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After losing track of the Third Kazekage, the Hulked-out version of Hayato couldn't hold back a furious roar. He completely lost it, smashing and tearing through everything around him just to vent his rage. It took a while, but eventually, his anger began to fade, and his body started shrinking down… until he returned to his normal form.
Once he was back to himself, Hayato frowned. He'd expected a fight with the Sand Ninja, sure—but now that it had really happened, he couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. What he really wanted was to talk things through with them, like he had with the Leaf. His hope was that they'd agree to his conditions and work things out. But now? Yeah, that ship had clearly sailed.
"Well, whatever. What's done is done," Hayato muttered to himself. "Might as well go find the Sand Ninja again. After everything that just happened, maybe they'll be more willing to back down."
He let out a long sigh and got ready to head back toward the Sand's last known position. But first… he had to deal with the little problem of standing half-naked in the wind.
Once Hayato found a fresh set of clothes and changed into them, he returned to where the Sand Ninja camp had been. But when he got there—surprise—it was already deserted.
Actually, no. Not totally deserted. The Sand Ninja were gone, but some Leaf ninja had shown up instead.
The moment they saw Hayato, the Leaf ninjas immediately greeted him respectfully, even talking about going to inform the Third Hokage. After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already made Hayato's identity public and warned all Konoha ninjas not to mess with him under any circumstances. The message was loud and clear: Don't provoke him. So now, just seeing Hayato was enough to make them treat him with serious caution.
"No need for that," Hayato waved them off. "But hey—why are you Leaf guys even here? Wasn't this supposed to be a Sand camp?"
"We just beat the Sand ninja a little while ago," one of them said proudly. "They've already admitted defeat!"
He grinned smugly as he spoke, but quickly shifted to a more guarded expression as he looked at Hayato again. After all, not that long ago, this same guy had threatened their entire village all by himself.
Hearing that, Hayato instantly pieced it together. So that's what happened—Konoha took advantage of the chaos from his fight with the Sand and launched a full-on attack.
Part of him felt like Konoha had totally taken advantage of his mess. But, at the same time, he had to admit—at least the Sand problem was taken care of. That just left Iwagakure.
He thought about going after the Stone Ninja next, but ultimately decided not to. Since the Leaf had already taken down the Sand, it was only a matter of time before they clashed with the Stone as well. Their battlefield would be the Land of Rain, and the final showdown wasn't far off now.
But honestly? That battle probably wouldn't have much to do with Hayato anymore.
With that in mind, he turned and left.
After he left, some of the Leaf ninjas watched him go, clearly disappointed. They'd really hoped he'd go stir up trouble with the Stone Ninja too. If he had, the result would probably be the same as with the Sand—total destruction—and Konoha could swoop in and grab another easy win.
Unfortunately, Hayato wasn't interested. Still, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and the others only showed brief disappointment before quickly refocusing on strategy. Iwa still didn't know that the Sand had already been defeated, so this was the perfect chance for a sneak attack. If they acted fast, Konoha could pull off another win and crush the Stone as well.
"Konan! I'm back!" Hayato called out as he returned home.
He spotted Konan waiting for him out on the street, and a warm smile spread across his face.
"You're back! That's great!" she said with a big grin when she saw he was safe. Just seeing her so happy filled Hayato with a comforting warmth. He gently patted her head, then pulled her into a hug and started walking back toward their home together.
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Not long after Hayato came back, he heard the news—Konoha had defeated both the Sand and Stone Shinobi, securing victory on the battlefield. In other words, the Second Great Ninja War had come to an end.
And honestly, it was all thanks to Hayato. Without him, this war would've dragged on for at least another six months before there was a clear winner.
But Hayato didn't really care. As long as no one came messing with his peaceful life, that was all that mattered to him.
...
As for the rest—Konoha ninja cutting straight through the Land of Rain into the Wind Country, or maybe even the Land of Lightning jumping in and pushing into the Earth Country—none of that concerned Hayato in the slightest.
His focus was simple: training, exercising, constantly pushing himself to become stronger. That's what Hayato was all about.
Konan, on the other hand, had pretty solid talent. But the number of jutsu she could learn from Hayato was limited. After all, the only way Hayato could get new jutsu was by taking them from rogue ninja. And let's be honest, how many of those guys really had anything good?
Even so, Konan was gifted. When she hit a wall—no new jutsu to learn and no clear way to get stronger—she didn't give up. Instead, she changed her approach. She started experimenting with pouring chakra into paper. Since she'd always liked paper—especially folding paper flowers—it made sense for her to try combining that with ninjutsu.
Hayato was honestly surprised when he saw it, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. But he didn't say anything. Everyone's got their own path to follow. As long as she was happy, that's all that mattered.
He didn't really worry that this might slow down her growth. Deep down, Hayato was determined to protect Konan no matter what. He'd do everything he could to make sure she never got hurt.
But to protect her, to keep her safe, Hayato knew he wasn't strong enough yet. Sure, he could transform into the Hulk—but in that state, he completely lost control. What if he accidentally hurt Konan while he was like that?
That thought terrified him. That's why Hayato threw himself into training like a madman. He had no other choice. The only thing he could do now was push himself to the absolute limit—grind day in and day out—until he became strong enough to protect the people he cared about.
"....."