The situation had become perfectly clear. Ebizo and Chiyo, the two pillars of Sunagakure Ninja Village, had both fled, and morale among the Sunagakure Ninja Forces had plummeted. They were even less of a match for the Konoha Ninja now. Led by the Surprise Attack Unit, whose members still brimmed with chakra and energy, the Konoha Ninja overran the Sunagakure positions one after another.
Whenever a Sunagakure Ninja could be captured, the Konoha Ninja did their best to take them alive. As for those who stubbornly resisted and would rather die than surrender, if there truly was no other way—if knocking them unconscious, using anesthetics, or other methods failed—they had no choice but to kill them on the spot.
The Konoha Ninja felt rather helpless about this, too. They had already given the Sunagakure Ninja a chance, but what could they do if their enemies refused it? In the thick of battle, they had no time to patiently reason with them. Having the previously captured Sunagakure Ninja there might have helped, but those prisoners had not yet been brought over.
The higher-ups had their reasons for that. Although the captured Sunagakure Ninja might hate the village leaders who supported the war, they sympathized with the rank-and-file ninja. In such a crucial battle, there was no guarantee they would not switch sides midway through upon seeing their comrades fighting.
Still, this battle would soon be over. The Konoha Ninja had secured an overwhelming advantage and would have more than enough resources afterward to use those prisoners to destabilize Sunagakure Ninja Village from within. For now, the question was how to build on their gains.
As the Sunagakure Ninja Forces on both wings gradually collapsed, a glimmer of hope also appeared for the Land of Fire's regular army in the center. Their