Silence.
A dead, suffocating silence covered the entire battlefield.
Not only the Iwa shinobi —even the Konoha shinobi were completely speechless.
What had just happened went far beyond what their minds could process; it was so unreal that their brains simply couldn't keep up.
And the one responsible for all of this—Gekko Hoshiyomi—only shrugged casually, turning his gaze toward the other side, where the Four-Tails, clutching its injured arm, was still howling in pain.
The moment the Four-Tails met that calm, indifferent stare, cold sweat poured down his back.
Tailed Beasts might all act arrogant—each claiming to fear no one, to be the greatest under heaven—but deep down, they all understood the truth:
Aside from the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, who truly stood above the rest, the power gap among the other seven Tailed Beasts wasn't that great.
And this human, Hoshiyomi, had already seriously injured him once before.
Now, that same human had just slashed open his hand again—then turned around and effortlessly defeated the Five-Tails, even blowing apart its Tailed Beast Bomb.
After witnessing all of that with his own eyes, how could the Four-Tails still dare to act recklessly?
If even a Tailed Beast Bomb couldn't hurt this man, then fighting him was nothing but suicide.
Sure, a Tailed Beast couldn't truly die, but being torn apart still hurt like hell.
And this wasn't even a fight about life or freedom—why bother suffering for it?
Even if he fought to the bitter end, he'd still remain sealed, still without freedom.
Why die for these humans anyway?
He, the great Son Gokū, owed them nothing.
The more he thought about it, the more his pride as a Tailed Beast withered away.
Until finally, he just gave up altogether.
With a frustrated roar, the Four-Tails dove back into his jinchūriki, Rōshi, disappearing from sight.
The battlefield froze again.
Shinobi on both sides—Konoha and Iwagakure alike—stared blankly, jaws dropping to the ground.
The Four-Tails… ran away?
The monstrous beast, so powerful it could destroy an entire village, had actually fled?
After Gekko Hoshiyomi sliced apart a Tailed Beast Bomb and defeated the Five-Tails, he'd now scared another Tailed Beast into retreating?
Was this even real?
It couldn't be—they had to be dreaming.
But the sharp sting on their cheeks after pinching themselves told them the truth:
They weren't dreaming.
Everything before their eyes was real.
"YAHOO!!"
No one knew which Konoha shinobi shouted first, unable to contain his excitement any longer, but that single cheer shattered the heavy silence.
The battlefield erupted in noise—
Two completely different waves of emotion burst forth.
On one side, Konoha's shinobi screamed themselves hoarse:
"LORD Hoshiyomi IS A GOD!"
"LORD Hoshiyomi IS UNSTOPPABLE!"
On the other side, the Iwagakure shinobi looked utterly defeated, muttering bitterly like mourners at a funeral:
"It's over… it's all over. Even the Tailed Beasts can't stop Konoha's Silver Moon. What power in this world could possibly stand against him now?"
"When he fought us earlier, he wasn't even serious. If he had used that sword technique—the one that cuts apart Tailed Beast Bombs—we'd all be dead already…"
There was no reason to continue this war anymore.
The morale of the Iwagakure forces had completely collapsed.
Facing someone who fought like a War God, they didn't even have the courage to lift their weapons again.
Amid the crowd, Akatsuchi could only shake his head, both angry and helpless.
But even he eventually loosened his clenched fists.
What was the point of holding out any longer?
Could even he survive more than a few swings of Konoha's Silver Moon's blade?
Subconsciously, his eyes turned toward their spiritual pillar—the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
His meaning was clear: even he was thinking the unthinkable—it might be time to surrender.
It's not that our army lacks strength…
It's that the enemy has a Sword Saint.
Meanwhile, Ōnoki and Jiraiya's battle had long since halted.
No one had called for a truce—it was simply that the fight between Hoshiyomi and the Tailed Beasts had been so overwhelming that even they couldn't help but stop and watch.
Ōnoki gazed at the distant figure standing proudly amid the smoke and chaos.
A storm churned within his heart.
He had once believed that no matter how strong this "Konoha's Silver Moon" was, there must be limits to human power.
But now, seeing that man standing unshaken after defeating not one but two Tailed Beasts—
Ōnoki finally understood:
Gekko Hoshiyomi had already transcended the limits of humanity.
Watching Hoshiyomi standing calmly atop the fallen Five-Tails, Ōnoki suddenly thought of a man—a legend once born from Konoha… Uchiha Madara.
Back then, he and his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, had fought Madara once.
In that battle, the young Ōnoki had been utterly crushed.
He and his teacher were like ants before a god—completely powerless to resist.
And now, looking at Hoshiyomi, Ōnoki once again felt that same fear—the terror of being dominated by absolute power.
Over the past ten years, Hoshiyomi's strength had grown to a level far beyond anything Ōnoki could even hope to reach—a level that surpassed even his own as the Third Tsuchikage.
The power Hoshiyomi now displayed was, in Ōnoki's eyes, no different from the Uchiha Madara of old.
Facing such an opponent…
Could he really protect Iwagakure?
Just then, the teachings of the First Tsuchikage flashed before Ōnoki's eyes:
"As the Tsuchikage, you must possess the indomitable Will of Stone—the unyielding will that endures all."
Thinking of this, Ōnoki's eyes gradually hardened with resolve. He had already prepared himself to die for the village!
Just as Ōnoki was steadying his breath, preparing to unleash his final Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique, Jiraiya's voice came from beside him:
"You're a strange old man, you know that? Even more stubborn than old man Hiruzen. You still want to fight to the death against a monster like Hoshiyomi? Is announcing Iwagakure's defeat really so difficult?
Do you have to drag the entire Iwagakure down with you?"
Hearing this, Ōnoki, who had already resolved to die, couldn't help but be stunned. He stared blankly at Jiraiya and said,
"If Iwagakure surrenders, will Konoha… let us go?"
Jiraiya looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Of course! Didn't we say it from the start? We came here to end the war, not to slaughter anyone."
"But… but…"
Ōnoki was speechless.
His worldview had been completely upended.
From his perspective, Konoha now had total victory within its grasp.
If it were him, he would seize that chance and crush Iwagakure completely, devouring the entire Land of Earth without hesitation.
As those thoughts crossed his mind, a mocking chuckle came from the side—Orochimaru.
"Don't lump us together with the likes of you," Orochimaru sneered. "Konoha isn't filled with power-hungry fools like Iwagakure."
"If we wiped you out completely, it'd only throw the world into chaos again. What good would that do Konoha?"
"What, you think we're after your pile of rocks?"
"Why should we throw away more Konoha lives just for that?"
Ōnoki felt as if a knife had been driven straight into his chest.
So that was it…
Konoha didn't even consider Iwagakure's territory or resources worth the effort.
He wasn't just defeated—he was utterly humiliated.
...
100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter