Escape from Konoha.

Hanabi said this, hoping it would make Naruto back down.

The Allied forces, having suffered a complete defeat, could no longer change anything.

However, upon hearing this, Naruto turned his gaze to Shiraishi, his eyes gleaming with a final glimmer of hope.

Shiraishi and Hanabi immediately knew what he was planning to do.

Shiraishi chuckled softly again, his shoulders twitching slightly, making Hanabi look at him with a helpless expression.

I let go of him and then stood aside.

She was no match for Naruto and didn't want to get beaten up.

Shiraishi didn't care about Hanabi's 'defection'. After all, daughters are like leaky cotton jackets; he had already let one slip, so he didn't care if a second one slipped.

Naruto picked up the black rod formed from the Truth-Seeking Ball and pointed it at Shiroishi's body.

Shiraishi just smiled and watched Naruto's seemingly childish threatening gesture.

"Stop the war. If it were you, you should be able to do it."

That's all Naruto said.

After laughing for a while, Shiraishi said, "What if I don't stop? Are you going to kill me?"

Naruto pursed his lips and remained silent.

"Indeed, the people who understand students best are not necessarily their parents, but also their teachers."

Bai Shi said in a low voice.

"what?"

Naruto was taken aback.

“Before this war, Kakashi came to see me alone and said that I could become a big problem. If that really happened and force couldn’t control me, we could come up with another backup plan to deal with me.”

"Kakashi-sensei..."

Upon hearing this name, Naruto narrowed his eyes, a vague unease creeping into his heart.

"Kakashi, from the very beginning, secretly sent people to monitor this battlefield, to keep track of all the movements. In terms of intelligence, he's no less than your friend Shikamaru, and in terms of experience and tactical planning, he's no less than Shikaku of Konoha, or Mabui, the Raikage's assistant from Kumogakure. Plus, the Land of Demons' pervasive intelligence network allows him to access information at any time..."

As Baishi finished speaking, he looked up at the sky.

Naruto also looked up.

A buzzing sound, like ninjas flying like birds, unfolding their flying ninja tools in the sky, monitoring every move on the battlefield with military binoculars at an altitude of at least thousands of meters.

"See? I told you that guy wouldn't just sit idly by, even in the rear, waiting for the battle here to end. This thing has been monitoring the battlefield in the Land of Rain for hours."

With the last of his strength, Shiraishi slowly straightened up, panting heavily, his limbs trembling, as if he might fall again at any moment.

His smile grew wider, with a condescending air, as if the victor was not Naruto, but himself.

"Do you know why I called you 'General' when I saw you as my final enemy? Because regardless of individual victory or defeat, you couldn't possibly win, yet you insisted on fighting, blocking my path. War isn't something you play like that. You say I lost, so where did you win? By defeating me, the leader?"

Shiraishi's voice grew louder and louder, carrying an aggressive tone.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat.

"Naruto Uzumaki, this world isn't all about ideals. We live in the space between heaven and hell, where ideals and reality always coexist."

As Shiraishi spoke, he raised a finger and pointed it at Naruto's face.

"Take a good look around. I originally thought it wouldn't be useful at all, but Kakashi is still going to teach you this 'lesson'. He's really an excellent teacher who always thinks of his students."

Naruto felt a jolt in his heart and looked around.

People, countless people, a densely packed crowd.

The ninjas from the Land of Demons and the Hidden Mist, the enhanced soldiers in combat uniforms, and the combat personnel drawn from various allied nations, surged and advanced forward like a black tide.

The pitch-black mechanized armored forces, their tracks or wheels moving, rolled forward, crushing the earth and kicking up clouds of dust.

As dawn broke in the east, a buzzing sound shattered the silence. Hundreds, even thousands, of manned flying ninja vehicles, like a vast, silvery-gray cloud, magnified in formation to the naked eye.

Naruto's body trembled slightly, and he was having trouble breathing, as if something incredibly heavy was pressing down on him, making it impossible for him to move.

Shiraishi took a step and walked step by step to Naruto's side, standing side by side with him.

"So, do you want to continue fighting? How many people can you kill by yourself? The Allied Forces have been defeated, and the whole world will be in chaos after the war, resulting in countless deaths and destruction. Even if you defeat them, how many people can you gather? How many people will be willing to follow you? Do you want to save the world by relying on your own strength? Do you think more or fewer people will die in the process? Are you prepared to bear all of this alone?"

Naruto's body was still trembling, his face full of struggle.

He wanted to refute it, to shout that it was all alarmist talk, just Shiraishi's side of the story, and that things would never turn out that way.

But when he opened his mouth, even though he had countless words in his mind to refute it, he couldn't utter a single word when it came time to do so.

"Or rather... how will you balance the political landscape of this reshaped world order? How will you develop the economies and cultures of different regions? How will you manage and adjust the populations of various countries? Can you fulfill the ruler's awareness, realistic understanding, and idealistic aspirations? Tell me your answer, Naruto. Will you kill me, bear everything alone, continue this endless war, the alliance with the Land of Demons, and fight against at least tens of millions of people, or..."

