In the end, the Third Raikage led over a thousand Cloud ninja away from Kirigakure, carrying the children and women of several Ninja Clans who had been hidden away for the time being. Countless Mist ninja watched as they left. They even took away the bodies of the Ninja Clan members who had died on the battlefield.
The Mist ninja hadn't dared to make a move from beginning to end.
There was no helping it. The Third Raikage and the two Tailed Beast Jinchuriki were too intimidating, and he also had more than a thousand elite Cloud ninja.
Even if the Mist ninja had the numbers to win, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses.
The Third Raikage had no desire to fight, either. His only goal this time had been to take the children of those Ninja Clans back to Kumogakure as seeds, where they could grow and flourish.
Besides, there was no point in starting a war with Kirigakure now. Losing more than a thousand elite ninja here would be a terrible waste.
His sights were set on the Third Shinobi World War in the future—a war of unification. He had no intention of mobilizing troops on a large scale in this war, let alone shedding blood and suffering losses.
When they reached the gates of Kirigakure, the Third Raikage turned around and tossed over two scrolls.
"Mizukage, you know very well that although we're on equal footing with Konoha and are known as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, we're fundamentally far behind them.
"The Senju Clan could produce another First Hokage at any time. And then there's the Uchiha Clan.
"On top of that, they have the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, host of the strongest Tailed Beast. They're all far beyond us.
"If we don't bring Konoha to