Witnessing Setsuna's recovery, even Onoki, an outsider to the conflict, felt a wave of despair alongside Rasa and the others, 'This monster could actually restore himself to full health? Why didn't the Sage of the Six Paths strike this monster down with a bolt of lightning?'
Setsuna stretched his body and shook his head with a sigh. "What a pity. If you had swiftly followed up with another round of attacks just now, I might have truly lost."
Regret washed over the five of them. But in that situation, they hadn't dared to act rashly. What if he seized an opportunity to counterattack? Moreover, their Chakra Reserves couldn't support wasteful actions.
Setsuna said with a smile, "Or, if you could manage another attack like that, I probably wouldn't be able to withstand it."
The five remained silent.
How could such coordination be easily replicated?
Seeing no response, Setsuna sighed. "Since that's the case, I'll resume my offense."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Setsuna appeared before Rasa like lightning, delivering a side kick with his right leg.
Mired in the depression of failure, Rasa didn't react in time and was sent flying by the powerful kick.
Even with his two layers of defense, the transmitted force inflicted internal injuries.
After struggling to stand up on his sand cloud, Rasa's first action was to quickly put distance between himself and Setsuna, with no thought of counterattacking.
Seeing that Rasa seemed to have lost his fighting spirit, the Tsuchikage had to step forward. "Earth Release: Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique!"
The gravity affecting Setsuna suddenly intensified, as if he were trapped in quicksand.
"Everyone, I've temporarily restricted his speed. Attack quickly!"
Onoki felt helpless inwardly. If not forced by the circumstances, he wouldn't have used this technique. After all, once he used it, he would likely become the enemy's primary target.
He was only 'forced' into this conflict and really didn't want to take more risks.
But the problem was, Sunagakure was now terrified of their enemy. If he didn't go all out now, Sunagakure's fate might foreshadow Iwagakure's future.
"Don't you think it's a bit late to start cooperating sincerely only now?" Setsuna mocked, and as Onoki feared, he launched a fierce assault towards him.
"Hurry up, I can't hold this for long!" Onoki urged.
"Let's give it one more try!" Chiyo took a deep breath. Her Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets Collection was already reduced to just two, but she still refused to give up. "Sealing Technique: Lion's Roar!"
"You're right. No matter what, we have to try once more." Rasa knew time was running out and prepared to stake everything, "Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!"
"Scorch Release: Scorching Searing Sun!" Pakura summoned ten orbs of light in one breath, merging them into one.
Sasori was even more resolute, directly sending the Third Kazekage puppet forward, intending to detonate it.
He didn't care about Sunagakure's fate, but he wanted to prove a point for his art.
In response, Setsuna simply pointed a finger from a distance towards the Third Kazekage puppet.
Dodon Ray!
The Third Kazekage puppet, having absorbed a massive amount of Chakra and turned into an unstable explosive, instantly shattered. The enormous explosion blocked the attacks from the others.
Setsuna shook his head. "It seems explosion is also an art."
"How could this be?" The group was in disarray, never expecting their hard-won coordinated attack to be dismantled so easily.
"What a shame. Time's just about up." Setsuna looked at the fully formed energy ball in his hand. "Would you like to stay and enjoy the brilliant fireworks with me?"
Hearing Setsuna's declaration, Onoki reacted the fastest. "Get out of here!"
Even though they were all in the air, they couldn't be sure they wouldn't be caught in the blast.
"So we really failed to stop him after all." Rasa sighed, even feeling an impulse to just stay and be done with it.
As if sensing his death wish, Chiyo said coldly, "Only by living can you atone. Sunagakure has lost the Daimyo's support. It cannot lose your gold dust as well."
"Gold dust, huh?" Rasa could only smile bitterly, but he understood that his greatest value to Sunagakure now was indeed gathering gold dust.
Ignoring them, Setsuna calmly flew higher into the sky.
"We finally got everyone out." Yahiko let out a sigh of relief, noticing Nagato was spacing out. He hurriedly urged, "Nagato, what are you standing around for? Run!"
As he followed Yahiko, Nagato muttered in confusion, "Watching him fly into the sky... I felt a strange sense of destiny in that moment."
"Sense of destiny?" Yahiko didn't understand.
"A very strange feeling. As if at some point, I too would stand in the sky, destroying a Ninja Village." Nagato seemed lost in thought. "It's like I'm living in his shadow."
Yahiko laughed heartily. "Nagato, you're so kind-hearted. There's no way you would destroy someone else's home!"
The Sunagakure's Ninjas had all escaped the blast radius, but their feelings were indescribable.
Successfully evacuating everyone was undoubtedly a great victory, yet they could only watch helplessly as their home was destroyed before their eyes.
This pain caused many Sunagakure's Ninjas to kneel on the ground in frustration.
Finally, Setsuna released the energy ball.
The compressed energy ball rapidly expanded in the air. By the time it reached the ground, it had swelled into a pillar of light dozens of meters in diameter, descending like divine punishment.
In an instant, everything was annihilated.
The towering Kazekage Building disintegrated within a ten-thousandth of a second. All buildings, streets, and training grounds were erased from the map as if by an invisible giant hand, not even the finest brick dust remaining.
The shockwave flattened all sand dunes for miles around, utterly crushing any evidence that Sunagakure had ever existed.
When the dazzling light faded, only an eerily flat desert remained where the village once stood.
No ruins, no wreckage. The empty stretch of sand was terrifyingly silent, as if no human settlement had ever existed there.
The Sunagakure's Ninjas struggled to their feet, wiping the yellow sand from their faces, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Although they knew Sunagakure would be destroyed, they had held onto a sliver of hope that perhaps only the central part would be obliterated.
The cruel scene before them completely shredded their illusions.
"Just what kind of being were we fighting?"
"This is divine punishment upon us."
Some Sunagakure's Jonin shouted in crumbling despair, but more were weeping silently. However, what Rasa saw in their eyes wasn't anger, but only fear.
At this moment, Rasa sank into deep despair. Although the enemy hadn't literally destroyed Sunagakure's people, he had broken Sunagakure's spirit.
From now on, most Sunagakure's Ninjas would likely tremble in fear at the mere mention of his name.
Thinking of this, darkness clouded Rasa's vision, and he vomited blood before falling unconscious.
Yet, the Sunagakure's Ninjas around him only watched coldly, devoid of their former respect, replaced instead by hatred and resentment.