Like the whispers of a demon.

Clang.

The black stick fell down with a crisp sound.

His face was completely blank, standing there like a sculpture, like a puppet.

Main Story - Sequel 1

The armored vehicles made a loud noise as their tracks or wheels pressed against the road surface.

Everywhere was rotten land, leaving the surveyors on site unable to imagine what kind of battle had taken place to ravage a country's territory into such a state.

Since entering the Land of Rain, all that can be seen are ruins, broken land, and vanished mountains. Not a single drop of rain has fallen, and the celestial phenomena have begun to change abnormally.

About an hour later, the eastern dawn broke, casting a warm light on the barren land.

"Old man."

Ichihime and Sasuke slowly flew over from a distance.

However, the two of them were quite weak, and their strength was probably only about one-tenth of what it used to be.

But seeing the two of them appear, Shiraishi finally felt relieved.

At first, I thought there might be problems over there, but now that the two of them have arrived, Nagato's fate is self-evident.

Sitting on the makeshift medical area that had been set up, Shiraishi's body and head were wrapped in a lot of bandages, and his clothes were tattered. He was even weaker than Ichihime and Sasuke.

"It's good that you're back."

Shiraishi nodded, while Hanabi continued to wrap bandages around him. The wounds had healed, but his coordination was still lacking, possibly due to excessive consumption of soul energy. Therefore, he needed Hanabi's support to stand up steadily.

Moreover, I felt sore all over, a feeling I hadn't experienced in a long time.

Ichihime and Sasuke landed.

Ichihime glanced around but didn't see her mother, Ruri, or the other woman who rolled her eyes.

Shiraishi seemed to sense Ichihime's confusion and said, "Their bodies are with the Shadow Dancer, but I've preserved their souls. Once I recover my chakra, I'll put their souls back in."

After all, this is somewhat different from death; the soul and body are both in the real world, so there is no need to use the Reincarnation Jutsu.

Even if they recover, they will both need a period of rest. This is because they both consumed a significant amount of soul energy, which will cause physical imbalances, and it may take some time for them to fully recover.

"Tsk tsk, a mere Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has brought you to this miserable state?"

Ichihime was somewhat surprised, and also a little gloating and mocking, seemingly quite pleased to see them in such a disheveled state.

"Maybe."

Shiraishi was tired and didn't want to talk much.

Although there are some doubts when recalling the battle, such as who the old man who suddenly appeared was, he still doesn't have a definite answer.

Then he saw what was in Ichihime's right hand.

It was a black, bouncy ball, smaller than the palm of your hand, and as soft as jelly or mud.

Shiraishi sensed a familiar aura from above, seemingly from Akatsuki's 'black' person.

"what is this?"

Ichihime glanced down and said, "This is that Black Zetsu."

"I know, why did you bring it out?"

Bai Shi was somewhat puzzled.

"In the end, we defeated Nagato thanks to his help. Besides, I have some questions I want to ask him. So, old man, are you able to recover?"

Ichihime handed the black ball to Shiraishi and asked him if there was any way to restore it.

Shiraishi reached out and took it, carefully touching it. It was very bouncy and elastic, and he couldn't help but squeeze it. It felt nice.

"Recovery isn't a problem, but the consciousness within is very weak and somewhat incomplete. Even if it recovers, it might not be the same as before. Besides, I don't need to do anything myself. There's Yin-Yang Release power within it. You can work on that yourself and resolve it."

As he spoke, he tossed the black ball to Ichihime.

"is it?"

Ichihime stuffed the black ball into her ninja tool pouch, shrugged, and didn't seem to care much.

At this moment, Sasuke looked at Hanabi next to Shiraishi and suddenly asked in surprise, "I remember your name is Hanabi, and you're from the Hyuga main branch. What are you doing here? And..."

Before Shiraishi could answer, Ichihime spoke up: "You mean Hanabi? She and I are half-sisters, though we've only met a few times over the years. But even Aya probably doesn't know she actually has a younger sister."

Sasuke's eyes widened upon hearing this.

I glanced at Shiraishi again. This guy really knows how to play tricks. He actually sent his own daughter to the Hyuga main family... Is Konoha a sieve?

Hanabi smiled slightly at Sasuke and bowed slightly.

"Sasuke-senpai, it's been a long time. Let me formally introduce myself, I'm Hyuga Hanabi."

Sasuke suppressed his shock and nodded.

The fact that Hyuga was their surname made Sasuke think of something, but since it was an internal matter of the Hyuga clan, he didn't ask any further questions.

"Speaking of which, where's Naruto? Did you kill him?"

Sasuke didn't see Naruto, nor did he sense his chakra, which was strange.

Does this mean that there has been no trace of their remains?

Thinking of this, Sasuke suddenly felt a little lonely.