"You're leaving just like that? Ignoring me entirely?" Rasa's voice cracked with disbelief. His pride refused to accept defeat so easily.

Ebizo sighed. Deep down, he knew the truth—this battle was already over.

Those white lightning attacks overwhelmed Rasa's gold. No, they overwhelmed every metal-based technique. His deadly gold sand, feared across nations, now looked like harmless dust against the divine power of Kaito's lightning.

In the distance, Shukaku screamed.

"It hurts! It hurts!"

Ebizo turned to see Shukaku trapped in the elongated thunder coffin conjured by the Thunder Giant. White lightning pulsed through it, flowing like liquid energy, endlessly tearing into the One-Tailed Beast's body.

From afar, it looked like Shukaku was wrapped in an elegant veil of white light. But the ear-splitting screams betrayed the reality—it was torment.

Shukaku repeatedly tried to liquefy into sand and escape, but the coffin was sealed. The walls were lightning barriers, forming an unbreakable prison. No matter how he shifted, he couldn't seep through the currents.

Ebizo clenched his jaw. Even Shukaku was being defeated.

Hovering above, Kaito calmly looked down at the Tailed Beast, who had reverted to its true form.

"Shukaku, stop struggling. You're not getting out," he said, voice like thunder.

"Damn it! It hurts! It hurts so much!" Shukaku screamed, his beastly eyes bulging in rage and pain.

The white lightning wasn't just restraining him—it was devouring his chakra, eroding the metallic elements within his body. Chakra constructs shouldn't feel pain like this, and yet Shukaku wanted to die just to end the suffering. It was a kind of agony he had never known.

"No! I can't take this anymore!" he bellowed.

His black eyes flashed. He opened his massive jaws and began charging a Tailed Beast Ball.

Black and white particles condensed in an instant.

"Let's see if your lightning prison can survive this!"

Boom!

A roar exploded from within the white coffin. The Tailed Beast Ball detonated, shaking the heavens.

And yet, the thunder coffin only trembled for a moment before returning to stillness.

"Damn bastard!" Shukaku snarled. Half of his massive form had been consumed by his own blast, and his beastly eyes began to fade.

The sand body unraveled, collapsing slowly. From the remnants, an unconscious old monk spilled out—Bunpuku.

Seeing the monk, Kaito knew it was over. Shukaku had been resealed.

With a silent thought, the white lightning vanished, as though it had never existed. The battlefield was quiet, save for the scorched earth and shifting sand.

Kaito picked up Bunpuku and reappeared before Ebizo and Rasa.

"Still want to fight, future Fourth Kazekage?" he asked flatly.

He pondered the situation.

The One-Tail's Jinchūriki couldn't die—Gaara's future depended on him.

Chiyo must live too—she was needed for Gaara's future resurrection.

Rasa? He couldn't be eliminated either. Who would seal Shukaku into Gaara?

Even Ebizo, though unimportant in the grand scheme, had no reason to be killed now. Chiyo might retaliate if he were harmed, and altering the timeline could cause an irreversible chain reaction.

In short—no one here could die.

Kaito sighed, frustrated. After all that effort, all he'd defeated were foot soldiers. His power felt wasted.

When Ebizo met Kaito's gaze, he understood everything.

"We surrender!" he shouted quickly.

Beside him, Rasa scowled but said nothing. What else could he do? Even three-on-one, they had lost.

"Fine. Since you concede, I'll let it go," Kaito replied.

He gently set Bunpuku down, then vanished.

—

At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, both armies remained on alert.

But unlike the Sand forces, the Konoha shinobi were smiling. Even from afar, it was clear who had won.

"Incredible," said Nara Shikaku, his tone admiring. "Lord Kaito's strength is even greater than our intelligence suggested. I've never seen him before, but if my clan could arrange a marriage alliance with him… well, that would be something."

He cast a subtle glance at Tsunade.

"Ahem, Shikaku, let your clan members make their own choices," Yamanaka Inoichi said with a smirk. "Besides, I don't recall anyone particularly good-looking in your clan this year. Unlike mine—we've got several waiting to marry. Talented, beautiful, graceful. Perfect candidates."

Though joking, they spoke truth. In noble clans, marriages weren't always chosen freely—especially during wartime.

Shikaku's words served two purposes. One, to gauge Tsunade's reaction. Two, to genuinely explore the possibility of connecting with Kaito.

Of course, it all depended on Kaito's interest. And with Tsunade nearby, the odds weren't in anyone else's favor.

Beside them, Yuhi Shinko gave a wistful sigh. His family was too small to even consider such talks.

Tsunade listened in silence, her mood suddenly souring. With a stomp, she cracked the ground beneath her feet.

Seeing her temper flare, Shikaku and Inoichi instantly fell silent, sweat beading on their foreheads.

Shikaku had his answer.

Crack! Crack!

Suddenly, arcs of lightning sparked in the air.

In a blink, a figure wrapped in white thunder appeared in front of Tsunade.

"You bastard!" she shouted, heart pounding with a mix of anger and relief.

Her fist shot forward.

Bang!

Kaito caught it effortlessly.

Boom!

The ground exploded beneath them. Earth split and rose into the air as spiderweb cracks raced outward. The force of their clash turned into fierce winds, blasting through the encampment.

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(Tl/N: It's not that he doesn't want to kill them (Sand ninjas), here's an hypothesis. Since they're from the past, his own timeline is their future, if he change things in the past, it could alter his own timeline.

Also do you remember when Tsunade met him in his timeline, she said something about his thunder ability, but we all got no explanation...It might be her remembering this current him, but well, I could be wrong.)

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Looks like no bonus chapters again today, enjoy the 2 daily ones instead!