As soon as the words left his mouth, the Hyuga ninja blurred into motion, with Kushina and Minato following close behind.
"I can feel his chakra now!" Kushina called out after they had covered a significant distance.
The chakra felt vibrant—which, regardless of Hagoromo's actual condition, meant he was still very much alive. Relieved of the need to be guided, Kushina and Minato kicked their speed into a higher gear, instantly leaving their Hyuga comrade in the dust.
Then, they found him.
Hagoromo was, as expected, still fighting. He was currently outnumbered, and his physical state was... well, he looked like Goku usually does after a final boss fight. His clothes were shredded, and he looked thoroughly battered.
At first glance, it looked like nine massive chakra beasts were swarming him. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't a free-for-all. Hagoromo was actually commanding three of the beasts to attack the other six.
Despite his ragged appearance, his stance was surprisingly cool. Blood had dried on his face, but his expression remained fierce and determined. His semi-long hair whipped in the wind as he periodically lobbed Fire Style jutsu at the opposition.
The most striking part, however, was his mount. Hagoromo was standing on the head of a giant, dark-blue bird with a massive yellow beak. Most bizarrely, the creature had one leg on its belly and two on its back.
The Eight-Span Crow (Yata-Garasu) hovered just above the ground. Whenever the hounds below tried to leap at them, Hagoromo would command the bird to climb. When their attention shifted to the ground-based allies, he'd dive in for a quick Fire Style strike. He was playing a game of attrition, his feet glued to the bird's head with chakra.
"These beasts... they're not normal," Minato noted, his voice low. Their sheer size and raw strength were comparable to Gamabunta.
Minato's analytical mind immediately went to work. He realized Hagoromo's advantage lay in the fact that these were "feral" high-level summons. They had the power of the Great Summoning Beasts but lacked the human-like intelligence found in the frogs of Mount Myoboku or the snakes of Ryuchi Cave.
While Minato was busy analyzing, Kushina was reaching her breaking point. She wasn't impressed; she was fuming.
She had spent three days worrying herself sick, but what was her student doing? She saw it instantly. Hagoromo hadn't spent a single second trying to find a way back to the village or looking for her. Instead, in the middle of a World War, he was busy collecting new summons.
There's a literal war going on, and this kid is here trying to build himself a stable? Can't you take anything seriously?
Kushina felt a sudden, violent urge to give him the thrashing of a lifetime. However, she was being a bit unfair. Hagoromo hadn't gone looking for these monsters; they had found him. But once he realized the "Multi-Headed Hound" was a goldmine of a summon, his "collector's instinct" took over, and he couldn't stop himself. He had spent the last 48 hours—minus the time he was unconscious—bullying and capturing these prehistoric rarities.
He was at his absolute limit. If he hadn't found a "safe" position in the air, he would have had to choose between being eaten, using a suicidal amount of electricity, or attempting another blind Reverse Summoning.
Thankfully, his reinforcements had arrived.
Sensing their presence, Hagoromo didn't miss a beat. He shouted toward them without even turning around: "Kushina-sensei! Don't just stand there! Give me a hand!"
Kushina face-palmed. "Minato, go help him."
Minato offered a wry smile but nodded. He could see Hagoromo was struggling, and he leaped into the fray.
"Minato-senpai, be careful!" Hagoromo called out. "Those six dogs are actually one dog. If you hit it, it splits. It stopped at six, but I'm not sure if it can do more."
Minato appreciated the tactical advice, but Hagoromo wasn't done.
"Also! I really like this dog, so please don't kill it by accident!"
"And if you could... try to herd them together? I have a theory that if it can split, it can definitely merge back together."
How annoying... Minato thought.
Without the Rinnegan's amplification or an infinite supply of chakra, the dog's splitting ability was limited, but it was still a formidable opponent. Regardless, with the "Yellow Flash" on the scene, the capture of the "Illegal Summons" was all but guaranteed.