The roar of the electromagnetic railgun's barrel explosion still rang in his ears as Naruto stood at the edge of the Arsenal dome, looking down at the wreckage below.
The Nine-Tails' golden cloak gradually faded away, revealing his soot-covered face.
Shikamaru's voice came through the communicator, kept low. "The core reactor casing is fifty percent cracked, the cooling system is completely down, and the railgun barrel directly exploded... We're still counting the casualties."
Naruto said nothing. He only stared at the people lying amid the heaps of scrap metal—some still moving, some already still.
"Everyone withdraw from the core zone. Medical teams, treat the critically wounded first." Naruto pressed his communicator, trying to keep his voice calm. "Engineering teams, seal off a five-hundred-meter radius around the reactor. Don't let the radiation leak out. Granny Tsunade, take people and count the casualties."
He paused. "Register them in the order they died. Double the compensation."
Standing amid the ruins, Tsunade watched Naruto's expressionless face as her fists clenched, then loosened.
She knew the kid was forcing himself to hold on—after that fight, Naruto's chakra was practically depleted. He was still standing only by sheer will.
The Impure World Reincarnation Hashirama Senju emerged from the ruins of the collapsed cooling tower, the cracks across his body deeper than they had been before the battle.
He looked up at the Arsenal core zone—that once imposing gigantic structure was now reduced to half a crooked steel frame, like bones gnawed clean by a beast.
Hashirama's gaze swept across the ground:
A corpse pinned beneath a steel plate, still clutching an unfired rocket launcher in its hand;
A soldier with both legs gone leaning against a wall, wrapping his own bandages;
Farther away, a female ninja knelt beside a charred corpse, too grief-stricken even to cry.