Upon hearing the news of Ōnoki's retreat, not only were the Rock Shinobi stunned, but even the Sand Shinobi troops nearby were left dumbfounded.
The sea of orange-red Scorch Style flames around Pakura fluttered in the wind.
"Ōnoki, that old bastard..."
She gritted her teeth, her expression cold and furious.
"So, what do we do now?"
A nearby puppet ninja asked in a low voice.
Although Pakura was unwilling to retreat, she made the right decision swiftly.
"Withdraw."
Hanzo was dead, and Ōnoki had slipped away using the excuse of drunkenness.
What point was there for the Sand Shinobi to remain?
Wait to die?
Facts had already proven that when facing someone of Hanyu Simu's level, unless there were two or three Kage-level shinobi to restrain him, numbers were meaningless.
No matter how many soldiers they had—if he used the same technique again—every ninja within range would still die.
With no other choice, the Sand Shinobi could only retreat.
At Pakura's command, the remaining two thousand Sand Shinobi immediately turned and fled toward the borders of the Land of Rain.
The Rock Shinobi followed suit, quickly retreating after receiving Ōnoki's orders.
But just because they wanted to escape didn't mean the enemy would let them.
Hanyu Simu, watching the retreating forces of both great nations, transformed into a flash of light and instantly appeared above the Two-Tails' head.
"You three should be done fishing by now."
The Two-Tails felt the weight on its head and trembled slightly.
"Master Simu, rest assured. None of them will escape!"
It turned toward the fleeing Rock Shinobi and opened its mouth, blue flames licking at the air.
The two chakra natures—yin and yang—began to swirl and converge in its mouth, forming a pitch-black energy sphere.
Seeing the Two-Tails preparing to attack, the Four-Tails and Five-Tails also opened their mouths.
Ten seconds later, three Tailed Beast Bombs hovered ominously in the air.
A terrifying pressure spread across the entire battlefield.
Hanyu Simu waved his hand.
The three Tailed Beast Bombs shot forward like arrows released from a bowstring.
The fleeing Rock Shinobi looked up in horror.
Three black spheres slammed down into the center of their disorganized formation.
Boom!
Three dazzling flashes lit up the night.
The massive explosions rocked the battlefield, carving deep craters into the ground.
Those caught directly in the blasts were reduced to ash without a trace.
However, because the Rock Shinobi had scattered during their retreat, some managed to escape.
Simu didn't care about them.
He transformed into a massive dragon and soared into the sky, stirring the clouds with powerful winds.
He opened his enormous jaws.
Boundless energy condensed into terrifying heat and flame in his mouth.
"Hurry! We're almost at the border of the Land of Wind!"
"As long as we reach Wind Country, we can find reinforcements!"
Pakura did her best to encourage the Sand Shinobi.
She had assumed that with Tsuchikage and Hanzo's help—plus tens of thousands of shinobi—they could easily crush Hanyu Simu and two thousand Konoha troops.
But Simu's strength far exceeded anyone's expectations.
As his enemies, the Sand Shinobi's morale had hit rock bottom.
Pakura's words barely held their resolve together.
Suddenly, a chilling sense of dread gripped Pakura's heart.
She turned her head in alarm—
And saw the sky ignite in flames.
The dark night was swallowed by a blazing inferno.
Flames rained down from above like a divine judgment.
"Sage Art: Flame Sea!"
Simu unleashed torrents of fire upon the battlefield.
The forest below turned into a hellish blaze in an instant.
Infused with Sage Chakra, these flames were not something ordinary shinobi could resist.
And unfortunately for the Sand Shinobi, flames were the perfect counter to Wind Release.
Most of them specialized in Wind Style and were helpless in the face of such an overwhelming attack.
The searing flames devoured their bodies.
No matter where they looked—only fire. There was no way out.
Screams of agony echoed across the battlefield, shaking even the strongest wills.
Pakura used her Scorch Style to form a protective flame barrier, shielding a dozen nearby shinobi.
But it was far from enough.
Hundreds of Sand Shinobi perished in the fire.
Only a few who had broken away from the main force early managed to escape.
As one of the rare survivors, Pakura naturally caught Simu's attention.
He descended from the sky, returning to human form.
Towering at over seven meters tall, he held a massive iron mace.
The might of thunder roared with him as he came crashing down.
He didn't hold back—this was one of Kaido's strongest techniques.
Conqueror's Haki surged across the weapon in arcs of dark red lightning.
The mace descended like divine punishment.
Pakura reacted swiftly.
The moment the crushing pressure fell upon her, she quickly formed hand seals.
