Hearing that the nickname "White Yaksha" had been slapped onto his forehead, Hagoromo subconsciously tried to imitate that dead-fish-eyed expression he remembered from somewhere.
A sharp-featured, princely face—combined with mysteriously lifeless eyes…
For reasons Rin couldn't explain, she felt as though her eyesight had briefly gone blind at that exact moment.
A truly bizarre supernatural phenomenon.
Yes, when people first talked about the White Yaksha, the image was undeniably cool—cutting down aliens and all that. Later on, when the moment called for it, he could still be cool… but most of the time, he faithfully played the role of a useless slacker.
Honestly, Hagoromo had no idea who spread this title in the first place. White Yaksha?
Do you even know Justaway?
Rin continued her explanation.
"Right now, a lot of people are talking about you. They say you're one of the three prodigies of the new generation."
"Hold on," Hagoromo interrupted. "What do you mean by three prodigies of the new generation?"
Something felt very wrong.
Calling someone a genius sounded nice—but on the battlefield, young shinobi branded as "geniuses" were almost always placed at the very top of the enemy's kill list.
Anyone calling him a prodigy clearly had bad intentions.
Or worse—this was Konoha's star-making strategy.
If it was the latter, Hagoromo couldn't agree with it at all. Shinobi like Namikaze Minato, whose name Yellow Flash alone could deter the entire shinobi world, had ironclad strength to back it up. Konoha could hype him all it wanted.
"Encountering the Yellow Flash is grounds to abandon the mission."
That single line summed up Minato's deterrent value.
Even Minato couldn't guarantee coming out of every battle unscathed. Hagoromo knew very well that his own slender neck couldn't carry the weight of a "genius" title.
To be blunt, despite having powerful area attacks, he was still a high-offense, low-defense glass cannon. In terms of raw shinobi rank, he was clearly below jōnin level. The only reason he could run wild on the battlefield was his exceptional Lightning Release. Seal his Lightning Release, and his combat effectiveness would plummet instantly.
The shinobi world was terrifying.
Hagoromo wasn't some invincible monster. Calling him a genius just made him easier to kill. What if someone like Minato suddenly appeared behind him and slit his throat? What if he took a direct hit from Dust Release? Or Boil Release? Or got kicked by some taijutsu maniac who could open the Eight Gates?
At that moment, Hagoromo felt genuinely unsettled—gripped by the illusion that everyone wanted him dead.
In truth, this had nothing to do with ill intent.
That night, he had beaten Shukaku in front of countless witnesses—an unforgettable sight for most of them. Forgetting him was never an option.
That overwhelming presence, terrifying to both allies and enemies alike, made the title Yaksha feel almost appropriate.
Of course, many people could tell that Kushina deserved most of the credit for restraining Shukaku—but Hagoromo's relentless follow-up attacks were simply too visually dominant. As a result, Kushina was subconsciously overlooked.
None of this had crossed Hagoromo's mind.
Rin continued:
"On the Mist front, Konoha's prodigy from the Uchiha clan—an elite among elite shinobi—Uchiha Shisui, famed for his genjutsu and ghostlike movement. They call him Shisui of the Body Flicker."
"On the Stone and Cloud fronts, the disciple of Konoha's Yellow Flash—the son of the White Fang—Hatake Kakashi."
As she said this, Rin glanced at Kakashi. He showed absolutely no reaction.
"And finally, on the Sand front… the last scion of the Uzumaki clan's disciple, a master of Lightning Release, the shinobi who shattered the One-Tail(Ichibi)—White Yaksha, KamiKamishiro Hagoromo."
Hagoromo had nothing left to say.
Putting him alongside Kakashi and Shisui was basically an open invitation for the enemy to put him on their must-kill list.
From now on, every time he stepped onto a battlefield, he'd have to be careful—careful to the extreme.
The more he thought about it, the worse it felt. If Konoha was spreading this narrative, Sunagakure surely had its own version. And since every village had spies in every other village, it wouldn't be long before the other great nations heard about it too.
By the time the story reached someone like the Raikage, it would probably sound like:
A single young shinobi called White Yaksha soloed Shukaku.
The implications were terrifying.
Hagoromo forcibly pulled his thoughts away from that spiral.
"How's the situation on the battlefield now?" he asked, changing the subject.
Rin answered, "That night, Sunagakure's surprise offensive caused us massive losses. Of course, they didn't get away clean either—rough estimates put their casualties at over two thousand shinobi. As for how many were killed versus wounded, I don't know."
"That much damage…" Hagoromo murmured.
"Wouldn't that cripple them? Tsunade-sama has always wanted to go on the offensive—this might be the perfect opportunity."
Rin shook her head.
"Our losses weren't much lower. Casualty numbers are classified, so I don't know the exact figures—but more importantly, our logistics division and a large number of non-combat personnel were devastated. Supply lines are barely functioning. Launching a surprise attack is impossible."
"So… still a stalemate." Hagoromo rubbed his forehead helplessly.
Without a decisive strategic victory or defeat, a war like this could drag on endlessly.
Unexpectedly, Kakashi spoke up.
He closed his book, slid it into his ninja pouch, then turned toward Hagoromo.
"The Third Hokage has already decided to end the fighting with Sunagakure. He's personally leading Konoha's final mobile force—about three thousand shinobi—toward this front. Once the Hokage arrives, we'll launch an all-out offensive."
"The Third Hokage… personally?" Hagoromo's expression shifted to shock.
He didn't doubt Kakashi's information—thanks to Minato, Kakashi had access to far more high-level intelligence than he did.
What worried Hagoromo was something else entirely.
If the Hokage brought Konoha's final strength out of the village, what about Konoha's defenses?
True, it would be difficult for a large enemy force to bypass all three defensive lines—but small-scale infiltration and sabotage were always possible.
The shinobi world had no shortage of suicide operatives.
Hagoromo's concern was well-founded.
At this moment, Konoha's defenses were being entrusted almost entirely to Danzō Shimura's Root, along with a portion of the Uchiha Police Force.
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage—accompanied by the elite Hokage ANBU—was already marching straight toward the front.
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