Fear

Boom!

As Might Guy's Daytime Tiger came crashing down,

not only were the Sunagakure ninja caught in the attack, but even the flying Star ninja and Konoha ninja were affected. They could no longer spare any thought for throwing Explosive Tags and hastily turned to retreat.

"My lord, I never imagined you were... this powerful!" The Star ninja carrying Might Guy was drenched in sweat. He had never expected this thick-browed man, who looked somewhat carefree, to unleash such a terrifying shockwave. If that attack had landed on Hoshigakure, it might have flattened the entire village in a single blow!

Might Guy panted heavily. The Seventh Gate was no small burden on him. Though he had maintained it only briefly, he could feel every bone in his body trembling.

"We... need to return to the main camp and report to Lord Hokage!" Might Guy said with some difficulty.

Sunagakure had suffered such a devastating blow. They had to quickly notify the main force, press their advantage, and crush the Sand ninja completely.

"Understood!" Having received the order, the Star ninja did not look back at the lingering aftershock below. He made a gesture, and all the surrounding Star ninja lined up in a straight formation before speeding away.

Now, back to Sunagakure.

The instant the Daytime Tiger collided with the combined defensive ninjutsu unleashed by the Sand ninja, at least half of them died from the violent shockwave!

The wind-pressure field created when Elder Chiyo unleashed the Enhanced Three Treasures Suction Crushing through Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets had shielded the Sand ninja from much of the force.

But the wind field lasted only a few seconds before the tiger broke through it. Its power had diminished considerably, yet it still shattered the Sand ninja's defensive ninjutsu once more and tore open their line.

For an instant, Chiyo felt as if she had already died beneath that terrifying ninjutsu. Her vision went dark, and she fainted.

When she woke again, it was already the following morning.

She had never felt that being able to see the sun was such a wonderful thing.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Sunagakure's elders before her.

When news of Konoha's aerial assault on the Sunagakure main camp had reached the various camps last night, they had been so shocked that it felt as though the sky were falling.

Elder Chiyo could currently be considered Sunagakure's highest-ranking leader and strongest fighting force. If anything happened to her, Sunagakure might as well surrender to Konoha.

Fortunately, when the reinforcements they led arrived at the battlefield, there were barely any survivors left, but Elder Chiyo was still breathing. They immediately dispatched medical ninja to treat her, which was the only reason Chiyo had not gone to see her son.

They could not imagine that Chiyo, the strongest puppeteer, would be left in such a miserable state. Could it be that Konoha's Second Hokage had personally taken action?

"Elder Chiyo, you're finally awake!" Before she could assess her surroundings, a group of Sunagakure higher-ups interrupted her thoughts.

"How many people did we lose in Konoha's attack last night?" Chiyo took a breath, trying not to lose her composure.

"Elder Chiyo, last night Konoha sent several groups of flying Konoha ninja to attack our camps stationed across the region. Preliminary estimates put our casualties at no fewer than three thousand! As for the main camp where you personally were, after being affected by that jutsu last night, of the thousand ninja here, only fifty-four are still alive..."

"We can now gather fewer than five thousand combat personnel. We no longer have the strength to fight Konoha head-on."

The Sunagakure elders spoke with pale faces. No matter what, they had never imagined Konoha would use such tactics against them, leaving them unable even to touch the enemy while suffering such grievous losses.

Sunagakure had never been a strong village to begin with. They could only muster a little over ten thousand ninja. Less than a week after the war with Konoha began, they had already lost half their forces. Never in any previous ninja war had they suffered losses this great.

One could imagine how fiercely the villagers would condemn them!

As they recited those numbers, the old men felt their lips trembling.

Chiyo's expression was incomparably grim. Her lips, already pale from her injuries, were nearly bitten bloody.

Those casualties were far too severe!

Especially that thick-browed Konoha ninja from last night. She never wanted to experience the force of that punch a second time in her life!

Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, created by Monzaemon, had been destroyed in last night's battle and were nearly beyond repair.

At the time, she had thought she would die there.

Now an even graver situation lay before her. Should Sunagakure continue fighting, or surrender to Konoha? The decision would almost entirely fall to her.

"That old bastard Ōnoki... getting those Iwagakure ninja to provide reinforcements is probably impossible."

Chiyo thought silently to herself.

And if they continued fighting Konoha to the death, how were they supposed to counter those ninja who could fly through the sky?

As the strongest ninja village, Konoha had far more ninja than Sunagakure. Sunagakure's decision to send out a force of ten thousand to face Konoha had already been a desperate gamble.

Yet after only a few days of fighting Konoha, they had lost half their troops.

If this continued, would Sunagakure not be wiped out?!

"What about Konoha's casualties? Do we have any intelligence?" A flicker of hope appeared in Chiyo's eyes. If Konoha had suffered similarly heavy losses, then she could consider accepting Ōnoki's conditions and joining forces with him.

"Konoha... aside from the flying ninja we shot down last night, we only achieved some results during the night raids a few days ago. Preliminary estimates suggest Konoha's losses have not exceeded three digits..." The elder responsible for reporting intelligence spoke with a deathly pale face.

Though he should not have displayed such weakness at his age, his voice still trembled as he spoke that number.

His heart clenched abruptly, and despair spread through him.

Chiyo had only just awakened from her injuries. Upon hearing this news, she nearly fainted again.

It took her a long while to recover from the shock.

The atmosphere at the scene fell utterly silent.

Several full minutes passed before an older elder spoke earnestly. "Chiyo, why don't we surrender? If this continues, Sunagakure will be finished."

"No matter what demands Konoha makes, we should accept them. At least then, Sunagakure will still exist. Tobirama Senju will die eventually. He was already a dead man to begin with; even if no one can kill him, the day will come when he dies. Once Tobirama Senju dies, Konoha will be leaderless. Everything we have lost now can be taken back then."

"But the prerequisite is... that Sunagakure can still exist until the day Tobirama Senju dies!"

Chiyo's heart jolted. She looked at the speaking elder, then at the silent Elder Council around her.

Those elders who had loudly declared before the war that they would fight Konoha to the death now looked like rats with their tails cut off. At the mention of surrender, anticipation even flickered in their eyes.

They were afraid. They would rather surrender than endure another bombardment of Explosive Tags!

"Let me think about it..." Chiyo pressed a hand to her forehead, not knowing what to do.

At that moment,

terrified cries rang out from nearby.

"This is bad! Konoha's people are here again!"