After being questioned in detail by the Third Hokage for quite a while, Hagoromo was finally released.
Having learned what Hagoromo had done, the Third Hokage became even more certain that Sunagakure had nowhere left to retreat. Of course, this was not to say that Hagoromo's infiltration, attacks, and sabotage had dealt Sunagakure a fatal blow. Rather, after their defeat on the frontal battlefield, the destruction of so many of the village's facilities was simply making matters worse.
What had truly played the decisive role was the victory on the frontal battlefield led by the Third Hokage. Sunagakure's rout was irrefutable proof that they could not withstand Konoha's offensive.
If Konoha's blow against Sunagakure on the frontal battlefield was a 99, then Hagoromo's destruction of Sunagakure Village was perhaps only a 1. Yet that final point was the most conspicuous and most heavily emphasized, because it turned the losses Sunagakure had suffered from two digits into three.
Many people's psychological limit was 99. Once the number became 100, they would no longer stubbornly hold out, but choose to compromise.
War between nations was the same. After all, the losses one could endure were limited. Now, Sunagakure had reached its limit.
After Konoha won the battle, they did not continue advancing deeper into the Land of Wind. Instead, they pulled back some distance. However, they did not withdraw from the Land of Wind, setting up camp behind the day's battlefield instead.
Although Sunagakure had been routed, there were surely still ninja watching Konoha's main force. Through this action by the Konoha ninja, the Hokage intended to speak to the Kazekage from afar: Konoha had no intention of invading deep into the Land of Wind, which was why they had withdrawn some distance. At the same time, this "lack of intention to