"Professor Kenzaburo, please just explain directly."
Countless possibilities raced through her mind, but in the end, Hagoromo gave up guessing and looked at Kenzaburo.
Kenzaburo took a deep breath, looked around as if reminiscing, and spoke after a while.
"Back then, when the Second Hokage died, the Hiruzen Hokage took over Konoha. During that time, the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed while Konoha was in turmoil."
Hagoromo continued to look at Kenzaburo without responding; he was naturally aware of the situation.
Back then, Konoha was unable to provide immediate assistance to the Land of Whirlpools because of internal turmoil.
At that time, Hiruzen Sarutobi had just returned to Konoha and, with the support of Mito Uzumaki, succeeded as the Third Hokage.
However, shortly after taking office, the Second Shinobi World War broke out.
First, Amegakure advocated external expansion, attacking Konoha, Sunagakure, and the Land of Iron.
The main force of Amegakure also headed directly towards Konoha, and then Sunagakure launched a two-pronged attack, also declaring war on Konoha.
Following that, the Kumogakure and the Kirigakure launched their attacks on Konoha.
It's almost fair to say that Konoha at that time single-handedly took on the Four Great Nations and Amegakure, which was vaguely comparable to the sixth ninja village.
Even if one side falls, the other side immediately takes over.
This was enough to keep Konoha busy at the time, leaving them with almost no energy to pay attention to anything else.
It's important to understand that Tobirama Senju's death directly led to internal turmoil within Konoha.
Many clans in Konoha joined because of the Konoha Senju Clan; at that time, the two most powerful members of the Senju clan, the Pillars of Heaven, were both killed.
The successor was a Second disciple, and Sarutobi Clan.
Even though the Sarutobi Clan is an elder family of Konoha, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi himself became a disciple after being taken in by the Second.
Having directly entered the core power structure of Konoha doesn't necessarily mean that other families will accept it.
At least the Hyuga and Uchiha, who claim to be the strongest clan in Konoha, are extremely unhappy about this.
In the end, it was Mito who stepped in and suppressed the troublemakers within Konoha, allowing Hiruzen Sarutobi to successfully take office.
However, this also shows how much pressure Hiruzen Sarutobi was under at the time.
It was at this time that the Ino-Shika-Cho were officially promoted and became pillars of the Hokage lineage.
Therefore, the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed while it was vulnerable, and it's really not Konoha's fault for not providing support at the time.
In reality, Konoha itself is plagued by internal strife and internal conflicts, while several major powers are also eager to make moves from the outside.
"And I was here on the eve of the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools."
Seeing that Hagoromo did not respond, Kenzaburo pointed to the spot where he was standing and said...
Upon hearing this, Hagoromo raised an eyebrow and looked directly at Kenzaburo.
"I was invited by the village chief of Uzushio Village to jointly study something, but there were some things I needed to confirm."
"Just before the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, he rushed back to the capital of the Land of Fire."
"Shortly after I arrived in the capital of the Land of Fire, I received news that the Land of Whirlpools had been attacked by a multi-national coalition."
At this point, a look of pain appeared on Kenzaburo's face.
Mingming's friend was still so cheerful and talking to her before she left, but it was only for a short while.
Then I heard the news of his death.
Hagoromo, on the other hand, was pondering what exactly she had been researching back then.
"These guys have gone too far!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly, "A country has been destroyed!"
This wasn't just about the lives of one or two people; the thought filled Naruto with uncontrollable rage.
Hagoromo fell silent; after all, the Land of Whirlpools could be considered half of Naruto's home.
Shaking her head to stop thinking about it, Hagoromo looked at Kenzaburo and asked, "Professor, what were you researching back then...?"
Is this thing still down there?
Hagoromo pointed to the ground beneath her feet. It wasn't surprising that Hinata's Byakugan could see through the secret room, but his senses couldn't detect anything.
"Yes, I actually came here to find out more, and then see if I can strengthen the seal or destroy it after you leave!"
At this point, Kenzaburo's face revealed a resolute expression.
Hagoromo:...
Sasuke:...
Kenzaburo, standing before him, was neither naive nor courageous; someone had already come knocking on his door.
They actually thought they could handle it themselves.
After Kenzaburo finished speaking, he realized that he seemed a bit naive, and his old face couldn't help but turn red. He then looked at Hagoromo and said...
"The thing below is an irregularly shaped piece of dark purple crystal. When we were studying it back then, wavy patterns would occasionally appear, but they would disappear in an instant."
"That's what made me think about something, which is why I decided to go back to the capital to look for it."
As he spoke, Kenzaburo Teuchi, and took out a crest.
The somewhat ancient-looking emblem that appeared before Hagoromo and the others suddenly emitted a pure blue light that enveloped them.
Just then--
Laugh--!
Several Shuriken carrying Explosive Tags flew through the air, and Hagoromo leaped directly in front of Kenzaburo.
"Earth Release · Earth Formation Wall!"
A towering earthen wall blocked their path. Hagoromo turned to Naruto and his two companions and said, "Scatter!"
These guys actually managed to seize that one split second to launch an attack.
That burst of blue light just now made Hagoromo and the others feel as if they were in another dimension, which is why they didn't sense the arrival of these guys.
Boom--
A huge explosion resounded against the earthen wall, sending debris flying everywhere.
Naruto and the others covered Kenzaburo as they fled far away.
Before the dust had even settled, several figures were already trying to bypass Hagoromo's location and head towards Naruto and the others.
Hagoromo narrowed her eyes, and in a flash, she blocked everyone's path. She quickly formed hand seals, her mouth bulging, and a fireball shot out from her throat.
Fire Style: Searing Migraine!
Upon landing, it immediately set the surroundings ablaze, and a sea of fire instantly blocked the path of the figures trying to chase Naruto and the others.
This road is blocked.
Hagoromo looked up at the figures outside the sea of fire and spoke indifferently.
On the outskirts of the sea of fire, five figures dressed in black and wearing masks watched the waves of fire gradually engulfing them.
The figure at the head of the group seemed to be sneer beneath his mask, slowly raising his hands to form several hand seals.
Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
The next instant, a huge stream of water burst forth from the ground beneath the five figures and shot into the sky.
Hagoromo frowned. These guys... their Chakra is a bit strange!
Boom--
The water flow directly impacted the sea of fire emanating from the Hagoromo, and a huge plume of steam filled the entire area.
"You two go over there, we'll stay and deal with this guy."
From within the mist, the leading figure spoke, as if the Hagoromo before him was merely an opponent he could easily defeat.