Right now, the Sand Village's main combat forces were out on the battlefield, leaving their internal defenses completely empty.
Let alone mounting an organized counterattack, they couldn't even scrounge up a capable ninja to defend against an aerial bombardment.
After bombing the Kazekage's office building into rubble and destroying countless classified documents, Kamishiro moved on to his next target—a building that looked highly likely to be the ninja hospital.
And then the next one...
The Sand Village was soon engulfed in the flames of war.
Kamishiro's primary objective was the destruction of vital enemy facilities; enemy casualties were only a secondary concern. However, completely wiping the Sand Village off the map was impossible.
The Yatagarasu had already been active on the battlefield for a long time, consuming a massive amount of chakra. Now, after aggressively bombing the village, the giant bird was starting to reach its limit.
Its chakra pool wasn't infinite. Kamishiro had to maintain enough energy for the Yatagarasu to fly all the way back to the Konoha camp.
If it ran out of chakra halfway and the summon canceled, Kamishiro would plummet straight into the heart of the Land of Wind. Considering all the highly unfriendly things he had just done, the enemy forces below would definitely swarm him to offer a very "warm" reception.
Therefore, after destroying several of the largest buildings, Kamishiro didn't linger. He decisively turned the Yatagarasu around and began the flight back.
A ten-hour round trip for ten minutes of bombing.
By the time Kamishiro was flying back, the sky was already growing dark. The battle on the frontlines had also come to an end.
If he had lowered his altitude, he would have easily spotted small, scattered squads of retreating Sand ninjas. This was the reality of the defeated.
Kamishiro was certainly a variable on this battlefield—one that even he himself hadn't anticipated. He had played a significant role, but what truly decided the outcome of the war was the sheer disparity in strength between the two sides. The direct Anbu forces led by the Third Hokage were all elites, giving Konoha a massive overall advantage.
It wasn't just that the Third Hokage's personal combat power was overwhelmingly high; the subordinates he brought with him were no slouches either.
On the main battlefield, the Kazekage was ultimately no match for the Third Hokage. However, with the support of Chiyo and Ebizo, and the countless Sand ninjas who laid down their lives to protect him, the Kazekage managed to retreat safely, albeit looking a bit worse for wear.
Konoha didn't blindly pursue them to expand their victory. Their strategic goal had already been achieved. After this battle, the Sand Village should finally understand that they simply lacked the power to fight both the Stone and Konoha simultaneously.
The Land of Wind had always coveted the fertile soil of the Land of Fire, but the Land of Fire had very little interest in the barren deserts of the Land of Wind. The ones who truly wanted to conquer the Land of Wind were the Stone Village.
If you looked at the chain of events: the Sand invaded the Land of Fire, so Konoha counterattacked. The Stone invaded the Land of Wind, so the Sand had to defend.
In terms of priority and actual threat level, the Hidden Stone was the Sand Village's true number-one enemy.
So at this point, the Kazekage really only had one choice left: sue for peace with Konoha.
Perhaps on the way back, the Kazekage still harbored some thoughts of regrouping and fighting back. But the moment he saw the thick pillars of smoke rising into the sky above his village from afar, he instantly understood.
Even the thick veil of night couldn't hide the raging fires consuming the Sand Village.
With their very home raided and destroyed, the Sand's war against Konoha truly had to end.
Rushing back into the village, the Kazekage realized his worst fears had come true. The village had been ambushed.
Burning buildings, weeping villagers, and the frantic silhouettes of people rushing to put out fires and rescue the wounded... This was the absolute last thing a Kage ever wanted to see.
The Kazekage brought back the news of their defeat on the frontlines. In return, the ninjas who had stayed behind gave him a detailed report of the air raid.
Listening to the report, the Kazekage quickly figured it out. This was the work of that flying Konoha ninja who had nearly dropped a bomb on his head earlier that day.
While the Sand Village was busy treating the wounded, this air raid ended up having a profound and lasting impact on their future defense systems and tactical doctrines.
From this day forward, the Sand Village poured a massive amount of funding into researching and developing anti-air barriers and long-range anti-air weaponry. They didn't just need to shoot high; they needed to shoot far, and shoot accurately.
Eventually, their research achieved massive success.
And years later, that success would be perfectly validated in combat.
Because one day, an arrogant ninja named Deidara would predictably fly his clay bird into the Sand Village's airspace. Unfortunately for him, the very second he entered their territory, he was instantly detected by their sensory barriers. Moments later, his little clay bird was effortlessly shot full of holes by the Sand's advanced anti-air defenses.
Plummeting from the sky, Deidara obviously had no idea that someone else had dug this massive pit for him years ago.
Some mysteries are better left unsolved. Who takes the fall for who? I dug this grave, I just forgot to tell you. For Deidara, flying would forever become a painful memory...
Ahem, but that is a story for the future.
By the time Kamishiro flew back to the Konoha main camp, he found the Konoha ninjas already cleaning up the battlefield and treating the wounded.
Any Sand ninjas lucky enough to survive were handed straight over to the Interrogation Squad. Information would be extracted by any means necessary; the Interrogation Squad definitely didn't know the meaning of the word "mercy."
As for the enemies who were clearly beyond saving but still clinging to life, the Konoha ninjas would kindly walk over and give them a finishing blow.
This was the standard post-war cleanup. After years of constant conflict, Konoha had developed a strict routine for it. Everything proceeded rapidly and methodically.
Kamishiro had calculated the Yatagarasu's summoning time limit quite accurately. By the time he reached the battlefield, it was just about time for the bird to return to the summoning realm.
The bird had worked incredibly hard today, and its chakra was basically empty.
The Yatagarasu's massive silhouette appeared in the twilight sky, catching the attention of the Konoha ninjas below. Its hoarse, bizarre cawing echoed over the camp.
Looking at this bird from a distance gave a completely different impression than seeing it up close. From afar, it looked majestic in flight. Up close, it looked downright terrifying.
Its sudden appearance made the Konoha ninjas tense up for a moment, but they quickly realized it was friendly. After all, the contributions this summoning beast and its master had made on the battlefield today were obvious to everyone.
The Yatagarasu dropped its altitude extremely low. The Konoha ninjas could clearly see the bizarre, single claw protruding from its belly. A few people subconsciously ducked their heads, feeling like that claw could effortlessly pluck their skulls right off their shoulders.
However, just as the bird reached about seven or eight meters above the ground, a soft poof echoed out without any warning.
Kamishiro suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath his feet, instantly replaced by a wave of weightlessness.
The Yatagarasu's summoning had canceled.
It seemed his calculations for the time limit... weren't quite as precise as he thought.