For the moment, we'll set aside Hagoromo's rather miserly summoning relocation plan.
The Third Hokage was about to arrive at the front lines, personally leading Konoha's elite forces.
After suffering a severe blow from Sunagakure, Konoha's forces along this front had been forced into a full strategic contraction. Combat readiness had shifted into a defensive posture across the board.
In the previous battles, Konoha had taken heavy casualties. The number of shinobi still capable of fighting on this front had dropped sharply, and their overall strength had noticeably declined. They were no longer able to maintain their former three-layered defensive formation.
Continuing to do so would only stretch the defensive line too thin. With insufficient manpower to begin with, spreading their forces any further would simply give the enemy opportunities to defeat them piecemeal.
Even if it weren't for the sake of maintaining deterrence against the Sand, for the safety of her subordinates alone, Tsunade had to consolidate all remaining Konoha forces.
Thus, all Konoha shinobi previously deployed along the front lines were pulled back. Aside from the minimum number of scouts required for reconnaissance, the rest were concentrated near the original command headquarters.
Tsunade understood that the most important priority right now was preserving Konoha's remaining combat strength—not engaging in head-on clashes with the enemy. Until the Hokage and reinforcements arrived, large-scale battles with Sunagakure had to be avoided at all costs.
Fortunately, the devastating battle three days earlier had cut both ways.
Konoha had suffered heavily—but Sunagakure had been hit just as hard. For the time being, the Sand simply lacked the strength to launch a second offensive.
And that wasn't all.
Because Sunagakure had redeployed shinobi from their Iwagakure front to conduct a long-distance strike, their defenses elsewhere were now even more strained. Holding back Iwagakure had become their top priority.
In reality, as long as Konoha made no aggressive moves, Sunagakure had no ability—nor willingness—to initiate another attack.
Or rather, having lost so many shinobi, the Sand simply no longer possessed the strength to threaten Konoha at this moment.
The situation had reversed.
What had originally been Sunagakure pressuring Konoha into a ceasefire had now turned into Konoha being in a position to defeat the Sand—and force them to negotiate.
Such was the chaos of multi-village warfare.
One wrong step led to another, and then another.
The Hokage personally bringing Konoha's mobile forces to the battlefield could be seen as a risky maneuver—or as decisively seizing a fleeting opportunity to resolve an entire front.
After Hagoromo spent three more days recovering from his injuries, the Hokage finally arrived.
All the preparations, deployments, and strategic planning that followed naturally had nothing to do with Hagoromo, and he was more than happy to enjoy the downtime.
What he didn't expect was that later that afternoon, just as things were settling down, he received a summons.
From the Hokage himself.
Shinobi were weapons of war.
No matter how much the Hokage emphasized the Will of Fire, or how deeply he cared about Konoha's younger generation, in an age of constant warfare, it was simply impossible to cherish every shinobi's life equally.
Previously, when Hagoromo and Kushina Uzumaki had both been in danger, the Hokage's attention had naturally focused on Kushina. Hagoromo's importance ranked… several levels lower.
Which was only logical.
Put yourself in the Hokage's position: a talented—even genius—shinobi versus the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Which was more important?
The answer was obvious.
Talented shinobi were rare, yes—but as long as war continued, new prodigies would inevitably emerge.
A Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, however, could not be replaced.
Still, Hagoromo turned out to be an exception.
The full details of that night's battle had been reported to the Hokage, and Tsunade had relayed Hagoromo's explanations word for word.
That was why this meeting happened.
From a relationship standpoint, Hagoromo was Kushina's student. Kushina herself had close ties to the Hokage, and she was also the future wife of Minato Namikaze.
Minato was Jiraiya's disciple.
And Jiraiya was one of the Third Hokage's prized students.
After circling through all those connections, the point was simple:
Hagoromo counted as part of the Third Hokage's own faction.
One of their own.
However, the moment Hagoromo heard the Hokage's proposal, he nearly choked.
"W-wait—Third Hokage-sama, are you saying you want to promote me directly to jōnin?!"
"Is there a problem?" the Hokage asked calmly.
Of course there was!
From a formal standpoint, Hagoromo was still a genin. From a practical combat perspective, he was well aware of his own limits—without resorting to special trump cards, his ability as a shinobi barely reached chūnin level.
At best, one might call him an elite chūnin.
But jōnin?
He didn't think he was there yet.
And beyond combat strength, both chūnin and jōnin were expected to possess the ability to lead squads. That wasn't a question of raw power, but of battlefield awareness and coordination.
To put it simply—
Teamwork.
Hagoromo's fighting style was brutally straightforward. He fought alone, start to finish. He had never truly coordinated with other shinobi.
If he were actually put in charge of a team, he'd be better suited for infiltration, sabotage, assassination, or intelligence theft missions.
Of course, the Hokage would never assign such high-risk A-rank or S-rank missions to a young shinobi like him—whether or not he was a trusted subordinate.
"You see, Hokage-sama," Hagoromo said carefully, "I've heard that promotions require strict examinations. Skipping the process like this… isn't that inappropriate?"
More importantly, Hagoromo already carried the title of White Fang on the battlefield. That alone made him a walking target.
Add 'young jōnin' on top of that, and any enemy worth their salt would prioritize killing him first.
"That's a fair point," the Hokage nodded. "Given your performance that night—witnessed by everyone on the battlefield—you do deserve appropriate recognition."
He paused briefly.
"In that case, let's promote you to chūnin instead."
Hagoromo fell silent.
What was this supposed to mean? He offered jōnin, then immediately downgraded it to chūnin?
It wasn't that Hagoromo coveted the jōnin title—he'd rather avoid it—but he genuinely didn't understand the Hokage's reasoning.
And honestly… a direct promotion to chūnin was still using the back door.
"I know what you're thinking," the Hokage said. "Tsunade told me about it as well. The jutsu you used against Shukaku requires long-term chakra accumulation."
"But that isn't the only reason for this promotion. Your lethality on the front lines prior to that battle has already been verified. I have full reports."
"Chūnin suits you. There's no problem."
As he spoke, the Third Hokage patted Hagoromo on the shoulder.
What else could Hagoromo say?
The Hokage clearly had his own considerations—and as a subordinate, Hagoromo could only accept.
When your superior insists on promoting you, there's really no reason to refuse.
Later That Night
Sending Hagoromo off was just a tiny part of the Hokage's busy schedule that day.
That evening, the real high-level meeting began.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.
Princess Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin.
Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash.
The Konoha advisory council.
Commanders and captains from every shinobi division.
All gathered together.
Naturally, Hagoromo wasn't included.
Even as a newly promoted chūnin—
He was still just a chūnin.
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