At the time, Hagoromo was completely exhausted, and everyone around him was unquestionably an ally. With no sense of danger at all, he let his guard down entirely—so when the sudden blow landed, he blacked out on the spot.
What happened afterward, Hagoromo had no idea.
After his "ambush," the little dogs, cows, and birds he had contracted almost went berserk.
With their master unconscious and control severed, and having witnessed him being attacked right in front of them, the summoning beasts immediately turned hostile and launched attacks on Minato, Kushina, and the others.
Because these were summoning beasts Hagoromo had gone to great lengths to obtain, none of them dared to deal lethal blows. As a result, they were forced into a purely defensive situation.
Fortunately, Minato's retreat speed was first-rate. He immediately grabbed Hagoromo and evacuated everyone using Flying Thunder God, disappearing from the area in an instant.
The summoning beasts might rage for a while longer, but as long as they could still sense the bond connecting them to Hagoromo, they would eventually calm down.
As for how long that would take—
That, Minato had no idea.
In any case, they had already left that dangerous place behind.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Where… is this?"
When Hagoromo finally woke up, he realized he was lying on a bed.
His head throbbed, his thoughts felt sluggish, and dizziness lingered—but he quickly noticed that he was no longer in that strange, unknown space.
"You're awake, Hagoromo."
Hearing the voice, he turned his head and saw Nohara Rin, who had been keeping watch by his bedside. She even waved her hand in front of his eyes, as if confirming that his consciousness had truly returned.
"Rin? Why are you here? Where is this?" Hagoromo asked.
Following her hand, he confirmed her identity. He couldn't understand why Rin was here, and more importantly, he was fixated on figuring out where he was.
Rin really had been assigned to watch over him—after all, he barely qualified as a seriously injured patient.
Not far away, by the window of the hospital room, Hatake Kakashi sat on a chair. It was unclear whether he was spacing out, staring at the scenery outside, or reading.
He was indeed holding a book.
Fortunately, at his young age, Kakashi had not yet discovered the artistic brilliance of Icha Icha Paradise—or perhaps Jiraiya hadn't written it yet.
From Hagoromo's slightly reclined angle, he could just make out the title of the book:
"The Shinobi Chronicles of Unyielding Will."
A very orthodox novel with a shinobi protagonist—and one that wasn't particularly famous.
The title looked vaguely familiar to Hagoromo, but beyond that, he didn't care. In his current condition, he had no interest in what Kakashi was reading.
He wasn't short on books, after all.
"This is the ninja hospital at Konoha's frontline command base against Sunagakure," Rin explained.
"The same place you were before. You were brought back by Minato-sensei three days ago, but you've been unconscious the whole time. They said it was due to excessive blood loss and chakra exhaustion…"
Her tone was slightly unnatural.
Hagoromo didn't notice.
Some people simply weren't good liars.
"I'm back already? What about Kushina-sensei?" Hagoromo immediately asked.
Since he was here again, what about Kushina?
Before Rin could answer, he held his head and forced himself to sit up on the bed.
The blanket slid down, and only then did he realize he wasn't wearing a shirt—
Though it hardly mattered. He was wrapped up like a mummy anyway, with bandages providing excellent coverage.
As he sat up, he noticed Kakashi's gaze flick briefly away from his book toward him, before calmly turning a page.
"Kushina-sensei was sent back to Konoha by Minato-sensei that very day," Rin replied.
Hagoromo nodded.
That made sense. After what had happened, there was no way Konoha would allow Kushina to remain on the battlefield. Even if she objected, it wouldn't matter—anything involving her safety would never see Minato side against the village.
In fact, Kushina had been surprisingly cooperative. She hadn't resisted at all and returned to Konoha obediently. She knew the difference between recklessness and necessity.
Hearing that Kushina was safe finally put Hagoromo at ease.
However—some things were hard to fool him about.
"I fainted because of blood loss?" he asked.
"Then why do I clearly remember being knocked out by Kushina-sensei?"
The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was her fist rapidly filling his vision.
That wasn't blood loss.
That was a concussion.
Rin laughed awkwardly and silently apologized to Kushina in her heart.
She had explained things exactly as Kushina requested—but she hadn't expected Hagoromo to remember so clearly who knocked him out.
He even remembered the angle of the punch.
After thinking it over, Hagoromo understood why Kushina had hit him.
From her perspective, he absolutely deserved it.
His actions back then were undeniably irrational. He should've left the area as soon as possible—not stayed behind cheerfully collecting summoning beasts.
From Kushina's point of view, it was the frustration of a teacher disappointed in her student.
Anyone else, in his condition, would've focused solely on escaping. Instead, he chose to go hunting for summons.
As things stood, Hagoromo's injuries weren't light—but they weren't severe either. Mostly external wounds. With proper rest, he would recover.
Rin then began explaining what had happened after Hagoromo and Kushina left the battlefield, and how things had changed at the frontline command base over the past few days. Though she was relaying secondhand information, she still knew far more than Hagoromo did.
"Did you know?" Rin said, her expression a mix of excitement and mystery.
"People outside have started calling you White Yaksha."
"…Huh?"
Hagoromo froze completely.
White Yaksha?
What kind of title was that?
Why did it sound so strangely familiar?
"They say…" Rin continued softly,
"A shinobi with white hair stained in blood, rampaging across the battlefield like a demon of the night—"
"…a Yaksha."
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