Whatever happened within the Uchiha clan that night reached the ears of the Hokage and Danzo likely before six o'clock the next morning. By noon, Hagoromo was also fully up to speed on the latest developments.
However, Kotoamatsukami... was indeed a very tricky problem.
According to the Hokage, Shisui stood on the side of the village, so Hagoromo shouldn't be at risk of being targeted. But it's better to be safe than sorry; he wouldn't stake his personal safety on someone else's intentions.
Hagoromo's detailed understanding of Kotoamatsukami came from Konoha's intelligence, which was how he knew exactly how troublesome it was. Known as the ultimate genjutsu, it seemed that as long as the user peeked at you from hiding, you would fall under its control completely silently and unknowingly.
Hagoromo had resistance against conventional mind-affecting genjutsu, but if the target was the strongest genjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan... he wasn't confident at all.
After all, his defenses were highly specific. Not to mention anything else, could he even defend against something like the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique that specifically blinded one's vision?
If he could prepare a comprehensive defense in advance, Hagoromo could probably resist a move like Kotoamatsukami using his own special eyes. The problem was that the jutsu activated silently and without warning. Where would he find the opportunity to prepare?
Therefore, trying to be fully prepared for this was a bit of a headache.
Although Hagoromo had ended his world tour and returned to Konoha specifically because of the Uchiha situation, it seemed that by the time he was actually required to do any work, the two sides would likely already be fighting. So the current situation was that the Hokage was overwhelmed with worry about the matter, while Hagoromo himself actually had nothing to do.
To put it bluntly, his return served as a deterrent—he was just there to scare people.
Because of this, he still had the luxury of strolling leisurely around Konoha.
As for his "children's brigade," the three kids had gone off to play on their own. They did have their own training to do, but considering their age, it wasn't right to torture them with it; the three still had plenty of free time.
Because Mirai's identity was public, even though she had just returned to Konoha, she was much more well-received than Hagoromo. Her status as the Princess of the Fourth Hokage gave her a free pass anywhere she went. Furthermore, her personality and behavior made her incredibly likable and highly popular.
The events unfolding in Konoha had nothing to do with the three children.
However, regarding this Uchiha incident, Hagoromo couldn't help but feel that keeping an eye on Danzo would be far more effective than keeping an eye on the clan itself.
Judging by the signals received from the higher-ups over the past two days, although the Hokage wanted to find a peaceful resolution to the Uchiha problem, Danzo unquestionably favored eradicating the hidden threat completely. As for the two advisors, their attitudes were somewhat ambiguous, but they clearly didn't object to extreme measures.
Based on Hagoromo's judgment and understanding of Danzo, there was a good chance Danzo would strike before the Uchiha could. After all, "Root" was a massive force that couldn't be ignored, and Danzo did occasionally like to bypass the Hokage and make his own decisions.
While Hagoromo was sitting on a bench near the hot spring street pondering these issues, he suddenly spotted a tuft of blonde hair... Ahem, a blonde-haired little boy suddenly appeared in his line of sight.
Was this a coincidence? Of course not. Hagoromo wasn't that idle. In a village the size of Konoha, the chances of accidentally bumping into a specific kid weren't very high.
As if sensing his gaze, Naruto turned his head and sniffled loudly.
The kid had caught a cold because of what happened a few days ago.
Upon seeing Hagoromo, his first reaction was to turn around and run. However, after Hagoromo waved at him, he couldn't help but slowly walk over to the man's side.
Compared to the other day, Hagoromo was smiling very warmly this time.
"Got into a fight?" Hagoromo asked, looking at Naruto's dirt-streaked face.
"It wasn't a fight, it was a match!" Naruto's tone carried a hint of forced stubbornness, but the truth was, he was surprisingly compliant when talking to Hagoromo.
He didn't know why, and he didn't even realize he was acting so "obedient."
"Did you lose?"
"It was two against one, but there's no way I would lose!" He looked a little proud of himself. However, a two-on-one... that's not a match, that's definitely a fight.
