She was lying on the ground, the flames on her body now gone, and she looked completely miserable. Her once fair skin was now scorched black from the electricity, and some parts had even turned into charcoal.
"Is she dead?"
Onoki asked. He found it hard to believe that the crazed woman from before had died just like that. But given the current situation and the attack she had just endured, it was hard to imagine what kind of life form could survive it. Hashirama looked at the woman, unable to tell whether she was dead or alive.
"Doesn't seem like it. Her heart is still beating."
While everyone was still confused, Torifu provided the answer. A moment later, everyone saw flames reignite on the woman's body, and she struggled back to her feet.
"That hurts! Damn it! You were so close to killing me!"
Torifu was only able to produce that jutsu because he had absorbed a large amount of flames, allowing him to condense such a powerful lightning in the clouds. It wasn't a jutsu he could use on a whim, much like Sasuke's Kirin. It's just that Torifu's was much more powerful.
Everyone also noticed that the black color on Torifu was gradually fading, and his hair was slowly turning back to its original white. Seizing the opportunity, Torifu summoned another lightning bolt from the sky and struck the flames that had just reignited!
"Kill her! Don't hold back!"
Torifu's black Sage Mode had already faded, and he had reverted to his original Sage Mode, which meant he could no longer use the immense lightning power. While he could still use Lightning Release, its power was incomparable to before.
The other Kage immediately took action, using their strongest ninjutsu to attack Blaze! At this point, Blaze had no strength left. If it were just one person, she might have been able to handle it. But with so many Kage-level ninja, she had already lost all hope.
How could this person be so strong? The intelligence had clearly stated that even that defective product, Rain, could fight him to a standstill. She, who could crush Rain, had been defeated by him! She couldn't understand it, and she didn't have time to. The jutsu were about to hit her. Just a single Dust Release would be enough to kill her!
But at this critical moment, a chain wrapped around her arm and pulled her fiercely. A giant salamander then burst out from the ground and opened its mouth, swallowing her whole.
"Hanzō! How dare that guy come back! Kill him!"
But it was too late. After Hanzō threw Blaze into the salamander's mouth, he jumped in as well. The salamander then burrowed into the ground and disappeared. A few of them tried to give chase, but Torifu stopped them. "It's no use. The salamander is an amphibious creature; it must have gone to a river or a lake." The Land of Rain has so many rivers and lakes that they might not even find him if they turned the place upside down.
"Damn it! Why is Hanzō protecting her?! We were so close to killing Blaze!"
Torifu was also very confused about this. At most, the two of them just had a relationship of convenience. Blaze used Hanzō to lure him out, while Hanzō used Blaze to fulfill his plan of occupying the former Land of Lightning. But in the end, because Hanzō had provoked too many people, they were besieged. So, neither of their plans succeeded.
Amegakure had now become a ghost village. No one was left in the entire village. They were either dead or had run away. In any case, it was completely empty.
"What do we do now?" the Kazekage asked.
"Hanzō ran away, so we don't know what will happen next, but at worst, we'll just have another battle."
"The Land of Rain borders all three of our nations, so we can just divide it into three equal parts. And this ruined Amegakure can become a transit hub for our three nations."
Torifu's suggestion was quite satisfying for both the Tsuchikage and the Kazekage. It was the best possible outcome. As for the Land of Rain's royal family, they had probably already fled to other countries after learning that Hanzō had declared war on three nations at once.
"This war was a success thanks to you two, Kazekage-sama and Tsuchikage-sama. If it weren't for your help, we wouldn't have won so quickly."
The Kazekage scratched his head. This was his first war since becoming Kage, and he felt like he hadn't done much, so Torifu's words made him a little embarrassed.
"You're too kind, Hokage-sama. We were only trying to protect our village."
"Yes. Hanzō was too arrogant and attacked our villages without reason, so we naturally had to retaliate."
In truth, Blaze's failure this time was largely due to Hanzō. If Hanzō hadn't declared war on three nations at once, she might not have been defeated so quickly. By focusing all their forces on the Konoha army and using the fifty Kage-level ninja to pin down Hashirama, Tobirama, and the other Kage, leaving only Torifu and Blaze to fight, Blaze might not have lost. Many of her jutsu were also countered by the others.
But it seemed fate was on Torifu's side.
The subordinates of Jigen had now failed twice. There was no telling when the next attack would come. But one thing was for sure: he wouldn't give up. He might even enter the fray himself, but probably not until the very last moment. After all, his body couldn't seem to handle his power, and if he went all out, he would die quickly.
Torifu sent ninja into the village to search, and they found a good amount of wealth. But this money wasn't a huge temptation for the Kage. No one was short of money right now. So Torifu suggested leaving the money to rebuild the village. After all, as the future hub city for the three nations, its development would be rapid. The future was bright for Amegakure. Wait, no. From now on, the Land of Rain was no longer a country; it had become a thing of the past. No one knew where Hanzō, the former leader of Amegakure, had fled. He might have gone with Blaze to Jigen's base. Torifu only hoped he wouldn't be taken over.
"Send out the order. Take a headcount and treat the wounded. We'll be returning to the village soon."
The battle was over, so there was no point in staying here. The Kazekage and the Tsuchikage were also preparing to return to their own villages. They had been out for days, and the villages were being looked after by the second-generation Kage. Only Konoha was being managed by the First Hokage's wife.
"Report, Hokage-sama. A total of 467 people were killed or injured in this war."
Four hundred and sixty-seven. Almost five hundred people. While this number was very small for a war, Torifu still felt terrible about it. To reduce the casualties, Torifu had sent many clones to mix in with the soldiers. Otherwise, there would have been many more deaths.
"Pile up the bodies. I will freeze them and take them back to Konoha."