Chapter 245: The End of the Desert
Ay watched, helpless, as his subordinates fell in swathes like mown grass. The overwhelming, coordinated, powerful defense of Jiraiya's northern line was simply too much.
His heart bled. Not for the battle lost, but for the loss of personnel.
[These people are the future of Kumogakure! They are the elites painstakingly cultivated with countless resources!]
He could fight Uchiha Fugaku (who commanded the northern defense in this fic's continuity) to the death right here for his own honor. He was a Raikage. He valued strength above all else.
However, he could not, would not, gamble with the future existence of the entire Hidden Cloud Village! He had a responsibility that outweighed his pride.
"Stop!!!"
Ay's eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging in his neck as he let out a hysterical roar, his voice amplified by his crackling Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
A trace of extreme unwillingness and wrenching struggle flashed in Ay's eyes, warring with his strategic common sense.
In the end, cold logic won. He made the painful decision.
If they continued to fight, his five hundred elites would be completely, utterly wiped out here today! A loss that would set Kumo back decades.
Ay's body transformed into a bolt of blinding lightning, instantly retreating a hundred meters in a single burst.
Uchiha Fugaku, standing within the dissipated remnants of his Susanoo armor, did not pursue. He merely watched Ay coldly.
His already-pierced arm, a testament to Ay's powerful punch, quickly repaired itself using Tsunade's advanced medical jutsu, instantly knitting flesh and sealing the wound.
"Retreat!!"
Raikage Ay, using all his remaining strength, gave the final, bitter order.
"All personnel! Retreat! Full speed! Fall back to the Land of Lightning border!"
After speaking, he extinguished his chakra armor. He had no desire left to fight. His body transformed into a blur of pure lightning. He retreated in the direction they had come from without looking back, leaving his strategic failure behind.
Uchiha Fugaku slowly dispelled the last, faint wisps of his Susanoo. The towering giant dissipated into shimmering specks of light and chakra.
He quietly watched the direction Kumogakure fled, not ordering a pursuit.
[Do not pursue a cornered foe,] Fugaku thought, recalling ancient military dictums.
Moreover, this mission, commanded by Akira, was explicitly to intercept and deter, not to completely annihilate.
To defeat the Raikage's five hundred elite troops, forcing a retreat, with such a small cost to Konoha was already a resounding victory. It was a victory that would send shockwaves throughout the entire Ninja World! It established Konoha's military dominance on all fronts.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Wind, outside the shattered remains of the Hidden Sand Village.
Uchiha Akira's calm, absolute voice echoed in the desolate air above the ruins.
"Clear the battlefield."
The order was simple. The two thousand elite Konoha Ninja, having watched the devastating finale, immediately sprang into action with perfect discipline.
Numerous ninja split into highly efficient groups of three, beginning a sweeping search of the entire, ruined Sunagakure.
They dragged out the Sunagakure Ninja hiding in the ruins, those who had completely lost their will to fight, one by one.
The surviving Sunagakure Ninja had only numbness and utter despair etched onto their faces. They offered no resistance.
They were swiftly disarmed, their chakra bound by special sealing jutsu, and then herded like broken livestock towards the open ground in the center of the Village, where the Kazekage tower had once stood.
Besides the ninja, there were also many ordinary villagers.
They emerged from their hidden underground shelters, trembling as they looked out at everything before them.
Their home was gone.
The immense rock wall was cleaved. The village itself was now an endless expanse of wood-choked ruins and deep, Susanoo-carved pits.
Fear, deep and consuming, spread through the crowd.
Finally, all the captives were gathered together, roughly totaling over two thousand people—ninja and civilian alike.
A Konoha Jōnin swiftly came before Uchiha Akira, kneeling on one knee, his voice respectful.
"Hokage-sama, the battlefield has been initially cleared."
"A total of 823 Sunagakure Ninja and over 1,300 ordinary villagers have been captured and contained."
"All captives are under control. Please give your instructions."
Uchiha Akira floated silently in mid-air, looking down at the dense, broken crowd below with an indifferent, cold expression.
His gaze held no pity.
War, by its very nature, was cruel. Sentiment was a weakness he could not afford.
"Rest in place."
"Take the Jinchūriki to the main medical tent immediately. Guard him strictly. Lady Tsunade will assess his condition."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
Inside the temporarily erected medical tent, made of fresh, strong Wood Release planks.
Gaara's eyelids trembled violently a few times before slowly opening.
