After putting on a grand display, Ye Zi decisively fled, leaving the Cloud ninja grasping at empty air, and completely shattering A's plans.
Arriving at the spot where Ye Zi had vanished, A's mood plummeted to rock bottom. He roared furiously, his voice trembling with anger:
"His location!?"
The sensory ninja, filled with despair, answered: "It's too late, he's already beyond my sensory range."
Hearing this report, A let out a furious, primal roar. His massive, iron-like fist slammed into the ground, causing the earth to cave in by tens of centimeters, leaving behind a web of deep cracks.
Even if Ye Zi had escaped beyond their sensory reach, they could have at least determined which direction he fled and pursued accordingly. However, his method of escape appeared to be an advanced Earth Release technique, vanishing the moment he left, leaving no trace. His speed was terrifying, far exceeding their ability to track.
If not for the fact that they still had over four thousand unconscious comrades to deal with, and their remaining manpower was limited, they could have dispersed forces in a grid search. But the reality was grim, even if they tried, their chances of catching up to Ye Zi were almost nonexistent.
The surrounding Cloud ninja wore defeated expressions.
Tonight's battle was not just the Third Raikage's defeat, it was a humiliating loss for the entire Hidden Cloud Village.
The massive wooden warrior, still standing tall in The Valley of Clouds and Lightning, seemed to mock them silently, a monument of their failure.
The night sky, once filled with countless stars, had begun to fade. The first rays of dawn pierced through the darkness, dividing the sky into contrasting hues of twilight and night.
The colors of morning clouds, like a fiery glow, rose over the mountain ridges, while the other half of the sky remained dark, with only a few lingering stars.
The wooden warrior stood with its back to the mountains, and as the morning light struck its massive form, it cast a vast shadow over the Cloud ninja below.
Perhaps it was no coincidence...
That shadow perfectly mirrored the despair in their hearts.
They had suffered a total defeat.
Every doubtful whisper and debate from before now felt like a series of harsh slaps, striking deep into the hearts of every Cloud ninja.
As the sun rose in the east, the atmosphere in The Valley of Clouds and Lightning remained heavy and mournful, lingering over the scarred, barren earth that had once been their battlefield.
Meanwhile, Ye Zi, carrying the unconscious Killer Bee, sped toward the Land of Rain as quickly as possible.
Capturing both of Hidden Cloud's jinchūriki alone, now all that remained was waiting for good news from the Mist Village.
Considering how many people had been deployed, and with Jūzō and Kisame, both former Mist ninja, involved, even capturing the Mizukage's jinchūriki should be a simple matter.
Ye Zi wanted to believe that it would all go smoothly.
Then, all that remained was Nagato's mission in Konoha…
Everything was coming together.
The final steps were drawing near, so close now, so close!
For the first time in a while, Ye Zi's usually calm heart began to stir with excitement.
Without hesitation, he raced back toward the Hidden Rain Village at full speed.
The massive wooden warrior Ye Zi left behind remained standing, it was amonument to Cloud's disgrace, an unshakable symbol of humiliation.
Yet, Cloud's forces couldn't immediately destroy it.
They still had over four thousand wounded comrades who needed to be transported back to the village for urgent treatment.
As much as they wanted to eradicate that towering Wood Release warrior, they were powerless to do so.
As dawn fully broke, a light mist arose in the mountains, carrying a faintly salty, damp scent.
The once mighty Cloud forces, who had marched out in triumph, now returned in disgrace.
The sight of their defeated procession shocked every single Cloud Village resident.
The shock from the Third Raikage's corpse being delivered to the village had barely subsided, and now, A returned leading a battered, broken army.
It shook Cloud Village to its core.
How… could this be the result?
The merciless reality crushed the hearts of those who refused to accept it.
Burying his rage and sorrow, A displayed the composure of a leader, swiftly organizing relief efforts with Dodai.
