Chapter 458: Surrender
However, the spark of hope in Mei Terumi's heart had just ignited when it was doused by an even colder, more cruel "fact."
Shino Aburame, after a brief moment of stunned silence and an exchange of glances with Sasuke, reacted quickly.
He absolutely could not let the enemy harbor any illusions!
Shino adjusted his sunglasses and shouted loudly, his tone carrying a sense of "obviousness," with a hint of "did you even need to ask?"
"Not sure." He first gave a vague answer, then threw out a more shocking "fact":
"We smashed the Mizukage Building directly."
He paused slightly, as if recalling the scene, then added, his voice clear and cold:
"He probably... died in the ruins."
This sentence was like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely into the hearts of all the Kirigakure Ninja who heard it.
If only Shino and Sasuke had said this, they would never have believed it.
But at this moment, there was also that giant, god-like figure; the giant just standing there was enough to silently confirm Shino's words.
"He's just a dead man. If you need, I can send you to see him."
Sasuke also reacted at this moment.
Regardless of whether the Elder was actually in the Mizukage Building at the time, and regardless of whether he had already transferred or hidden, at this very moment, in the mouths of Shino and Sasuke, and at a time when the morale of the remaining Kirigakure forces needed to be completely shattered...
The Elder must be a dead man!
He must have died in the ruins of the "smashed Mizukage Building"!
It used the most brutal and direct method to extinguish the last glimmer of hope in the hearts of the remaining Kirigakure forces that "the leadership is still here, hope remains."
Regardless of whether Mei Terumi believed it or how the other Kirigakure Ninja speculated, in the face of the news that "the Mizukage Building is now in ruins" and "the intruders personally claimed the Elder might be dead," any resistance based on the delusion that "the Elder is still here" lost its legal and moral Foundation, turning into a purely meaningless death struggle.
The Foundation for their resistance was gone, and their families had also been taken captive.
Mei Terumi's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
She opened her mouth, only to find she couldn't make a sound.
Shino's understated yet incredibly cruel words completely shattered the wishful thinking she had just harbored.
And the surrounding Kirigakure Ninja, after a brief, deathly silence, erupted into a chorus of suppressed, desperate sobbing.
Their final spiritual pillar seemed to have collapsed with the news that "the Elder might have died in the ruins."
Shikamaru, standing to the side, secretly gave a thumbs up to Shino for this timely final blow.
Shino was truly one of the few reliable ones among their peers.
"We..."
Mei Terumi hadn't expected to hear such news; she bit her lip tightly.
If reinforcements could still arrive from the Hidden Mist Village, she might have been able to lead these current Jonin and Chunin in a desperate resistance.
Well... facing this kind of... this kind of god-like power before her eyes, that so-called "desperate resistance" was merely self-deception.
In the face of an absolute power gap, the effect of numbers and will was compressed to the limit.
However, people are just like that.
When facing a desperate situation, even a straw, a bubble of self-deceiving hope, could help one hold on for a little longer.
But now, even that bubble had been pricked, and only then would they enter... true, endless despair.
'It seems the Elder's influence on them is truly significant!'
Shikamaru watched the atmosphere of grief and despair permeating the Hidden Mist camp and couldn't help but sigh softly in his heart.
This old man was undoubtedly the true anchor and spiritual leader of the Hidden Mist after they lost the Fourth Mizukage.
The psychological impact of his "death" might even exceed the occupation of the Hidden Mist Village itself.
After all, if you keep the land but lose the people, you lose both; if you keep the people but lose the land, both can be recovered.
The role of a spiritual leader in war is immense.
However, sighs are just sighs, and reality is reality. Shikamaru knew very well that now was the best time to apply the final pressure and force them to make a decision.
He took a deep breath, infused his voice with Chakra, and issued an ultimatum to Mei Terumi, who was clearly in chaos and despair, and to the remaining Kirigakure forces behind her whose fighting spirit was on the verge of collapse:
"Mei Terumi, will you surrender or not?"
"We surrender!"
After responding to Shikamaru's words, Mei Terumi slumped to the ground as if all her strength had been drained away.
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The Moon, deep in the core.
The texture of space here became strangely peculiar, as if one were in an interlayer independent of reality, composed of pure Chakra and ancient will.
Massive Sealing Jutsu formations, like living vines and chains, were densely engraved on the invisible "barrier" all around, emitting ancient, heavy, yet stable Chakra fluctuations.
The air was filled with a silence like time had stopped, and a vast pressure that made one feel oppressed to the depths of their Soul.
Naruto, Hinata, and Hanabi were standing at the edge of this Sealing Space.
Their gazes were all focused on the very center of the Sealing Space.
There, a woman wearing a wide white robe, with silver-white hair flowing to the ground like moonlight, was slumped, sitting like a sculpture that had lost all vitality.
Her figure was extremely tall; even sitting, she was far taller than an ordinary human standing, like a Titan or deity from legend.
She lowered her head, her face mostly obscured by her falling silver hair; one could only see skin so pale it was almost transparent, and a delicate yet bloodless jawline.
There was not a trace of active Chakra fluctuation around her, as if she were merely an empty shell.
The person before them was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
The mother of the Six Paths Sage Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura.
"Finally... found you."
Naruto whispered to himself, his voice sounding exceptionally clear in this silent space.
The moment he saw Kaguya, his fingers instinctively clenched, but the next moment, he slowly unclenched them, recovering his outward calm.
Hinata and Hanabi, standing beside him, were also completely shocked by the scene before them. This was the first time they had seen such a "huge" human with their own eyes.
Kaguya's pure white robe, silver-white long hair, and the inhuman, ethereal, and deathly aura emanating from her made them think of the figures from ancient legends.
"Just like... the Snow Woman from the legends..."
Hanabi couldn't help but whisper in amazement, her tone filled with wonder and a hint of instinctive fear.
Although Hinata didn't speak, her pure Byakugan eyes were filled with shock and caution; she unconsciously moved half a step closer to Naruto.
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