[Gratitude detected]
[Multiple sources: +2000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 24,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Smallpox Deity]
[Development progress: 91.54%]
All the Ame ninjas began to move. The air was thick with the stench of blood of the Suna ninjas, and of their own comrades.
They searched among the scattered corpses for any trace of their fellow soldiers.
"He's already dead."
Takigawa walked over to Shiratori.
At this moment, he was kneeling before a cold corpse of a ninja. The light of the setting sun grew dimmer and dimmer. His eyes stared blankly at the body in front of him.
"I was too late..."
Shiratori's voice drifted into Takigawa's ears.
"If I had just gotten here a little sooner... He might not have died..."
Takigawa lowered his head as he listened, hot tears welling up in his reddened eyes.
How could anyone blame the boy? He had already helped them so much. In war, casualties were inevitable. It was something that couldn't be avoided.
But he was still so young, it was natural that he couldn't accept it yet. The weight of death and parting was too heavy for someone like him. With time, he would gradually come to accept the fate of a shinobi.
[Gratitude detected: Takigawa +5000 points]
[Energy transferred to Smallpox Deity]
[Development progress: 91.59%]
His performance wasn't over yet. Suddenly, he stood up from the ground.
"I can't stop now... There are still people waiting for me..."
He staggered toward the pile of corpses.
Seeing Shiratori's thin frame, tears streaked down Takigawa's face.
"Hang in there!"
From under the corpses of two Suna ninjas, he dug out an Ame ninja who was barely clinging to life.
This guy was tough, he was still alive despite being in such a state. Since he wasn't dead, might as well squeeze out some emotional value from him!
At least it wouldn't be a waste of effort.
And Shiratori didn't rescue him for nothing, at least he saved his life.
"Don't... don't waste... chakra... save... someone else..."
The young ninja, with a gaping hole in his chest, trembled as he spoke, eyes lifeless.
Shiratori hadn't expected such awareness and selflessness from someone so young.
"No!"
"I won't give up on anyone!"
"I want all of you to live!"
Shiratori pressed both hands against the injured ninja's wound. His tears fell one by one onto the ninja's face. His voice echoed across the silent battlefield.
[Gratitude detected]
[Multiple sources: +5000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 75,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Smallpox Deity]
[Development progress: 92.34%]
His grief weighed down on every Ame ninja's heart.
"Hold on!"
One after another, fallen Ame ninjas were dug out and brought to Shiratori.
Looking at a young ninja whose body was soaked in blood, his eyes turned red: "I'll definitely save you!"
The ninja let out a faint sigh, his pale face showing a weak smile toward him as the darkness slowly swallowed his vision.
"Don't fall asleep!"
"Trust me!"
Shiratori's voice echoed in the ears of every Ame ninja.
All they could do was watch him, nothing more.
The final rays of the setting sun vanished beneath the horizon. His figure moved back and forth among the corpses.
Time and again, he bent down, disregarding his own limits, pouring himself into saving others.
He desperately tried to bring every single person back to life.
[Gratitude detected]
[Multiple sources: +3000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 300,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Smallpox Deity]
[Development progress: 95.34%]
Shiratori was human, not a god. Some of the Ame ninjas had long since stopped breathing, no matter how hard he tried, it was useless.
"You've already saved so many people."
Takigawa stepped forward and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
Every ninja who could still be saved, he had saved them.
The battlefield sank into a heavy silence. All the surviving ninjas stood motionless, mourning their fallen comrades.
A deep blue night sky stretched overhead, sprinkled with brilliant stars.
Tomorrow would be a sunny day.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
Brilliant flashes of chakra erupted from various ninjutsu, lighting up half the night sky.
Roars rang out in unison, like thunder from a clear sky, instantly shattering the silence of the battlefield. Killing intent, like a raging storm, swept across all the Ame ninjas. The sudden ambush caused the grieving Ame ninjas to widen their eyes in shock.
They watched in horror as dozens of wild tornado pillars flared with burning red light, like a tsunami crashing down from the heavens, instantly engulfing the entire battlefield.
Ame ninja silhouettes were swallowed up by the red glow in an instant.
BOOM!
The sound of explosions roared in Shiratori's ears.
And it didn't stop there, violent wind jutsu detonated among the Ame ninjas.
High-speed rotating wind blades sucked the unsuspecting ninjas into them, shredding their bodies into clouds of blood mist in the blink of an eye.
Not even their corpses were left for him.
Compressed wind spheres exploded like artillery shells, blasting enormous craters among the crowd, sending Ame ninjas flying, along with dirt, blood, and water.
The sudden ambush left the Ame ninja forces, who thought they had already won, completely stunned.
Why were the Suna ninjas here?
When had they arrived?
How had they slipped past their sensory detection?
And the barrage wasn't over, one, two, ten...
Countless searing orange-red orbs, like miniature suns, shot out at terrifying speed. Wherever the orbs passed, the air twisted violently from the intense heat.
They struck precisely among the Ame ninja ranks.
Bloodcurdling screams echoed one after another.
Shiratori's expression grew grim as he watched Ame ninjas beside him get struck by the orange-red orbs, so quickly that they didn't even have time to scream. Their bodies melted like wax figures tossed into a furnace, turning into charred, twisted corpses in less than a minute.
Among the Suna ninjas, there was only one person he could think of who wielded such a technique, Pakura of the Scorch Release!