"AHHH—it hurts! IT HURTS!"
"My hands... where are my hands? I can't find them..."
"What happened? Someone tell me what happened!"
"Sobsobsob..."
"I can't see! Is anyone there? Please, help me!"
"It hurts so much... Mother... I want my mother..."
The dying flames cast an eerie daylight glow across the devastation, revealing a landscape transformed into hell itself. Corpses littered the ground in grotesque arrangements, their blood pooling and flowing together to create crimson rivers that wound between the debris. Smoke still rose from the scorched earth, carrying with it the acrid stench of death.
A bitter wind swept across the battlefield, gradually dispersing the lingering heat but replacing it with a bone-deep chill. Tattered fragments of clothing—all that remained of some victims—fluttered from blackened tree branches like macabre flags.
In the darkness beyond the fire's reach, the surviving Iwagakure ninja huddled in states of complete shock. The sudden, apocalyptic attack had shattered not just their bodies but their minds, leaving them in various stages of collapse.
Kurotsuchi raised trembling hands before her face, staring at the bright crimson blood that coated them. The sight seemed alien, incomprehensible.
Paralyzed by terror, she found herself unable to stand. Her blood-slicked palms pressed against the ground as she tried repeatedly to push herself upright, but her body refused to cooperate. Each attempt ended with her collapsing back to the earth.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Blood continued to fall...
Kurotsuchi sat in a spreading pool of her own blood, her left leg twisted at an unnatural angle beside her. Her right leg simply... ended below the knee. Where her lower leg should have been, only ragged flesh and exposed bone remained, blood flowing freely from the traumatic amputation.
"What's happening?"
"What am I doing here?"
"How did this...?"
The young kunoichi muttered to herself in a daze, her mind refusing to process the horror surrounding her. She continued her futile attempts to stand, never comprehending why her body wouldn't obey, never looking down to see the grievous injury that made standing impossible.
"Help... somebody help us!"
"Sob Please... please save them..."
"Don't—don't be afraid. Everything's going to be okay. It's all going to be okay."
The Rock shinobi who had miraculously survived the initial blast finally began to recover their senses. Fighting through their own terror and injuries, they started the grim work of searching for survivors among the carnage. Their hands shook as they offered what comfort they could, though many knew their reassurances were lies.
Throughout the long night, the survivors waited in dread for a second attack that never came. They huddled together in the darkness, jumping at every sound, expecting death to claim them at any moment.
When dawn finally broke, it revealed the true scope of the devastation.
Where once a mountain road had wound through the landscape, now gaped a massive crater over five hundred meters in diameter. The perfectly circular depression looked like the footprint of some impossible giant, its edges still smoking, the bottom filled with glass where sand had been superheated and fused.
The morning that should have brought hope and renewal instead illuminated a scene of utter desolation.
After a night of frantic first aid and coming to terms with their situation, some of the stronger-willed Rock shinobi began to take charge.
"Send our fastest runners back to the village immediately," the ranking captain ordered, his voice hoarse from smoke inhalation. "Lord Tsuchikage must know what happened here."
He paused, a troubling thought occurring to him. "And dispatch scouts to find Lord Loess's army. They should have investigated an explosion of this magnitude..."
The captain's voice trailed off as darker possibilities crept into his mind.
"It looked like a Tailed Beast Bomb," one jonin suggested, though his tone carried doubt. "But that's impossible. We would have seen a bijuu of that size. They can't hide."
"Why hasn't Lord Loess sent anyone to check on us?" another wondered aloud. "He knew our route. After what happened last night, surely they must have seen or heard something..."
The ranking captain forced himself to stop that line of thinking. There would be time for grim realizations later. For now, he focused on what comforting lies he could tell himself and his subordinates.
"..."
Only after the full investigation would Iwagakure learn the terrible truth—that this devastation was the work of a single man: Shihouin Naraku.
But for now, the survivors could only tend their wounded and count their dead, unaware that their main army had met a similar fate.
Far from the scene of devastation, Shihouin Naraku had already returned to Konoha's border camp in the Land of Lightning.
Nara Shikaku and the other commanders visibly relaxed upon seeing him enter the command tent unharmed.
"How did it go, Naraku? The situation with Iwagakure..."
Naraku casually picked up a cup of water, his tone matter-of-fact as he delivered earth-shaking news. "It's finished. The Rock forces under Loess have been completely annihilated. I killed him personally."