She manipulated the Scorch Style flames around her into a massive dragon, which soared up to intercept the attack.
"Run. All of you, run!"
Her face turned pale.
She knew better than anyone how terrifying Hanyu Simu was.
And she also knew—
She had no hope of stopping him alone.
All she could do… was buy time for others to escape.
Simu looked at the oncoming fire dragon, and without any hesitation, the mace slammed down.
"Successful III‧ Yin Naraku!"
The red fire dragon roared and consumed all the water.
Until the mace brought a terrible impact, and the roar of thunder fell upon it.
He didn't even have time to let out a whimper.
The heavy mace instantly tore up the fire dragon in front of him and smashed it heavily to the ground.
The tremendous force easily split the ground apart.
The resulting shockwave sent Ye Cang and the others flying.
Several Sand Shinobi, taking advantage of the impact, turned around and ran towards the distance.
Simu sneered, raised his palm, and pointed his sharp nails at them.
"You guys are trying to escape?"
Golden lasers pierced the air.
Before they knew it, the lasers pierced their hearts.
Ye Cang, the only one left, fell to her knees on the ground.
"Why...?"
She stared blankly.
Simu, in front of her, was like an insurmountable mountain, crushing heavily upon her.
No, it is on the entire Kingdom of Wind!
Impossible. It's absolutely impossible to defeat him.
Simu walked up to Ye Cang step by step.
The latter clenched her Kunai tightly, then suddenly jumped up and stabbed at Simu.
Simu expressionlessly waved the mace in his hand.
One swing, and the entire world fell silent.
Simu looked at Ye Cang's body without any expression on his face.
Her psychological defenses had completely collapsed.
The last desperate struggle was merely a subconscious instinct as a ninja.
She felt the heat from the surrounding flames, along with the strong smell of blood in the air.
Simu sighed.
War is inherently cruel.
Conqueror's Haki, representing the majesty of a king, emanated from him.
It declared the winner of this war to everyone.
"Surrender without killing."
His indifferent and majestic voice rang in the ears of all the ninjas.
All Konoha Shinobi shouted in unison:
"Surrender without killing!"
"Surrender without killing!"
The overwhelming sound waves hit, completely shattering the psychological defenses of the Rain Shinobi.
In other words, after Hanzo's death, they no longer had a backbone.
One by one, they discarded their weapons and surrendered without a fight.
Half an hour later, Aburame Zhiwei appeared beside Simu.
"The preliminary census of the prisoners has been completed. 1,782 ninjas from Rain Shinobi Village were captured."
"Iwagakure ninja: 347."
"Sunagakure ninja: 761."
"A total of 2,890 people."
Aburame Zhiwei glanced at the small book in his hand and continued:
"Konoha killed 324 ninjas and injured 1,654."
"But with Katsuyu-sama's help, these wounded should be able to recover their combat abilities very quickly."
He adjusted his little black sunglasses and asked doubtfully:
"But what are we going to do with them?"
After all, this time Konoha's troops were left with just over a thousand people.
It's still a bit difficult to guard nearly 3,000 prisoners.
Simu had restored his original appearance.
The coat of justice was even more worn on his body.
"Send them back to Rain Shinobi Village first."
"Rain Shinobi Village?"
Aburame Zhi was slightly taken aback.
"Are you planning to take over Rain Shinobi Village?"
"It's not a takeover, it's just temporary."
Konoha's troops didn't bring that many supplies.
Originally, Rain Shinobi Village was intended to be a transit point for supplies, and now it's only natural to return for rest.
In addition...
Simu looked at Hanzo, who was dying under Katsuyu's treatment.
There should be a lot of information to be dug out from this guy.
A faint killing intent spread from Simu's body.
He is not someone who will hold back when he suffers.
Even if he hadn't suffered directly, being tricked by that old guy Danzo was still extremely unpleasant.
A day later, Simu finally returned to Rain Shinobi Village with his troops.
Because Hanzo had taken away a large portion of the troops, Rain Shinobi Village had no military presence left.
Seeing this large army composed of thousands of figures, the ninja on duty instantly sounded the alarm.
"It's Konoha's ninja!"
"And then that's..."
"Tailed Beasts!"
The gathered Rain Shinobi froze in place.
As a small country, there were no Tailed Beasts in the Land of Rain.
But Tailed Beasts, as weapons of war, are famous throughout the ninja world.
Now, three of them had arrived at once, and Rain Shinobi Village couldn't withstand them.
Even those great ninja villages would suffer heavy casualties trying to take them down!
And...
The Rain Shinobi holding binoculars soon saw a familiar figure.
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