Time is always a relative concept.
For a medical ninja of Tsunade's caliber, spending an entire month to heal someone was already an unusually long period.
Yet even for her, trying to teach someone medical ninjutsu within that same single month—and expecting them to reach a meaningful level—was not merely difficult, but outright impossible.
One month was barely enough for basic entry, nothing more.
So Mirai's little scheme was doomed from the start.
After hearing Hagoromo describe that beautiful older sister in front of her as the strongest medical ninja in the world, she had clearly harbored certain hopes. Unfortunately, reality had rules, and no amount of optimism could bend them.
Medical ninjutsu required not only chakra control, but also a vast reserve of professional knowledge. It demanded long-term, systematic study. Compared to that, stabbing someone with a kunai was child's play.
"Where are you heading next?" Tsunade asked at a four-way intersection.
"Back to Konoha?"
Shizune stood beside her with part of their luggage, clearly preparing to leave the country as well.
For Tsunade, it didn't really matter where she stayed—but she did have to change locations regularly.
Not by choice.
By necessity.
The reason, of course, was debt.
A gambling addiction was a terrifying thing.
"Good luck" certainly existed, and some people were indeed born unlucky—that much couldn't be denied. But Tsunade's case went far beyond bad luck. Losing every bet, and suffering calamity whenever she won, could no longer be explained by chance.
This was no longer fate.
This was settings.
"No, not for now," Hagoromo replied.
"There's no real need to return to the village in the short term. I'd just run into things that are… irritating. So I plan to wander around for a while. And look for something."
His treatment had already concluded. With another month or two of rest, his arm would recover naturally. This was simply the time to part ways again.
"Look for something?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.
She instinctively ignored Hagoromo's comment about Konoha being annoying—clearly, she still had no intention of involving herself with village affairs.
Instead of answering directly, Hagoromo gave a strangely abstract response.
"Humans are complicated creatures. Biologically speaking, two-legged primates all belong to the same species…"
"But in terms of thought and individuality, every person is different. Ten thousand people means ten thousand unique existences."
"So?" Tsunade frowned.
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I mean is this," Hagoromo said calmly.
"For a person, uniqueness is essential. This world only needs one Hagoromo—Uwaishi Hagoromo."
What he hated was obvious.
What he found intolerable… now had an answer.
To Tsunade, however, this was incomprehensible nonsense. She dismissed it as another one of Hagoromo's intermittent bouts of adolescent melodrama—she didn't know the word chūnibyō, but she recognized the feeling.
In short, she felt perfectly justified ignoring him.
"We're leaving this country too," Tsunade said, shaking her head.
"Hopefully, we won't meet again."
This wasn't hostility. If anything, it was goodwill. Every time Hagoromo showed up, he was either severely injured—or about to be.
"Well… I think we'll probably meet again," Hagoromo replied.
And he genuinely believed that.
"I—"
Tsunade was about to say more, but the moment her gaze passed over Hagoromo's shoulder, she abruptly stopped.
She changed her tone instantly.
"Anyway, we're leaving first. Help me block the people behind us."
That was it—farewell.
Before Hagoromo could respond, she grabbed Shizune and vanished at speed.
What had she seen?
Debt collectors.
"Hey, kid! Have you seen this person?"
A man with a deliberately fierce expression shoved a photo of Tsunade toward Hagoromo.
Would Hagoromo answer?
Of course he would. He was a loyal man.
"That way." ×2
One big finger.
One small finger.
Both pointed in the exact same direction.
Hagoromo and Mirai simultaneously betrayed their benefactor without hesitation.
"Chase them!"
The debt collectors bolted off at full speed.
Once they were gone, Hagoromo turned to Mirai.
"Why did you point them in the correct direction?" he asked seriously.
"Lady Tsunade and Shizune just finished healing me."
This was clearly meant as moral education. Hagoromo could betray people all he liked, but teaching a pure child to do the same made him uncomfortable.
Mirai tilted her head.
"It felt like things would be more interesting that way."
"..."
That logic was flawless.
Hagoromo had no rebuttal.
He had just been reverse-educated.
Interesting mattered most—clearly the result of his own upbringing.
"Hagoromo, where are we going next?" Mirai asked, tugging on his sleeve.
He looked in the direction Tsunade had fled, pondering whether this philosophy needed correction, then answered:
"The Land of Water. There's a… pet there I want to check on."
"A pet like Wang-chan?" Mirai asked.
"Much bigger," Hagoromo said.
"Several times bigger than the Split Dog."
Mirai nodded thoughtfully, imagining just how big that must be.
She didn't know where the Land of Water was, but as long as they weren't going back to Shikkotsu Forest, she didn't care. She'd already explored every interesting place there.
Under the Fourth Mizukage's policies, the Land of Water was far more open than before. The era of isolation and the Bloody Mist had not returned, making travel relatively convenient.
So Hagoromo decided to take Mirai by ship.
Compared to flying, a boat ride was much fresher for her—after all, she was already used to the sky.
After seven or eight hours at sea, they finally reached the coast of the Land of Water.
As soon as they disembarked, Hagoromo bent down and tightened the scarf around Mirai's neck.
"Cold, Mirai?"
"No. It's warm… it's snowing."
Snow fell from the sky the moment they arrived.
Snow, at this time of year?
Had the shinobi world's climate gone strange as well?
Still, as long as Mirai wasn't cold, it was fine. Weather could never restrain her imagination.
"So this warm-warm traveling everywhere," she said seriously,
"is this the legendary chakra flow exercise?"
"…That's not wrong," Hagoromo replied after a pause.
"Just a shame I didn't bring more outfits."
Which meant his excessive fairy tales were once again to blame.
He was about to say more when Mirai's expression suddenly changed. Her excitement vanished.
"Hagoromo," she said quietly, pointing.
"There's… strange chakra over there."
"Strange?"
She clearly needed to work on her adjectives—but strange was strange enough.
"Let's take a look."
...
The shinobi world never lacked conflict or killing.
Just as two ninja were about to finish off their target, a lightning-wreathed long sword suddenly slammed into the ground between them and their prey.
"Extra people?" one said.
"What do we do?"
"Anyone related gets eliminated," the other replied coldly.
"Witnesses included. That's the mission."
Their conversation reached Hagoromo perfectly.
He gently patted Mirai's head.
The two ninja watched as the red-haired little girl stepped forward and struggled slightly to pull the sword from the ground.
The weapon was clearly ill-suited to her.
At first, she gripped the top of the hilt with both hands. Finding it awkward—or perhaps realizing the reach was too short—she slowly slid her hands downward, inch by inch, until they reached the base.
Even then, her small hands couldn't fully wrap around the hilt.
The blade angled upward, its cold sheen visible even beneath the gloomy sky.
Still not right.
The sword was taller than she was.
So Mirai flipped her grip, holding the blade reverse-style at her side.
Much better.
A person's understanding came from experience and teaching.
For Mirai, everything Hagoromo told her was correct.
He had said that one day, people must protect themselves.
She hadn't fully understood—wouldn't he always protect her?
He had said that the most important thing was never doing something you'd regret.
She didn't know what regret was.
But he had also said—
A ninja would eventually have to kill.
That, she understood.
Her brows lifted slightly.
Her eyelids lowered.
The blade's cold light reflected in her eyes, erasing every trace of childish cuteness from her round face.
Those people had just said they would kill her and Hagoromo.
They were enemies.
So what should she do?
She knew.
Warm breath melted the falling snow before her lips—but her words carried no warmth at all.
"Enemies must be slain."
"Nothing is left uncut."
She repeated the words exactly as Hagoromo had once spoken them to her.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789