"Boom..."
Thick smoke and dust filled the air, obscuring all vision. No one could see clearly what had transpired in those final, decisive moments.
One thing, however, was certain—everyone understood that the Fourth Raikage's fate had been sealed.
Despite their desperate desire to help, the Cloud shinobi found themselves completely blocked by Konoha's forces, unable to reach their fallen leader.
"Whoosh—"
A powerful gust of wind swept across the battlefield, beginning to dissipate the obscuring dust cloud.
"Thud... Thud..."
Steady, powerful footsteps echoed through the settling debris. A shadowy figure gradually emerged from the haze, becoming clearer with each passing second.
"BOOM!"
Conqueror's Haki erupted across the battlefield!
Terrifying pressure descended from above like an avalanche. Many ninja couldn't withstand the overwhelming spiritual force—their eyes rolled back as they collapsed unconscious.
A hurricane-force wind exploded outward in an instant, completely clearing away the remaining smoke and dust. The howling gale darkened the sky itself, bending distant trees under its incredible force.
Ninja from both villages raised their hands defensively, struggling against the storm that felt like a natural disaster given form.
Finally, Shihouin Naraku emerged from the dissipating cloud. The shirtless warrior stood before them all, holding a lifeless body in one hand.
Rather than approaching either army, Naraku simply stood there, surveying the smoke-shrouded battlefield with calm detachment.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and his Conqueror's Haki intensified even further. The spiritual pressure howled like a primordial storm, his majestic aura bearing down on every living soul present.
"ROAR!"
In that moment, countless ninja saw a vision—a monstrous beast roaring at them with unbridled fury!
After what felt like an eternity, the awe-inspiring pressure gradually subsided.
"The war is over," Shihouin Naraku declared, his voice carrying absolute authority.
His calm gaze swept across the assembled forces. No one dared contradict his words or meet his eyes directly—not even the grief-stricken Cloud shinobi who had just lost their leader.
Everyone could now clearly see that the corpse Naraku held was none other than the Fourth Raikage, Ai himself.
Noticing the Cloud ninja's expressions—a mixture of rage and helpless submission—Naraku finally moved. With a casual motion, he tossed the Fourth Raikage's body toward the Cloud forces. Since Ai was dead and the war effectively over, there was no point in denying them their leader's remains.
As the Cloud shinobi caught their Raikage's body, anguished cries of grief erupted from their ranks. Yet despite the murderer standing right before them, not one dared harbor thoughts of immediate revenge.
They simply couldn't.
This was the bitter tragedy of the weak.
Shihouin Naraku took several deliberate steps toward the Cloud forces. The enemy ninja reacted instantly—though hatred burned in their hearts, they found themselves unconsciously backing away in unison.
The sight was truly remarkable.
One man, through sheer presence alone, had forced an entire army to retreat!
Witnessing this display, the Konoha forces erupted in excited chatter.
Such overwhelming strength!
Naraku's spiritual pressure alone had crushed the entire Cloud army's fighting spirit!
The Cloud shinobi quickly realized what they'd done. Many flushed with shame, some even preparing to charge forward in anger, only to be restrained by their more level-headed comrades.
They were in no position to continue fighting.
Shihouin Naraku paid no attention to their internal struggles. Instead, he raised his voice to address them all: "The Fourth Raikage died by my hand! If any of you seek revenge, I'll be waiting!"
"Return and inform your village leaders—they have three days to arrive at the Konoha camp for peace negotiations!"
"I won't wait longer than that!"
With those words delivered, Naraku turned and walked away, deliberately exposing his back to the entire Cloud army without the slightest concern.
"Damn it..."
The Cloud ninja ground their teeth in frustration at this display of contempt. His actions made it crystal clear—he didn't consider them a threat whatsoever.
The tragic reality was that they truly didn't dare attack. They couldn't even risk making any movement that might be misinterpreted as aggressive.
All they could do was endure in silence, watching as Naraku casually strolled away.
"Lord Naraku is incredible!"
"Such overwhelming power!"
"The war is finally over!"
"Hahaha! I'm getting completely drunk when we return to Konoha!"
"Count me in on that!"
"This victory belongs entirely to Lord Naraku. We barely contributed at all."
As Naraku returned to the Konoha forces, ninja surrounded him with deafening cheers of celebration.
With such an overwhelmingly powerful protector—a man who walked like a living catastrophe—the Konoha shinobi felt completely secure.
In stark contrast to Konoha's jubilation, the Cloud forces could only weep silently and swallow their bitterness. The constant cheers from their enemies felt like salt being rubbed into fresh wounds.
"Retreat," the acting Cloud commander ordered with a heavy sigh.
With a face etched in bitter defeat, he signaled for a general withdrawal. The Cloud shinobi began their silent evacuation from the battlefield.
"Let's move out as well," Naraku commanded with a casual wave. "The war may be over, but there's still much work to be done."
The Konoha forces began an orderly retreat. Though the Cloud ninja posed no immediate threat, Konoha still left behind a symbolic guard unit to prevent any unexpected incidents.
In the hours that followed, Naraku delegated all the complex post-war administrative tasks to Nara Shikaku. The tactical genius could only accept these seemingly minor but incredibly troublesome duties with a wry smile—he had no power to refuse.
The task list was extensive: notify Konoha to send negotiators, arrange medical transport for the wounded, calculate losses and gains from the battle, and secretly map the Land of Lightning's terrain.
This marked Konoha's first successful invasion into Lightning Country territory. Shikaku recognized the golden opportunity to dispatch teams to create detailed military maps. Should war break out again, such intelligence would provide Konoha with a significant strategic advantage.
While Konoha possessed basic maps of the Land of Lightning through spy networks and merchant reports, civilian maps and professional military cartography were vastly different disciplines. The specialists capable of creating military-grade maps were rare talents indeed.
Shikaku immediately assigned protection details to these cartographers and initiated the covert mapping operation.
Konoha's response arrived swiftly. Tsunade's letter informed them that a negotiation team led by Mitokado Homura had already departed and would arrive soon.
This news came as a relief to Nara Shikaku, particularly given the complications caused by Naraku's ultimatum. The Cloud Village negotiators had rushed to the frontlines with such urgency that they'd arrived without even stopping to rest, ready to begin talks immediately.
The awkward reality was that Konoha's negotiation team had only just departed from the village.
This represented a calculated humiliation, but the Cloud Village diplomats could only endure it. Such was the nature of war—victors held all the power over the defeated.
However, Shikaku lacked both Naraku's ruthlessness and his intimidating presence.
More importantly, several members of Cloud Village's negotiation team were actually his acquaintances. They'd met during various diplomatic functions between nations and could be considered professional friends, if not personal ones.
Faced with the Cloud delegation's increasingly desperate pleas, Shikaku could only explain repeatedly, his scalp prickling with discomfort, that Konoha's negotiation team would arrive very soon.
When the Cloud Village representatives requested a meeting with Shihouin Naraku directly, Shikaku dutifully conveyed their message.
Naraku's response was characteristically blunt:
"Tell them to get lost."
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