Naruto : The White Lightning Reincarnator

"According to our intelligence, the situation has become extremely serious. That's why this matter can only be entrusted to you."

Both the Third Hokage and the Fourth Hokage were present.

Yet faced with the task they offered, Hagoromo could only respond with silence.

The situation itself was simple—four words were enough to describe it.

Hanzō is dead.

Hanzō of the Salamander, leader of Amegakure, the shinobi once revered as the Demigod, had died. Konoha had received the intelligence promptly.

The cause, the process, the timing, and even the perpetrator were all unclear. Whether it had been illness or assassination remained unknown. However, the source of the intelligence was reliable.

From Konoha's perspective, Hanzō's death could certainly be considered good news.

But the hidden dangers were just as significant.

The war with Kumogakure had not yet fully concluded. With Ame's leadership suddenly changed, its stance toward Konoha could shift unpredictably. There was a real possibility that hostilities between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain could reignite.

Amegakure without Hanzō was not particularly frightening—but the real concern lay in chain reactions.

If Konoha were forced into conflict with Ame once more, would Iwagakure—currently observing an uneasy ceasefire—take the opportunity to strike again?

No one could say for certain what moves the other villages would make.

After a long silence, Hagoromo finally spoke.

"With Amegakure being as closed-off as it is, how did Konoha even obtain this information so quickly? And that was Hanzō—no one could kill him so easily… or more precisely, no one could kill him lightly."

Of course, there were shinobi capable of killing Hanzō.

Not just one or two.

But words served one's position, and from Hagoromo's standpoint, Hanzō was not someone who should have died so simply.

Unavoidably, his thoughts drifted to the joint operation he had carried out with Danzō a year earlier. The possibility that this was retaliation was extremely high.

"You're right," the Third Hokage replied.

"A shinobi of Hanzō's caliber wouldn't die without reason. The intelligence we've received is incomplete—but precisely because it's ambiguous, we must send someone to Amegakure to confirm what truly happened. Whether Konoha and Ame will undergo drastic changes depends on this."

He paused, then continued.

"Given the current circumstances, you are the most suitable candidate."

This was undoubtedly a grave matter.

Yet Hagoromo's answer was clearly not what the Third Hokage wanted to hear—nor was it the first time he had said it.

"The mission is important, and it's urgent," Hagoromo said calmly.

"But Third Hokage… I can't accept it."

The Third Hokage fell silent, then spoke again.

"Hagoromo, you've refused nearly twenty missions in a row. You understand that, as a shinobi, this is an extremely serious dereliction of duty."

In truth, even if Hagoromo had accepted every mission, he couldn't possibly have completed twenty in such a short period—especially considering that any mission assigned to him now would be high-level.

But that was precisely the problem.

The more he remained idle, the more missions were offered.

The more missions he refused, the worse his attitude appeared.

Guarding Kushina was part of his standing assignment—but that alone did not give him the authority to reject all other missions.

"I can take this mission," Hagoromo said at last,

"but only after Kushina gives birth. That's about a month and a half from now."

"If the mission can wait for me, then fine. If it can't… then I'll have to refuse again. In that case, you'll need to assign it to someone else."

"Hagoromo," the Third Hokage said, "if you depart now and complete the mission efficiently, you can still return in time. At the moment, the situation in Amegakure is—"

"For me," Hagoromo interrupted,

"Kushina's situation is more important."

"My personality should be something you understand by now. Compared to a shinobi's duty, what I need to fulfill right now is my duty as a disciple."

He did not say what he truly thought—that a shinobi's duty meant little to him, and that Hanzō's death meant nothing at all.

Saying such things to the Hokage would have been unwise.

This wasn't rebellion, nor a clash of wills.

It was simply that their sense of priority was fundamentally different.

"Third Hokage. Fourth Hokage. That is my decision," Hagoromo said.

"Whether it's new missions or punishment—everything can wait until a month and a half from now."

With that, he turned and left.

Silence remained.

After a while, Minato finally spoke.

"Third Hokage… please understand. To Hagoromo, Kushina is likely the only family he has. That's why he's acting this way."

From Hagoromo's perspective, news of Hanzō arriving at this exact time felt deeply unnatural.

If he indulged in even a hint of paranoia, it almost seemed like bait—meant to lure him away from Konoha.

A reconnaissance mission with a clear objective could take three days… or three months.

If he left now, he had a strong premonition that he would miss something critical.

He didn't know that Minato had spoken on his behalf. He didn't know how the Amegakure mission had been reassigned.

What he did know was that, for the next half month, nothing happened.

He continued guarding Kushina as usual.

It was now midsummer.

At night, Hagoromo routinely inspected the seals he had placed, ensuring that none had been tampered with and that the barrier remained fully functional.

On this particular night, after confirming everything was in order, he returned toward the lodge—

Only to find Minato's three guards standing at the entrance.

Genma Shiranui—a shinobi from the same generation as Hagoromo, and the one he knew best among the three. Genma had once been saved by Might Duy, who paid with his life. At the time, Genma was only a genin. Perhaps out of gratitude, he had trained relentlessly, eventually earning the position of the Fourth Hokage's guard.

A position of immense honor—and proof of his ability.

Next was Raido Namiashi, whom Hagoromo knew only through descriptions from their former teammate Aoba Yamashiro. After Hagoromo's team disbanded, Aoba and Raido often worked together. Raido was known as a skilled swordsman and assassin.

The last was Iwashi Tatami. Hagoromo knew little about him, but anyone selected as the Fourth Hokage's guard had to possess exceptional qualities.

That said, they were still shinobi of the younger generation.

Despite their title, their individual combat power was unremarkable.

Compared to shinobi like Shisui Uchiha, Hagoromo himself, or even the now-withdrawn Kakashi, they were clearly inferior.

In a one-on-one fight, Hagoromo could defeat any of them instantly. Even three against one, they wouldn't last many exchanges.

They were nothing like the original guard trio—Hagoromo, Choza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame—all elite jōnin.

Minato's current guards were only chūnin.

However—

Everything changed because of one thing.

After becoming the Fourth Hokage's guards, the three of them together could activate Flying Thunder God.

Standing guard outside the lodge was not unusual.

Hagoromo proceeded as usual. In his perception, Kushina and Minato were inside, with numerous ANBU stationed throughout the area.

Human thinking followed habits.

For a long time, Hagoromo had assumed that the only enemy he needed to prepare for was Obito, reshaped by ideology.

But that assumption was wrong.

As an emergency precaution, Minato's Flying Thunder God markers weren't limited to Kushina's room.

Specially modified Flying Thunder God kunai were also placed outside the lodge.

The moment Hagoromo stepped forward—

The three guards formed seals simultaneously.

The Flying Thunder God formula hidden within the kunai activated instantly.

The essence of space–time ninjutsu was speed.

The six-petal, line-shaped pattern spread across the ground, and before Hagoromo could react—

He vanished.

At this point, Kushina's due date was still one month away.

This should have been an ordinary day.

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