Although the battle was on the verge of breaking out, it was ultimately left unfired. The Mizukage chose to let Hagoromo's group leave.
Perhaps she was regretting her carelessness right then, lamenting the fact that she hadn't brought enough subordinates to control the situation.
One person holding a "Silence" placard, another holding a "Majesty" placard, with a hundred ninjas in two columns clearing the way—that was the proper grandeur of a "Kage" traveling. Having only four people made her look like nothing more than a village chief, entirely lacking in imposing aura... Though, technically, Mei Terumi was just a village chief.
Hagoromo, by and large, was a kind (?) person. Acting on the principle of avoiding trouble, minimizing chaos, and preventing combat whenever possible, he obediently led the three children out of the Land of Water. This could essentially be considered being deported by the Minister of Defense.
As Hagoromo had stated, he had no reason to attack Mei Terumi unless she actively created one. Now that the Three-Tails was dead, he had neither the reason nor the meaning to stay in the freezing Land of Water.
Since she wanted them to part ways, they parted ways. Next, Hagoromo planned to find a place to deal with Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai issue.
Speaking of which, based on special settings and adjustments, had the Lady Mizukage reached marriageable age yet?
Regarding the hidden crisis within Kimimaro's body, Hagoromo had no definitive proof or absolute certainty. At the same time, the boy exhibited no negative symptoms. However, relying on his knowledge and understanding of Kekkei Genkai, Hagoromo could make an empirical judgment that was likely spot on: leaving the Shikotsumyaku unchecked, or abusing its power, would inevitably lead to unpredictable consequences.
As for what those consequences were, or whether they genuinely existed, Hagoromo wasn't completely sure. It would have been best to seek out Tsunade and have a medical expert diagnose and judge the situation. The problem was that he and Tsunade had just parted ways; heaven knows where she had run off to after leaving the Land of Artisans.
Furthermore, Tsunade wasn't his private, on-call doctor. He couldn't just bother her with every little thing. If he appeared in front of her too frequently, while she wouldn't completely ignore him, repeatedly disrupting her daily life might actually result in Hagoromo getting beaten up.
Therefore, he had to handle Kimimaro's bloodline issue himself for now, focusing entirely on prevention.
Eradicating the negative side effects of the Shikotsumyaku was impossible for him. He could only choose to suppress this power, reducing the frequency with which Kimimaro used dangerous moves to minimize the associated risks. He would ensure Kimimaro only used the Shikotsumyaku when absolutely necessary.
After leaving the Land of Water, Hagoromo needed a stable place to settle down. Places like the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth were temporarily unsuitable, so they returned to the Land of Fire.
Hagoromo and his group arrived at the center of the Land of Fire, which was likely the most peaceful and prosperous place in the entire country... It wasn't Konoha, but the Fire Capital, home to the Daimyo.
Theoretically, the Daimyo was the supreme ruler of the country. The Land of Fire's constitution stipulated that the Daimyo held the power to appoint and dismiss the Hokage. Miraculously, however, since the establishment of the hidden village system, no Daimyo of the Land of Fire had ever dismissed a Hokage.
"Why are you sealing my power?" When it actually came time to do it, Kimimaro was somewhat confused by Hagoromo's actions. Weren't ninjas supposed to be as strong as possible? Why was he being intentionally weakened?
Currently, Kimimaro sat cross-legged in the center of a room in a certain inn. With his body at the center, scattered sealing formulas covered the floor. Mirai and Haku had been forced to retreat to a corner of the room, looking at their companion—who currently resembled a test subject—with curious eyes.
"I'm not sealing your power, but the overly strong, risk-bearing part of it... Power that the body cannot withstand is less a power and more a burden."
Hagoromo explained while continuing to draw the jutsu formulas on Kimimaro's body.
"A human body cannot withstand power that exceeds its limits. Your situation is different from Haku's. Although both are Kekkei Genkai, Haku's bloodline involves changes in chakra nature, whereas your Kekkei Genkai directly acts upon the physical changes of your bones. An ability that freely manipulates one's own skeleton—it's hard to say that doesn't carry immense risks."
"The Shikotsumyaku could very well lead to a person's enfeeblement, or even death."
As he said this, for some reason, Hagoromo thought of the bug-level character, Sister Nanami Yasuri...
"Because of what I mentioned before, I don't want you to die early. That's why we have to take preventive measures. For you... cherish your life, and stay away from the orthopedics department."
