Shihōin Naraku stood alone on high ground, watching the tiny figures move across the scorched earth, sometimes bending down to pick something up, sometimes stopping to write or sketch in their notebooks.
"This is already the fourth sweep. We'll find less and less in the searches to come."
Naraku was not the only one who understood this. The other ninja knew it too.
Everyone was simply doing their best to search for traces and remains that were unlikely to turn up.
"Once the fifth sweep is over, it'll be time to lead the remaining two thousand ninja back to Konoha."
Naraku could not keep leading more than two thousand ninja from the various villages in wasting their time cleaning up the battlefield. There were still plenty of matters in Konoha that needed his decision.
Of course, if he led the group back, they might not even need a day.
There were no wounded left at the Main Battlefield, after all.
Tsunade had taken all the wounded away, and nearly all the ninja searching around the battlefield now were in good condition.
Naturally, Naraku would travel at top speed when taking them back to the village, so it certainly would not take too long.
After one last glance at the ruined battlefield, Naraku returned to camp.
He had thought there would be no more major discoveries on the battlefield, but that afternoon, a search squad found something unusual at its edge.
"Lord Naraku!" The Konoha chunin who had delivered the survey report earlier appeared before Naraku again, breathing hard. "Please come take a look at this."
Hmm?
Had they found something else on the battlefield?
Naraku followed him to a pile of shattered rocks.
Several ninja stood around a shallow pit, their expressions grave.
A person lay in the pit-or rather,