Shiboku persisted in kneeling and kowtowing, his voice desolate and hoarse. "Hiromi! I beg of you! No matter what you want us to do, we'll do it! Just give them a chance to live!"
Thud!
The dull sound of Shibuki's head hitting the ground was almost inaudible compared to the roar of the volcanic eruption. But in the hearts of those present, it was deafening, like a mountain collapsing.
"I beg of you!"
The Takigakure ninjas standing nearby lowered their heads, clenched their fists, and bent their knees, showing signs of wanting to join Shibuki in pleading with Hiromi.
At that moment, Hiromi spoke in a cold, even irritable tone, "You strangers think you can change my will?"
Shiboku looked up, his gaze terrifying. He understood Hiromi's underlying meaning—Are you asking me to leave behind a hidden threat for the Uchiha clan just to satisfy the wishes of a bunch of strangers like you?
"Is there not even a single possibility!" Shibuki cried out, his face covered in tears, his voice intense.
"No, there isn't." Hiromi preferred to pull up weeds by the roots.
"Human relationships in this world are complex and intertwined, do you intend to kill everyone in the world!" Shibuki stared at Hiromi with bloodshot eyes, still attempting to persuade him not to destroy Takigakure.
"Don't trouble yourself over it."
As Shizuka's words fell, the bulge beneath his feet expanded violently.
Everyone and every house felt as if they were standing on a balloon that could burst at any moment.
Each person felt the scalding magma surging beneath their feet, and the fear in their hearts reached its peak.
The Konoha villagers and ninjas stared at Hiromi and Shisui with bloodshot eyes, their overwhelming hatred turning into final despair.
"Uchiha!!!"
At this moment, the Takigakure ninjas also understood the hatred they felt toward the Uchiha.
Only Shiboku was filled with regret, he should never have been tempted.
Suddenly, he felt someone appear beside him. It was a masked man. He grabbed the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fū.
"You're actually fine?" Hiromi sounded somewhat surprised.
However, the moment the masked man appeared, he vanished along with the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fū.
A glimmer of white that Hiromi had quietly condensed was left aimless and powerless, finally dissipating helplessly.
Hiromi had intended to delay him, even if only for half a second. But he came too suddenly and left far too quickly.
Even Shisui only had an instinctive reaction and had no time to use Kotoamatsukami.
Only Obito's hellishly pure killing intent and his raspy, monster-like voice remained— "Hiromi! I will kill you!!!"
Hearing this, Hiromi lowered his head slightly and mused, "Pure malice... has he completely become Black Zetsu's pawn?"
Now that Obito had lost Rin, his final hope, he hadn't fallen into despair as Hiromi had predicted. Instead, he chose to plunge entirely into the abyss, becoming someone who wanted to destroy the world and rebuild it into the one he desired.
The current Obito probably couldn't even be swayed by the 'Talk no Jutsu' of the Naruto from the Fourth Great Ninja War.
For Hiromi, this was not a good thing. And for Black Zetsu, such a pawn was even easier to control.
Meaning, after everything Hiromi had done, the result ended up helping Black Zetsu?
Damn it!
Hiromi was very displeased.
As expected, he shouldn't have relied on Rin's weight in Obito's heart.
The magma that had expanded to its limit beneath the ground became even more violent.
In the next second, the massive bulge in the ground completely erupted.
Boom!!!
With an earth-shattering roar, a massive volcano ten thousand meters in diameter erupted.
Screams were but a momentary wail of sorrow. Ruthlessness was the only eternal constant in the world.
Countless creatures outside Konoha fled in panic and terror.
A vast amount of scalding magma spread out, threatening to cover the land. However, the massive volcanic eruption gradually subsided after only three seconds, as if it had lost its power. It was remarkably short and swift.
Amidst it all, Hiromi, who had returned to his form as a normal-looking youth with wild hair, stood safely alongside Shisui. Floating around them were small golden spheres of magma, protecting various items inside.
Some contained the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan, some were Ninjutsu scrolls, and others were original documents.
Hiromi walked to a forest tens of thousands of meters away. The golden magma spheres dispersed, and the items inside fell to the ground, lying there quietly.
"Nii-san, take these back."
Shisui gave a nod.
Hiromi turned and walked away.
Shisui watched his departing back calmly, without asking where he was going, because he knew that Hiromi was going to destroy Takigakure.
Hatred cannot be stopped, only through total annihilation is there a possibility of peace.
—
Five days later.
Land of Rivers.
Over a hundred Sunagakure ninjas had been searching for days. Following the tracks, they finally found Gaara lying motionless on the ground inside a massive rock cavern.
The moment Temari saw him, a great sense of unease rose in her heart. She rushed over, ignoring the pain even after tripping, scrambling toward him on all fours.
"Gaara! Gaara!"
She picked up the lifeless Gaara, unable to believe it, her vision blurred with tears.
The Sunagakure ninjas standing at the cave entrance had grim expressions. After searching for so many days, they had only found a corpse.
Damn it!
Why did he leave the village without permission!
But they still held a sliver of hope and thus, looked toward Chiyo.
Chiyo walked up and pressed her hand against Gaara's body.
A few seconds later, she withdrew her hand, shook her head, and stood up.
"The Tailed Beast is gone."
Then, she walked back toward the Sunagakure ninjas without looking back.
The Sunagakure ninjas turned away coldly, their gazes toward Temari filled with a hint of resentful hostility.
If Temari had stopped Gaara or informed the village in time, Sunagakure's Tailed Beast would not have disappeared.
Chiyo and the Sunagakure ninjas left together, no one called for Temari.
Only Temari remained, clutching Gaara tightly, her voice hoarse, wailing incessantly.
More than ten minutes later, a young man carrying a puppet wrapped entirely in bandages rushed into the cave entrance.
Seeing Temari wailing as she held Gaara's corpse tightly, his footsteps involuntarily slowed. Dozens of seconds later, he walked to her side, stood there without speaking, and did not move.
After ten minutes, he said in a low voice, "It's time to go."
Temari choked back sobs and wiped away her tears, her eyes red, and said, "You go first."
Kankuro frowned. "What are you trying to do?"
Before, it was one thing that Gaara left the village without permission and wasn't stopped, but failing to inform the village in time was another.
Now that Gaara is dead, you're still not returning to the village?
The dead cannot be brought back to life, what is the point of doing anything else?
He stared at Temari.
Temari turned around without a word, strapped Gaara's corpse to her back, stood up, and walked toward the cave entrance.
Kankuro followed behind. In the end, he watched as Temari carried Gaara on her back, heading in the direction of the Land of Fire.
Days ago, news had already arrived—Konoha had been wiped out by the Tyrant Uchiha Hiromi.
The entire Ninja World was shocked, chilled by Hiromi's ruthlessness.
Now, Konoha no longer existed in the Land of Fire.
So, was she heading to the Daimyo's Residence in the Land of Fire? To see the Uchiha clan? What on earth are you trying to do?
Kankuro couldn't understand Temari.
Temari didn't know why she wanted to see the Uchiha clan either. But she remembered very clearly that Gaara had said with a smile that it was his future. He should have wished to be buried there.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Temari stubbornly and silently carried Gaara forward.
She knew full well that doing this was meaningless, knew that the village would despise her for it, and that she might even be captured by the Uchiha clan.
It was all harm and no benefit.
But... Gaara was her younger brother!
At the very least, she had to fulfill his last wish.