Once the results of the graduation exam were announced, the Ninja Academy no longer had anything to do with Hagoromo and the others. Naturally, everyone went their separate ways—each returning home.
Before heading back himself, Hagoromo still had one responsibility left: escorting the injured Might Guy home.
Although Guy repeatedly insisted that it was unnecessary, Hagoromo couldn't help feeling guilty.
Hagoromo's home was located on the outskirts of Konohagakure. Just one district away lay the famous Uchiha Clan Compound, an area that practically enjoyed extraterritorial privileges within the village.
To be honest, living next to a group of "red-eyed troublemakers" made Hagoromo rather cautious. After all, he carried more than a few secrets of his own.
During the day, Konoha didn't seem particularly different from usual—even with the war ongoing. But once night fell, the tension became unmistakable.
The streets emptied.
In both the open and the shadows, squads of ninja patrolled the village, carrying out defensive orders.
Hagoromo looked up.
On the Hokage Rock, only three faces were carved there for now—the First, Second, and Third Hokage. The Third could still be considered in his prime. As for the Fourth…
At present, Minato Namikaze was still active across various battlefields under the title of the Yellow Flash, striking fear into enemies and allies alike.
Before long, Hagoromo arrived home.
This had once been the ancestral residence of the Kamishirofamily. Now, only Hagoromo remained—but he had long since grown used to solitude.
He had no real concept of Naruto Uzumaki's cramped living conditions yet. If he did, he'd realize that compared to Naruto, his own home could practically be described as main-character treatment.
With both parents deceased, Hagoromo had been raised by Konoha's orphan care facilities until the age of five. After that, the village provided a basic living stipend, and the orphans were expected to fend for themselves.
At seven, Hagoromo entered the Ninja Academy.
Three years had passed.
He was now ten years old.
In his previous world, sending a ten-year-old to war would be a sick joke. But in the world of ninja, this was simply called reality.
Child soldiers were everywhere on the battlefield.
Even Konoha—relatively humane by shinobi standards—had no choice but to send newly graduated students to war. Though the Land of Fire was powerful, Konoha was constantly surrounded by enemies. In every war, manpower shortages were the norm.
While thinking about the current state of the war, Hagoromo pushed open his front door and skillfully began preparing dinner.
What he didn't know was that, at this very moment, a certain plan targeting him was quietly taking shape among Konoha's higher-ups.
Ahem.
Don't panic—this author isn't indulging in conspiracy theories. That description was a bit exaggerated. Read on, and everything will become clear.
Once upon a time, Konoha had a long-standing headache of a troublemaker.
She had three hobbies: gambling, gambling, and gambling.
Her gambling skills were abysmal—she lost virtually every time. Ordinarily, someone so detrimental to public morals would've been restrained by the authorities.
But this individual was… special.
No one dared provoke her.
She could burn off the Third Hokage's beard without hesitation.
Yes—she was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the disciple of the Third Hokage, the princess of the Senju Clan and Konoha itself.
Her name was Tsunade.
Eventually, Tsunade grew up. Though she remained fond of gambling, she became more mature and stopped causing outright chaos.
The great village of Konoha finally returned to peace…
…or so one might think.
Of course not.
Before long, Demon King No. 2 descended upon Konoha.
This second troublemaker lacked Tsunade's legendary lineage, but she was just as untouchable—and her destructive tendencies were even worse.
Her name was Uzumaki Kushina.
The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Nicknamed the Red-Hot Habanero.
This was Kushina at her peak.
When she walked around the village, it was as if she wore a sign on her head that read: "Don't mess with me." Even the Uchiha—those infamous "red-eyed rabbits"—were beaten up whenever she felt like it.
And who could stop her?
She was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Her boyfriend, Minato Namikaze, was practically unbeatable in single combat—and fearless even in group battles.
Her boyfriend's teacher was Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.
She herself was close friends with Tsunade.
Put simply—
she, too, could probably burn the Hokage's beard.
It was wartime, yet Kushina remained as restless as ever, frequently stirring up trouble within the village.
Sometimes it was harmless.
Sometimes it gave the Hokage a massive headache.
The problem was that as the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Kushina had to remain within Konoha, under the Hokage's protection. She wasn't allowed to step even a single foot beyond the village barrier.
But her mild hyperactivity disorder clearly hadn't been cured.
Naturally, she refused to stay put.
She had submitted multiple requests to go to the front lines—requests that were, of course, denied without exception.
She even tried sneaking out on her own.
Fortunately, the Hokage caught her every single time.
If Kushina were sent to the battlefield, one of Konoha's greatest pillars—the Yellow Flash himself—along with one of the Sannin would have to do nothing but guard her.
That was unacceptable.
The Hokage tried reasoning with her endlessly, like a middle-aged housewife lecturing a rebellious teenager.
It didn't work.
So, the Hokage began assigning her various duties—anything to keep her occupied.
But that still wasn't enough.
What she truly needed was something fun.
Something durable.
A toy.
And selecting this "toy" required careful consideration from the Hokage himself.
Minato Namikaze had a student named Hatake Kakashi—a prodigy of astonishing talent and strength despite his young age.
This fact made Kushina extremely jealous.
She had long wanted to experience what it felt like to be someone's teacher. But with Minato as the benchmark, she refused to accept a student inferior to Minato's own disciple.
At the very least, her student couldn't be worse than Kakashi.
This gave the Hokage a splitting headache.
How easy did she think it was to find a genius like Kakashi?
Recently, he had been keeping a close eye on the Ninja Academy in search of a suitable candidate.
Gradually, he noticed a particularly interesting student.
Now guess—
Who was this intelligent, talented, and combat-capable individual?
On whose head would this important mission of entertaining Kushina finally fall?
Hmm.
That's genuinely hard to guess.
The protagonist himself had no idea that his fate had already been arranged.
He was busy planning what supplies to bring to the battlefield, how to kill enemies, and—more importantly—how to survive.
He never would've imagined that while his peers marched off to war, he—someone who prided himself on real combat ability—wouldn't even get the chance to set foot on the battlefield in the near future.
Instead, he would be forced to remain obediently in Konohagakure.