Since Shisui Uchiha was gone, the possibility of using Kotoamatsukami to normally stop the Uchiha rebellion was also gone. Keeping such a dangerous ability had lost its meaning. Considering the potential hidden dangers of retaining such eyes... destroying them was the most correct choice.
This was how Hagoromo explained it to the Third Hokage.
Frankly speaking, this explanation had some logic to it, but absolutely no one would actually believe it.
However, Hagoromo firmly insisted this was the truth. What could the Hokage do? He couldn't exactly torture Hagoromo or have the Yamanaka clan invade his mind, could he?
In this incident, Hagoromo had seized the logical high ground. Even if the Hokage doubted his story, or even confirmed that Shisui's eyes were indeed in his hands, what of it?
Trying to take back Shisui's eyes would mean completely burning bridges with Hagoromo... That was a truly dangerous idea.
So, in reality, Hagoromo's explanation wasn't about right or wrong; it was declaring a stance.
Between "Kotoamatsukami" and the "White Yaksha," the Hokage could only choose one. He had to judge whose value was greater.
And for such a judgment, the Hokage could figure it out using just his brain stem. Could a pair of eyes ever compare to a person?
Thus, he accepted Hagoromo's claim and tacitly permitted his actions. Objectively speaking, Hagoromo holding Kotoamatsukami reassured him far more than Danzo having it.
If he has it, let him have it. It was ultimately just a deterrent anyway. Given Hagoromo's personality, he wouldn't gouge out his own eyes to transplant them, nor would he casually use mental invasion to control anyone.
The Hokage trusted his own judgment on this point.
And indeed, his thought process was correct. Hagoromo genuinely wouldn't do such things.
Hagoromo's motive for taking Kotoamatsukami was to prevent himself from being controlled, not to use the genjutsu to control others.
As for the Uchiha clan, surprisingly, Shisui didn't attend the full clan meeting that night. However, this wasn't considered too serious, as such absences had occurred before.
But from the second day onward, Shisui never appeared again, arousing immense suspicion among them. Had something really happened to Shisui?
Then, Shisui's suicide note was discovered. Coupled with his continued disappearance... Did a ninja like Shisui truly choose suicide?
No one believed it.
The Uchiha found it hard to accept. Did the "Strongest Uchiha" look like the kind of weakling who would end his own life over the ridiculous reasons written in that note? Shisui was absolutely not that narrow-minded.
Rather than believing Shisui committed suicide, it was easier to believe the suicide note was forged... For the current Uchiha, the most critical task was finding traces of Shisui, even if it was just his corpse.
Yet, the only person in the clan who knew the truth, Itachi Uchiha, chose to conceal the matter.
In the original story, Itachi's concealment of Shisui's body was merely to wait for it to rot, thus keeping the secret of Shisui losing his eyes hidden. That way, the Uchiha wouldn't suspect Konoha, avoiding a severe deterioration of relations between the two factions.
Of course, this also hid the fact that he had contact with Shisui right before his death, preventing himself from becoming a suspect.
As a result, although he still became the suspected murderer, the matter of Shisui's eyes was successfully covered up.
Now, he said nothing, and his reasons were essentially the same.
However, this time he was only listed as the second prime suspect, because someone else in Konoha was currently much better suited to take the blame... Kamishiro Hagoromo.
It was highly likely that the White Yaksha's primary goal upon returning to Konoha was to eliminate Shisui, and now he had indeed made his move... Perhaps only he could assassinate Shisui without causing a massive commotion.
This reasoning wasn't exactly novel, but rather slightly distorted. However... since a certain someone had the strength to kill him, and the man was now dead, suspecting him as the killer was perfectly logical, wasn't it? Such a presumption of guilt was an all-too-normal logic for ninjas.
Since Shisui "disappeared," the Uchiha's search operations continued. But as time passed and Shisui remained missing, his death essentially became a confirmed fact. Still, as long as his body wasn't found, the Uchiha held onto a sliver of hope.
Or rather, they didn't want to give up that sliver of hope.
But these actions and hopeless expectations were destined to be futile.
Ultimately, losing their "strongest" made the Uchiha temporarily lie low while simultaneously strengthening their resolve to rebel. Konoha's act of eliminating Shisui convinced them that the conflict between the two was fundamentally irreconcilable.
People are just like that. When Shisui was still around, because of his closeness to Konoha's upper echelon and his constant resistance to the rebellion, the Uchiha weren't without their suspicions of him. But now that he had disappeared, or rather died, he ironically seemed like the most fiercely loyal Uchiha of them all.
The Uchiha's core activities didn't entirely shift to searching for Shisui. Their preparations continued, but without Shisui around, they became even more secretive.
Meanwhile, after Shisui's death, the Third Hokage wasn't just suffering from headaches; even his kidneys ached—his whole body ached.
Danzo's actions couldn't just be ignored. He had crossed the line too far this time, completely disrupting the established strategy. Therefore, the Third Hokage began closely monitoring his actions, making it impossible for him to do as he pleased anymore.
Similarly, Hagoromo didn't escape scot-free. He was temporarily banned from any contact with the Uchiha, and his movements were somewhat restricted. This punishment was lighter than Danzo's, because his involvement was, at worst, mission failure due to force majeure, whereas Danzo had engaged in malicious obstruction.
But realistically speaking, the Hokage's punishments for both were merely symbolic, lacking any practical meaning. Severe punishment was unnecessary for Hagoromo, and as for Danzo... "Root" was still a force to be reckoned with, and the Hokage didn't want a direct clash with them during this period.
The situation was already complicated enough. This scenario was already at highest difficulty for the Hokage; he didn't want to actively add more problems for himself.
Danzo naturally felt displeased by the restrictions and surveillance. For Hagoromo, however, it was just right. He was perfectly happy being "shelved" and doing nothing.
This way, he could properly look after his children's brigade.
"You want to join the taijutsu training and spar like the others?" Over the past few days, Naruto had gradually gotten used to Hagoromo's place and was no longer acting so cautiously. He was returning to his true nature; after all, Hagoromo wasn't a scary person.
However, Hagoromo felt a bit helpless about his request.
When interacting with these kids, one couldn't tell from Hagoromo's demeanor what kind of massive incident he had just caused. His appearance and mood were exactly as usual.
After all, compared to his daily life here, the Uchiha affair was just a side quest to him.
As for Naruto's personality... well, he was still very enthusiastic and proactive. Hagoromo just didn't know if he was ready to be absolutely trounced.
Excluding Naruto, the other three had been training for a long time. Although Mirai was still far from using them flexibly, in terms of the number of jutsu she had mastered, she was on a completely different level than the others.
And when it came to combat experience, Kimimaro needed no introduction. Despite his young age, the number of people who had died by his hands was probably more than a whole platoon.
As for Haku, although he hadn't started learning much earlier than Naruto, his comprehension ability was indeed stronger. His learning capacity and perception were undeniable.
A straightforward type like Naruto could perhaps be described as having "great wisdom that appears as foolishness," but the word "smart"—to Hagoromo's headache—could absolutely never be used to describe him.
Or perhaps Naruto's "smartness" wasn't smartness in the conventional sense. It was an incomprehensible, elusive kind of smartness. He was the type who either couldn't grasp a concept at all, or the moment he did, he'd pull off something insanely reckless.
He definitely didn't inherit his parents' brains. Both Minato and Kushina learned things very quickly.
"I think it'd be best if you stand steadily on the water surface before considering other things," Hagoromo offered kindly.
Actually, his teaching method had some issues too. It wasn't exactly "pulling up seedlings to help them grow," but he had definitely skipped some steps. At Naruto's age, just being able to walk up a tree properly would be impressive, yet Hagoromo threw him straight into the water... But you couldn't really blame Hagoromo, because that was just how his mind worked.
Back in the day, he could stand on water straight away. Later, Mirai could also stand on it directly. For Kimimaro, such basic things didn't even need Hagoromo's teaching; he already knew how. And Haku hadn't struggled either. Following this pattern... ahem, inertia, Hagoromo assumed Naruto-kun would be fine too.
This was the conclusion he drew using the four of them as his sample size. Thus, zero-foundation little Naruto suffered the consequences... No one told Hagoromo his sample size was too small, and that he was only sampling a very specific type of person.
Delicate work like chakra control really should have been taken slowly for a thick-skulled kid like Naruto.
"I think I'm completely fine now!"
But Naruto didn't think so. Everyone else was sparring and fighting, while he was the only one lonely playing with water. Of course he was unconvinced. Why was there such a huge gap in their learning progress?
As for the significance of water walking, Naruto didn't really get it either.
"Oh... alright then. Mirai, come over here and try sparring with him." Hagoromo was speechless. Since he's looking for trouble, he can't blame anyone else.
"Understood, Hagoromo!"
Seeing Mirai's sparkling eyes... anyway, it was too late for Naruto to regret it now.
"I'm different from last time!" But Naruto wasn't afraid at all. He was feeling pretty good about himself.
"Less talking, let's start!" Mirai couldn't wait.
Naruto couldn't wait either. He still wanted to avenge his previous defeat.
So Naruto charged at Mirai with his top speed, preparing to throw a punch, and then... before he could react, he saw Mirai grab him right by the collar.
Turn, exert force from the feet, twist the waist, arms channeling faint lightning chakra upwards, and then... explosive throw.
Like a signal flare piercing the clouds, calling tens of thousands of troops to meet.
Before Naruto even understood what happened, in the blink of an eye, he was tossed nearly twenty meters into the air. Then came the imbalance, weightlessness, and... screaming.
Listening to this utterly rhythm-less screaming, Mirai's eyes curved into crescents of laughter. This kind of bullying behavior could roughly be termed "awakening"... the bloodline awakening of the Red Hot Habanero.
Big sister lifts you up high—are you having fun yet?