Shikaku nodded slowly, processing the implications. "That's... that's excellent news. Are you injured at all?"
"What could possibly happen to me?" Naraku took a long drink before continuing. "Now, to business. Send word to our negotiators in the Hidden Cloud immediately. They have three days to sign a peace treaty."
His eyes hardened as he set down the cup. "If they continue stalling, I'll personally deliver the treaty to the Raikage's office. I'll find someone there willing to sign it—one way or another."
"Agreed. There's no point in prolonging this farce."
Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi exchanged meaningful glances before nodding their consent.
In truth, they were equally frustrated with Cloud Village's negotiating tactics. Despite clearly losing the war, Kumogakure refused to make any meaningful concessions, acting more like victors than the defeated. Their arrogance had worn thin on everyone's patience.
It wasn't just Naraku who had reached his limit—even the typically patient strategists were growing irritated with the waste of time and resources.
"Additionally," Naraku continued after a moment's thought, "begin closing the field hospitals immediately. All wounded are to be transported back to Konoha."
"Let me think..." He tapped the table thoughtfully. "With the war essentially over, there's no need to maintain such a large presence here. Cut our forces by half."
"The troops we're sending back can escort the wounded and medical personnel. They can return in organized groups rather than all at once. Shikaku, I'm placing you in charge of the logistics."
"Understood!"
With Naraku's ultimatum delivered to Cloud Village, the likelihood of renewed hostilities was virtually nil. Maintaining a full military presence would only waste resources that Konoha needed elsewhere. The village had reconstruction and other matters requiring attention.
Under Naraku's orders, the Leaf forces began a systematic reduction of front-line personnel, organizing escorts for the wounded and medical staff returning to the village.
When Cloud Village received word of Shihouin Naraku's threat, their negotiators suddenly found new flexibility in their positions. Though they seethed with resentment, they dramatically accelerated the peace talks.
Just two days after the ultimatum—one day before Naraku's deadline—the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf reached a final agreement.
While Mitokado Homura had led Konoha's negotiation team, it was Shihouin Naraku who signed the treaty opposite Dodai, the Cloud representative.
In the austere conference room, shinobi from both villages lined opposite walls, creating a corridor of tension. They watched in silence as Naraku and Dodai signed their names to the armistice agreement. The two men then exchanged documents and shared a perfunctory handshake.
The war was over.
From this moment forward, the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, Konohagakure and Kumogakure, officially entered a new era of peace.
Yet Shihouin Naraku could feel the barely concealed killing intent radiating from the Cloud delegation. Their hatred was almost palpable, filling the room like a physical presence.
If looks could kill, he would have been reduced to constituent atoms by their collective glares.
"Hehehe..."
A low chuckle escaped Naraku's lips, echoing in the silent room.
The Konoha delegation shifted uncomfortably while the Cloud shinobi's glares intensified, their hands twitching toward weapons they'd been forced to leave outside.
"Ahem—"
Dodai cleared his throat sharply, shooting his subordinates a warning glance. The Cloud ninja reluctantly averted their gazes, though their faces remained twisted with grief and rage. They dared not look at Naraku again, fearing they might lose control and destroy this hard-won peace that had cost them so dearly.
Shihouin Naraku made no effort to hide his amusement.
What right did they have to be angry? Cloud Village had initiated this war!
The Hidden Leaf and the Land of Fire had merely defended themselves!
Having lost, they should accept defeat gracefully rather than sulking like children.
After securing the treaty in a storage scroll, Naraku rose to leave.
"Lord Naraku, wait..."
Dodai quickly raised his hand, clearly wanting to address something.
The Konoha guards immediately interposed themselves between Naraku and the Cloud delegation, hands moving to weapons. The Cloud shinobi responded in kind, rising to their feet in a tense standoff. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
"Misunderstanding! This is a misunderstanding!"
Dodai frantically gestured for his people to stand down, raising both hands to show his peaceful intentions.
Naraku felt no concern whatsoever. He gently pushed aside his overzealous protectors and raised an eyebrow at Dodai, curious what the man wanted.
"It's about the flames," Dodai began carefully. "The fire near the Valley of Clouds and Lightning... it continues to burn. If left unchecked, it could cause irreparable damage to the entire region, possibly spreading beyond our borders."
He swallowed hard before making his request. "Lord Naraku, if it's within your power, would you please extinguish those flames? We would consider it a gesture of goodwill in this new peace."
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion