Tsunade Rushed instantly at the side of collapsed Ryo and started healing him.
She noticed his lungs and throat were the most damaged. He might not be able to speak for... For.. She didn't know.
Tears streamed down her eyes, she did not want him to die.
Meanwhile, The Raikage stood up from the Ruble. He was hurt, and injured badly...his skin was black like coal, all of his hair and clothes burnt away.
He did not know his exact state. But he needs to kill that Brat right now. That was the only thing in his mind.
As he noticed he couldn't move.
Orochimaru approached the Raikage ready to kill him, not leaving a threat alive.
Then they arrived the back up came at last, literally.
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, came with the Head of the Anbu, Sakumo Hatake.
And a force of 250 Jonins.
"You are late sensai," Jiraya said to his teacher.
"Where is The Raikage?", Hiruzen was not in the mood of talk.
Jiraya pointed out. As Hiruzen moved alone.
Rain fell steadily over the ruined battlefield of Amegakure, washing ash and blood into the cracks of shattered stone. Steam still rose from the ground where the white flames had scorched everything.
The charred figure of the Third Raikage remained half-buried in the rubble of the collapsed building. His body was barely recognizable—skin burned black like coal, muscles exposed in places where the heat had split the flesh. Yet his eyes still burned with stubborn life.
Standing before him was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, calm despite the devastation surrounding them.
For several moments neither spoke.
The Raikage finally forced out a rough breath.
"You should kill me, Hokage," he rasped. "If I recover… this war will continue."
Hiruzen's expression did not change.
"And if I kill you," he replied quietly, "it will not end the war. It will ignite a far larger one."
The Raikage's eyes narrowed.
"You expect me to believe that sparing me is some noble act?"
"No," Hiruzen said. "It is a necessary one."
Rain dripped from the Hokage's robes as he crouched slightly, meeting the Raikage's gaze directly.
"You are the leader of Kumogakure. If you die here, your village will not ask how or why. They will only know that their Raikage was killed by Konoha shinobi."
The Raikage remained silent.
"They will demand vengeance," Hiruzen continued. "And once that begins, it will not stop with a single battle. It will become a war that consumes every village."
The burned giant let out a slow, painful breath.
"And what do you gain by sparing me?"
"Stability and peace, Konoha had always believed in peace since the era of Hashirama Senju." Hiruzen's voice was firm.
"This battle remains a secret. No one speaks of it—not your village, not mine. You return alive, and both sides avoid a war neither can afford right now."
The Raikage stared at him through the falling rain.
His pride screamed in protest.
He had been burned, broken, nearly killed by a single shinobi and now the Hokage stood here offering him mercy.
His fists clenched weakly in the rubble.
Inside his mind, another voice surfaced.
His father's voice.
The words of the Second Raikage echoed through his memory.
"Kumogakure was not built on strength alone."
He could see it clearly—the training grounds of the village when he was still young, his father speaking with rare seriousness.
"Our village stands on trust… and comradeship."
Rain struck his burned skin as the memory continued.
His father's expression had been heavy that day.
"But I failed that trust."
The Raikage remembered the bitterness in his father's voice.
"I let monsters like Kinkaku and Ginkaku run wild within our ranks. I allowed power to grow without discipline."
The old Raikage had looked tired.
"Because of that failure… the village paid the price."
Then the most important words had come.
"Remember this well. For Kumogakure… a leader is more important than pride."
The memory faded slowly.
Back in the present, the Third Raikage looked at his burned hands.
Except for him…
There were no warriors in Kumogakure strong enough to hold the village together.
If he died here, the balance of power in the entire shinobi world would collapse.
His pride told him to reject the Hokage's offer.
But his duty as Raikage told him something else.
After a long silence, he spoke again.
"…You are asking me to pretend this humiliation never happened."
Hiruzen did not respond immediately.
Finally he said, "I am asking you to protect your village."
The Raikage's burned eyes studied him carefully.
"You speak as if you understand the burden of a Kage." Hiruzen exhaled slowly. "I do."
Another moment passed.
Then the Raikage gave a short, bitter laugh that sounded more like a cough.
"…Fine." The word came reluctantly.
"This battle never happened."
Hiruzen nodded once.
Behind them, Tsunade continued desperately healing Ryo's ruined lungs while the rain washed the battlefield clean.
The war had almost escalated into something far worse.
But for now, both Kage had chosen something more difficult than victory.
They had chosen restraint.