The lightning that had originally been confined to Hagoromo's right arm instantly spread across his entire body.
The blinding flash was so intense that even the Konoha camp several hundred meters away could see it clearly.
The shrill chirping sound echoed far into the distance.
Chidori Current.
If there had been a fifth enemy, a target this bright would have been easy prey.
Unfortunately for them—or fortunately for Hagoromo—there was no fifth enemy.
There were only four.
Hagoromo shot his left hand upward and caught the enemy's long blade barehanded.
The pain made his brows knit tightly.
But at the same moment, the intense electric current surged along the blade, instantly paralyzing the jōnin's body!
From the arm embedded in the tree, a five-meter-long blade of white lightning suddenly extended.
Hagoromo yanked his arm upward—
The tree and the corpse that had been pinned to his arm were cleanly severed, and with the motion of his arm, the lightning blade swept toward the paralyzed enemy jōnin in midair!
Chidori Sharp Spear.
This was a variant of Chidori—one that sacrificed raw penetrating power in exchange for vastly increased range.
But that "weakened" power was only in comparison to a full-strength Chidori.
Against flesh and bone, Chidori Sharp Spear was still more than enough to cut a human body in two.
Hagoromo had intended to kill the jōnin with this strike.
Unfortunately, a jōnin was still a jōnin.
Even while paralyzed, the enemy forcibly twisted his body in midair!
Hagoromo's lethal strike severed only half of the jōnin's arm.
At the same time, Hagoromo could no longer maintain the high-voltage current. Though numbness still plagued the enemy, his mobility had partially returned.
Realizing that he was no longer capable of fighting after losing an arm, the jōnin retreated immediately upon landing.
From his perspective, Hagoromo appeared completely uninjured—an opponent he could not overpower.
In reality, Hagoromo's chakra reserves were already heavily depleted.
High-level ninjutsu carried terrifying power—but their chakra consumption was just as terrifying.
Hagoromo no longer had the strength to pursue.
He dispersed the lightning chakra around his body, released the long blade from his left hand, and let it fall to the ground—still dangling with half of the enemy's severed arm.
At that moment, Kushina arrived in a rush, followed closely by an ANBU squad.
"How is it, Hagoromo? Where's the enemy?"
Seeing him still standing, Kushina first relaxed—then immediately began questioning him.
The smell of blood in the air had grown stronger.
After all, three corpses lay here, and one heavily wounded shinobi had escaped.
But Hagoromo didn't respond.
Normally, this would be the moment to describe the psychological shock of a protagonist's first kill.
But Hagoromo felt nothing.
Since arriving in this world, everything he had been taught revolved around one thing—how to kill.
How to kill accurately.
How to kill efficiently.
A shinobi was a killing machine.
And what he had done tonight was simply the application of twelve years of education.
"You're injured?"
Seeing no response, Kushina immediately began checking him over.
Fortunately, he had only been cut on the arm.
"Haa…"
Only then did Hagoromo finally exhale.
His silence hadn't been due to killing—it was because his body had overloaded.
Yes. Overload.
That burst of extreme movement had subjected him to something like +9G acceleration, and his body hadn't adapted yet. After a short pause, he finally recovered.
The wound on his hand was deep. The enemy's blade had nearly cut into the bone—without Lightning Release reinforcement, he would have been crippled.
Oddly enough, the pain was dulled.
That was because Hagoromo had been maintaining a paralyzing Lightning Release effect on his hand.
Of course, that came with a downside.
It didn't hurt—but the electrical stimulation prevented the wound from clotting, and blood continued to flow.
"I killed three. The last one escaped."
Hagoromo removed his mask, revealing a wry smile.
"As expected… I still can't deal with a jōnin."
His words rendered the four ANBU behind Kushina completely speechless.
They all knew Hagoromo had just graduated from the Academy.
A genin regretting that he failed to kill a jōnin?
What were they—veteran ANBU—supposed to do with their lives then?
So this was how generations were replaced…
"The injury's on this hand."
Kushina examined his right hand, now soaked in blood—most of it belonging to the enemy.
In truth, his right hand was unharmed.
The injured one was his left hand—the one that had blocked the blade and was still bleeding heavily.
The wound was deep enough to expose bone.
Kushina roughly grabbed his hand. When he didn't react, she immediately understood.
"Disperse the Lightning Release. Otherwise, it can't be treated."
Hagoromo gave a bitter smile and obediently released the chakra.
Instantly, searing pain flooded his nerves.
Kushina hurried him back to camp. Fortunately, there was no shortage of medical-nin there.
After treatment began, the pain rapidly subsided.
Medical ninjutsu truly was a miraculous art.
While Hagoromo was being treated, the ANBU finished examining the battlefield. One of them leaned close to Kushina and whispered:
"Sand shinobi. Three killed. One escaped after losing an arm…"
His tone was filled with disbelief.
No one would have imagined that a newly graduated genin—on his first real mission—could achieve such results.
Based on the enemy squad's composition, the casualties matched Hagoromo's earlier judgment perfectly: one chūnin, two genin.
That alone was an outstanding accomplishment.
And he had severed a jōnin's arm.
One against four—and he hadn't fallen behind.
Kushina nodded, acknowledging the report. As she helped bandage Hagoromo's wound, she said:
"Well done, Hagoromo. You really are my disciple. But next time, don't rush in alone like that. This victory was… lucky."
Hagoromo smiled bitterly.
He hadn't expected Kushina to have such a nagging side.
He had charged out alone because he was confident in his ability to survive—but his true reasons weren't something he could explain yet.
So all he could do was endure her lecture.
"I just wanted to test my own limits," he offered—a rather weak excuse.
Kushina glared at him fiercely, then smacked his injured hand.
Eh?
It didn't hurt.
"All right. How does it feel?" she asked.
Hagoromo clenched his fist experimentally. The bandages restricted his movement somewhat, but the pain he'd expected never came.
In just ten minutes, the treatment had already shown clear results.
"It barely hurts now. Amazing work, sensei," Hagoromo praised.
The nearby medical-nin were left speechless—as if they hadn't been the ones treating him.
"Who asked you that?" Kushina snapped.
"I'm asking how you felt during your first real battle."
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