Once the enormous gap in strength became clear, the leading jōnin of the Hidden Cloud understood: even if he charged forward to avenge the Raikage, it would only be throwing his life away.
If he gave up now, at least some of his comrades could live.
In the world of shinobi, rules might be everything — but he couldn't just stand there and watch his men die for nothing.
After a long moment of inner conflict, he not only dropped his own weapon, but also ordered the rest of his squad to abandon the mission.
Seeing that these Cloud-nin no longer had the will to fight, Senju Haruto didn't bother killing them all.
In the end, they were small fry — whether they lived or died made no difference.
But even with Haruto's implied mercy, the Cloud-nin were still tense.
With his power, killing them would be as easy as stepping on an ant. No one could be sure if Haruto would suddenly change his mind.
Not until the lead jōnin passed Haruto, slowly approached Ai's fallen form, and carefully lifted the Raikage's half-lifeless body onto his back did he finally let out a long, relieved sigh.
The others instinctively glanced back at Haruto, but could only swallow their anger and retreat quickly.
The death of the Fourth Raikage didn't just cripple the Cloud's military strength — it struck a devastating blow to their morale.
Worse still, after killing the Raikage, Haruto still had plenty of stamina left.
Now, their only option was to find Darui, regroup, and retreat beyond the Land of Fire's borders.
This war… could not continue.
"Are you sure about this?" Aburame Torune asked as he sat cross-legged on the ground, watching the Cloud-nin carry Ai's body away. "If it were Lord Danzō, I'm certain he would order us to pursue."
In his view, killing the remaining Cloud-nin, sealing news of the Raikage's death, and then launching a counterattack might have been the better play.
"This is enough," Haruto replied, glancing in the direction the Cloud had retreated before shaking his head.
Before he'd arrived to assist, both sides had already been fighting fiercely all night.
With the Raikage himself in the fray, Konoha had been steadily pushed back. The current situation had already cost the village dearly.
If they pursued now, they might lose even more.
Unlike the Uchiha, the shinobi gathered here were mostly from the ANBU, Root, or reinforcements sent by Konoha's major clans.
They weren't just loyal shinobi — they were also loyal to the Hokage.
In Haruto's eyes, that meant they were all future pieces on his board.
Why waste them now?
And the Cloud had suffered a crushing loss — even their Raikage had fallen here.
Once they withdrew, they would have no choice but to reassess the balance of power, and likely send envoys to negotiate peace.
Even if the Cloud were stubborn enough to seek revenge, Haruto wasn't concerned.
The Cloud and Konoha had taken losses — but the Mist had been annihilated.
The Fourth Mizukage and the Three-Tails had both perished in the Fire Temple Forest.
Even if the Mist wanted vengeance, they no longer had the strength. It would take a long recovery before they could fight again.
Which meant that if another war broke out, it would be a duel between Konoha and the Cloud alone.
And with Ai gone, they'd be forced to fill the role with Killer B.
A mere Eight-Tails jinchūriki… hardly a match for him.
Whether it came to diplomacy or war, Konoha would hold the advantage.
On a personal level, Haruto even preferred another war — which was exactly why he decided to let the Cloud leave.
If the Cloud had been annihilated here like the Mist, they wouldn't have the means for a rematch.
"A cornered beast will fight harder — this is enough," Haruto said at last.
Of course, he didn't voice his real reasoning. Instead, he told Kakashi and the others:
"Pushing an enemy to desperation will only ignite their fighting spirit and make them resist to the death. That could cause needless casualties among our own."
Besides, while there was conflict between Konoha and the Cloud, it had not yet reached the point of total destruction.
Everything was for the sake of peace.
"There's no need to wipe them out entirely," Haruto concluded.
"…True." Kakashi nodded, then glanced toward the path the enemy had taken. "If this war ends here, that's still a good outcome."
"Once you start destroying entire villages, you only make the other shinobi nations fearful — they might unite against us."
Hearing Kakashi's explanation, Torune and the others finally understood.
If Konoha became too ruthless, everyone else would live in fear.
And Konoha had no ambition to dominate the entire shinobi world. All they wanted was peace.
"Still… I didn't expect you to copy the Raikage's technique at the end there," Kakashi said suddenly, his tone carrying genuine shock at Haruto's talent.
"That's the power of the Sharingan, isn't it?" Hyūga Hizashi said without hesitation. As a fellow member of Konoha's dōjutsu clans, he knew a fair amount about the Sharingan.
"I remember you're called the Copy Ninja, Kakashi-senpai," Yamato added quickly, having recovered some stamina.
But Kakashi shook his head.
"The so-called 'Copy Ninja' is mostly psychological warfare. Because I possess all five chakra natures, I naturally know more jutsu than most. Even being conservative, I've mastered over a thousand."
"A thousand?" Hizashi and Torune both stared in disbelief. They'd heard of Kakashi's nickname, but to personally know over a thousand jutsu was still shocking.
"That's right," Kakashi said. "Most of the time, the enemy thinks I'm copying their jutsu. In reality, I already knew it beforehand — I just play on that assumption to make them think I learned it on the spot."
"Simple jutsu, yes, I can copy — but only if they require hand seals."
"Otherwise, why would I have invented the Chidori? I'd just copy whatever I saw."
He paused, then continued:
"Secret techniques, like those of the Aburame, Nara, or Yamanaka clans, can't be copied. Not even the Hell Stab the Fourth Raikage just used."
"Forget copying — even if you told me exactly how it worked and let me train, there's no guarantee I could ever master it." Kakashi sighed.
His words made Hizashi and the others turn toward Haruto, their faces full of shock.
"So now you understand how terrifying Haruto truly is," Kakashi said. "That kind of ultimate technique isn't something you can just copy with a Sharingan. I'd wager there's only one person in the entire shinobi world who could — and that's Senju Haruto."