"BANG!"
Loess crashed into the ground once more, Jiraiya's latest strike sending him tumbling across the battlefield. The Rock jonin clawed his way out of the impact crater, his body screaming in protest with every movement. Through blood and dirt-caked eyes, he spotted Shihouin Naraku standing nearby, observing the battle with detached interest.
Without bothering to wipe the blood streaming down his face, Loess gathered what remained of his chakra for one final gambit. His hands flew through seals with desperate speed, each motion carrying the weight of his last stand. With a primal roar, he slammed both palms against the earth.
"Earth Release: Mountain Sandwich Technique!"
Every drop of remaining chakra erupted from Loess's body, channeled into this ultimate technique. If he was going to die here, he would take Shihouin Naraku with him—the man responsible for Iwagakure's devastating defeat.
Naraku tilted his head slightly, a hint of amusement crossing his features. He hadn't expected to become a target simply by watching the battle's conclusion.
"Naraku! Move! Get out of there!"
Jiraiya's warning came as he charged directly at Loess, hoping to interrupt the technique by killing its caster.
"BOOM!"
Too late. The earth itself answered Loess's call.
Two massive hemispheres of solid rock erupted from the ground on either side of Naraku. Each one towered like a small mountain, their surfaces carved with the natural patterns of compressed earth. With unstoppable momentum, they rushed toward each other, intent on crushing everything between them.
The rocks slammed together with earth-shaking force, catching Shihouin Naraku directly in the center. The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, and the sound of grinding stone filled the air.
"NARAKU!"
Every Konoha shinobi watching the battle cried out in alarm. They stared in disbelief at the massive rock formation that had swallowed their savior. The man who had turned the tide of battle, who had seemed invincible moments before, appeared to have been crushed like an insect.
The sudden reversal stunned everyone into silence.
"Hahaha... HAHAHA!"
Loess's laughter rang out across the battlefield, tinged with madness and triumph. He ignored Jiraiya bearing down on him, content in his final victory. Even if death claimed him now, he had accomplished his goal with Iwagakure's most powerful Earth Release technique.
Shihouin Naraku was surely dead!
Loess knew the true power of the Mountain Sandwich Technique better than anyone. He had once used this very jutsu to suppress rampaging tailed beasts. The crushing force between those rocks could pulverize anything—flesh, bone, even chakra itself.
What others didn't know was that this technique hadn't been designed for use against human opponents. From its inception, the Mountain Sandwich had one purpose: containing the apocalyptic power of the tailed beasts.
In years to come, this same technique would prove capable of restraining even the Ten-Tails and the Gedo Statue itself.
Loess had poured every last reserve of his strength into this attack, determined to eliminate Shihouin Naraku at any cost.
As he waited for Jiraiya's killing blow, secure in his final victory—
"BOOM!!!"
Orange flames erupted from the seam where the two rock hemispheres met. What began as tongues of fire quickly grew into a towering pillar of pure heat that shot skyward.
"CRACK!"
Spider-web fractures spread across the massive rocks' surfaces. The cracks multiplied exponentially as the internal pressure built, glowing orange lines marking where the stone began to fail.
"BOOM!"
The entire formation exploded.
Chunks of rock ranging from pebbles to boulders shot outward like shrapnel from a massive bomb. They peppered the ground with countless impact craters, turning the immediate area into a moonscape of destruction. Smoke and flames billowed upward, creating an impenetrable curtain that obscured all vision.
Through that veil of destruction, a spear of pure fire suddenly materialized. It moved faster than sound itself, crossing the distance to Loess before anyone could react. The flaming weapon punched through his chest with surgical precision, emerging from his back in a spray of cauterized blood.
"Guh!"
Loess looked down in stunned disbelief at the burning shaft protruding from his heart. The flames spread rapidly from the point of impact, racing through his body like liquid fire. Strangely, he felt no pain—only a creeping numbness as his vision began to blur and darken.
"Tap. Tap. Tap."
Clear footsteps echoed from within the smoke. Shihouin Naraku emerged with Kurikara resting casually on his shoulder, his clothes rippling gently in the heated air. Not a speck of dust marred his appearance. He looked as pristine as if he'd been taking a leisurely stroll rather than surviving a technique designed to crush tailed beasts.
"Incredible! Lord Naraku is unharmed!"
"Did you really think that would work? This is Lord Naraku we're talking about!"
"Hahaha! I knew it! I told you all!"
"Amazing! I hope I can become that strong someday!"
"Keep dreaming!"
