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"Dr. Sōsuke!!" Hearing a familiar voice, Ino quickly turned around, her eyes lighting up with excitement as she greeted "Dr. Sōsuke."
Sakura, though not as animated as Ino, still had a favorable impression of the doctor who had taught her and greeted him warmly.
"Sorry to interrupt your conversation. I just heard you talking about Hagoromo Gensou, and I'm also very interested in learning more about him."
Gensou explained with a "sincere" expression.
He was curious about how ordinary people, not those high-ranking individuals who saw everyone as part of their own circle, viewed him.
Upon hearing this, although she didn't understand why "Dr. Sōsuke" was so interested in Gensou, Sakura unhesitatingly voiced her opinion:
"Hagoromo Gensou must be a big bad guy like Orochimaru. Otherwise, why would the Hokage and everyone else be so wary of him?"
Upon hearing Sakura's words, Ino immediately stopped admiring the handsome doctor and quickly retorted, "Being wary of someone's strength doesn't mean they're a bad person. You have to look at their entire life's actions to judge them."
"Forcing people to hand over secret techniques? Kidnapping Sasuke?" Sakura retorted bluntly.
Ino's expression faltered but quickly waved her hands dismissively, "Those are isolated incidents. You can't judge someone's entire character based on a few actions."
Before Sakura could continue arguing, Ino adopted a revealing expression and said, "You won't believe it! Because of Gensou's reappearance in the ninja world, I specifically went to our clan's library and found a book recording his life written by our ancestors."
"Cough, cough, you know, the Yamanaka clan has been around since the Warring States period and, as experts in intelligence, has uncovered many secrets of the ninja world."
"The Yamanaka clan's reputation is well known," Gensou nodded.
Although not as prominent as the top ninja clans of the Warring States period, the combination of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, along with their ally the Sarutobi clan, made their collective influence significant in the ninja world.
Sakura, from an ordinary family, could only feel envious.
"So," Ino snapped her fingers dramatically and revealed, "according to our ancestors' records, the real Hagoromo Gensou is nothing like we imagined."
"Sakura, do you remember those knight novels and comics we used to read when we were kids?"
Don't doubt the existence of knights in the Naruto world. This is a world where things like rap and English phrases are casually mentioned.
Sakura, hearing this, glanced embarrassedly at "Dr. Sōsuke" and quickly waved her hands, "We're ninjas now, why bring up childhood stuff?"
Recalling the embarrassing memories of clinging to those novels and comics, fantasizing about the handsome protagonists riding white horses, kneeling before them to declare their love, and even arguing with Ino over which protagonist was better, made Sakura feel like she was being executed on the spot.
However, Ino's next words made her shock override her embarrassment.
"Actually, during the Warring States period, Hagoromo Gensou's actions were very much like those of knights and heroes in the stories."
"What???"
Sakura immediately forgot her childhood embarrassments, unable to believe her ears, "Hagoromo Gensou? A knight? A hero?"
She couldn't reconcile this image.
The man who had approached her, whose mere presence made her tremble with fear; the man who Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and the Hokage were all wary of; the man who had schemed to live a second life, causing the entire ninja world to tremble in fear of what he might do next.
Could he really be the knight and hero Ino described?
Hagoromo Gensou raised an eyebrow at this.
Then he and Sakura listened to Ino's detailed recounting.
"In the 132nd year of the Fire Nation calendar, in the village of Fuyū, a ninja tyrannized the villagers, killing 23 people and taking 14 women, torturing 10 of them to death. No one dared resist. Hagoromo Gensou encountered this and killed the ninja in anger."
Old memories resurfaced in Gensou's mind as Ino spoke.
He remembered that year, at the age of fourteen, he had left the Hagoromo clan's territory, traveling through the ninja world and passing through a village called Fuyū.
There were many villagers, but the atmosphere was oppressive, even during a wedding.
Upon learning that the village's only ninja was marrying a bride and had already killed ten young women, Gensou didn't hesitate to kill the mediocre ninja.
The matter was simple, just a minor effort for him, but for the villagers, it was a lifelong memory that spread and was somehow recorded by the Yamanaka clan.
"In the 133rd year of the Fire Nation calendar, in the town of Hakuryō, a Kaguya clan ninja with the Shikotsumyaku lost control and slaughtered 3,125 people. Gensou encountered him, fought for half a day, and killed him despite being severely injured."
Gensou recalled a Kaguya ninja whose Shikotsumyaku was highly developed and who had been consumed by killing intent.
The crazier the Kaguya clan members became, the more dangerous they were.
Back then, as a young man, he had taken a long time and nearly lost his life to kill the ninja.
Was it unwise to provoke such a formidable enemy?
Seeing so many people die, including a little girl in pain who, despite trembling, reached out to him before collapsing and never standing up again.
How could he stand by?
"In the 135th year of the Fire Nation calendar, during a great famine, the lord of Ishikawa Castle refused to open the granary, leading to cannibalism outside the castle. Gensou killed the lord in anger, opened the granary, and saved countless lives."
That year, Gensou witnessed the true horror of "famine and cannibalism" described in history books.
What infuriated him more was seeing the lord of Ishikawa Castle hosting lavish banquets, throwing large amounts of leftover food to stray dogs out of "kindness."
Without a word, Gensou threw the "kind" lord to the dogs as well, and then opened the granary, as the books recorded.
Of course, this act angered the higher authorities.
"In the 136th year of the Fire Nation calendar, he killed three ninjas who practiced forbidden techniques using human organs…"
"In the 137th year of the Fire Nation calendar, he killed twelve nobles who hunted humans for sport…"
"In the 138th year of the Fire Nation calendar…"
Listening to Ino recount the life of Gensou incident by incident.
Sakura went from disbelief to shock to silence, her face complex with emotions.
Gensou himself remained silent for a long time.
(End of Chapter)