reaction was fast. Almost instantly, he was armed and ready, shifting into high alert.
Looking forward from where he stood, he saw the vertical cross-section of a massive shaft. Suspended in the very center of the shaft was a cylindrical platform.
There were no more sounds echoing here, and the chakra fluctuations had completely vanished. He couldn't spot any obvious enemies. Although the platform was isolated in the center, the chasm separating it from the outer wall of the shaft was completely dry and empty.
Hagoromo suddenly saw a blinding flash of white light illuminate the opposite side, which vanished just as quickly. For a split second, he swore he saw silhouettes flashing within that white light.
Only after the light faded did Hagoromo clearly see the situation across the gap. There were a total of five people standing on the platform: Minato's squad, and an unfamiliar red-haired girl.
"An illusion? Or a genjutsu?"
He could only assume so. After all, people instantly disappearing into thin air in an isolated place like this was impossible to imagine... Not everyone was like Minato, able to just shout "Look at my Anywhere Door~" and teleport wherever they pleased.
Walking right to the edge of the chasm, Hagoromo called out: "Minato-senpai, are you guys okay?"
"Hagoromo? We're fine. Why are you here?"
"I came to provide mission backup."
As Hagoromo spoke, the Iron Sand floating behind him stretched out like a ribbon, forming a solid bridge that directly connected the outer wall to the central platform.
Hagoromo stepped onto his Iron Sand bridge and casually walked over to Minato's group.
"You're late. We've already completed the mission," Kakashi said, lazily clasping his hands behind his head.
Hagoromo completely ignored him. There was something here he cared about much more.
The girl standing in front of him had red hair very similar to Kushina's. She looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. Her clothing style was both postmodern and avant-garde. She was tightly gripping a short sword; Hagoromo noticed the Konoha insignia carved into it, but didn't pay it much mind.
Hagoromo sweeping his gaze up and down her body naturally made her feel nervous and highly suspicious of his intentions, so she instinctively tightened her grip on the short sword.
"Who are you?" Hagoromo asked directly.
"This is the Queen of Roran, Sara," Minato stepped in to introduce her. He didn't quite understand why Hagoromo had immediately locked onto her the moment he arrived.
"So, uh, Sara, do you know me?"
The person who cheerfully called out his name just now had to be her, right?
Sara thought for a moment, then said, "Your name... is Hagoromo? I definitely have an impression of that name. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before..." Sara's expression was bewildered, her memory of certain details clearly highly ambiguous.
"Hagoromo, just now, for certain reasons, I used a memory-erasing ninjutsu to wipe everyone's memories. Your name... I probably mentioned it to the Queen earlier, so she might still have a lingering impression."
"..." That statement was a bit shocking. Why the hell would you wipe your own memories for no reason?
"Why? What was the reason for erasing your memories?"
"It wasn't a seal, it was a complete erasure. As for the reason behind it, that was also erased. Right now, I am just as clueless about it as you are."
"I only remember the core parameters of our squad's mission: investigating the Dragon Vein, protecting the Queen, defeating the puppet master attempting to exploit the Dragon Vein, and completely sealing it," Minato explained.
"Can the memories be restored?"
"Unfortunately, unlike a standard seal, the erasure process is irreversible."
Hagoromo was at a complete loss. Was this destined to become an unsolved mystery?
Why would the Queen so cheerfully call out his name?
Even if Minato had casually mentioned his name to her, why would she use that kind of familiar, excited tone for a person she had never met in her life?
There had to be a concrete reason behind this...
So why the hell did they erase their own memories?!
"Kakashi, did you hear someone call my name just now?"
Kakashi shook his head. "I remember even less than Minato-sensei. I just feel like my head hurts, almost like someone punched me in the face... Are you sure you aren't having auditory hallucinations?"
You're the one having imaginary beatings!
As for that "Hey, Hagoromo," Hagoromo had heard it loud and clear.
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