For the current Hagoromo, the Three-Tails could hardly be called a difficult opponent.
The twenty-year-old White Yaksha had grown even more "White Yaksha-esque."
Furthermore, due to the varying chakra natures and overall volumes of the nine Tailed Beasts, there were, in fact, disparities in their strength.
Some Tailed Beasts were easier to deal with, while others were harder. Or rather, a certain ninja's combat style might be perfectly suited to counter one Tailed Beast but terribly mismatched against another.
Perhaps the Sage of Six Paths had accidentally made some uneven cuts when dividing the Ten-Tails, or perhaps he created these disparities intentionally—purposefully causing an imbalance in power among the different Tailed Beasts. Or was it simply playing favorites?
Only Hagoromo Otsutsuki would know the answer to that.
Regardless, the Three-Tails—with its sluggish movements, sturdy back shell, stubby limbs, and retractable head—was nothing more than an oversized, living target practice for Hagoromo.
In truth, Hagoromo didn't even have a detailed plan for dealing with the Three-Tails. He handled everything entirely on the fly during the real-time engagement...
According to Hagoromo's estimations, beating the Three-Tails half to death would only cost him a certain amount of energy. Beyond that... fighting the Three-Tails wouldn't significantly impact his sustained combat capability. If it did, he wouldn't have dared to drag Mirai into an enemy country and just start recklessly spamming his ultimate moves.
Although his final "instant kill" attempt had failed, the combat process had not deviated from Hagoromo's expectations.
If Deidara could handle the Three-Tails with his clay bombs, comparing the destructive power of that jutsu with the single-target damage of Hagoromo's Railgun... squashing the Three-Tails was perfectly within reason for him.
However, any technique capable of engaging and severely wounding a Tailed Beast inherently possessed certain characteristics: they were loud, destructive, and incredibly conspicuous.
Expecting Hagoromo to silently neutralize or control a Tailed Beast was impossible.
Coupled with the fact that this lake had always been under the heavy surveillance of Kirigakure, unless they all collectively went blind and deaf at the same time, it was impossible for them to remain oblivious. They were bound to react.
Kirigakure was one of the Five Great Ninja Villages after all. They had not gone blind; on the contrary, and quite normally, they responded with extreme promptness.
Monitoring a Tailed Beast is an incredibly vital mission. There was a specialized response mechanism between the two surveillance squads and the village. The moment communications were cut off, Kirigakure immediately began suspecting that something had gone wrong with the Tailed Beast.
What truly drew their attention, however, were the subsequent explosions, tremors, the Three-Tails' roars, and the high-intensity chakra fluctuations. Consequently, Kirigakure's operational scale and alert status instantly skyrocketed to the highest level.
"Hagoromo, the enemies are very close."
While Hagoromo was looking down in thought, Mirai occasionally spoke up to warn him of the approaching enemies.
Despite knowing the enemy was closing in, Hagoromo showed absolutely no sign of urgency. Let alone fleeing, the four of them were currently just strolling leisurely around the lake as if taking a scenic walk.
Without a passport, a visa, or any formal permission, Hagoromo's current operation was a textbook case of illegal entry, smuggling, poaching, and child abduction. Yet, facing the pursuit of the rightful owners, he remained far too calm.
Actually, even if he had formal permission, it wouldn't have mattered. Ever since the Kumogakure incident, no country would welcome the arrival of a ninja like Hagoromo, even if he claimed to be purely there for sightseeing.
And of course, it was impossible for him to be there just for sightseeing.
With Kirigakure rushing over like their pants were on fire and Hagoromo's group strolling so leisurely, the contrast made being overtaken an absolute certainty.
"I didn't expect you to mobilize personally... Fourth Mizukage."
If there was one thing about Mei Terumi that had changed over the past few years, it was definitely her figure, which... ahem, in the interest of maintaining a certain emotion called 'purity', shall not be described in detail.
It had to be said that Hagoromo shared a certain "fate" with all the "Fourth Generation" Kages. Whether it was the Fourth Hokage, Kazekage, Raikage, or Mizukage, he had some sort of connection with all of them.
