A Reasonable Way to Keep Summoning Beasts (1)

Hagoromo had been utterly exhausted at the time, and everyone around him had been completely trustworthy, so he had not been on guard in the slightest. When the sudden blow struck, he immediately passed out.

Hagoromo had no idea what happened afterward. After he was "ambushed," his little dogs, calves, birds, and other pet creatures had nearly gone berserk.

Having lost Hagoromo's control and witnessing their master being attacked, the Summoning Beasts immediately launched an attack on Minato, Kushina, and the others.

Since Hagoromo had gone through so much trouble to obtain those Summoning Beasts, they could not bring themselves to be too harsh on them, leaving them in a passive position.

Fortunately, Minato was exceptionally good at running away. He promptly took all three of them, including Hagoromo, and fled.

The Summoning Beasts might remain in an uproar for a while, but as long as they could still sense that their connection to Hagoromo remained intact, they would eventually calm down. As for exactly when that would happen, well, Minato had no idea.

In any case, they had already left that dangerous place.

"Where am I?"

When Hagoromo woke up again, he found himself lying on a bed.

His head hurt and felt dizzy, and his thoughts were not turning as quickly as usual. Still, he immediately realized that he was no longer in that strange space from before.

"You're awake, Hagoromo." Upon noticing that he had awakened, Nohara Rin, who had been keeping watch at his side, spoke at once. Not only that, she waved a hand in front of his eyes, as though confirming whether he had truly regained consciousness.

"Rin? Why are you here? Where is this?"

Following that hand, Hagoromo recognized its owner. He did not know why Rin was at his side, and he was particularly determined to figure out where he was.

Nohara Rin was indeed looking after Hagoromo. After all, he could barely be considered seriously injured. In the same hospital room, Hatake Kakashi sat on a stool by the window some distance away, though it was impossible to tell whether he was spacing out, looking at the scenery outside, or reading the book in his hands.

Kakashi was indeed holding a book. Fortunately, at his young age, he did not yet understand the artistic appeal of Icha Icha Paradise. Or perhaps he had already figured it out on his own, but Jiraiya had not yet put pen to paper for that novel.

From Hagoromo's slightly reclined angle, he could clearly see the title of Kakashi's book.

Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja.

A fairly orthodox but obscure novel with a ninja as its protagonist.

To Hagoromo, the title looked somewhat familiar. Beyond that, he knew nothing—or rather, in his current condition, he had no interest in what Kakashi was reading. It was not as though he had run out of books to read.

"This is the Ninja Hospital at Konoha's Frontline Command Post against Sunagakure, the place you were at before... Teacher Minato brought you back three days ago, but you've been unconscious ever since. They said it was due to excessive blood loss and Chakra depletion..." Rin said, though there was a trace of unnaturalness in her tone that Hagoromo failed to notice.

Some people were simply bad at lying.

"I'm back here? Right, where's Teacher Kushina?" Hagoromo immediately asked.

Since he was back here, what about Kushina? Hagoromo was rather concerned about that. Before Rin could answer, he held his head and forced himself to sit up slightly in the hospital bed.

Only when the blanket covering him slipped down did he realize that he was not wearing a shirt... Though whether he wore one or not made little difference. He was wrapped up like a mummy, with outstanding coverage.

As Hagoromo sat up, he felt Kakashi's gaze shift away from the book for an instant. The other boy seemed to glance at him before turning another page.

"Teacher Kushina was sent back to Konoha by Teacher Minato that same day," Rin said.

Hagoromo nodded. He could understand that. After the crisis a few days ago, as long as the people of Konoha had not lost their minds, they would certainly recall Kushina. Even if Kushina herself disagreed, it would be useless. Where her safety was concerned, Minato would surely not take her side.

In fact, Kushina had been quite sensible. She did not resist at all and obediently returned to Konoha. Even willfulness had its limits; she could distinguish right from wrong and knew what mattered most.

Hearing that Kushina was safe put Hagoromo at ease, but he was not so easily fooled in certain matters.

"I passed out from blood loss? Then why do I remember Teacher Kushina knocking me unconscious?"

He remembered now. His final memory before passing out had clearly been Kushina's fist growing larger and larger before his eyes.

The reason he had passed out was not blood loss, but a concussion, right?

Rin smiled awkwardly, then silently apologized to Kushina in her heart.

She had indeed explained things to Hagoromo as Kushina had instructed, but she had not expected him to remember so clearly who the culprit behind his collapse was.

Hagoromo even remembered the angle of Kushina's punch perfectly, okay?

After thinking about it for a moment, Hagoromo understood why Kushina had punched him back then. Well, from Kushina's perspective, he had rather deserved that beating.

After all, Hagoromo's actions at the time had not been particularly reasonable. He should have left that place as soon as possible, rather than lingering there happily catching Summoning Beasts.

Kushina had hit him out of "frustration at his failure to live up to expectations" as her student. A few Summoning Beasts had tempted him away; under those injuries, an ordinary person would only think about how to escape, not turn around and start capturing them instead.

As things stood, Hagoromo's injuries could not be considered light, but neither were they too severe. They were only external wounds, and after resting for a while, he should recover.

Next, Rin began explaining what had happened after Hagoromo and Kushina left the battlefield that day, as well as the changes at the Frontline Command Post during the days he had been gone and unconscious. Though Rin had heard these things from others, she still knew far more than Hagoromo did.

"Did you know? Everyone outside is calling you the White Yaksha now." Rin spoke with a hint of excitement and mystery on her face.

"Huh?" Hagoromo was completely dumbfounded upon hearing that.

What the hell was the White Yaksha? Why did it sound so familiar?

"That ninja, his white hair stained with blood, racing across the battlefield like... a yaksha."