After being questioned in detail by the Third Hokage for quite some time, Hagoromo was finally released.
Once he fully understood what Hagoromo had done, the Third Hokage became even more certain that Sunagakure had no way out.
Of course, this didn't mean that Hagoromo's infiltration and sabotage alone had dealt a fatal blow to the Sand. Rather, for Sunagakure—already defeated on the frontal battlefield—the destruction of key village facilities was simply adding insult to injury.
The decisive factor was still the victory on the main battlefield, led personally by the Third Hokage. Sunagakure's collapse there was an undeniable fact: they simply could not withstand Konoha's offensive.
If Konoha's frontal assault counted as ninety-nine, then Hagoromo's raid on Sunagakure might only amount to one.
But that final one point was the most eye-catching—and psychologically devastating.
Because that single point pushed Sunagakure's losses from two digits into three.
Many people can endure ninety-nine.
But once it becomes one hundred, they stop forcing themselves to endure—and choose compromise instead.
Wars between nations work the same way.
There is always a limit to acceptable losses.
And now, Sunagakure had reached that limit.
After winning the battle, Konoha did not press deeper into the Land of Wind.
Instead, they deliberately withdrew a short distance—without leaving Wind Country—and established camp behind the battlefield.
Sunagakure may have been routed, but they undoubtedly still had shinobi monitoring Konoha's movements.
Through this maneuver, the Hokage was sending a clear message to the Kazekage from afar:
Konoha has no intention of invading the Land of Wind.
Hence the withdrawal.
But this "lack of intent" came with conditions.
Sunagakure had to show the proper attitude—
they had to submit and seek peace.
Otherwise, Konoha's forces—still stationed within Wind Country—would launch another offensive.
Once the battlefield was cleaned up, Konoha's forces began their orderly retreat.
The campsite had already been designated in advance.
By the time the combat units arrived, the logistics teams had finished setting up the tents.
The field hospital and medical-nin were already in place, prepared to treat the wounded.
They weren't merely waiting around, either.
During the battle itself, many severely injured shinobi had already been evacuated from the front lines and brought here for emergency treatment.
Following triage principles, only now—after the fighting ended—did the lightly wounded finally get their turn.
Unfortunately, Hagoromo was among them.
That fall had likely reopened some of his earlier injuries.
While it wasn't severe enough to cause heavy bleeding, fresh blood had seeped through parts of the white bandages.
Still, he wasn't seriously injured, so he obediently queued up.
He certainly didn't dare trouble the medical legend Tsunade over something so minor.
About half an hour after reaching the camp, Hagoromo finally came face to face with a medic.
"Huh? Rin? Why is it you?"
Entering the tent, Hagoromo saw Nohara Rin, dressed in white, busily treating a patient.
That patient happened to be Kakashi, bare-chested as she bandaged his wounds.
Judging by the blood-soaked bandages on the floor and Kakashi's pale expression, his injuries were anything but light.
To be honest, this was Hagoromo's first time clearly seeing Kakashi's face.
Without his mask, Kakashi still had those lifeless, dead-fish eyes—far too jaded for someone his age.
"Hagoromo? Just wait a moment, you'll be next," Rin said.
"Take care of Kakashi first. I'm fine—I didn't fight the enemy head-on today," Hagoromo replied.
Kakashi really had it rough.
He'd been assigned to what was nominally the second assault echelon.
But since the true first echelon consisted of only two people—the Third Hokage and Minato Namikaze—who smashed open the enemy formation themselves, shinobi like Kakashi were the first to follow through the breach.
In practice, that meant Kakashi had been fighting on the front line the entire time.
His injuries were no fewer than those of adult shinobi.
From the air, Hagoromo had paid special attention to Kakashi.
A short blade, relentless aggression, overwhelming resolve—
Hagoromo had thought himself ruthless in battle, but in close-quarters combat, Kakashi seemed even more so.
Compared to Hagoromo, Kakashi was more of a true shinobi.
The fate of his father, Sakumo Hatake—the White Fang of Konoha, had left deep scars.
At this point in his life, Kakashi was deliberately suppressing his emotions, turning himself into a flawless killing tool in service of the mission.
Hagoromo didn't know any of that.
He only knew one thing:
Kakashi was fighting desperately.
Yet the enemy's damage wasn't Kakashi's biggest problem.
The real injury came from himself.
Looking closely, Hagoromo noticed Kakashi's right hand trembling faintly and continuously.
It seemed almost numb.
His forearm and palm showed extensive tissue damage—patches of necrosis and layered swellings.
To Hagoromo, the cause was obvious.
Kakashi had used Chidori in battle—
and not just once.
And he still hadn't fully mastered it.
This was the consequence of his body being unable to withstand such powerful Lightning Release.
At this point, Kakashi had already mastered Lightning, Water, and Earth chakra natures.
By any standard, he was a genius.
Hagoromo, by comparison, only truly understood Fire and Lightning—largely due to innate affinity—and was still learning the rest.
Even with Hagoromo's incredible learning ability, chakra nature transformation was something that had to be built from the ground up.
Once he understood something, he advanced rapidly.
But discovering the path itself still took time.
Similarly, Kakashi's mastery of Lightning nature didn't mean he could freely wield every Lightning Release jutsu.
Chidori, in particular, demanded extreme physical resistance.
And right now, Kakashi simply didn't meet that requirement.
His arm injury could only be treated superficially.
The rest would have to heal slowly through his own body's recovery.
Once Kakashi's treatment was finished, it was finally Hagoromo's turn.
Compared to Kakashi, his case was simple.
Rin removed the old bandages, reapplied medicine, and wrapped him up again.
Done.
Afterward, Hagoromo stepped outside the tent and saw Kakashi sitting quietly by a campfire.
Hagoromo could sense Rin's concern for Kakashi.
But Kakashi himself remained indifferent.
To him, the mission was everything.
That emotional numbness left Hagoromo genuinely puzzled.
If a kunoichi stays up late for you,
devotes her youth without regret,
then she really does care—
How could he not understand something so simple?
Serves him right to be single for sixty years.
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