With the Sand's primary forces deployed elsewhere, the village's internal strength was hollow. They weren't just incapable of launching a counter-attack; they couldn't even summon a high-level shinobi to defend against an aerial strike.
After leveling the office building and incinerating countless documents, Ui selected a new target—one that looked suspiciously like a shinobi hospital.
Then, he moved to the next.
The Hidden Sand was soon shrouded in the fires of war.
Ui's primary objective remained the destruction of key infrastructure; casualties were a secondary consideration. However, he knew that wiping the Sand off the map was an impossible feat. Yata had been active on the front lines for a long time, consuming vast amounts of chakra. After this frantic bombing run, the Great Crow was beginning to flag.
Chakra was a finite resource. Ui had to reserve enough of it for Yata to sustain its form until they reached the Konoha camp. If the summoning expired prematurely and Yata vanished mid-flight, Ui would find himself plummeting into the heart of the Land of Wind. Given the "unfriendly" activities he had just participated in, the locals would surely swarm him with a very... warm... reception.
Having reduced several of the largest structures to rubble, Ui didn't linger. He disengaged cleanly, banking away from the burning village to begin the long flight back.
Five hours out, ten minutes of bombing, and five hours back. By the time Ui neared the front lines, the sky had begun to bruise into twilight. The battle on the plains was over.
If he were to drop his altitude, he would see small, scattered groups of Sand shinobi retreating in disarray. Such is the fate of the defeated.
Ui had been a wildcard in this war—a variable that even he hadn't fully anticipated. He had played a significant role, but the true tide of the battle had been turned by the imbalance of raw power. The Hokage's personal Anbu were elites among elites, possessing an overwhelming tactical advantage over the Sand's ranks.
It wasn't just the Third Hokage's singular brilliance; his subordinates were formidable in their own right.
On the front lines, the Kazekage had been no match for Hiruzen. However, with the support of Chiyo and Ebizo—and the suicidal bravery of the Sand's rank and file—he had managed to escape the battlefield safely, though he looked considerably worse for wear.
Konoha did not pursue blindly. They didn't need to inflate their body count; their strategic intent had been realized. After this clash, the Sand would surely understand that they lacked the strength to fight both the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Leaf simultaneously.
The Land of Wind had always coveted the fertile soil of the Land of Fire, but the reverse was not true—Konoha had little interest in a desert wasteland. The real threat to the Sand's sovereignty was the Hidden Stone.
In the grand scheme of the war, the Sand had invaded the Land of Fire (prompting Konoha's counter-strike), while the Stone had invaded the Land of Wind (prompting the Sand's retaliation).
In terms of priority and existential threat, the Hidden Stone was the Sand's true enemy.
The Kazekage was left with only one logical choice: sue for peace with Konoha.
Perhaps, on the long trek back, he still harbored thoughts of regrouping and resisting. But when he saw the pillars of smoke rising over the horizon where his village should be, the realization hit him like a physical blow.
Even the thickest night couldn't hide the pyres burning in the heart of the Sand.
Rushing back into the village, the Kazekage found his darkest fears confirmed.
Burning buildings, the sound of weeping, shadows scurrying through the ruins to rescue the trapped and extinguish the flames... it was a nightmare made manifest.
As the Kazekage delivered the news of their defeat on the front, the shinobi who had remained behind gave him a detailed report of the "Aerial Incursion."
He finally understood. This was the work of that same Leaf ninja who had been hovering over the battlefield—the one who had almost dropped a payload on his own head.
While the Sand focused on healing their wounded, this air raid left a permanent scar on their strategic doctrine.
From that day forward, the Sand invested heavily in the research of aerial defense barriers and long-range anti-air weaponry. They sought to strike high, strike far, and strike with absolute precision.
Years later, that research would be hailed as a massive success.
And years after that, its effectiveness would be tested.
One day, a flamboyant shinobi named Deidara would fly a clay bird into the Sand's airspace, exactly as planned. Unfortunately for him, the moment he crossed the perimeter, he was flagged by the detection barrier. His clay bird was promptly shredded by specialized anti-air weaponry.
As Deidara plummeted from the sky, he had no idea he was falling into a pit dug decades ago by a single teenager.
Some things you needn't ask, some people you needn't wait for.
Many details have been drowned, memories flow back like a river.
Who is bearing the blame for whom...
I dug the hole; I just didn't tell you. Flight is a "pain that breathes," and it lived in every corner of Deidara's failure.
But that's a story for another time. When Ui finally reached the Konoha camp, he found the shinobi busy cleaning the battlefield and treating the wounded.
The lucky Sand survivors were handed over to the Torture and Interrogation Force. Information needed to be extracted, and "mercy" was not a word found in the Interrogation Force's dictionary.
As for the enemies who were clearly beyond saving, the Konoha shinobi kindly provided them with a quick end. It was the standard closing procedure of a war Konoha had perfected over the years—swift, efficient, and orderly.
Ui's timing on Yata's summoning limit was precise. As they reached the camp, the Great Crow was on its last legs.
The massive silhouette appeared in the twilight sky, its raspy, eerie cry echoing through the ears of the Leaf shinobi. Seeing the bird from a distance was one thing; seeing it up close—all jagged edges and menacing aura—was another entirely.
The appearance caused a brief surge of tension until the soldiers realized it was their own. Everyone had seen the contribution this summon had made today.
Yata dropped to a very low altitude. The shinobi below could clearly see the single, strange leg tucked beneath its belly. Some instinctively ducked, as if afraid those talons might snag their heads.
However, seven or eight meters above the ground, a sudden POOF echoed through the air.
Ui felt the floor vanish beneath him. Weightlessness took over.
The summoning had expired.
Okay... maybe my timing wasn't as 'precise' as I thought.