The occurrence of such an extremely flamboyant situation stemmed from the need for political benefits, in which Konoha's propaganda machine was inevitably playing a major role.
Almost overnight, Hagoromo seemed to inherit all the glory of the Yellow Flash. Not only the recent invasion incident, but even the covert deeds he had done previously were exposed to the public.
The most jaw-dropping among them was undoubtedly the killing of the Third Raikage. In terms of propaganda and influence, this was much more sensational than Hagoromo achieving peace with the Hidden Mist. Ninjas have an inherent need and admiration for power, and right now, Hagoromo seemed to have become the physical embodiment of that admiration.
Furthermore, according to Konoha's narrative, it seemed even the "assassination" aspect was concealed, making it sound as if Hagoromo had fought the Third Raikage head-on while surrounded by ten thousand Hidden Stone ninjas and successfully killed him.
Just imagining such a scenario makes one's blood boil with excitement, doesn't it?
Surrounded by powerful enemies, a young and cold Konoha ninja took down the strongest Raikage in a frontal clash. Was there anything more inspiring than this?
The Third Raikage could fight ten thousand Stone ninjas, and Hagoromo single-handedly killed the Third Raikage...
Whether this propaganda was a proactive choice or a helpless necessity after losing Minato, the higher-ups were definitely not going to mention that Hagoromo had escaped the battlefield by playing dead... The truth and facts are always a bit disappointing.
And now, Hagoromo's invasion of the Hidden Cloud—causing them to suffer trauma equal to or even greater than what Konoha had experienced and single-handedly reversing the unfavorable tide of the war—was merely another proof of his strength.
Although this disadvantage in the war was mostly caused by morale and psychological factors, it didn't negate the significance of Hagoromo's successful mission.
Therefore, when he returned to Konoha, he received a welcome even grander than Minato's. The Fourth Hokage had only just died; to say the villagers had already forgotten the hero who protected them would be too cold. The mourning for Minato naturally still existed.
But that is the nature of the times. A dead hero can no longer protect them; only a living hero can do that.
If only for propaganda purposes, Konoha needed a new guiding light.
Although this "new guiding light"... looked a bit too miserable. But wasn't that normal? Injuries of this severity just proved that Hagoromo had once again taken on an entire village head-on.
In reality, Hagoromo's injuries were sustained right in Konoha and had nothing to do with this mission, but people were more than willing to believe their own imaginations.
A hero's image is nothing more than what a certain base of the public forces upon him.
But Hagoromo was ultimately different from Minato. Not a single one of the things he did originated from a lofty reason like "for Konoha."
Hagoromo achieved what he promised, and the Hokage naturally had to give him his due reward.
According to his previous agreement with the Hokage: First, the "ownership" of Mirai Uzumaki... The Hokage's term was originally supposed to be "custody," but Hagoromo insisted on "ownership"... belonged to him.
Second, the Hokage could not restrict Hagoromo's contact with Naruto Uzumaki, but this had to be under the premise of a third party being present. This third party was basically equivalent to the Anbu.
Third, Mirai Uzumaki would appear in the eyes of everyone in Konoha proudly as the child of heroes.
Fourth, Hagoromo accepted Konoha's reasoning for hiding Naruto's status as a Jinchuriki and would not publicly reveal his identity as the Fourth Hokage's son. However, similarly, Hagoromo did not want to hear any rumors distorting the facts.
Overall, the treatment of the son and the daughter was a whole level apart, but this was already the result of Hagoromo fighting with all his might. And... to Hagoromo, all of this was only temporary. To him, Naruto's situation was always going to be a "temporary deposit."
So Naruto could endure loneliness. After all, almost the entire generation following the war would endure this emotion. Naruto's situation wasn't exactly unique, but Hagoromo would not tolerate any slander.
Konoha would make sure to manage this well, out of pure necessity. Hagoromo's relationship to Naruto was probably similar to Itachi Uchiha's relationship to Sasuke.
Could they see the trenches in Konoha that looked like they had been violently demolished? Could they see the Hokage Rock still undergoing repairs? That was Hagoromo's deterrent force.
As for the so-called "Will of Fire," Hagoromo never had a shred of it. The Hokage naturally saw this. Otherwise, with Hagoromo being so young yet possessing abilities that absolutely qualified as a "genius," why had the Third Hokage never viewed him as a successor, relegating him at most to a Hokage guard?
This did not contradict Hagoromo being considered part of the Hokage's faction.
The ones with the Will of Fire were people like Duy, Shisui, and Itachi. But what were their endings?
The Hokage not handing Naruto over to Hagoromo was not a contradiction for the former. Not to mention Hagoromo's current ideological state, even assuming he truly had a strong sense of belonging to Konoha, why would a head of state hand the nuclear launch button over to someone else?
The Will of Fire? Sometimes there's no harm in believing it, but at other times... just laugh it off.
What treatment was Naruto originally supposed to suffer? He was the genuine son of a hero, yet simply to isolate him from ordinary people, rumors of a "demon fox" were spread.
In Konoha, there was a figure accustomed to taking the blame, named Danzo Shimura. It wasn't exactly unjust for him to take it, but ultimately, the Hokage was the number one person in the village. If one simply spoke of leadership responsibility, all of Danzo's faults could be pushed onto the Hokage.
As for a leader who couldn't control their subordinates? Then they might as well just let Danzo be Hokage.
Under the rhetoric of "everything for the village," one shouldn't think too lowly of the Hokage's bottom line, but equally, one shouldn't think too highly of it either. Politics was just like that.
After the Fourth died, the Third Hokage once again... took #$%^... power.
However, due to a rather awkward problem, the child couldn't be handed over to Hagoromo temporarily, and this was something he himself agreed to.
Hagoromo: male, single, no parenting experience. If an infant under six months old was given to him, the outcome... there was an 80% chance he would accidentally raise the child to death.
So the two children would temporarily stay together. Right now, they were both in the Konoha Hospital.
However, Hagoromo had finally met them for the first time. Facing two pairs of curious eyes, Hagoromo was absolutely in a tough spot.
Looking the way he did now... Anyway, when he saw his own reflection, his first reaction was blank, a face of someone with no idea what to do.
Uh, since it's our first meeting, shouldn't I put on a little performance for them?
Hagoromo spread the thumbs and middle fingers of both hands, and a faint blue electric arc formed a line between his fingertips... This was the only stupid trick he could perform.
Such performances were truly dangerous. If you don't have the talent to entertain, wouldn't it be better to just behave?
But this just proved how much stronger Naruto was; he had six whisker marks on his face, while the girl only had two.
Seeing Hagoromo looking like this ghastly mess, he didn't cry or make a fuss.
Having six whiskers meant he was just built different. Naruto slapped one hand onto Mirai's face and, with quick eyes and fast hands, grabbed the electric arc with the other.
This Lightning Style naturally wasn't at a level that could hurt anyone. So much so that upon feeling the tingling numbness for the first time, Naruto giggled happily.
But the human body conducts electricity, and the girl beside him was clearly uncomfortable being shocked... so she bit down hard on Naruto's hand.
Babies indeed don't have teeth, but as expected of Kushina and Minato's child, she had quite the bite force.
Naruto instantly burst out crying loudly.
______________
Read 50 chapters ahead on patreon!
P(a)treon.com/GoatMama