The sounds of battle still rang out here and there in the distance, but they were fading fast.
The Land of Lightning's army had lost its formation.
Some stood dazed, some dropped their kunai and sank to their knees, and some still tried to retreat.
But most of them stared at her.
They were waiting for her to speak.
Tsunade understood the situation perfectly.
A was dead, but the Land of Lightning still had more than five thousand troops.
They were no rabble. A good number of them were trained combat shinobi.
If she insisted on slaughtering every last one of them, Konoha would pay dearly for it.
She had brought only two thousand people. After this battle, fewer than fifteen hundred were probably still standing.
If they kept fighting, even victory would come at a terrible cost.
But victory was already theirs. There was no need to take those losses.
And it was not just a matter of losses.
Sunagakure had been wiped out. So had Kirigakure.
If the Land of Lightning was wiped out too, crushing three great nations at once would only fill the onlookers with fear and suspicion.
Leaving these prisoners alive, giving them a way out, might prove useful one day.
Sparing them after winning would make it all the easier for them to remember who had given them their lives back.
Her mind made up, she kicked off the ground.
She leaped out of the pit and landed on a raised rock in the middle of the battlefield.
"Shinobi of the Land of Lightning!"
Chakra carried her voice across more than half the battlefield.
Short and clear, it struck like a command.
"Your Raikage has fallen. The outcome is decided."
"I could kill every one of you. But I won't."
She paused. Her voice