Wrapping Up

Jiraiya he watched Orochimaru's retreating figure.

Naruto was still a little confused, so Sakura picked up two broken blades from the ground and threw them over there.

The broken sword flew past without any force; Naruto thought that such an attack could not possibly be effective, but he saw Orochimaru and Kabuto standing still, watching helplessly as the sharp blade pierced his vitals.

Then it turned into soil.

"They are uncontrolled Earth Clone," Sakura said calmly.

When the Earth Clone moves too far from the main body, it will do this – you can understand it as being too far away to receive IFI signals and thus unable to receive commands from the main body, so it can only stand still in place.

This type of lower-level Release Techniques clone works in the same way; the distance at which the signal is lost varies from person to person, depending on the user's mental strength.

Only more advanced Kekkei Genkai clones, such as Wood Clone and Ice Clone, possess the ability to act independently at a distance.

Judging from Orochimaru's mental strength, he is now far away from the battlefield.

Sakura pouted, thinking to herself: This guy talks a good game, all talk and no action, but when it comes to the end he runs away faster than a madman!

"Sasori and Orochimaru have already gone far away," Jiraiya said calmly.

Sakura Haruno sensed that the atmosphere between Jiraiya and Orochimaru wasn't as tense as in the original story; they were just more wary of each other. He didn't say anything about Orochimaru's departure.

Yes, that's because of the Third Hokage.

The old man only lost one hand; he wasn't killed by Orochimaru. Konoha wasn't seriously injured in that operation either. Therefore... although Orochimaru and Konoha are enemies, they aren't mutually hostile or sworn enemies.

The last vestige of affection remained between the Sannin.

It was probably something like, "Give me a quick death!" and "Okay." Sakura guessed haphazardly.

In short, this battle is finally over...

She actually used up most of the Chakra she had accumulated over the past few months. Sakura dispelled her Ice Clone, collected all her Chakra, and restored it to her spiritual and physical strength, minimizing the burden on her meridians.

He plopped down on a Taiseki next to him.

After this great battle, the terrain here was almost completely changed; the several deep craters, hundreds of meters in diameter, created by Deidara's bombs are particularly striking. In addition, there are the caves left by the giant scorpion, acid lakes, traces of acid corrosion, and unsightly brown scars on the earth.

The dam that Scorpion had built to block the water flow was washed away by the water, and the Qingqing River flowed over. The riverbed here had been completely destroyed in the battle, and the water flowed into the deep pits to form lakes.

This is the uninhabited area of Land of Rivers, and no outsiders were injured despite the fighting; it's just that the once beautiful environment has become potholed and a complete mess.

When the Akatsuki left, they took nothing with them except Deidara's corpse. Human Puppet have living tissue and can produce their own Chakra, so they have no value after being killed. Countless broken swords and puppet mechanisms were scattered all over the ground.

Shino and the others arrived quickly.

There were more than two people, a whole group— Shino encountered Gaara and his group.

When Sakura Haruno, Shino a little ashamed.

"Sakura, I'm sorry..." Shino scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. He was only fighting a portion of Sasori's puppets, while Sakura was fighting one or two hundred puppets.

"Ha, what are you saying, Captain!" Sakura quickly laughed it off, managing to smooth things over. "If you hadn't distracted Sasori of the Red Sand and some of the elite puppets, I might already be a puppet in his hands!"

The thought of herself becoming Human Puppet sent a chill down her spine.

Sakura's words weren't meant to excuse Shino; Sasori's attention was indeed somewhat diverted by Shino, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to hold out until Naruto arrived.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're alright!" Shino smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. After greeting her, he went over to Jiraiya to await his orders.

Sakura and Yuzuki exchanged a few more words before turning their attention to the others.

The other group who came with Shino had obviously run all the way here, and they were almost out of breath when they arrived.

Only Gaara remained dry, not a drop of sweat on his body.

He was standing next to Naruto, and the two of them were talking about something. The gloomy and melancholic boy that Sakura remembered was now calm and gentle.

Naruto once said that his relationship with Gaara was like that of brothers. Sakura hadn't thought much of it at first, but when she saw the two of them standing together, their hair color, facial features, and temperament were completely different, but the warmth in their eyes was as genuine as that of blood brothers.

After a while, Gaara even gave a faint smile.

Although it was fleeting, Sakura Haruno still caught a glimpse of it.

"I didn't expect this panda to smile..." Sakura was a little surprised. Gaara happened to notice her looking at him at that moment, so he nodded to her and walked over with Naruto.

"Thank you for your support." Sakura stepped forward to greet Gaara and said first.

She smiled and extended her hand to shake Gaara's; his palm was dry and warm, just like that fleeting smile from moments before.

"We've already met... but let me reintroduce myself anyway." Gaara withdrew his hand, calmly looking into the pink-haired girl's eyes, and said softly.