Hagoromo naturally hoped Kimimaro could live a long life. But considering future events, to put it a bit more brutally, he at least needed Kimimaro to live past twenty.
He also had no intention of completely sealing Kimimaro's power. Discarding a powerful "weapon" was not a wise choice. What he was doing, at most, was slapping a safety lock onto the outside of the ammunition depot.
Listening to Hagoromo's words, Kimimaro nodded.
He understood the general meaning. Although he hadn't felt any discomfort while using his abilities, Kimimaro had known for a very long time that he was different from normal people.
Seeing that Kimimaro offered no objections, Hagoromo naturally continued the movements of his hands:
Tiger - Hare - Snake - Horse - Ram - Rooster - Tiger - Hare - Snake
As Hagoromo wove the signs, the sealing formulas scattered around the room rapidly converged onto Kimimaro's body, making him look as if he were wrapped in a black fishnet.
Immediately after, the seal sank beneath his skin and vanished completely, as if it had never existed.
The sealing jutsu Hagoromo used was the Evil Sealing Method (Fuja Hoin). However, he had made corresponding modifications. Its purpose was to restrict Kimimaro's chakra from flowing toward bone hyperplasia, without completely banning the change.
"How does it feel?" Hagoromo asked, signaling to Kimimaro that the sealing was complete. The process was actually quite fast.
Kimimaro stood up from the floor, reached out, and clenched his fist. After seemingly feeling out the changes in his body, he told Hagoromo, "It feels like something is missing..."
Although he couldn't articulate the specific change, Kimimaro genuinely felt an unprecedented sense of lightness.
As for what he felt was "missing," it certainly wasn't a rare quality like integrity. It was likely the physical burden he had been unconsciously bearing all this time.
After night fell, Mirai and the others went to bed early. Traveling was tiring, especially for children their age.
Hagoromo left the inn alone, stepping onto the nighttime streets of the Fire Capital. The capital was a prosperous city, and there was no shortage of light in the night, but the place Hagoromo was looking for wasn't in the bustling downtown area.
On a brightly lit street corner, a sudden cold draft swept past. With a glance, Hagoromo found the person he was looking for in a quiet, secluded alleyway.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said as he sat down on a one-legged stool next to the small food stall.
"No, I just finished my mission too... Want some shochu?"
In a place like the Fire Capital, Hagoromo only had one single acquaintance: Asuma Sarutobi.
So, after arriving here, Hagoromo had naturally contacted him.
However, getting free time didn't seem easy for Asuma; they had to guard the Daimyo in three shifts.
Hagoromo shook his head, declining Asuma's alcoholic beverage. Compared to this young man who had already become a heavy smoker, Hagoromo could be considered entirely devoid of bad habits.
But this was a late-night food stall after all, and Hagoromo's refusal left the stall owner feeling a bit resentful. I'm very confident in my mixed shochu, don't you know?
"I heard you haven't been staying in Konoha these past few years?" Asuma asked. From this, it seemed he was still keeping a close eye on Konoha's affairs.
"Konoha, huh... I'm different from you. It's not that I don't stay in Konoha, I just leave frequently for a while."
Seeing Asuma again after several years gave Hagoromo a strange feeling. Like a lifetime had passed? Like everything had changed? Not quite. It was more like a simple, "It's been a while."
"Lately, I've been trying to go around the world in eighty days, looking for something while I'm at it."
"Looking for something?"
Hagoromo didn't offer a detailed explanation to Asuma's confusion. The pain of crossing a thousand years of time just to seek a single result—such a complex and profound thing couldn't be explained to others.
"What about you? When are you going back to Konoha?"
"Me?"
Now it was Asuma's turn to fall silent.
"Speaking of which, is Kurenai eighteen now? Or nineteen? For a girl, that's a very dangerous age... She could easily be targeted by single men."
Hagoromo's words nearly made Asuma choke to death on the food he was stuffing into his mouth.
Poking at other people's sore spots during conversation was not a good habit. But sometimes, Hagoromo was prone to doing it, especially when facing people he was relatively familiar with.
For Asuma, Hagoromo was the kind of person who, if he just stopped spouting nonsense, they could be really good friends.
"Cough!"
Asuma picked up his glass to say something, only to find it was already empty.
"Boss, another glass."
Back then, when he chose to leave, she didn't understand that leaving was sometimes a plea to be asked to stay... But now, he could only rely on the silhouette she left behind to guide him so he wouldn't feel lonely in the dark night.