What met his eyes was an unfamiliar white, sterile tent ceiling. The air was cool, clean, and smelled of antiseptic—a stark contrast to the dust and iron-rich sand he was used to.
"Where... is this?"
He struggled weakly to sit up but felt an overpowering soreness all over. His limbs lacked strength.
A burning sting emanated from the seal on his abdomen, but it was a quiet pain.
But what made him feel most profoundly uneasy was the silence in his mind.
It was too quiet.
Terribly quiet.
"Kill! Kill them all! Turn everyone into flesh and blood!"
"Crush! Tear! Destroy! Break them!"
"Brat! Give your body to this old man! I want freedom!"
Since Gaara could remember, for over a decade, these wild, hateful voices of the Tailed Beast, the Shukaku, had never stopped. They were his only companions.
It was the source of all Gaara's pain and madness, yet it had also become the most familiar, constant, terrifying part of his life.
But now... there was nothing. Only silence.
Gaara tried to call out in his mind, sending frantic thoughts towards the seal.
No response.
"Damn monster! Get out! Speak!"
Gaara roared again in his mind, his desperation mounting.
Still no reaction.
For the first time, an expression of profound bewilderment, helplessness, and a terrifying sense of loss appeared on Gaara's face.
The monster that had coexisted with him, tormented him, protected him, for over a decade... had disappeared?
No. That's not right.
He could feel that the monster was still inside him, deep, deep within the seal. But... it seemed to have become docile. Quiet. Fearful.
"What... what happened?"
Just then, a familiar, tearful voice sounded nearby.
"Gaara... you're awake?"
Gaara suddenly turned his head.
Temari, his older sister, was sitting in a chair beside his cot. Her face was pale, streaked with dirt and tears. Her usually neat golden hair was disheveled. She looked utterly broken.
Seeing Temari's disheveled, wounded appearance, the bewilderment in Gaara's eyes instantly hardened, replaced by his usual coldness and reflexive ferocity.
"Get out." His voice was flat, toneless, but utterly menacing.
Temari's body trembled violently. She instinctively flinched, an undisguised, deep-seated fear flashing in her eyes.
But this time, Temari did not immediately flee as she usually would.
She bit her lip, seemingly summoning immense, agonizing courage.
"Gaara..."
"The Village... the Village is already..."
"I said, GET OUT!"
Gaara suddenly shot upright, scarlet, terrifying killing intent erupting from his body, freezing the cool air around him! "If you don't get out, I'll kill you! Die!"
Temari trembled violently under his killing intent, but she still forced herself to endure the terror. She met his gaze and spoke the final, crushing, cruel truth in a trembling voice.
"Hidden Sand Village... is gone!"
"..."
Gaara froze.
The terrifying killing intent on his face solidified, locking into place.
"What did you say?"
Temari's tears could no longer be held back. They gushed out, streaming down her dirty face.
"We lost... we lost completely..."
Her voice broke into choked sobs.
"Father... the two Advisor Elders... Maki-sensei... and so, so many others... they're all dead..."
"Konoha's Fifth Hokage... Uchiha Akira... he alone... he completely defeated Sunagakure."
"Now, we are... we are Konoha's captives."
"Once... once the wounded are dealt with... all of us... all that's left... we will be taken to Konoha."
Temari's voice was broken, filled with absolute, final despair.
Inside the tent, a long, deep silence fell.
Gaara sat there blankly, unmoving.
Gone?
Hidden Sand Village, gone?
Father... the man who saw him as a failure, the man who only wanted to kill him... dead?
"Dead... is he?"
Gaara's mind was blank. He felt the words, but they evoked no sadness.
Nor did he feel anger at the loss.
He didn't even feel the slightest emotional fluctuation. His connection to that so-called "father" and to this Village that viewed him as a monster had been severed long ago.
Hidden Sand Village was just a giant, familiar cage.
Should he feel happy? Should he feel liberated?
Gaara didn't know.
He only felt an unprecedented, profound emptiness. The roar of the Tailed Beast was gone, and now, the structure of his world was gone too.
"Next... will I go to Konoha?"
"From one cage... to another cage..."
"What's the difference?"
Gaara slowly lowered his head, looking at his open, small hands.
Without Shukaku's constant, hateful roar, the maddening, desperate desire for blood and slaughter seemed to have also subsided, replaced by a strange tranquility.
This entirely new, quiet experience.
It made Gaara feel incredibly, profoundly unfamiliar with himself.
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