Seeing the person before him proved that Mirai's sensory perception was flawless. Since it involved a Tailed Beast, the Fourth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, deploying personally wasn't impossible.
"But... is it really a good idea for you to leave Kirigakure at a time like this?"
Honestly, it wasn't a good idea at all. After all, there was a very real possibility that the enemy had taken control of the Three-Tails and planned to launch a direct assault on the Hidden Mist.
As the Kage, staying in the village to direct the defense was the most prudent choice at this moment.
But Mei Terumi was a young Mizukage, after all. Being action-oriented and proactive were her strengths, but also her weaknesses. Based on the current outcome, appearing directly in front of Hagoromo was not a wise decision.
Mei Terumi's threat level and combat power were higher than the Three-Tails', but even so, there was no absolute guarantee she could take Hagoromo down.
"Why are you in the Land of Water?" Whether leaving the village was prudent or not was none of his business; it was Mei Terumi's own judgment call.
As for the face of the man before her, she could never forget it. After all, they had shared a generally pleasant collaboration, and Hagoromo had even put on a song-and-dance performance for the locals.
"Lady Mizukage, our people..."
Accompanying Mei Terumi was her standard squad: Ao with the Byakugan, Mangetsu Hozuki wielding Samehada, and the shark-faced Kisame Hoshigaki.
Hearing Ao's report, the gaze Mei Terumi directed at Hagoromo grew significantly sharper.
"Calm down. I just knocked your ninjas unconscious, there's no need to be so tense... Do I look like some kind of homicidal maniac?"
Hagoromo's response remained utterly nonchalant.
He truly wasn't a homicidal maniac, but the number of ninjas he had killed was probably higher than that of an average homicidal maniac... much higher.
"There's no special reason. If I had to give one... I'm currently on a journey around the world, and the Land of Water is simply one of the stops."
If anyone actually believed Hagoromo's nonsense, there would have to be ghosts involved.
"You... Well, regardless of the reason, since you've come to the Land of Water, simply leaving won't be that easy," Mei Terumi said.
As she spoke, the focus of the Mizukage's guard detail was divided.
The Mizukage was primarily concerned about whether Hagoromo's infiltration was directed by Konoha. This involved the broader geopolitical landscape. What if he was planning a surprise attack on Kirigakure similar to the one in Kumogakure?
For Mangetsu Hozuki, however, his main focus was... the final two Ninja Swords had been found.
Launching a rash attack before the Mizukage gave the order was impossible, but that didn't mean he couldn't take other actions.
Mangetsu Hozuki pulled a scroll from his back and unfurled it. Written across it from right to left in a circle were the characters for "Sever," "Great," "Long," "Blunt," "Explosive," "Lightning," and "Twin."
It was the summoning scroll for the Seven Ninja Swords, but it hadn't served its intended purpose for a long time... The previously lost Ninja Swords had all been recovered manually. However, Nuibari and Hiramekarei had not been among them.
In the past, Mangetsu had attempted to "summon" them, but without any results. However... this time, the Ninja Swords were right in front of him. Even without fighting for them, there was no reason he shouldn't be able to summon them over.
After all, the swords were currently just in the hands of two children, not the White Yaksha himself.
Such an obvious action naturally couldn't escape Hagoromo's eyes. But rather than stopping him, Hagoromo merely gave Mangetsu a mocking smile.
Go ahead and summon them. If you manage to summon them away, I'll admit defeat.
As the saying goes, a fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. Whether Hagoromo voiced the phrase or not, that was exactly what he meant.
However, after Mangetsu completed the summoning hand signs, the swords... ultimately did not come to him. Not only that, but the circled characters for "Long" and "Twin"—representing the seals for Nuibari and Hiramekarei—simultaneously vanished from the scroll.
Worse still, blue chakra flames suddenly erupted on the scroll, and the summoning scroll simply burned away...
Facts proved that when it comes to specialized techniques like sealing, channeling, and summoning, it's best not to compete with an expert. Otherwise, you're bound to end up getting played.
But this wasn't the main issue. Even the Mizukage didn't have time to pay attention to what Mangetsu was doing.
The real issue was the single sentence Ao spoke after completing his reconnaissance:
"Lady Mizukage, the Three-Tails... is gone."