The retreat from Annihilation Valley was the most desperate and dispiriting ordeal the Allied Forces' reconnaissance squad had endured since its formation. Everyone had suffered injuries of varying severity, but the shadows left on their hearts weighed even more heavily. The terrifying pressure of the Sacred Lord's will, and that final, uncontrolled torrent of darkness that seemed capable of devouring everything, haunted them all like a nightmare.
Ling was in particularly terrible shape. His senjutsu chakra was nearly depleted, and forcing himself to perform a large-scale senjutsu technique while enduring the impact of the Sacred Lord's will had severely drained his mental strength. His face was as pale as paper, and he could move only with the help of a mobile platform Akatsuchi had created using Earth Release and Shino's insect swarm. Yet his gaze remained fixed on Annihilation Valley, his clenched fists white at the knuckles. Sasuke's final use of Amenotejikara to swap him out of danger, followed by the sight of Sasuke being swallowed by the turbulent energy, his fate unknown, replayed endlessly in his mind.
He's still alive... he must be. Ling told himself this over and over. That instantaneous spatial swap could not have been an entirely unconscious act. Sasuke's will had to be struggling somewhere within him.
When they finally dragged their exhausted, injured bodies to the Allied Forces sent to receive them and returned to the temporary headquarters in the Land of Iron, the news they brought was like a boulder hurled into a lake whose waters had yet to settle, sending enormous ripples through the ranks.
"Sasuke Uchiha's fate is unknown? The Nether Purification Stone has been severely contaminated? The Sacred Lord's will has fully awakened and displayed destructive power?" Tsunade's face darkened as she listened to Ling's report, delivered in detail by