Hokage: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 50: The Path Ahead

The thought of the current Five Kage learning about his situation made Hagoromo Gengetsu burst into laughter. However, his laughter was cut short by another bout of coughing.

Although he had successfully resurrected, Hagoromo Gengetsu's body was still in the severely injured and damaged state from his battle with Senju Hashirama at the Valley of the Fallen God. The recent fight with the current A and B combo had pushed him to his limits.

As for why he didn't wait a bit longer, Hagoromo Gengetsu had checked himself earlier and found that his injuries were rather troublesome and couldn't be healed in a short period. To lure the big fish of the Cloud Ninja without exposing Samui, it was crucial to transmit information as quickly as possible.

Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were no longer around. Even in his severely injured state, he didn't fear anyone in the current ninja world.

Overall, today's grand event had been quite a success. Hagoromo Gengetsu looked at his spoils of war. Setting aside the small fry of the Cloud Ninja, he had managed to take a severed arm from the current Raikage A, which held great significance as it mirrored the position of the severed arm from the First Raikage in the battle at the Valley of the Fall God.

In the coming time, the ninja world would undoubtedly be in turmoil, but Hagoromo Gengetsu had a few critical matters to attend to.

Firstly, he needed to recover from his injuries and avoid taking unnecessary risks. Secondly, he had to think about completing his soul. The loss of part of his soul meant a loss of potential and could affect his overall combat power. Unlike Orochimaru, who fragmented his soul to enhance his survival capabilities, Hagoromo Gengetsu had to find a way to retrieve the soul fragments absorbed by the underworld to restore himself.

Thirdly, his ongoing focus remained on furthering his understanding of chakra and completing his Bloodline Net. And then there was the matter of the system. Although it had malfunctioned and seemed unreliable, it was still his "golden finger." Continuing to complete its tasks might yield significant rewards, potentially helping him achieve his greatest aspiration.

As for avenging the past events at the Valley of the Divine Fall and unleashing his wrath on the descendants of the Five Great Shinobi Villages and other factions, that was never his top priority. It wasn't about being magnanimous; it was just that once he achieved the above three goals and advanced on the path of the Bloodline Net, these matters would become trivial.

Once one's power reaches the point of overwhelming everything, all problems can be easily resolved. On the contrary, being consumed by hatred and focusing solely on revenge, neglecting everything else, would be putting the cart before the horse.

Hagoromo Gengetsu knew well what he truly needed to do. For now, setting aside the god-like power of Hashirama, even with the evolved Rinnegan and Hashirama cells, he wouldn't be able to match Madara. He needed to further enhance his strength.

Hagoromo Gengetsu glanced at the sky. It was time to take action. But before that, he had an important task to accomplish—good wine, good food, and... Cough, cough! Having come back to life, Hagoromo Gengetsu needed to indulge himself a little, making up for over fifty years of absence, savoring the joys of being alive once more.

With a swoosh, Hagoromo Gengetsu moved to the top of his giant statue, stomped his right foot, and disappeared. In the next moment, the enormous statue of "Hagoromo Gengetsu" cracked and shattered, leaving only the solitary "Senju Hashirama" standing tall. 

The statue was lifeless; Hagoromo Gengetsu, being alive again, had no need for a monument. His life's story would now be written anew over a long time.

The sensational battle at the Valley of the Fallen God after more than fifty years quickly caught the attention of the ninja world. The first to know the truth was, of course, the participants, the Cloud Village. Then came Konoha. Not because the Valley of the Fallen God was in the Land of Fire, but because after the battle, Konoha's border patrol saw what seemed to be the A-B combo fleeing from the direction of the Land of Fire, not stopping as they crossed the border towards the Land of Lightning.

When this news reached Konoha, Tsunade, who had just returned and hadn't even had time to don the Hokage's hat in front of the villagers, was taken aback. She couldn't fathom why the Raikage would sneak into the Land of Fire. Was there some kind of conspiracy?

Just as Konoha raised its guard, preparing to respond, the Cloud Ninja sent out information—not just to Konoha, but also to the Sand, Rock, and Mist Villages. The information was simple: Hagoromo Gengetsu had fully resurrected, and the Raikage had lost an arm.

The Fourth Raikage A didn't intend to keep it a secret. With an arm missing, he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to. Moreover, the return of the legendary Hagoromo Gengetsu from the Warring States era was too significant an event for the Cloud Village to handle alone.

Who didn't know that the battle at the Valley of the Fallen God involved all five Kage? With Hagoromo Gengetsu's resurrection, the Cloud Ninja would be the first to suffer. Did the other Great Villages think they could remain unscathed?

In Konoha, the Hokage's office was busy preparing for Tsunade's inauguration as the Fifth Hokage, but the moment she returned, Tsunade, who had effectively become the village's highest leader, didn't even have time to rest before being overwhelmed with tasks. Looking at the mountain of documents on the desk, Tsunade regretted believing Naruto and Jiraiya's suggestions. But it was too late for regrets; she could only become a mindless stamping machine, sneaking in naps when she could.

However, the news from the Cloud Ninja left her wide awake. "Hagoromo Gengetsu has fully resurrected? Are we sure the Cloud Ninja weren't drunk when they sent this information?" Tsunade slammed the information on the table, her mature yet youthful face full of disbelief.

Jiraiya, standing nearby, nodded solemnly. "According to the investigation reports from the team we sent to the Valley of the Fallen God, there were signs of a battle involving Lightning Release, Tailed Beast Chakra, and Ice Release. These findings match the Cloud Ninja's information about Hagoromo Gengetsu fighting the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee."

"Given the Raikage's severed arm and the retreat of the A-B combo, we can infer..." Jiraiya's voice faltered. As someone who had fought Hagoromo Gengetsu's Reanimation form, he knew that the power shown back then was insufficient to drive the A-B combo to such a desperate state.

There was only one explanation: "Hagoromo Gengetsu has truly returned to life!"