For a certain personal reason, and also to prevent missing the ninja the Hidden Mist sent to receive him, Hagoromo chose to walk across the water to the Land of Water.
Perhaps because he had made rather thorough preparations beforehand, Hagoromo currently exuded a faint "don't mess with me" aura.
Yes, whoever messed with him, he'd blow them up. There was no room for negotiation on this matter.
His current movement speed obviously couldn't compare to when he was flying. It wasn't that he didn't understand the basic concept of hurrying, but the mission parameters required him to arrive at the designated location neither too early nor too late, so he could meet the actual Hidden Mist ninja assigned to the handover.
If he arrived too early, he might end up in a conflict with passing Hidden Mist ninjas who were unaware of the situation. And if he was later than the designated time, the person receiving him might have already left, which would likely result in an immediate mission failure.
Therefore, Hagoromo had to manage his time carefully.
He appeared to be walking across the ocean surface very relaxedly, but mentally, he was on extremely high alert. Considering the danger of the mission, it wasn't just arriving at the Hidden Mist that meant being surrounded by enemies; the journey to the Land of Water itself was equally unsafe.
Although during the Great Ninja War, each village appeared to present a unified, monolithic front to the outside world, the reality was much like Konoha—where Danzo Shimura operated as his own faction and the Uchiha remained an independent block. Other villages internally had their own factional divides and conflicting agendas.
For the Hidden Mist, there was naturally a "Peace Faction" that advocated for peace talks with Konoha, but there was also a "War Faction" that insisted on fighting to the bitter end, not to mention the perennially restless Kaguya clan.
For the faction that wanted to pull the village out of the quagmire of war as soon as possible, they naturally welcomed the arrival of Konoha's envoy. Conversely, the War Faction was undoubtedly opposed to it...
Therefore, Hagoromo could encounter enemy interceptions at any moment.
Some of this came from Konoha's intelligence, while the rest came from Hagoromo's own considerations, guesses, and analyses. In reality, such thoughts were highly referential.
Triggered by a recent incident, the irreconcilable conflict between the Mist's two factions had thoroughly erupted. Currently, the opposition between the two sides was extremely prominent. For Hagoromo to choose to go to the Hidden Mist at this time could be considered the best of times, or the worst of times.
And the anticipated interception arrived very quickly.
"I truly didn't expect to run into an acquaintance in a place like this. But this is not the location Konoha and the Hidden Mist agreed upon, which means you aren't here to give me a friendly welcome, are you?" Hagoromo said, looking at the four-man squad before him. He wasn't surprised to encounter an interception by Hidden Mist enemies, only that he would meet a familiar face again so soon.
The enemies facing Hagoromo were a four-man Hidden Mist squad led by his old acquaintance, Yagura.
The two sides had engaged in a brief but perilous clash. With so much time having passed, Yagura had had ample opportunity to learn exactly who the Konoha ninja he fought last time was. He had naturally acquired some basic intel on Hagoromo.
"Be careful. I fought this ninja once before. Stay alert. He possesses an incredibly powerful Lightning Style ninjutsu, and he is the rumored Konoha ninja... the one who assassinated the Third Raikage."
As one of the few enemies who had witnessed Hagoromo's Super Electromagnetic Cannon and lived to tell the tale, and factoring in the timing of the Third Raikage's death, even without concrete evidence proving Hagoromo was the so-called "disciple of Konoha Jonin Kushina," Yagura was eighty percent certain that the Raikage incident was the doing of the seemingly young ninja standing opposite him.
Although Yagura's teammates were three unnamed background characters, as ninjas entrusted to execute such a crucial assassination mission, their strength was naturally extraordinary. Mentally, they would never lack caution, and Yagura's words undoubtedly made them take the enemy even more seriously.
The purpose of these four intercepting him here was self-evident, so Hagoromo didn't need to ask to confirm it. The question he asked was a different one:
"How did you know I was the one executing this mission?"
This question could be major or minor. If the other party really knew in advance that Hagoromo was the one assigned to this mission, it meant Konoha had a massive hidden security issue. After all, the people who knew the details of this mission could be counted on one hand, and all held important positions. If the intel was leaked, it highly suggested there was a Hidden Mist spy among those Konoha ninjas in key positions.
However, Yagura's reply dispelled this concern: "For us, it doesn't matter who Konoha sends. Our mission remains the same; there is no need to differentiate based on who arrives."
This squad's mission was simply to intercept and kill the Konoha envoy; as for the specific identity of the envoy, it didn't matter.
Sometimes a ninja squad's estimation of their own combined combat strength is accurate; sometimes it's biased. But relying on this single squad to assassinate Hagoromo?
If this were in the past, facing what appeared to be an all-Jonin four-man squad that included a ninja like Yagura, Hagoromo's first priority choice would likely have been to disengage from combat as quickly as possible... But things were slightly different now.
"Although I can't exactly say I have a personal grudge against you, a mission is a mission, and leaving a ninja like you alive is simply too dangerous for the Hidden Mist..."
"So I apologize, but please die here."
Regardless of Yagura's personal thoughts, from the standpoint he currently held, he had to ensure the war with Konoha persisted, even if it was just for another two or three years.
As Yagura spoke, he readied his weapon, adopting an offensive stance. His teammates did the same.
