For Kimimaro, whether his current and future goals mattered wasn't entirely irrelevant, but it was certainly relegated to a secondary position. The primary issue was simply whether he had a goal at all.
This was a highly twisted state of mind, but its emergence was both logical and normal, given that he had grown up in such a twisted environment.
So even if Hagoromo fed him lines like, "Cute is justice, you must become an ally of justice, and even if it's a hypocritical ideal, you must persist," it probably still would have been enough to rope him in.
After all, Kimimaro's body was truly the one made of "sword and bone"...
The original purpose for coming to the Land of Water had not yet been fulfilled, but Hagoromo had already abducted two children along the way. This was a spontaneous endeavor done for Mirai's sake. In terms of numbers and composition, they had now essentially assembled the full Ginyu Force.
A four-man squad had always been the most standard operational formation for ninjas.
However, if they happened to run into more ninjas like Haku and Kimimaro—those with special talents perfectly suited for molding—Hagoromo would definitely scoop them up in passing too. Kirigakure was really suffering from eight lifetimes of bad luck. Rather than bothering a second master with a single task, Hagoromo figured he might as well just keep continuously fleecing the Hidden Mist.
But there was no rush for that. Hagoromo hadn't forgotten his true purpose for coming to Kirigakure.
That very night, Hagoromo led Kimimaro quietly out of the Kaguya clan's settlement. As for when the clan would finally realize their highly valued weapon had vanished, well, that was none of his business.
By the next day, Kimimaro was carrying Hiramekarei on his back, Haku was carrying Nuibari, and Hagoromo occasionally carried Mirai. The party of four arrived at their destination: a massive lake.
This was where the Three-Tails, Isobu, resided.
"Mirai, can you sense it?"
After observing and probing around the edge of the lake for a long time to no avail, Hagoromo decided to leave it to the professional. Reconnaissance was a job for a sensory ninja.
There had originally been two squads of Kirigakure ninjas conducting 24-hour surveillance here. However, under Mirai's sensory net, they had absolutely nowhere to hide and were easily knocked out by Hagoromo.
With Mirai's abilities, treating her merely as a radar was inaccurate. Most of the time, she functioned more like a remote-sensing mapping satellite.
"I sense it. There's a massive chakra about eighty meters underwater..."
Mirai's little face tensed up. She rarely used the word "massive" to describe another chakra mass because, using herself as a baseline, there weren't many people with more chakra than her. The vast majority definitely had less.
Although Mirai was still very young, she was an Uzumaki, after all. The chakra contained within her body was enough to crush most ninjas in the world... Hagoromo included.
Coupled with Hagoromo's continuous electrical stimulation of her body, Mirai "winning at the starting line" wasn't just an empty phrase.
Hagoromo's systematic, regimen-based, programmable electroshock therapy was far more effective at stimulating potential than the secret medicines ordinary ninjas used. That was the unvarnished truth. Even if ninjas were accustomed to popping pills, they couldn't compete with a child raised by an Electromaster.
Perhaps fearing Hagoromo didn't understand what she meant by "massive," Mirai elaborated, "It's bigger than Big Sister Katsuyu plus Doggy, plus... well, it's more than all the chakra in Shikkotsu Forest combined."
As she spoke, she stretched out her arms to draw a big circle... Yes, it was so big she couldn't even wrap her arms around it.
In terms of sheer physical volume, a massive slug like Katsuyu was much larger than a Tailed Beast. But volume is just volume; it couldn't compare to a Tailed Beast in terms of chakra. Comparing a summoning beast to a Tailed Beast was an inherently unrealistic exercise to begin with.
Even though she knew Hagoromo was incredibly strong, Mirai still experienced the world through visceral, intuitive impressions. Comparing Hagoromo's chakra volume to the "pet" underwater naturally made her feel a little scared.
"Don't worry. No matter how much chakra it has, it's just a pet. I have experience dealing with these things," Hagoromo patted Mirai's head, signaling her not to worry.
Dealing with Tailed Beasts wasn't just something Hagoromo had "experience" with; he was practically a seasoned veteran.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro and Haku looked at each other in bewilderment. They didn't quite understand Hagoromo and Mirai's conversation. Was there something underwater? And what exactly was this "pet"?