Those clear, light green eyes haven't changed much in the past year; looking into them gives off a reassuringly cool feeling, as if simply looking at them can bring peace.

Perhaps it was the effect of Ice Release Chakra; or perhaps it was a girl's unique charm—aren't these two things, in a way, the same thing?

"I am Gaara of the Sand Desert, and my dream is..." He glanced back at Naruto beside him, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips, "To become the Kazekage and gain everyone's recognition."

"You've changed a lot," Sakura said softly, pursing her lips.

"He's different now!" Naruto patted him on the shoulder casually and shouted to Sakura, "Gaara is no longer alone!"

Sakura Haruno smiled, winked at Gaara, and turned to Naruto, saying, "Because he now has a brother like you."

"I also have friends as outstanding as me," she boasted, then laughed at herself.

Sakura was just joking, but Gaara replied seriously, "Yes, you're one of the very few."

He paused for a moment, then said earnestly, "But I will strive to gain everyone's approval and change their impression of me... I will have more and more friends!"

"Yeah, keep it up... You'll definitely succeed!"

At this point, under Jiraiya's orders, the respective captains began to arrange the cleanup: cleaning up the ground, checking for any valuable information or items, and trying their best to restore the damaged environment.

For example, reshaping river channels and leveling terrain.

And cleaning up the trash.

"Gaara, could you please collect all the loose parts on the ground, along with the remaining acid and Iron Sand, and then sink them to the ground?" The Sand shinobi captain approached and said politely, "We've already collected everything of value; the rest can be discarded."

Gaara's sand and Sand Release are perfect for this kind of work.

Gaara nodded politely and accepted the task. His sand was as flexible as his hands, capable of creating countless forms, and he completed the task in a flash.

"Gaara, please wait a moment," a Sand shinobi interrupted Gaara as he was about to sink the collected items. "Um... could I take a few things out of there? My younger brother is also a puppeteer, and even if Sasori of the Red Sand's creations are broken, they're still very valuable to him! Thank you!"

He looked at Gaara with trepidation.

Rumor has it that this man is capricious, bloodthirsty, and has even attacked his own village comrades. If it weren't for his younger brother, this Sand shinobi would never have dared to approach Gaara and make a request.

Gaara glanced indifferently at his somewhat apprehensive companion.

Gaara understood that this person only had the courage to face the legendary villain because of his younger brother.

Despite being misunderstood, Gaara wasn't angry; instead, he felt a slight sense of joy.

Seeing Gaara remain silent for a moment, the other party was starting to get scared, but then suddenly heard Gaara's calm voice. "Take as much as you like, it's fine."

He was somewhat taken aback, not expecting the rumored villain to be so gentle and kind. The remaining Sand shinobi looked over, sharing the same thought, but were too afraid to act due to Gaara's infamous reputation; upon realizing that Gaara wasn't as unapproachable as they had imagined, and instead seemed like an easygoing person, they all felt a little regretful.

Gaara around and immediately understood their thoughts.

"If you need anything, feel free to come and choose," the boy with dark circles under his eyes nodded to the crowd and said, "It's alright."

He gave up his spot. The remaining Sand shinobi exchanged bewildered glances, while the man who had spoken earlier excitedly shouted to them, "Come on over! There are actually a lot more good stuff here!"

For the average ninja, even just looking at Sasori of the Red Sand's ideas can be very helpful.

Even the captain of the Sand shinobi came over and picked out two items.

As it was ending, the Sand shinobi even gave Gaara a few exquisite trinkets. "Isn't your brother Kankuro a puppeteer too? Take these and give them to him. They're definitely top-quality; I spent a long time picking them out before finding these few that weren't broken! Take them!"

Gaara was slightly taken aback; it was the first time he had ever received a gift from a fellow companion.

"Thank you!" He smiled for the third time this time.

Then, he took out a scroll from his pocket, inside which were sealed the puppet parts he had just picked out for Kankuro.

He compared the two sides, blinked, and pondered for a moment.

He decisively threw the pile of scrap metal he had picked out into the trash heap.

The remaining people also finished choosing their items. They walked past Gaara, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded to him in thanks.

Sakura and Naruto both saw what was happening and smiled at each other.

"Look, he'll have more and more friends." Sakura said with a smile.

Soon, the matter was settled, and the ninjas from Konoha and Sand shinobi bid each other farewell and returned to their respective villages.

(A minimum of 1,000 words of update is provided!)

(After posting the fourth update last night, I had to cook and take a shower, so it got too late and I didn't finish writing the fifth chapter. Sorry!)

(During the National Day double monthly ticket period, an extra chapter will be added for every 0 monthly tickets! I'm working like crazy, so please let the monthly tickets come in even more heavily! I'm still writing with all my might!)

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