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Homura looked at the enraged Raikage and began to feel fear, worried that he would truly fight to the death for these Kumogakure shinobi.
"You…what do you want?" Homura stammered, "Damn it! How could he appear so close to me?" He cursed inwardly.
"Let them cease their attack, and Kumogakure withdraw from the Land of Hot Springs." The Raikage's gaze was resolute, but inwardly he was uneasy, fearing rejection.
After all, Yuta was nearby. If it weren't for Gyūki temporarily keeping Yuta occupied, he would have already submitted a letter of surrender to Konohagakure.
If they didn't seize this opportunity to rescue these defeated Kumogakure shinobi now, they would have to pay a far greater price after the war.
Besides, they couldn't afford to lose these Kumogakure shinobi; otherwise, they would simply be waiting for Ōnoki and Kirigakure to exploit their misfortune.
"Okay! But Gyūki will require the Raikage to seek another opportunity to negotiate with Konohagakure later."
"Cease the attack!" Homura didn't hesitate; he also feared that the Raikage would resort to a suicidal attack.
The battlefield gradually fell silent. Only the shinobi of Konohagakure gritted their teeth, glaring at the Kumogakure shinobi who had lost their will to fight. These were the very individuals who had caused the deaths of a large number of their comrades on the battlefield recently.
They had finally gained an opportunity to strike at the defeated foe, but circumstances prevented them from delivering the killing blow. Their reluctance was palpable. They surrounded the Kumogakure shinobi, awaiting Yuta's decision.
The Raikage believed that Yuta might not fully grasp the situation, so he remained silent, enduring the severe pain while awaiting the outcome from Yuta's side.
He knew that the irrational Gyūki would be no match for Yuta and sighed inwardly, "It seems this time will entail a significant loss!"
The Kumogakure shinobi no longer possessed their initial arrogance and stood in place silently, awaiting their fate.
Homura wasn't certain he could restrain the enraged Raikage, even in his weakened state. Thus, the two sides remained locked in a tense stalemate.
"Fūinjutsu: Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!"
Just as a semblance of peace returned to their side, Yuta's roar echoed from the other direction.
They looked up and saw that Yuta had capitalized on the moment Gyūki was stunned by his blow, leaping onto its head. He directly pressed his right hand onto its head.
The fūinjutsu instantly enveloped Gyūki's body, and the tailed beast was immediately sealed back into the jinchūriki's body. However, having previously expended a significant amount of vitality, the jinchūriki was now on the verge of death.
Observing the jinchūriki clinging to his last breath, Yuta reinforced his original seal to slow the loss of vitality. Otherwise, if he died now, his efforts would have been in vain.
Yuta slung the unconscious jinchūriki over his shoulders and walked towards Homura and the Raikage.
Staring at Yuta, the Raikage sighed, 'It seems we have to surrender!'
Looking at the Raikage, who hurried over before tending to his injuries, Yuta also sighed inwardly: If the Hokage-sama could be like the Raikage, he wouldn't have faced so much frustration before.
"What? Do you wish to continue?" Yuta looked at the Raikage, who seemed resigned to death, and was slightly perplexed.
"Silver Fox of Konoha, you have won this time! You may kill them or cut them down as you please, but please show mercy to these Kumogakure shinobi. I doubt Konohagakure desires the Land of Earth and the Land of Water to continue their expansion!"
Yuta had no intention of severely weakening Kumogakure at this point. After this battle, the Raikage was severely injured, and nearly half of their elite shinobi had perished.
Continuing the conflict would indeed, as the Raikage stated, only benefit others.
Yuta waved his hand. "Let them go!"
Although the shinobi on the Konohagakure side were unwilling, they displayed battlefield discipline and made way for the Kumogakure shinobi.
Observing his subordinates who had survived the ordeal, the Raikage looked at Yuta calmly.
"How do you plan to deal with me and Gyūki?"
Before Yuta could answer, Homura interjected, "The Raikage is free to go, but Gyūki will remain here pending the village's decision."
Yuta glanced at Homura, who had made the decision unilaterally, and saw him subtly winking. After a moment of consideration, he chose not to object.
Seeing Yuta's lack of opposition, the Raikage nodded in gratitude. He was a man who could accept defeat. Although Yuta had inflicted significant losses on Kumogakure on the battlefield, if one was weaker, there was no point in feigning strength.
The Raikage waved his left hand. "Return to the Land of Lightning!"
"Yes!" Witnessing their leader bravely come to their rescue without fear, these Kumogakure shinobi regained some morale. With the Raikage's departure, they completely withdrew from the Second Great Ninja War.
It was partly due to this that Kumogakure had the opportunity to recover its strength and eventually become the second-largest shinobi village after Konohagakure.
Watching the defeated Kumogakure shinobi gradually depart under Konohagakure's watchful eyes,
"Victory! We won!"
"Great! It's wonderful to be able to go home alive! Mei, wait for me!"
"Waaah! The Kumogakure shinobi lost! Yuya, did you see it? The Kumogakure shinobi lost!"
"Lord Yuta is so amazing! He led us to victory as soon as he arrived!"
"…"
"Lord Yuta! I want to marry you!"
"Uh?!" Yuta looked at the excited, incoherent, bearded man. "Let's move on."
"Lord Yuta, we won, didn't we?"
Hyūga Hizashi squeezed in front of Yuta with his small and agile body and asked excitedly.
"Kid! I told you we would win. Wait until we get back to reclaim our own destiny."
"Yeah!" Hyūga Hizashi nodded excitedly but was soon pushed aside by the others.
Yuta looked at the jubilant crowd, and at that moment, an unprecedented sense of pride swelled within his chest.
…
"Yuta, congratulations!" As soon as he returned to the camp, Homura sincerely congratulated Yuta. As the highest authority on the front lines, Yuta had almost single-handedly helped Konohagakure defeat Kumogakure.
His contribution and strength were evident to all, and his reputation had undergone a significant transformation.
He had decided to overlook Yuta and Danzō's underhanded tactics previously, so at this moment, he was genuinely grateful for Yuta's efforts.
"Congratulations! If Advisor Homura hadn't cut off the Kumogakure shinobi's retreat at the critical moment, they wouldn't have surrendered so easily." Yuta smiled and nodded at him, also acknowledging Homura's contribution to the battle.
Although Hyūga Hizashi had secretly reported him earlier, mentioning his inaction, Yuta didn't take it to heart.
After all, his current strength left him unafraid of any threats. Presumably, those rats in the dark wouldn't dare to target him in the future.
As for Danzō, once this war concluded, he would be sent to confess before the Second Hokage's memorial.
"The summary of this battle is here. Take a look first. If there are no issues, I will report it as such." At this point, Homura produced the battle report summary and asked Yuta to review it. After all, Yuta was still the highest commander present.
"These matters are decided by Advisor, but there's no need to mention Hyūga Hizashi's situation. Those were all my orders, so he deserves neither merit nor blame."
Yuta picked up the battle report and glanced through it. With his current mental acuity, he quickly finished reading it.
While generally accurate, it mentioned Hyūga Hizashi's apparent fear of the enemy and inaction, recommending its omission from the report.
"Okay!" Homura nodded with a smile. Although he had been annoyed that Hyūga Hizashi dared to instruct him earlier, he was still happy to appease Yuta.
In this manner, the battle between Kumogakure and Konohagakure rapidly spread throughout the shinobi world.