Ninja War Tactical Level Investigation (3)

Hagoromo did not have time to defend himself. In fact, it was not yet his turn to speak.

"It's fine, Tsunade-sensei. Hagoromo can take care of himself. Taking him along is much like how Tsunade-sensei has always taken Shizune along." Kushina smiled as she rebutted Tsunade. Just then, Kato Shizune happened to enter the tent.

Shizune served tea to the guests. After setting down the tray, she first bowed to Kushina, then timidly withdrew.

Ever since her lover, Kato Dan, had died, Tsunade had kept Dan's niece, Shizune, by her side.

Hagoromo watched Shizune's departing back, racking his brain for everything he knew about her. He did not recall much, but what he did remember gave him an absurd thought.

Tsunade had adopted Shizune. Was this the legendary plan of raising a child for old-age support? Raising a child for old-age support?

Well, whether Hagoromo was right or not, Shizune later became Tsunade's full-time caretaker, looking after every aspect of her life.

"Not like Shizune, right? More like that brat Minato has?" After hearing Kushina, Tsunade wore a less-than-friendly expression.

She was talking about Kakashi, right? Tsunade had met Kakashi? Hagoromo was a little puzzled.

"That brat is trying too hard. He's desperate to prove that he's White Fang's son, desperate to prove that his father was a Konoha hero. Fighting like that on the battlefield, he'll die easily—and soon."

Tsunade might have understood Kakashi's urgency, but she also thought his methods were incredibly foolish.

In a Ninja World War like this, even Tsunade could not guarantee that she would survive until the end, much less a brat like Kakashi who fought without regard for his life. Setting everything else aside, hadn't Tsunade's own granduncle, the Second Hokage, died on the battlefield too?

Ninjas excelled at small-scale infiltration, sabotage, covert entry, assassination, petty theft, picking locks... Ahem. In short, they were not meant to fight in open, head-on battles, because that impaired each ninja's ability to perform efficiently. In truth, the four-man squad was the most efficient operational unit.

But the current situation was that the Ninja World War had forced every ninja village to throw thousands of ninjas onto the front lines, making them engage in massive melees like ordinary soldiers. That truly was not a good strategy.

Yet it was a strategy they had no choice but to use.

"Hagoromo isn't quite like Kakashi..."

"Hagoromo? That's his name?"

"Yes, his name is Kamishiro Hagoromo. At the very least, Hagoromo is much smarter than Kakashi, and he's strong too. I wasn't joking when I said he can take care of himself. Put it this way: I may lose to Minato in the competition to become Hokage, but my disciple will definitely beat Minato's disciple." Kushina spoke with complete confidence.

But looking at her, Hagoromo felt that she resembled a child showing off a new toy to an elder.

Was that an illusion? Hagoromo decided that what he had just felt had to be an illusion.

"On the way here, we actually encountered a team of Sand Ninja: one Jonin, one Chunin, and two Genin... Hagoromo drove them back by himself."

"Drove them back?" Surprise appeared on Tsunade's face. Although she did not approve of Kakashi's methods, she still acknowledged his strength. She had not expected that, in Kushina's eyes, her student seemed even stronger than White Fang's son.

"Three dead, one seriously injured. His own injuries were basically nothing."

"Oh? Your name is Hagoromo?"

This time, Tsunade began to take an interest in Hagoromo.

That record was indeed impressive, comparable to Kakashi's.

In Tsunade's eyes, Hagoromo was also just a child. He was wrapped head to toe in a tattered piece of black cloth—yes, that was how Tsunade saw it—with a head of white hair. But unlike most children his age, after entering the tent, he had not looked around everywhere. Instead, he quietly and steadily followed behind Kushina.

"Yes, Kamishiro Hagoromo, Tsunade-sama." Only upon hearing Tsunade's question did Hagoromo speak for the first time.

Tsunade nodded, then said, "Looks decent..."

Then she walked over to Hagoromo and extended her left hand. She looked as though she were about to kindly pat him on the head, but just as her hand was about to touch him, she suddenly curled one finger.

Hagoromo instantly sensed danger. Just as Tsunade's finger was about to touch his forehead, he explosively retreated first!

In an instant, crackling Electric Arc began flashing over Hagoromo's body. By the time Tsunade flicked her finger at him, he had appeared at the tent entrance ten meters away as if he had teleported.

Of course Hagoromo had to dodge, and he had to dodge with all his strength. If Tsunade's Super Strength flicked him in the forehead, the lightest outcome would be a concussion... More importantly, he had no masochistic tendencies.

Tsunade was slightly stunned. She had indeed meant to test Hagoromo just now, but she had not expected her test to miss completely.

"How about that? His reactions are good, right?" Seeing Tsunade's reaction, Kushina seemed even more pleased with herself.

Tsunade nodded. She withdrew her finger and said, "Not bad. His reaction speed is very fast. Back then, Minato's disciple got hit squarely by my flick and was sent sprawling. Putting everything else aside, your disciple's reaction ability is quite good."

Seeing Tsunade withdraw her finger, Hagoromo finally dispelled the Chidori Current wrapped around his body. Tsunade truly deserved her reputation as one of the Three Ninja. Though she was not a ninja known for speed, if his reaction had been even slightly slower just now, he would definitely have ended up exactly like Kakashi had.

"Sent sprawling" was the more artistic way to put it. In truth, Kakashi had nearly been knocked unconscious... Imagining that expressionless Kakashi's experience back then somehow made it a little funny.

In short, Hagoromo felt that Tsunade stood on an entirely higher level than himself as a ninja. He could not help but sigh that the Three Ninja really were immensely powerful Kage-level fighters.

"That technique just now... did you teach it to him, or did Minato?" Tsunade asked with a frown. She had a feeling that although Hagoromo had merely dodged just now, with that kind of speed, if she had been an enemy, he would have had the chance to counterattack.

Of course, she had only struck casually just now. She had not been serious.

"It's his own technique, a high-level ninjutsu he created himself."

"Created himself?"

Hagoromo had surprised Tsunade again and again. If everything Kushina said was true, then for Hagoromo to create a ninjutsu of this level at his age, she had no choice but to acknowledge his talent.

This was the first time she had seen such a fast, instantly cast Sealless Ninjutsu. Judging by the intensity of its chakra, the technique should be A-rank or above. And judging from the sense of danger it had given her just now, this guy might be an exceptionally gifted Minato-like talent.

P.S. 1: Please vote on Monday. Thanks to reader Million Diffusion for the reward.

P.S. 2: The review section gave me quite a scare. Some readers have made more posts than I have updates... Well, I still believe everyone means well for this book, but to avoid scaring away readers who come here to read, I deleted some of them. In the future, if you have suggestions, please try to keep them in a single post.