Also—let's get something straight.
Hagoromo was a chūnin, right?
Could he maybe show a little chūnin-level self-awareness?
First, he bombarded a tailed beast.
Now he'd bombed Sunagakure's command center.
Was he some kind of Sand Village nemesis?
How were other chūnin supposed to survive in comparison?
In truth, Hagoromo's ability to achieve such staggering results owed a great deal to the advantages of ambush and aerial assault.
Ambush went without saying—catching the enemy off guard always paid dividends.
As for aerial attacks, they possessed a unique and undeniable superiority on the battlefield.
Take the same Fire Release jutsu, for example.
Breathing fire straight at an enemy from the front, versus raining it down directly onto their heads from above—
The effect was completely different.
Yatagarasu's egg-bombs, if fired horizontally like artillery shells, would never have matched the destructive power of vertical bombardment.
Despite Hagoromo's own report, most of the command staff remained skeptical.
They had all heard the continuous explosions, yes—but did that really mean Hagoromo had destroyed the enemy's command structure?
Fortunately, there was someone in the command center who trusted him.
Tsunade.
She knew that while Hagoromo was young, he wouldn't fabricate results in a situation like this.
"Confirm with Hagoromo again," Tsunade ordered.
Her expression was grave.
If the enemy's command had truly been crippled, it would be an advantage beyond measure.
That said… her behavior betrayed her age—or perhaps her personality.
As she gave orders, she habitually bit her thumbnail.
Apparently, that was her thinking habit.
The command center requested confirmation.
Almost simultaneously, Hagoromo repeated his report verbatim.
At last, Tsunade allowed herself to believe it.
But before she could make further tactical adjustments—
Another message came in.
"Lady Tsunade…"
The reporting shinobi hesitated, visibly unsure how to proceed.
"What now? Say it directly!" Tsunade snapped, frowning.
"Well… Chūnin KamishiroHagoromo, currently assigned to reconnaissance, has just reported that he intends to conduct an air raid on Sunagakure Village."
Tsunade: "..."
Previous statement withdrawn.
Hagoromo didn't lie—but he absolutely acted without restraint.
Upon hearing this, Tsunade nearly tripped over nothing.
An air raid on Sunagakure Village?
Was this a joke?!
"Stop him immediately!" Tsunade barked.
"His mission is reconnaissance! Does he not understand what reconnaissance means?!"
Stopping Hagoromo was non-negotiable.
At this point, Tsunade felt he was outright fooling around.
Sure enough—like teacher, like student. Was this impulsive, off-the-rails behavior something Kushina had taught him?
"Um… Lady Tsunade," the messenger said weakly,
"he… already left before we could issue further instructions."
The messenger wore the same expression one might have after severe constipation.
Indeed, Hagoromo had already begun flying away from the battlefield—following the direction of Sunagakure as marked on the operational map.
If the battlefield commander had been the Third Hokage or someone else, Hagoromo would never have dared to do this.
Abandoning one's assigned mission—especially reconnaissance—was among the most intolerable offenses for a shinobi.
But the current commander was Tsunade.
And Tsunade was… one of his own.
So it was probably fine.
Besides, Hagoromo was only a small part of the overall reconnaissance network.
It wasn't as if Konoha would suddenly become blind without him.
Did they think the Hyūga clan were just decoration?
And Hagoromo could tell—the battle on this front was already effectively decided.
At this stage, his presence or absence on the battlefield wouldn't change the outcome.
So why not head into the enemy's rear and cause some extra damage?
Objectively speaking, that reasoning wasn't entirely wrong.
Objectively speaking again—
It was also a spectacular way to get oneself killed.
But Hagoromo followed his instincts.
He had become the kind of shinobi who left on a whim and acted on impulse—
A ninja as free as the wind.
Or perhaps, as crazy.
Tsunade was furious—yet more helpless than anything else.
Let him go.
She could only hope he returned alive.
There was no longer any way to stop him.
And in any case, Tsunade couldn't afford to focus all her attention on Hagoromo.
The battlefield as a whole still demanded her full command.
Strategic Context
From start to finish, attacking Sunagakure Village itself was never part of Konoha's strategic objectives.
If this were a simple two-nation war between Konoha and the Sand, then annihilating Sunagakure might have been desirable.
But this was a multi-front conflict involving five or more powers.
At such a time, committing massive resources and suffering enormous casualties to eliminate a single enemy village was strategically absurd—bordering on brainless.
The Land of Wind was one of the Five Great Nations.
Even weakened, Sunagakure remained a major power.
A full assault on their village would provoke desperate retaliation.
Konoha had no desire to bear those consequences.
What Konoha wanted was a subdued Sunagakure—
Not a destroyed one.
Because even if the Sand were wiped out, winning against one enemy didn't mean winning the war as a whole.
If Sunagakure fell, Iwagakure would immediately be freed up to focus its full strength on Konoha.
Helping others at one's own expense?
Konoha wasn't interested.
Thus, Konoha's objective in this campaign could be summarized simply:
Crush Sunagakure's will to fight, then force them to obediently hold the northern front against Iwagakure—
and stop messing around in the Lands of Rivers and Fire.
With the Kazekage currently on the battlefield, capturing him would be the ideal outcome.
That would make achieving all of the above far easier.
So—
Large-scale attacks on Sunagakure Village were out of the question.
But what about a single-shinobi incursion?
An aerial infiltration?
That should be fine.
After about thirty seconds of intense contemplation, Hagoromo concluded that the plan was highly feasible.
He reported his intention to raid Sunagakure Village—
Then immediately flew off before Tsunade could reply.
If anyone asked why he behaved with such recklessness and spontaneity, Hagoromo would answer:
Kushina taught me this way.
Of course, everything he did was for Konoha's greater good.
There was absolutely no selfish desire to test just how powerful Yatagarasu really was.
Absolutely none.
To prevent the Sand shinobi on the battlefield from warning their village, Hagoromo first flew back toward Konoha's side for a short distance—creating the illusion that he had returned.
Once he disappeared from enemy sight, he immediately gained altitude, looped widely around the battlefield—
And only then headed toward Sunagakure.
When caution was required—
Hagoromo was, in fact, extremely cautious.
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