The 4,000+ wounded were quickly assigned for medical treatment. The remaining 1,000 able-bodied ninja were ordered to rest and recover.
This day and night would be anything but peaceful.
As outsiders, the Ino-Shika-Chō trio were placed under symbolic house arrest.
They had noticed the disturbance when the Third Raikage's body was returned, but they didn't know he was dead.
By the time morning fully arrived, they were summoned by Dodai.
Stepping outside, they saw Dodai's deeply grim expression, a bad feeling settled in their hearts.
Something terrible had happened in Cloud.
Shikaku, suppressing his shock, pushed aside all formalities and urgently asked, "Did the operation fail?"
Even the smallest piece of information would help confirm his suspicions.
After all, Cloud had deployed an elite force, far surpassing anything Konoha could have fielded, led by a monster like the Third Raikage.
And yet, Ye Zi, having already captured the Two-Tails, had still gone after the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki.
Shikaku knew well that during the Third Great Ninja War, the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki had demonstrated incredible power.
He possessed a rare and envied ability, the power to perfectly control his Tailed Beast.
So even someone like Killer Bee, a perfect jinchūriki, had fallen to Ye Zi?
If that were true, then after a year of lying dormant, Ye Zi's power had grown far beyond what it had been during his assault on Konoha.
Just considering this possibility filled Shikaku with a deep sense of helplessness.
Ye Zi was an incredibly powerful individual combatant, but the Third Raikage, based on his legendary battlefield feats, was also a single-unit powerhouse on a similar level.
If Cloud had lost so thoroughly, then there was still a gap between the two, and that was not good news.
Faced with Shikaku's question, Dodai had no intention of concealing the truth.
With a heavy voice, he responded, "We lost."
In reality, they had been utterly crushed.
Although Cloud had already decided to cooperate with Konoha, and would eventually disclose all the details of their humiliating defeat, as someone from the losing side, Dodai didn't have the strength of character to openly admit that they had been completely obliterated.
Even so, those two simple words, "We lost.", were already filled with sorrow.
After all, the Third Raikage was dead, the strongest shinobi in Hidden Cloud Village.
Hearing Dodai's confirmation, the Ino-Shika-Chō trio's expressions stiffened.
Their earlier suspicions had now been confirmed.
They were likely about to be taken to see the Raikage, meaning that negotiations for an alliance were about to begin in earnest.
And as for the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, he had almost certainly been captured by Ye Zi.
Shikaku couldn't help but press his thumb against his lips, biting it slightly as he pondered the situation.
The Hidden Rain Village was collecting Tailed Beasts.
That fact alone felt like a weight pressing down on his chest.
They still didn't know what Ye Zi and his group intended to do, but whatever it was, it wasn't reassuring in the slightest.
Dodai merely informed them that they were being taken to the Raikage's office, without mentioning that the Third Raikage was already dead at Ye Zi's hands.
So for now, the Ino-Shika-Chō trio still didn't know the full extent of Cloud's losses, they assumed that Cloud had failed to protect its jinchūriki but had otherwise survived intact.
They had no idea that in this battle, Cloud had not only lost its jinchūriki, they had also lost over 5,000 of their elite forces.
Even if they didn't know now, they would soon find out. Once they arrived at the Raikage's office, Cloud would have no choice but to lay everything bare in order to solidify the alliance.
That included the full extent of their losses and the details of Ye Zi's overwhelming power.
Following Dodai, the Ino-Shika-Chō trio soon arrived at the Raikage's office.
But when they entered, the person sitting behind the desk was no longer the Third Raikage.
It was A.
There was no time to grieve. No time to hold funerals for the fallen. Retaliation had to happen immediately.
A, looking exhausted, glanced at the three Konoha representatives and got straight to the point, "I agree to the alliance."
Once the cooperation was established, all intelligence, everything, would be laid on the table.
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Currently on Chapter 570 - A Goal To Attain At Any Cost