Hokage: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 42: The Descendants of Hagoromo

Crimson blood splattered as the blade was drawn out.

"You..."

The ninja wearing the Cloud Village forehead protector turned in disbelief to look at the person behind them. Without being able to say anything further, they collapsed to the ground with a mixture of shock, despair, and worry.

This was just the beginning.

The sound of the blade swinging echoed swiftly.

After a few muffled grunts, everything quickly returned to silence.

Hagoromo Gengetsu, who had been prepared to take action himself, was surprised to see someone step in first. He stood still, his gaze filled with deep meaning as he looked at the only remaining person on the scene.

Step. Step. Step.

The person, sheathing her blood-stained short sword, walked towards Hagoromo Gengetsu.

Stopping just two meters away, she knelt down without hesitation. Her cold, beautiful face lowered as she spoke in a rare tone of excitement and admiration, "Hagoromo Han, greets the clan leader!"

"Hagoromo... Clan leader..."

"Such a long-forgotten title."

A glimmer of recollection flashed in Hagoromo Gengetsu's eyes.

He looked down at the tall, voluptuous blonde woman with particularly fair skin, not immediately convinced. He calmly said, "Proof."

The blonde woman did not hesitate. She pulled down her light gray mesh armor.

A very eye-catching patch of white was exposed to the air.

Accompanied by the special circulation of chakra within the woman, a red mark quickly appeared on what had been her smooth, white skin.

Hagoromo Gengetsu's eyes lit up.

Indeed, the woman before him was a descendant of the Hagoromo clan.

In the past, after becoming the clan leader of the Hagoromo clan, he had designed this secret technique, which could only reveal the identity mark through special chakra circulation, to ensure the safety of information agents scattered outside.

As for the appearance of the mark, it was just a small personal touch of his.

Hagoromo Gengetsu's attitude immediately became much more amiable. He asked, "Do all the clansmen have this kind of mark now?"

Hagoromo Han, showing no concern for her exposure, respectfully replied, "Yes, according to the crisis response plan you left behind, the Hagoromo clan dispersed across the ninja world. To ensure future identification and communication safety, the elders have left this marking technique on every clan member, passing it down through the bloodline."

Hagoromo Gengetsu understood, "So, you are from the branch of the Hagoromo clan hidden in the Cloud Village."

Hagoromo Han nodded, "In the Cloud Village, I am known as Samui."

"Samui..."

Hagoromo Gengetsu looked again at the woman kneeling before him, her fair skin quite unlike the typical Cloud ninja.

No wonder she didn't resemble most Cloud ninjas; she had the blood of the Hagoromo clan.

As for whether such a complexion would attract attention in the Cloud Village, the Land of Lightning was not isolated, with many people coming and going. Moreover, there were naturally fair-skinned people within the country, so it wouldn’t raise suspicions.

"Stand up and tell me about the state of the Hagoromo clan over the past decades," Hagoromo Gengetsu instructed. Then he added, "And cover yourself up."

Hagoromo Han, or Samui, stood up, glanced down at the burden that always made her shoulders sore, and, although usually indifferent, obediently pulled her top back up.

Every member of the Hagoromo clan, from a young age, was taught about the glorious deeds of the most brilliant and powerful clan leader in their history, Hagoromo Gengetsu.

Therefore, upon hearing that the legendary clan leader had appeared in Konoha, the members of the Hagoromo clan, who had been hiding in the shadows, quickly took action.

Like Samui, who joined the Cloud Village search team, she had discovered Hagoromo Gengetsu and, without hesitation, had turned her blade against her Cloud ninja comrades to ensure the clan leader's location remained secret.

Samui didn't care about exposing her identity, nor did she mind revealing herself in front of him. If given the chance, she would even be willing to serve him personally.

For her and the other descendants of the Hagoromo clan, this would be the highest honor.

Just as the Hokage is to Konoha.

The status of Hagoromo Gengetsu in the hearts of the Hagoromo clan members, given the blood ties, was unimaginable to outsiders.

Speaking of which, it’s necessary to mention the greatest negative example, Madara Uchiha.

To be a clan leader like him, to such an extent, was unparalleled.

Even the staunch hawk Uchiha Setsuna, who wanted to overthrow the rule of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, did not follow him, illustrating just how poorly he managed his clan.

The night was still young.

Apart from a small team of Cloud ninjas who had met their end here, there were no other outside forces in the Valley of the Fallen God.

In front of the statue of "Hagoromo Gengetsu," the real Hagoromo Gengetsu attentively listened to Samui recounting the changes in the Hagoromo clan over the decades.

To be serious, since being hit by a truck and arriving in the familiar yet strange world of Naruto, Hagoromo Gengetsu had taken a more carefree approach to life.

Didn't he know that eliminating those nobles and daimyos would bring repercussions?

Of course, he did.

But having lived an ordinary and constrained life in his past, seeing all sorts of distressing things, only to curse in his mind without being able to do anything, and even worrying if his actions would bring trouble to himself and his family, was utterly mediocre.

Reborn, especially with great power in his hands, he couldn't continue living like that.

As Captain Jia once wisely said:

"The Imperial Army didn't come to be bullied by you, and you still bully me when they're here. What's the point of the Imperial Army coming then!"

From this perspective, Hagoromo Gengetsu felt he had to live freely, without many burdens, to make the most of his second chance.

Therefore, when the Five Kages ambushed him without warning, aside from his initial anger, he did not harbor the overwhelming hatred that others might expect, nor did he swear to wash the Five Great Ninja Villages in blood repeatedly, sparing no one from adults to children.

Victory and defeat are the norm.

They seized the opportunity and struck decisively.

Hagoromo Gengetsu could accept this calmly.

However, people leave traces behind.

As an outsider from another world, some things had inevitably left a mark on his heart.

For example, the Hagoromo clan.

As the clan leader of the Hagoromo clan, Hagoromo Gengetsu had made provisions for the clan’s survival in case he ever met a tragic end.

The most important issue was undoubtedly their survival in a changed ninja world.

Clans as powerful as the Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki, Kaguya, and Yuki, which were once dominant in the Warring States period, all vanished in the ninja village era.

Knowing the future, Hagoromo Gengetsu had planned new paths for the Hagoromo clan.

And it seemed his descendants had followed through.