The Konoha forces erupted in celebration, their earlier fear transformed into jubilant relief. In contrast, the captured Rock shinobi watched in devastated silence as their commander's ultimate sacrifice proved utterly meaningless. Loess had traded his life for nothing.
The son of the Tsuchikage stared at Naraku's unmarked form with eyes full of regret, unwillingness, and despair. With his last breath carrying all his failures, Loess finally surrendered to the darkness that had been calling him.
"Well, he certainly seemed determined to take me with him," Naraku observed mildly.
He walked over to Loess's burning corpse and waved his hand dismissively. The intense flames consuming the body vanished instantly, as if they had never existed.
"Why did you extinguish them?" Jiraiya asked, puzzled. "He was almost completely carbonized. It would have been simpler to just let him burn to ash."
Naraku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I was thinking we might be able to extract some intelligence from the body. Even a small piece of information could prove valuable."
Jiraiya stared speechlessly at Loess's corpse, which resembled a piece of charcoal more than a human body.
Extract intelligence? From THAT? You burned him to a crisp!
What possible information could anyone glean from charcoal?
Naraku honestly wasn't certain it would work either. But the battle was over, and they might as well give the corpse disposal unit something to do. Perhaps they had techniques that could salvage something useful from even this devastated remains.
The flames Naraku commanded burned at temperatures that defied normal physics. They spread and consumed with terrifying efficiency. Without his conscious control, a human body would be reduced to ash in mere seconds.
The only reason Loess's corpse retained any form at all was Naraku's deliberate restraint. He had prevented the flaming spear from detonating completely upon impact. Otherwise, not even charcoal would remain—just a small pile of ash scattered on the wind.
"YOUTHFUL FLAMES BURN BRIGHT! Naraku, that was AMAZING!"
Might Guy came charging over with his usual inexhaustible energy. He struck one of his signature poses, gave Naraku an enthusiastic thumbs-up, and beamed his thousand-watt smile.
Naraku ignored Guy's theatrical display but reached out to bump fists with the enthusiastic jonin.
"Leave it to Guy to still have this much energy after such an intense battle," Kakashi observed, pulling his forehead protector down to cover his Sharingan. The Copy Ninja looked ready to collapse from chakra exhaustion.
"I genuinely envy his stamina," Asuma groaned from his perch atop a large boulder. His uniform was torn in multiple places, revealing bandaged wounds beneath. With trembling hands, he managed to light a cigarette and took a deep, satisfied drag.
Kurenai Yuhi sat beside Asuma, her own exhaustion evident in every line of her body. Fresh blood was already seeping through the bandages wrapped around her arm, staining the white cloth crimson.
"Haaah... haaah..."
Yamashiro Aoba lay spread-eagle on the ground, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. His signature sunglasses had been lost somewhere in the chaos of battle, leaving his face oddly naked.
Across the battlefield, similar scenes played out. With few exceptions, every Konoha shinobi showed signs of complete exhaustion. Chakra reserves depleted, bodies pushed beyond their limits—everyone desperately needed rest.
The Leaf forces looked at each other, taking in their battered but victorious state. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, laughter began to ripple through their ranks.
Victory!
Their laughter echoed across the valley, a sound of relief, joy, and survival that sent small clouds of dust dancing in the air.
Naraku produced a storage scroll and efficiently sealed Loess's carbonized remains. He would pass it along to the corpse disposal unit later. Perhaps their specialized techniques could extract something useful from the charred flesh. Stranger things had happened in the shinobi world.
Jiraiya approached and clapped Naraku on the shoulder with genuine gratitude. "Thank the Sage you arrived when you did. Without you, we would have been completely annihilated."
"Speaking of which..." Naraku's eyes narrowed as he regarded the Sannin. "According to our original battle plan, the engagement shouldn't have progressed this quickly. The timeline is completely different from what we discussed."
Given Naraku's traveling speed, he should have arrived at the battlefield much earlier. Instead, he had cut it dangerously close, arriving at the last possible moment. Something didn't add up.
"Battle plans rarely survive contact with the enemy," Jiraiya replied with a helpless shrug. "War is chaos incarnate. Who can guarantee that events will unfold according to our predictions?"
The Toad Sage spread his hands in a gesture of resignation. "The Rock forces acted outside our calculations. When has the enemy ever been considerate enough to follow our plans?"
Naraku shook his head, preparing to voice his concerns more specifically. But suddenly his expression shifted, his entire body tensing as he turned to stare at something in the distance that only he could perceive...
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