After Hagoromo had thrown Yagura's hook club into the water last time, he had clearly had a new one custom-made. Having witnessed Hagoromo's combat style previously, Yagura had already formed a plan. In his view, with their side holding the advantage in combat power, killing Hagoromo wouldn't be difficult.
"Is it really just the four of you?"
Hagoromo's tone was highly dubious, as if asking: What do you think a few rotten potatoes and stinking bird eggs like you can accomplish?
"The me today is slightly different from the me a few months ago. Although I'd rather not say it like this, the fact is: you know absolutely nothing about the terror I bring..."
Hagoromo's words carried a hint of a bluff, but Yagura still heightened his vigilance—he couldn't expect a ninja like Hagoromo to remain stagnant. It wouldn't be surprising if he had perfected some new jutsu formula in these past few months.
At this moment, the distance between Hagoromo and the enemies was twenty meters. After finishing his sentence, he began weaving signs.
Ninja Art: Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Four clones identical to the original body appeared to Hagoromo's left and right.
Is he trying to erase the numerical disadvantage with clones? Yagura guessed in his heart. However, this was not a good idea. When fighting enemies of their caliber, clones wouldn't serve much purpose; they would merely pointlessly divide and waste his chakra.
But Hagoromo's actions were completely different from Yagura's guess.
While ensuring the main body's safety, use the clones to carry the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing in a suicide charge?
It was a good idea, yet Hagoromo didn't choose this method either. The Reverse Four Symbols Sealing was a highly offensive, wide-area sealing jutsu. The more enemies around, the more effective it was. Sealing one person was a seal; sealing a hundred people was also a seal. Therefore, rather than using them here, it was better to save them for the Hidden Mist in case of unexpected trouble.
If he clashed with enemies inside the Hidden Mist, and the opponents surrounding him were packed together as tightly as a Comic Market crowd, that would be the optimal time to unleash the power and lethality of the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing.
After the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Hagoromo's four clones dashed out in four different directions. It looked as if they were trying to escape, but in reality, it was the exact opposite: he was doing this to prevent the enemies from escaping.
While the clones moved rapidly in four directions, they tossed one scroll after another into the water as they ran. Simultaneously, the hands of every single clone were constantly and rapidly weaving signs.
Next, the four clones came to a halt at the four corners of a square, forming an encirclement around the main body and the four enemies.
Yagura and the others were somewhat confused by Hagoromo's intentions, so they didn't act rashly. To them, keeping their eyes locked on Hagoromo's main body was the crucial task.
Once the clones were in position, they simultaneously began weaving the final hand sign.
Instantly, a translucent, cubical sealing space with sides slightly under a hundred meters long materialized, enclosing everyone inside.
"A barrier?" Yagura hadn't expected Hagoromo to actually use a barrier ninjutsu. This consumed an extreme amount of chakra, and more importantly... didn't this amount to cutting off his own escape route?
"I already told you, compared to the last time we met, my mindset is a bit different now. Today, I only want to definitively kill you all," Hagoromo said. The actions of Yagura and his team were not just interfering with his mission, but also obstructing his will.
Therefore, this was now a matter of life and death.
As for the sealing jutsu Hagoromo was currently using, it was called Danku (Severing Void).
Ninja Art: Barrier Seal: Bakudo #81 - Danku.
This belonged to the category of powerful spatial lockdown barriers. Although it wasn't the completely unbreakable kind, with Hagoromo inside the barrier alongside them, he wouldn't allow the opponents the luxury of leisurely attacking the barrier.
Simultaneously, the Hidden Mist ninjas had no reason to destroy the barrier right now either.
"In other words, the barrier will only open when one side is completely dead? This aligns perfectly with our wishes," Yagura said. Because on the surface, the Hidden Mist held the advantage; it was currently four against one.
Hagoromo shook his head and said, "You truly know nothing about me..."
Then, he began to make a self-declaration.
"I have dropped bombs on the heads of the Hidden Sand," "I have caused havoc in the Sunflower Field," "I have drifted through the curves of Mount Akina," "I have smoked a cigarette on Planet Namek," "I have caught cheaters in School Days," "I have thrown punches in Academy City..."
These words... were pure, unadulterated nonsense. They only served to expose Hagoromo's own dark history (chuunibyou phase). Even if the opponents' brains ran at maximum capacity, it was impossible for them to understand what the hell he was talking about.
Besides, with the exception of actually dropping bombs on the Hidden Sand, while the other deeds were heroic, none of them were actually his doing.
As Hagoromo spoke, he did a chest-expansion stretch, then extended both arms straight forward, crossing his left and right wrists in an "X" shape, one over the other.
The four fingers of both his hands curled inward, his thumbs pressing under his index fingers, the tips pointing directly at where Yagura and the others stood.
"Yagura, if we must assign ranks, you could probably be classified as an S-rank ninja. To deal with a ninja of your caliber, it goes without saying that an S-rank ninjutsu is naturally the most effective."
"But, my friends from the Hidden Mist, have you ever heard of or seen a Super S-rank ninjutsu capable of rapid-fire?"
With the conclusion of his nonsense, lightning began to flash violently across Hagoromo's entire body.
A myriad of thunderbolts was crackling.
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