If the Nine-Tails were to go berserk, the consequences would be—ahem—unthinkable.
In short, retreating was the only sensible option.
So the real question wasn't whether to leave the battlefield, but how.
The problem itself was simple.
Finding a solution was not.
Hagoromo could still fight, but his face had already begun to pale—blood loss was catching up to him. Lightning Release did grant him a massive boost in combat ability, but its intense stimulation prevented wounds from closing properly. More accurately, Lightning Release and electrical discharge were actively worsening his bleeding.
Now he was starting to feel dizzy.
This couldn't be helped.
In a battlefield like this, escaping completely uninjured was impossible—especially since Hagoromo had charged into enemy ranks multiple times.
The numbing effect of Lightning Release dulled pain, but blood loss was a different matter entirely. He wasn't the First Hokage with absurd regenerative abilities.
If he collapsed from hemorrhaging on this battlefield, that would be the end of him.
The number of Konoha shinobi still trapped inside the Sand shinobi's encirclement was shrinking rapidly.
If they were going to run—
They had to do it now.
Hagoromo didn't for a second believe he had the same defensive resilience as someone like the Raikage.
(As an aside, the Raikage happened to be one of the Naruto characters Hagoromo was most familiar with. Long ago, he'd even written a fairly professional paper titled "A Comparative Study of the Defensive Effects of the Lightning Armor and the Barrier Fruit.")
"Kushina-sensei," Hagoromo emphasized again, "their primary target is you. Staying here really isn't a good idea. We need to leave."
"So I keep asking—how do we leave?" Kushina replied, frustration evident on her face.
She knew perfectly well that it was time to withdraw. Watching Konoha shinobi die one after another just to protect her was unbearable.
At that moment, a thought crossed her mind—
If Minato were here…
With his jutsu, they could leave whenever they wanted, and arrive wherever they wanted.
Almost as if responding to her thoughts, Hagoromo spoke again.
"I have another… not-quite-a-solution solution."
"…What is it?" Kushina asked.
Experience had proven that Hagoromo's previous "not-quite-a-solution solution" had been extremely effective. He'd single-handedly forced Shukaku off the battlefield and flipped the balance between Konoha and Sunagakure.
"I can fly," Hagoromo said, his tone dead serious.
This wasn't flying in the conventional sense, nor was he proposing some exotic hovering movement. The environment wasn't suitable for that—and more importantly, after firing at Shukaku for a full minute, his remaining electrical energy simply couldn't support high-consumption long-distance movement.
If he moved too little and exhausted himself anyway, the result would still be death.
For the same reason, he'd abandoned the idea of blasting the surrounding Sand shinobi again. No matter how strong his attacks were, he couldn't completely clear the field.
However, because Kushina had just been thinking about Minato, the word "fly" immediately made her think of that S-rank space–time ninjutsu.
"Flying Thunder God?" she asked. "I don't remember you having much contact with Minato. When did you learn such a high-level jutsu?"
Did Hagoromo know Flying Thunder God?
Sorry—he absolutely did not.
But sometimes, people came up with ideas that were… frankly suicidal.
And Hagoromo was currently in exactly that kind of moment.
"Wrong," he said. "I only have flying. No Thunder God."
"To be precise, space–time ninjutsu is complicated, but attempting it isn't actually that hard. Of course, unlucky shinobi tend to die immediately after trying."
Hearing this, Kushina instantly understood what he was talking about.
"…You mean Reverse Summoning jutsu?"
Exactly.
Summoning and reverse summoning were indeed space–time jutsus. Without a contracted summoning beast, using reverse summoning was basically gambling with one's life.
Otherwise, it would've become every shinobi's go-to escape jutsu.
By now, Hagoromo had already begun forming hand seals.
"Relax, Kushina-sensei. I've made some… improvements to this jutsu."
That part was true.
A long time ago, he'd considered what to do if he were ever completely surrounded—and that had led him to study Reverse Summoning. Naturally, he'd tried to modify it.
Of course, due to insufficient theoretical grounding, no one knew whether the modifications actually worked.
He had never tested them before.
Despite his confident demeanor, how this would end…
Well. Who knew?
"This version," Hagoromo continued, "should theoretically work whether it's transporting one person or two. It should also ensure that both the casting process and the destination land in a stable space. Theoretically, it's safe."
Listening to him repeat "theoretically", Kushina found it utterly unconvincing.
"Hagoromo, you—"
Before she could finish, Hagoromo completed the final hand seal and grabbed her arm.
And just like that—
The Sand shinobi realized that their primary target had vanished from the battlefield.
When Hagoromo opened his eyes again, the first thing he did was suppress a splitting headache and look around.
Kushina wasn't beside him.
But he wasn't overly worried about her safety. If he was fine, then the modified jutsu had worked. Theoretically, Kushina should be fine too.
Yes.
Theoretically.
After surveying his surroundings, Hagoromo realized he was in an unknown space.
Fatigue and pain assaulted his mind nonstop. He had more than a dozen wounds—none of them deep, but the same issue remained:
Blood loss.
Relying on his limited medical knowledge, Hagoromo confirmed that there was no immediate danger nearby and began treating his injuries.
His blood loss was already at the critical threshold. He could still remain conscious for now, but for safety reasons, he clearly should not use Lightning Release again anytime soon.
Without Lightning Release, his combat power plummeted.
Fortunately, this space appeared relatively safe.
Unfortunately—
Hagoromo had no idea that thinking this way already counted as raising a flag.
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