Chapter 370: Just Leaving Like That?
Hagoromo Gengetsu lowered his head to inspect his own body. The once dim white light that had surrounded him now flared up again, even more intensely than before.
He wasn't the only one affected.
At the same moment, bright light also erupted from Otsutsuki Kaguya, Naruto, and the Sage of Six Paths.
Hagoromo Gengetsu turned to glance at the violently raging Dragon Vein, immediately understanding the cause.
"The control token has become ineffective. It looks like we're about to experience another time-space traversal."
After failing to control the Dragon Vein with the token, Hagoromo Gengetsu quickly grasped the reality of the situation.
If this traversal could return him directly to his original world, that would be ideal. However, with the Dragon Vein in its current frenzied state, there was no telling what it might do.
In the last moments, Hagoromo Gengetsu, without fully extracting all of the Sage of Six Paths' chakra, quickly withdrew his hand and eradicated the portion of chakra he had already absorbed.
During the previous incident with Toneri, he had only managed to extract the Sage's chakra, but by the time the white light completely enveloped him, there wasn't enough time to destroy it. He wouldn't make that mistake again.
In an instant, Hagoromo Gengetsu completed his task.
The Dragon Vein let out one final roar.
Then, an endless white light burst forth from the Dragon Vein, similar to the event with the Sage of Six Paths before.
Hagoromo Gengetsu took one last look at this world.
Then, turning back, he joined his old companions in embracing the white light that filled his entire vision, until it engulfed them completely.
At the same time, as Naruto was rendered immobile by Rinnegan's technique, he was swiftly carried away from the battlefield by Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God, distancing him from the Six Paths level battleground.
As the members of Konoha anxiously awaited the outcome, Naruto noticed the white light emitting from his body.
At the same time, Kushina, who also saw this, hurriedly expressed her concern:
"Naruto, why is your body glowing? Could it be some kind of jutsu? Lady Tsunade, can you take a look?"
Tsunade withdrew her gaze from the distant battlefield and was about to step forward.
But Naruto retreated away from the group on his own.
Having experienced this once before, Naruto understood what the appearance of the white light meant.
Fearing that the light might affect others, he intentionally distanced himself from everyone.
Seeing Naruto's actions, Minato seemed to understand something.
"Naruto, you…"
Naruto flashed a bright smile at his father from another world, then turned to deeply etch the faces of his mother Kushina, who had shown him a love both awkward and intense, into his memory.
Finally, after glancing at the still-alive Third Hokage, Naruto, with tears in his eyes, sincerely thanked them:
"Dad, Mom, Third Hokage, thank you so much for taking care of me during this time! And thanks to Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade too. I'll keep these memories with me forever."
"I have to go now. But it's good news! Not only will I be leaving this world, but the others who came with me should be leaving too."
"Goodbye, everyone! I really liked this world, and I hope it remains peaceful from now on!"
Naruto waved goodbye one last time.
"Naruto!!"
Kushina, her eyes red, rushed forward, but Minato held her back.
"Good luck, Naruto! I'm proud of you!" Minato smiled brightly as he called out to his son.
Naruto nodded firmly, and before Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and the others could respond, the white light fully enveloped him.
In the blink of an eye, Naruto disappeared when the Konoha group looked back.
"He's really gone, huh?"
Jiraiya remarked with some sentiment.
It wasn't just because Naruto, who had been so likable to him, had suddenly left; it was also because the threat to the ninja world seemed to have vanished without them having done anything, or even knowing much about it.
It all felt so abrupt!
Beside him, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally relaxed.
Although he didn't understand why, this was the best possible time for Hagoromo Gengetsu's group to leave. The ninja world had experienced only a minor scare, rather than the devastation that could have ensued.
If the battle had continued, with a decisive outcome, the ninja world would have suffered massive casualties, and the order that had persisted for decades would have been shattered.
"I'll go check," Tsunade said at this moment.
With that, she headed toward the battlefield.
Everything had happened too suddenly. In an instant, Hagoromo Gengetsu was gone?
Tsunade needed to confirm it herself.
Soon, she reached the spot where Hagoromo Gengetsu and the others had been.
As Naruto had said, there was no trace of Hagoromo Gengetsu and the others left here.
All that remained was the terrifying aftermath of the battle, which inspired both awe and dread.
Oh, and a corpse.
It was Uchiha Madara.
Tsunade approached him.
It appeared that Madara, who had once been on par with her grandfather, had died at the hands of Hagoromo Gengetsu just moments ago.
"So, they really just left like that?"
Tsunade glanced around, shaking her head.
Like a meteor streaking across the sky, Hagoromo Gengetsu had come suddenly and departed just as abruptly.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others also arrived, personally inspecting the scene. After confirming the situation, Hiruzen gave the final order.
"Lift the alert and allow the villagers to return."
The orders were promptly carried out.
Among those who remained on the battlefield, Orochimaru and Danzo turned their attention away from Madara's corpse, then exchanged a meaningful glance, their lips curling into ambiguous smiles.
The obstacles had been removed.
Now, the stage was set for them.
Having experienced time-space travel before, Hagoromo Gengetsu didn't let curiosity lead him to explore the chaotic space as he had last time, avoiding any unnecessary trouble.
This time, Hagoromo Gengetsu quietly allowed the Dragon Vein's power, which enveloped his entire body, to carry him toward its intended destination.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Hagoromo Gengetsu faintly sensed the presence of a world.
Sure enough, when he looked ahead, he saw the brilliant white light that connected heaven and earth, the same as what he had seen before entering the last world.
Hagoromo Gengetsu let out a slight sigh of relief.
He had worried along the way that the berserk Dragon Vein might transport him to some obscure, eternally dark corner of existence.
It seemed now that there was a certain pattern to the Dragon Vein's spatial transfers.
The worlds it transported to all seemed to possess their own Dragon Vein.
Or perhaps the true Dragon Vein was a network that spanned space-time and connected different worlds?
With this speculation in mind, and with the Dragon Vein's power guiding him, Hagoromo Gengetsu plunged headlong into the brilliant white light that also emitted the Dragon Vein's aura.
When Hagoromo Gengetsu regained consciousness, before he even opened his eyes, the scent of alcohol, flowers, birdsong, and the voices of people all flooded his senses.
"It seems this world isn't much different from the last one."
With this thought, Hagoromo Gengetsu opened his eyes.
In the next moment, his pupils suddenly contracted.