With Sunagakure's main combat forces deployed outside the village, its internal defenses were critically weakened.
Under such circumstances, not only was counterattack impossible—there weren't even enough capable shinobi left to mount a proper defense against aerial assault.
After collapsing the Kazekage's office building and destroying countless documents, Hagoromo selected another target—one that was highly likely to be a ninja hospital.
Then another.
And then another.
Sunagakure was engulfed in the flames of war.
From the standpoint of Hagoromo's primary objective, his focus was on the destruction of key facilities.
Personnel casualties were secondary.
That said, completely destroying Sunagakure was never possible.
Yatagarasu had already been active on the battlefield for a long time, consuming vast amounts of chakra. After another round of indiscriminate bombing over the village, it was clearly reaching its limits.
A summoning beast's chakra was finite.
Hagoromo still needed to preserve enough chakra to ensure Yatagarasu could fly back toward Konoha's main force. If its chakra ran out and the summoning dispelled midair—
He would drop straight into the heart of the Land of Wind.
Considering the rather unfriendly things he had just done, the enemy would undoubtedly swarm him with enthusiasm.
So after destroying several of the largest and most significant buildings, Hagoromo didn't linger.
He withdrew cleanly and decisively, turning back immediately.
A ten-hour round trip.
Ten minutes of bombing.
By the time Hagoromo began his return flight, the sky was already growing dark—and the fighting on the main battlefield had ended.
If he had descended lower, he would have seen scattered Sand shinobi retreating in small, disorganized groups.
This was the fate of the defeated.
Hagoromo had indeed become a variable on the battlefield—one even he himself hadn't anticipated.
He had played a noticeable role, but the true determinant of the battle's outcome was still the imbalance of strength between the two sides.
The Third Hokage's direct forces—including the ANBU under his command—were elite even among Konoha's shinobi.
Compared to them, Sunagakure was at a clear disadvantage.
It wasn't just that the Third Hokage's personal combat power was overwhelming—
the shinobi he brought with him were individually formidable as well.
On the frontal battlefield, the Fourth Kazekage was no match for the Third Hokage.
With the support of Chiyo and Ebizō, and with countless Sand shinobi sacrificing themselves to cover his retreat, the Kazekage ultimately managed to withdraw safely—
Though in a rather sorry state.
Konoha did not pursue blindly in an attempt to expand its gains.
Their strategic objective had already been achieved.
After this battle, Sunagakure should clearly understand one thing:
They were incapable of fighting both Iwagakure and Konoha at the same time.
The Land of Wind had long coveted the fertile lands of the Land of Fire.
But conversely, the Land of Fire had little interest in the Land of Wind.
The village that truly sought to invade the Land of Wind was Iwagakure.
From the perspective of causality:
Sunagakure had invaded the Land of Fire—so Konoha retaliated.
Iwagakure had invaded the Land of Wind—so Sunagakure retaliated.
In terms of priority and threat level—
Iwagakure was Sunagakure's true primary enemy.
At this point, the Kazekage realistically had only one choice left:
Seek peace with Konoha.
Before returning to the village, he may still have harbored thoughts of reorganizing and resisting.
But when, from far away, he saw the pillars of smoke rising above Sunagakure—
He immediately understood.
Even the darkness of night could not conceal the fires burning within the village.
With the village itself under attack and damaged, the war between Sunagakure and Konoha was effectively over.
Rushing back at full speed, the Kazekage confirmed his fears.
Burning buildings.
Crying voices.
Figures rushing about in frantic rescue and firefighting efforts.
Not a single sight was one he wanted to see.
He brought back news of defeat from the main battlefield.
In return, the shinobi who had remained behind gave him a detailed account of the aerial attack.
At that point, the Kazekage more or less understood—
This was the work of that Konoha shinobi who had been flying over the battlefield, the one who had nearly dropped a bomb on his head.
As Sunagakure struggled with rescue and recovery, the incident had a profound impact on their defensive doctrine and strategic thinking.
From that day forward, Sunagakure invested enormous resources into the research and development of aerial defense barriers and long-range anti-air weaponry.
Not only did they aim to shoot higher—
They aimed to shoot farther and more accurately.
In time, their research achieved remarkable success.
And later still, that success was put to the test.
One day, a brazen shinobi named Deidara flew into Sunagakure atop a clay bird, right on schedule.
Unfortunately for him, the moment he entered Sunagakure's airspace, he was immediately detected by the village's warning barriers.
Moments later, his clay bird was riddled with holes by Sand anti-air weapons.
As Deidara fell from the sky, he had no idea—
That this was a trap laid by someone decades earlier.
Some things don't need to be explained.
Some people don't need to be waited for.
Details sink into the river of time, memories flowing backward—
Who took the blame for whom?
I dug that pit.
I just never told you it was me.
Flying was a pain that breathed.
It lived in every corner of Deidara's life.
…Ahem.
That was all in the future.
For now—
When Hagoromo finally returned to Konoha's main force, he found the battlefield already being cleaned up and the wounded treated.
Sand shinobi who had survived by sheer luck were handed over to the Interrogation Division.
Those who could yield intelligence were interrogated.
Those who needed harsher measures received them.
After all, the interrogation specialists didn't recognize a concept known as mercy.
As for enemies who were clearly beyond saving but still clinging to life—
Konoha shinobi kindly put them out of their misery.
This was post-war cleanup.
After years of conflict, Konoha had long established standardized procedures for such situations.
Everything proceeded swiftly and methodically.
Hagoromo had calculated Yatagarasu's summoning duration with great precision.
By the time he reached the battlefield, the summon was just about due to return.
The bird had worked exceptionally hard today.
Its chakra was nearly depleted.
Yatagarasu's massive silhouette appeared in the dusk sky, drawing the attention of the Konoha shinobi below. Its hoarse, eerie cry echoed across the field.
Seen from afar, it looked majestic.
Seen up close—
It was downright terrifying.
Its sudden appearance made many Konoha shinobi tense up, but they quickly realized this was allied strength.
After all, both the summoning beast and its summoner had made undeniable contributions today.
Yatagarasu descended lower.
The shinobi could clearly see the strange single claw beneath its body.
Some instinctively ducked, as if the bird might hook their heads at any moment.
Then—
At a height of seven or eight meters above the ground—
With no warning at all—
Pff.
Hagoromo suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath his feet.
A moment later, a sharp sense of weightlessness struck.
The summoning dispelled.
Yatagarasu vanished.
Hagoromo's timing…
Might not have been quite as precise as he thought.
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