You Came at Just the Right Time

Tailed beast chakra was obviously far more potent than the stars.

By the time Sora had mostly adapted to and absorbed the chakra within his body, Pakura and Samui, who had gone out, returned to the house.

The Hidden Sand beauty clearly knew how to conduct herself and understood her place.

She not only created several clones to help arrange the empty house, but also began cleaning.

Samui tied on an apron and began preparing ingredients in the kitchen.

"Lord Sora, the meal is ready."

Seeing Sora come downstairs, Samui gave a gentle smile. "We're having barbecue today."

"Mm, not bad."

Looking at the carefully sliced and plated meat and vegetables, as well as the charcoal grill set on the table, Sora nodded in satisfaction.

"Pakura, come eat too. Let's have dinner first."

"Yes."

The three of them began enjoying the meal.

Sora greatly enjoyed this meal.

Samui's knife work was excellent. Every slice of meat had been cut just right.

The thick cuts were tender and smooth, while the thin slices were as delicate as cicada wings.

There was every kind of sauce imaginable, all perfectly suited to Sora's tastes.

The two women ate slowly, savoring the ingredients' natural flavors.

Sora, on the other hand, seemed somewhat too uninhibited.

He appeared to have retained the same manner he used when dealing with Kokuo, eating like a whirlwind—taking huge bites of meat and gulping down wine.

What, you said barbecue could not be eaten like that because the grilling could not keep up?

Then you were underestimating the Hidden Sand beauty's mastery over Fire Release.

As the wielder of Scorch Release, Pakura's control over Fire Release was absolutely top-tier. A small barbecue like this was simply using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

The meal lasted about an hour, and Sora swept through enough ingredients for thirty people.

More than eighty percent of that pile of meat, which together was nearly as large as Sora himself, went into Sora's stomach. Yet his abdomen showed no change at all, leaving Pakura and Samui utterly stunned.

After eating and drinking their fill, Samui took over the cleaning.

Meanwhile, Sora took Pakura for a post-meal walk.

"Y-you're really okay with this?" Pakura panted, utterly exhausted. "Even if the village has already abandoned me, I'm still, at least on the surface, a member of Hidden Sand."

"Who cares about something like that?"

"Mm! N-no more. Samui, save, save me..."

"Lord Sora..."

"You came at just the right time."

Compared to Sora's warm and sweet home, the battlefield in the Heavenly White Mountains was far more brutal.

The battle across the Heavenly White Mountains had already completely entered its most intense stage.

Vast stretches of land had turned black and hardened, giving off a heavy stench of blood. Those were traces left by human blood seeping into the earth before being scorched by the high temperatures of Lightning Release.

A pack of hyenas prowled around with reddened eyes, letting out hungry growls. From time to time, they rushed in to fight the vultures in the sky for corpses.

Under normal circumstances, fallen shinobi would have comrades come to collect their bodies.

Even without comrades, dedicated teams would come to handle the corpses.

First, it was to give their comrades some dignity after death, preventing their bodies from being taken away by enemies for research, desecrated out of hatred, or subjected to other such treatment.

Second, it was to prevent outbreaks of disease and infection.

But as the war grew increasingly fierce—

At first, they collected the bodies and brought them back to Hidden Cloud, determined to let their comrades' souls return to their homeland.

Later, they piled the corpses together and waited for Fire Release shinobi to dispose of them in batches, refusing to let their comrades' bodies be left in the wilderness.

And now, corpses covered the land...

The battle between Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud had completely erupted. The crazed Onoki was sending shinobi into the Heavenly White Mountains without regard for the cost, determined to keep the several thousand encircled Hidden Cloud shinobi and the Third Raikage there and wipe them all out!

Inside a valley in the Heavenly White Mountains.

After blocking another attack from Hidden Stone, the Third Raikage wiped the blood and sweat from his face and returned to the valley.

The blood belonged to his enemies, but the sweat was his own.

Seven days had passed since the Third Raikage, with Sora's help, successfully broke into the Heavenly White Mountains and reunited with the main force.

Seven days.

He had fought for seven whole days!

Even someone as powerful as him had been greatly dulled by now, showing faint signs of exhaustion.

But even so, he still gritted his teeth and held on.

Of the three thousand Hidden Cloud ninja, only one thousand remained. If he did not persevere, those remaining thousand would be swallowed by Hidden Stone in an instant.

As the Raikage, as the leader of a village, no matter what, he had to bring them back to the village!

Inside the valley.

The remaining Hidden Cloud ninja watched the Third Raikage walk in with numb expressions, and watched the setting sun slowly descend behind him.

It was as though that was not the sun that rose and set every day, but the light of hope falling into ruin.

If, seven days ago, they had still held hopes of breaking through and winning when they saw the Third Raikage appear, then seven full days of slaughter had completely extinguished the flame in their hearts.

The darkness of the setting sun had already filled their bodies and minds.

Everyone numbly awaited death's arrival. The only difference was whether it would come tomorrow or the day after.

The thick stench of blood permeated the valley. Agonized cries and quiet sobbing rose and fell as the medical corps and supply corps ninja began to bustle about.

The Third Raikage returned to the main tent without expression. Troy and Aroi sat cross-legged on the ground; one silently flipped through scrolls, while the other covered his severed arm as he applied medicine to it.

"There are nine hundred and eighty-five people left."

Troy spoke slowly. "There are still medical supplies and ninja tools remaining, but food provisions are already running short."

"..."

The Third Raikage moved his lips, yet did not know what to say.

The situation should not have turned out this way.

With the main force surrounded, supplies had indeed been running low, but he had brought a considerable amount of supplies when he came.

But over these past seven days, everything had changed.

The day after he joined up with the troops, Hidden Stone had begun launching one relentless attack after another.

Then, on the third day, the forces led by Akatsuchi had charged their outer defenses without regard for casualties. Coordinating with the demolition units, they had nearly torn open three breaches.

The Third Raikage immediately organized a counterattack, but in that battle, Hidden Cloud still suffered grievous casualties. More than half of their most vital food supplies were lost.

Aroi bared his teeth as he wrapped the final bandage around his severed arm. His face was pale as paper, his forehead covered in cold sweat, yet he did not let out a single groan.

He raised his head, savage light blazing in his one eye.

"Third, those Hidden Stone bastards are like hyenas that have smelled carrion. Wave after wave, they just can't be killed off."

"That old bastard Onoki is dead set on wearing us down here!"

The Third Raikage silently walked to the crude map, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the marker representing the valley where they were stationed.

Seven days! Seven entire days of bloody battle. Every breath carried the scent of gunpowder and blood, and every punch took several lives.

Yet not only had the encirclement not loosened, it had instead tightened like a noose...