Konoha's shinobi were filled with excitement and relief, but the Iwa-Suna Alliance troops were in a far grimmer state.
Still shaken by the terrifying display of Heaven's Calamity, the Alliance ninja were catching their breath, grateful just to be alive.
"Damn it, how did Mochizuki Hui get here?" Shamon muttered, breathing heavily.
His large-scale defensive jutsu had drained a considerable amount of his chakra. He stared at Hui, now standing beside Tobirama, his face dark with confusion.
Hui's unexpected appearance was a nightmare come true. Had they known he was in the Land of Rain, they never would have chased Konoha's forces into the Land of Lightning .
"No idea," Mu replied, his expression grim as he sensed the weakened state of his troops, realizing the heavy losses they had suffered.
"Damn it, what was the Third Raikage doing? How did he allow Mochizuki Hui to slip into the Land of Rain unnoticed?"
"I know! This is outrageous!" shouted Onoki, visibly furious.
As a wielder of Dust Release and a powerful earth-style user, he had survived the Heaven's Calamity, but the devastation around him was clear evidence of the destruction Hui could unleash.
"Mochizuki Hui! By sneaking into the Land of Rain, are you not concerned that Konoha's forces in the Land of Moon might be overrun by Kumogakure ?" Onoki demanded, his voice rising to draw everyone's attention.
His goal was simple—he had to defuse the fear spreading among his troops.
The sheer terror of Hui's technique had sapped the morale of the Alliance soldiers, and they needed to rally if they were to fight on.
"Onoki, this kid is sharper than I thought," Tobirama commented quietly, easily reading Onoki's intentions.
"Indeed. He's most likely the future Third Tsuchikage," Hui replied, his gaze lifting to Onoki with a slight smirk.
"You want answers, Onoki? I think it's best to hear from the Third Raikage himself," Hui said as he motioned to the Konoha forces.
They parted, and a muscular man stepped forward from their ranks.
"Because Kumogakure has surrendered," declared the Third Raikage without hesitation. Ignoring the stunned expressions from the Alliance troops, he addressed Onoki directly.
Secretly, the Raikage was thankful. He had witnessed Heaven's Calamity firsthand and remembered Hui's use of Divine Judgement during the Moonfall Mountain incident.
While the two techniques differed in focus, their deadly effectiveness was unmistakable, and it was clear that Hui had mastery over both.
Reflecting on that event, the Raikage realized that Hui could have chosen to use Heaven's Calamity instead of Divine Judgement back then.
If he had, the Second Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuuriki might have survived, but the thousands of other Kumogakure ninja gathered together would have been decimated.
In his heart, the Raikage felt an uneasy gratitude that Hui had opted for single-target destruction that day.
His village's ninja forces, largely untrained in large-scale defensive jutsu, would have been annihilated under Heaven's Calamity.
At that moment, he felt a mix of relief and bitterness, unsure how to express his conflicting emotions toward this powerful young foe.
"S-Surrender?!" Onoki stammered, unable to process the Raikage's words. Beside him, Mu and Shamon were equally stunned, their faces betraying their shock.
"That's right," the Raikage continued, "Kumogakure has surrendered, which is why I'm here as a hostage in the Land of Rain."
As he spoke, his tone shifted from resignation to acceptance. After seeing thousands of Alliance ninja die to Hui's technique, he had come to terms with it.
Surrender was just a word, nothing to fear. As long as his village's shinobi survived, hope remained.
The Raikage's announcement sent waves of shock across the battlefield.
"Kumogakure has… surrendered?" Konoha's ninja murmured to each other in disbelief, their eyes widening with joy.
"This is incredible! I don't even know what to say!" one Konoha ninja exclaimed to his comrade, still stunned by the sequence of events.
Today had been an emotional rollercoaster. They had been caught off guard by the ambush, forced into a desperate retreat, and prepared for a final stand in the Land of Lightning.
But then Hui appeared, bringing hope, and now the news of Kumogakure 's surrender was nearly too much to process.
"Hui defeated Kumogakure, arrived just in time to save us all—he's like a hero from a legend!" said a female Konoha ninja, starry-eyed as she gazed at Hui with admiration.
"Attaboy, 'Light of Konoha' indeed!" said Lightning, a veteran elite ninja who had once fought alongside Hui.
He looked on proudly as he saw the young man who had once been his teammate now stand as a powerful hero with the strength of a god.
Hui seemed to hear Lightning's words and nodded toward him with a faint smile.
"Surrender? Why would they surrender?!" Shamon shouted angrily. Kumogakure's surrender threw everything into chaos for the Alliance.
"Why? The answer should be obvious after what you just witnessed. With their supply lines cut and facing an opponent who can strike from the skies, how could Kumogakure stand a chance?" The Third Raikage spoke calmly, addressing the battlefield.
"How many lives would we have sacrificed to keep fighting Hui? How long could we possibly hold him back? Kumogakure has lost enough already."
Shamon and the other Alliance leaders fell silent.
With their supplies severed and an enemy who commanded both flight and large-scale jutsu in difficult terrain, it would have been impossible to continue fighting. In that situation, they, too, would have surrendered.
But now, with Kumogakure gone, where did that leave them?
"So, what about you? Will you surrender as well?" Hui asked, his gaze fixed on Mu and Shamon. If they surrendered, the fighting could end here, and no more lives would be lost.
"Hmph! Surrender? Don't be so arrogant, Mochizuki Hui! I admit your jutsu was terrifying, but it's clear that you can only use it once," Mu retorted sharply, regaining his composure.
"We may have lost five thousand, but we still have eight thousand strong, and another three thousand are on their way. The advantage is still ours!"
Mu's voice grew more confident as he spoke, staring down Hui defiantly.
Though Hui's technique had been overwhelming, he reasoned that such power couldn't be used again so soon. And even if it could, they would be prepared next time.
"A numerical advantage? How laughable," Hui said with a mocking smile. "It seems you still don't understand your true position."
"Indeed. You no longer hold any advantage in numbers," a voice called from the distance.
Everyone turned to see the Uchiha clan's leader approaching with over two thousand Konoha reinforcements at his back.