You Grew Up Listening to Stories About My Master

"Master! Master! Just as you predicted, the girl Hagoromo likes was sacrificed. I'm afraid Hagoromo won't be able to hold back much longer!"

Gamamaru reported what he had seen to Manji.

"Mm, I know."

Manji wore an unsurprised expression.

As expected, women really were men's weak spot.

Hagoromo, who had originally feared his mother's punishment, had rebelled the moment he saw that the girl he liked had been sacrificed.

"Good. Now we just wait for them to come to me on their own. Gamamaru, go meet them outside."

Manji clasped his hands behind his back and spoke calmly.

"Yes, Master!"

Gamamaru immediately cupped his hands, unable to help praising his master's gift for foresight.

He truly had the bearing of a sage!

"Haori, wait for me! I'm coming to save you!"

Hagoromo and Hamura raced through the night.

Hagoromo clenched his fists so tightly his nails nearly dug into his palms. He had only one thought: save Haori, no matter the cost.

At the foot of the God Tree, enormous roots twisted and tangled together, forming deep, shadowy openings that looked like entrances to hell.

"Wait, big brother!"

Hamura stopped first and took a deep breath. Veins spread across his eyes as he activated the Byakugan to its full extent!

Pale blue Chakra swirled around his eyes, piercing layer after layer of darkness and the barrier of roots as he peered into the depths below.

The next second, Hamura's expression changed dramatically, his pupils shrinking in utter Ji shock!

"Those... those are all people! They're corpses!"

Then Hamura rushed toward one of the deep, shadowy openings like a madman.

Hagoromo's heart lurched. He followed close behind and rushed into the opening.

Once inside,

Hagoromo saw the scene before him.

There was a vast cavern underground. Countless tendrils descended from the roots of the God Tree, like greedy tentacles, coiling around tightly packed objects.

They were things shaped like cocoons, wrapped in green leaf-like bands and stacked neatly throughout the cavern, stretching beyond sight.

Human-shaped silhouettes could just barely be made out inside them.

"Big brother, open these up!"

Hamura shouted anxiously.

"Okay!"

Anger and anxiety mingled in Hagoromo's eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed a Wind Release technique.

Invisible blades of wind howled forth, slicing toward the cocoons like knives.

"Splurt!"

"Splurt!"

Hagoromo's gaze stayed fixed on each cocoon as it was opened. His heart pounded in his chest, caught between hope and dread.

When one of the cocoons was split open by the wind blade, a familiar figure rolled out.

Her plain clothes were soaked through with mucus and in tatters. Her gentle face was bloodless, her eyes closed, and she had no breath left—It was Haori!

"Haori!!!"

Hagoromo cried out hoarsely and rushed forward without hesitation, cradling Haori's cold body in his arms.

His hands trembling, he reached toward Haori's nose to check for breath. His fingertips met only silence.

"Haori! Wake up!"

"Wake up! I came to save you! You can't die!"

Hagoromo's voice was hoarse and broken, a desperate sob catching in his throat. He shook Haori's body, trying to wake her.

But the girl in his arms kept her eyes closed, a faint, almost relieved smile at the corners of her lips. No matter how he called to her or shook her, she didn't respond.

"Big brother..."

"Haori... she's already dead."

Hamura crouched beside him and spoke with difficulty.

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"No! It can't be!"

Hagoromo held Haori's cold body tightly, as if he could merge her into his own flesh and blood.

The warmth in his arms ebbed away. Haori's body gradually stiffened, and those familiar eyes and gentle smile could now exist only in his memories.

A crushing wave of grief engulfed Hagoromo, breaking through all his reason and defenses.

He felt something inside him shatter completely, followed by unbearable pain and towering fury.

He remembered how Haori had calmly accepted her fate, how gently she had put on the Magatama Necklace, his mother's lies, the God Tree's greed, and the desolation of this land.

Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo pressed his lips together and said nothing.

The warmth that had once filled his eyes had vanished completely, leaving only icy coldness and blazing anger.

That lofty God Tree, the sacred object his mother claimed was beyond reproach, was now nothing more than a monster that devoured life in his eyes.

Those so-called rules were nothing but cold shackles his mother had imposed to satisfy her own desires.

Gamamaru's words echoed in his ears once more. The desolation around the God Tree came back to him, and Haori's gentle yet despairing smile remained before his eyes. All his doubts and reverence collapsed in that instant!

"AAAAAAAH—!!!"

A heart-rending roar burst from Hagoromo's mouth!

Ji emotions shook his body, and a power he had never felt before surged from his eyes.

His eyes abruptly turned red. Black Tomoe spun rapidly in his pupils, then gathered together, finally forming three sinister Tomoe suspended in his red eyes—the Sharingan.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan shone with an eerie red light, illuminating Hagoromo's grief-stricken face and the countless cold corpses in the cavern.

There was no trace of his former gentleness left in his eyes. Only endless sorrow, rage, and the flames of revenge remained.

"Big brother? Your eyes!"

Hamura stared at the Sharingan in his brother's eyes, too shocked to speak.

He had never seen eyes like those, nor had he ever felt such a terrifying presence from his brother!

At daybreak, a pale sliver of light appeared on the horizon.

Stepping through the morning dew, the two raced onward and finally reached the mountain where they had met Gamamaru that day.

The horrific scene beneath the God Tree, Haori's cold corpse, the unfamiliar power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Hagoromo's eyes, and their mother's long-standing lies—

It all coiled around their hearts like countless threads, driving them to seek the truth!

"Gamamaru! Where are you? I need you!"

Hagoromo shouted into the empty valley, his voice hoarse after a sleepless night.

As soon as the words left his mouth, a cloud of smoke suddenly burst open before them, and Gamamaru's chubby figure leaped out!

Gamamaru still wore his affectedly mysterious expression as he said calmly, "You can stop shouting. I've been waiting here for you for a long time."

Hagoromo furrowed his brow, full of confusion. "How did you know I would come?"

"Heh heh, because my master told me!"

"My master is a man of immense powers. He can read the signs and divine the future. He knew long ago that you'd come looking for me!"

Gamamaru puffed out his chest, his face full of pride.

"Who is your master?"

Hagoromo pressed, his curiosity thoroughly piqued.

Gamamaru smiled mysteriously and said meaningfully, "Come on. I'll take you to meet him. As it happens, you should have known about him for a long time. You may even have met him."

He paused, watching their stunned expressions, then added, "After all, you grew up listening to stories about my master."

"Grew up listening to stories about him!?"

Hagoromo and Hamura froze, then their expressions changed dramatically as the same name flashed through their minds—Manji!

The heroic tales their mother had told them for years, the temple portraits they visited every year, and the mysterious man who had vanished after fishing in the snow that day... all the clues suddenly fell into place.

"Could the man fishing that day really have been the Manji Mother spoke of?"

Hagoromo's pupils narrowed as he murmured in shock.

"Could it really have been..."

Hamura trembled too, his eyes full of disbelief.

The man's appearance that day was nearly identical to the young man in the temple portrait, only tempered by the calm and composure of age.

The figure their mother had fashioned into a hero, the one she felt guilty toward and had a temple built to honor, really did exist—and they had even met him once!

"Heh heh..."

Seeing how shocked they were, Gamamaru couldn't help laughing. He waved a forelimb. "Come with me."

The two pushed aside the turmoil in their hearts and followed close behind Gamamaru.