Hagoromo nodded. It was normal for him to win. It proved that the electro-shock therapy he had endured since he was a baby wasn't for nothing.
Naruto's physical constitution far surpassed that of his peers.
"Where is your scarf?" Hagoromo asked again, noticing Naruto wasn't wearing the scarf Mirai had given him.
"I... I left it at home. Since it's an important treasure, I was afraid I might ruin it if I wore it all the time."
Naruto truly viewed the item as a "treasure."
This was for the best. Little boys were prone to messing things up, and Hagoromo didn't want Naruto ruining Kushina's memento either.
Naruto wanted to ask where the scarf came from, but Hagoromo interrupted his impending question.
"Do you want to become a ninja?"
His question came completely out of left field, but it undoubtedly struck a chord right in Naruto's heart.
"Of course!" Speaking of this, Naruto even forgot the lingering fear he had toward Hagoromo from a few days ago. He pointed his finger in a specific direction. "I want to become a ninja just like the Fourth Hokage."
He was pointing directly at the Hokage Monument.
"Why the Fourth Hokage?" Hagoromo's gaze followed Naruto's finger to the Fourth Hokage's stone face. He remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"Because the people in the village say the Fourth Hokage was the greatest ninja ever... Didn't you know that?"
The Fourth Hokage... Regardless of anything else, this was the best possible goal for Naruto.
"If that's the case, then let me tell you something. My name is Hagoromo... I'm a Jonin. I know every single ninjutsu the Fourth Hokage knew. Since you want to be a ninja like him, how about it? Want to learn his jutsu?"
Hagoromo was back to scamming ignorant children. He knew absolutely jack squat about them. It wasn't like he could use the Flying Raijin Jutsu.
"Really? You know all of them? Are you the Fourth Hokage's disciple?" Naruto's eyes were brimming with suspicion.
"Disciple... Sure, you can think of it that way."
"You're not tricking me, are you? You can really teach me?"
Naruto's face was a knot of conflict. Of course he wanted to learn ninjutsu, but he was afraid the man in front of him was just messing with him.
This was akin to a stranger on the street trying to sell a manual for the legendary Buddhist Palm technique; not every kid would believe it. In fact, skepticism was the normal reaction.
"Of course. But before you learn ninjutsu, you first need to learn how to control chakra..."
Saying this, Hagoromo pulled a scroll from behind his back and handed it to Naruto.
"Chakra? What's that?"
Naruto took it absentmindedly.
Compared to the hands-on, one-on-one teaching style he used with Mirai, Hagoromo preferred to guide Naruto to discover his own potential.
For example, a simple question: Which is stronger, a Naruto using Lightning Style or a Naruto using Wind Style? Hagoromo didn't have a definitive answer, so he was leaving the choice to Naruto.
Also, because Naruto carried far more responsibilities and the expectations of the Fourth Hokage, there were some decisions Hagoromo didn't want to make for him.
The Mirai he had meticulously taught was, in essence, a Hagoromo 2.0. But Naruto had to walk his own path... even though Hagoromo had already completely blocked the path he was originally supposed to take.
Boys and girls were fundamentally different, after all.
However, before any of that, Naruto absolutely had to learn how to control chakra first.
Although Naruto had already started working out for the sake of his "goal," his training was essentially exactly: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run every single day. With this kind of training regimen, if he wasn't bald in three years, he really needed to get onto the proper path of chakra training.
Having inherited Kushina's blood, coupled with the physical modifications Hagoromo had given him, Naruto housed a massive amount of chakra within his body, even though he couldn't even realize it yet.
But this foundation granted Naruto limitless potential. Hagoromo hoped this child could use his own methods to become an unparalleled genius in the ninja world.
"Once you manage to accomplish everything written in this scroll, come find me at this address. After that, I can teach you the Fourth Hokage's ninjutsu..."
Hagoromo then handed Naruto a slip of paper with his home address written on it.
This was blatant, undisguised temptation.
But now there was a problem...
Could Naruto-kun even read? Would he be able to comprehend and understand the contents of that scroll?