ANBU squad captain Sanpō clenched his teeth, then turned to Tsunade and said,
"I will send one ANBU unit back to report the situation to the Third Hokage. However, the remaining twelve must stay behind—as… as Lady Kushina's bodyguards."
He knew perfectly well what kind of punishment his earlier actions might bring.
But as long as he was still an ANBU shinobi, abandoning his mission was never an option.
Tsunade also understood that forcing these people to leave was unrealistic. Moreover, Kushina truly did need protection. Her expression turned cold as she said,
"I won't interfere with your mission. But do not appear within my line of sight."
Sanpō retreated as if he had been granted a reprieve. Their task had been to protect Kushina in secret from the very beginning—there was no need for them to reveal themselves anyway. As long as Tsunade allowed them to remain, the rest of her demands were trivial.
Because of the ANBU's mistake, the safest choice for Kushina at this moment would have been to leave immediately and return to Konoha.
Even Tsunade began to hesitate over the decision she had just made.
However, Kushina still insisted on staying. After all, the chance that her classified information would be leaked simply because of a single ANBU's words was extremely low.
This was the frontline command headquarters, protected layer upon layer by elite shinobi. Infiltration by spies was almost impossible.
What puzzled Kushina somewhat was the fact that Hagoromo seemed to know very clearly that she was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Still, she had no intention of digging into the source of his information. From the very beginning, she had known that her student was someone with strong opinions—young, yet unusually mature and steady in his actions.
After spending several months together, it wasn't surprising that he could deduce her identity. Toward people close to her, Kushina had never been extremely guarded about her status as a Jinchūriki. Perhaps she had accidentally let slip a word or two in daily conversation, and Hagoromo pieced the truth together from there.
In any case, she was genuinely moved by her student's protectiveness. More importantly, even after knowing that she was a Jinchūriki, Hagoromo's attitude toward her had not changed in the slightest.
There was no fear of the Tailed Beast.
No hostility.
No contempt.
Not even misplaced sympathy.
None of those emotions existed in Hagoromo.
To Kushina, his attitude—treating her exactly the same as before—was the most correct response possible.
After all, Hagoromo was not originally a native of this world. His view of Tailed Beasts was essentially:
"Tailed Beast = rare creature."
To him, those chakra monsters were simply fascinating. And anyone with average intelligence and rationality should understand this much: a Jinchūriki should never be equated with the Tailed Beast itself. Unfortunately, most people were blinded by fear and hatred.
A Jinchūriki is a human.
A Tailed Beast is a Tailed Beast.
The former may be a vessel that seals the latter—but beyond that, they are still ordinary people.
That was how Hagoromo saw things.
After the two ANBU finally left, Tsunade turned to Hagoromo and said,
"KamiKamishiro Hagoromo, very well. I'll remember your name."
This was clear praise. His bold decision to act directly against ANBU earlier had earned her approval and goodwill.
Shinobi were often regarded as emotionless killing tools. In fact, many believed that only emotionless killing tools could be considered "standard" shinobi.
But as long as one is human, emotions can never be completely erased.
Closeness is closeness.
Distance is distance.
Kushina did not actually need Hagoromo to stand up for her—but the fact that he was willing to step forward for his teacher satisfied Tsunade greatly.
The frontline activities of Kushina and Hagoromo thus began.
From Hagoromo's perspective, life at the frontline command headquarters was not much different from life in Konoha. Aside from the tenser atmosphere, everything felt largely the same. If anything, because he had no specific missions, he was even freer than he had been back in the village.
As a result, he devoted all his time to improving the Four Symbols Seal.
He had once asked Kushina to teach him the Reaper Death Seal, the most extreme of all fūinjutsu—but this time, Kushina flatly refused, no matter what.
A person's personality is multi-faceted. Earlier descriptions might paint Hagoromo as mature and steady, but that did not mean he lacked a reckless side. Otherwise, he would never have accompanied Kushina in committing certain… questionable acts.
In truth, whenever Kushina came up with one of her wild plans, Hagoromo would symbolically try to stop her—then promptly and enthusiastically join in.
Understanding his personality as well as she did, how could Kushina possibly teach him the Reaper Death Seal?
This had nothing to do with hoarding secret jutsu's, nor was it because Konoha's higher-ups forbade it. After all, this was a sealing jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan—the Hokage had no authority over it.
She was simply afraid that Hagoromo would misuse a jutsu that guaranteed death.
Was that something Hagoromo might do?
If she searched her conscience… yes, it absolutely was.
People come to understand one another through time. Just as Hagoromo had learned about Kushina, she had also come to grasp what kind of person her student truly was. She felt that, under certain circumstances, he really might use such a jutsu without hesitation.
The frontline was still the frontline. Kushina restrained herself considerably. It was hard to imagine someone as restless as her calmly accompanying Tsunade while she handled paperwork—but that was exactly what happened.
Kushina understood her own position. Being allowed to stay at the command headquarters was already the limit. As for going to the very front lines, Tsunade would never agree.
Konoha's defensive deployment against Sunagakure was arranged in three layers.
The first line of defense was located sixty kilometers away from the Konoha command headquarters, within the borders of the Land of Rivers. This line stretched horizontally in a loose formation and appeared extremely thin. With only six hundred shinobi in total, its primary role was surveillance and early warning rather than direct combat.
The second line of defense lay twenty kilometers behind the first, consisting of fifteen hundred shinobi. These forces were deployed in clustered formations and served as Konoha's main mobile strike force. Once Sunagakure forces breached the first line and their direction of advance was confirmed, the second line would mobilize immediately, rushing forward to intercept the enemy head-on.
The final line of defense was the Konoha Frontline Command Headquarters itself, positioned thirty kilometers behind the second line. This was Konoha's frontline command center, storing vast quantities of war supplies and housing critical facilities such as field hospitals. It was guarded by five hundred shinobi directly under the command headquarters.
This deployment balanced horizontal coverage with depth in defense. Given Konoha's disadvantage in overall manpower, this was the only way to efficiently utilize limited forces.
For now, Konoha simply did not possess the conditions necessary to launch a full-scale counteroffensive against the Land of Wind.
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