Was dealing with a wild, free-range Three-Tails difficult? In reality, not entirely.
Only when a ninja and a Tailed Beast combine—becoming a Jinchuriki—can the strongest, truest combat power be unleashed. This proves that only the pure union of human and beast, spirit and flesh, can forge a strength that transcends the conventional and touches the realm of the taboo.
According to Hagoromo's intel, an isolated Tailed Beast's combat capability was somewhat weaker than its Jinchuriki state... A Tailed Beast's combat style simply lacked the flexibility and versatility of a ninja.
"You guys step back a bit. Wait for me to blast it out first, then you can take a look at the novelty."
Wasn't seeing a Tailed Beast for the first time just looking at a novelty?
After saying this, Hagoromo proactively stepped forward.
When dealing with Tailed Beasts, the strategies of certain violent individuals coincidentally aligned perfectly. While Hagoromo wasn't the type of chuunibyou who would scream "Art is an explosion!", he was certainly more than happy to employ Explosion Magic from time to time.
Against the Three-Tails Isobu, raw DPS (damage output) was everything. And the one thing Hagoromo lacked the least was DPS. In short, why bother with strategies? Just carpet-bomb the hell out of it.
The tranquil surface of the lake was rough, reflecting light like a mirrored sheet of mercury. Hagoromo's figure only cast a faint silhouette upon it—due to the sudden freezing weather of the snowstorm, the surface of this freshwater lake was completely frozen over.
But no matter how thick the ice was, melting such a thing posed no difficulty for Hagoromo whatsoever.
For anyone witnessing Hagoromo use his "Lightning Style" for the first time, it was guaranteed to be an unforgettable, lifelong memory. Ever since the night Hagoromo bombarded Shukaku, he had practically become the living embodiment of "Lightning Style."
This held true for Haku and Kimimaro. At this moment, the lightning radiating from Hagoromo's body on the frozen lake was far more blinding than the sun.
Then, the two boys didn't even see exactly what motion Hagoromo made, but massive deafening explosions, scorching shockwaves, and sky-high pillars of water followed one after another.
Haku hurriedly scrambled to create an ice umbrella to shield Mirai's head.
The colossal waves churned up by the super-electromagnetic Railgun surged over a hundred meters high, erupting again and again... The spectacle was highly reminiscent of the Electromaster Princess from Tokiwadai conducting her esper ability tests.
With a commotion this massive, even an old turtle in the deepest winter hibernation would be jolted awake.
"It's coming out!"
At this point, Mirai was no longer afraid. Instead, with a mix of slight excitement and absolute curiosity, she stared fixedly at the water's surface... Clearly, this was also her first time seeing Hagoromo rapid-fire his Railgun, wiping away any of her previous worries.
Sure enough, Hagoromo was the strongest.
Above the water, Hagoromo's figure bobbed along with the undulating, shattered ice beneath his feet, looking as light as duckweed. At first glance, it was hard to tell who was actually bullying whom here.
A massive turtle shell broke the surface of the water, and three flat tails lashed out, churning up layer upon layer of waves. Now, at the very moment the "pet" fully revealed itself, let alone using chakra sensing, just looking with the naked eye made Hagoromo appear incredibly tiny. It made his actions look like a genuinely suicidal, overconfident endeavor... assuming one ignored the fact that he had just been spamming his ultimate move.
As previously stated, one really had to look closely to see who was bullying whom in this scenario.
Dark, spike-covered heavy armor—at a glance, this Tailed Beast possessed extreme defensive capabilities. However, who boasted the strongest armor-piercing capabilities in the ninja world?
No matter how tough this "armor" seemed, it was still fundamentally composed of chakra and flesh. Could it block Hagoromo's Railgun?
He decided to test it out first.
But before doing so, out of basic courtesy, he figured he should at least greet his opponent for this bout.
So, Hagoromo raised a hand and casually called out like an old friend, "Hi there. First time meeting, please take care of me."
He was spouting meaningless nonsense again... This could be considered a good sign.
It seemed his waving gesture actually managed to catch its attention. The Three-Tails Isobu shifted its massive, single eye, finally resting its gaze upon Hagoromo.
Take care of what? Look at my eye! Your entire body isn't even as big as my eyeball!
That was likely the Three-Tails' inner thought process.