"Did... did Yuki Sora die?" Someone asked, staring at the spot where Sora had been hit.
"He's dead. He must be dead. No one could survive an attack like that!" Someone else quickly answered.
"But... that was Yuki Sora!" another voice countered.
"And Killer B-sama blocked part of it!"
"What about Raikage-sama? What happened to Raikage-sama?"
"What exactly is the situation?"
The uncertainty caused unrest among the Kumogakure's Ninjas.
They couldn't help but look towards the elderly woman at the front.
"Namai-sama, can you tell what's happening outside?" someone asked.
"Of course," Namai, the current Two-Tails' Jinchuriki, nodded.
She let out an utterly exhausted sigh. "We... have lost."
"What?!?"
"That's impossible!!!" Namai's words caused a wave of exclamations.
They protested: "Namai-sama, how can you boost the enemy's morale and diminish our own like this? We can't see anything right now, the situation is unclear. How can we say we've lost?"
"That's right, Namai-sama!" Others chimed in.
Then, the characteristic impatience of Kumogakure's Ninjas flared up.
"Enough talk, brothers! Don't trouble Namai-sama anymore. She's old, her eyesight is failing, that's all!"
"Tell you what, I'll go forward right now and see what the actual situation is!" One man declared, standing up.
He then asked, "Is anyone else coming with me?"
"I'll go!"
"Me too!"
His call received many responses.
However, the Ninjas wanting to investigate failed to see it.
Faced with their doubts, Namai sighed again.
She was old, not dead, and certainly not senile.
They didn't know, they just couldn't see.
Namai looked to the side and spoke humbly: "Mizukage-sama, you have won. There's no need to look further. No one here is a match for you, not even for a single exchange."
"So, could you please stop toying with us and show yourself?"
"What? Who's there?" Hearing Namai's words, the Ninja who had rallied the others looked over.
Then his words abruptly cut off.
Because a black sphere was suddenly thrown towards him from the front!
Instinctively, the Ninja prepared to counter, thinking it was an attack!
But just as he raised his kunai to strike, he violently pulled his hand back!
Squelch!
The sound of a kunai piercing flesh echoed.
The kunai he had thrust out was retrieved by his own left hand, the blade deeply embedded in his left palm!
"Koda!" The Ninja's condition drew cries of concern from many who knew him.
But soon, they understood why Koda had done that.
Thud!
A clear, heavy sound of something hitting the ground rang out!
Roll... roll...
The object that had just been thrown at Koda rolled across the ground, finally coming to a stop beside another Kumogakure's Ninja's foot!
Staring at the rolling object, the Ninja focused his eyes.
-Who else could it be but their Fourth Raikage?
"No! Raikage-sama!!!"
The Kumogakure's Ninjas let out cries of utter despair! They couldn't fathom that the head of their mighty Raikage was now lying before them like this!
"It's fake! This must be fake!"
"Wait, the intelligence mentioned something about Genjutsu too!"
"Hahaha! Yuki Sora, you think you can fool us?!" With that, one Ninja stood up and looked at the others. "Brothers! Raikage-sama must be hiding somewhere, recovering from his wounds!"
"So we charge now! Even if it costs our lives, we must buy time for Raikage-sama until he and B-sama can come support us!"
The Ninja's words were filled with righteous fervor!
However, he was surprised to find that after his shout, very few people listened!
"There is no Raikage or B anymore!" Namai's voice cut through. "Wake up, everyone! We are defeated!"
"This mistaken decision, made by the Raikage, has ultimately been paid for by the Raikage himself!"
"We... are defeated?" Hearing Namai's words, many Ninjas murmured in disbelief.
An unprecedented sense of loss washed over them!
And faced with defeat, many, of course, could not accept it.
How could they accept that the mighty Kumogakure had fallen like this? Their Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki and Raikage dead?
"Raaaaagh! Damn you! I'll fight you to the death!"
Someone charged at Sora.
Sora didn't hesitate: "Hado #31: Shakkaho!"
A crimson light cannon swallowed the charger, and those near him, and even more Kumogakure's Ninjas who hadn't charged but were simply in the way!
Under the overwhelming pressure of absolute power, no matter how much their minds refused to accept it, their bodies were forced to concede!
After all, the Kumogakure's Ninjas did not want to die.
After that single Shakkaho, the area fell completely silent!
Confirming that no one would voice any further objections, Sora finally spoke.
He looked at Namai: "Are you the highest-ranking individual in Kumogakure at present?"
"That is correct!" Namai nodded bitterly, getting straight to the point. "In terms of popular support, strength, and status, I, as the Two-Tails' Jinchuriki, am indeed the highest."
"If a representative is needed to surrender Kumogakure on its behalf, Mizukage-sama, it seems it falls to me."
"Good. You are very... reasonable." Sora nodded in satisfaction.
"In that case, let us discuss the reparations for your defeat, and the compensation for the emotional distress of my dear little brother."