The world-spanning Ninjutsu was activated. The planet's gravity was tampered with. The distant sound of tearing roars came.
The people living in the Land of Fire had just broken free from the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but a second disaster followed.
The world suddenly seemed to become cramped.
The towering heavens seemed to press down, turning into pure white earth. Through the vast fissures above, one could glimpse the gradually dimming and extinguishing stars in the universe.
"The sky... the sky is falling?" At the Konoha Village's evacuation square, Iruka squeezed out from the surging crowd, his mouth agape as he stared at the sky.
"No!" Sakura's father, Kizashi, clenched his wife's hand tightly and narrowed his eyes. "We are rising!"
The entire earth of the Land of Fire defied all natural scientific laws of physics, environmental science, climatology, etc., forcibly rising hundreds of meters in height.
The violent sea water surged, surging sky-high, as if extending to the end of the world. Then, from the end of the sea, wind came, carrying the scent of rebirth and change.
"This..."
Commanding the allied forces to withdraw to the ships they had used for landing, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, and others watched the earth-shattering sea surface and the gradually sinking Land of Water, their minds and spirits shaken.
After seeing off the Sage of Six Paths and the souls of the successive Kage-level strongmen, the members of the Team 7 boarded the Leviathan, coincidentally catching the ocean current submerging the Land of Water, and set sail.
"Sakura-chan, what exactly are you trying to do?" Naruto, sitting atop the lookout tower, looked at the girl floating in mid-air like a deity and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Fixing the mess they left behind!" Lowering her head, Sakura reached out and lightly tapped the air.
The nearly infinite energy supply allowed the Yin-Yang Release spanning the world to continuously generate seawater. At the same time, the fourth stage of the Senjutsu Evolution technique converted vast amounts of Natural Energy, injecting seawater mixed with high-density Natural Energy into the planet's water vapor cycle.
The planet, whose Natural Energy had twice been drained from its ley lines by the revival of the Ten-Tails, was rejuvenated and invigorated by the supplementation of the seawater.
The vast expanse between heaven and earth seemed to have nothing left. Dark clouds covered the entire planet, turning into torrential rain that never ceased.
As long as any creature infected with the Chimera Virus was soaked by the water vapor mixed with Natural Energy, the Hashirama's cells inside it would go berserk, lignifying it in place, rooting into the earth and turning into a plant.
As if the descent of the God Tree had come again, similar transformed plants were sprouting in every corner of the Ninja World: the Land of Water, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Earth...
"Such dense Natural Energy?" Sasuke, leaning against the gunwale, reached out and caught some seawater. Detecting what was contained within, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Treating the planet like a piece of clothing to be washed… what an enormous undertaking!"
"This way, we can save nearly a hundred years of processing time and prevent the virus from contaminating the gene pool of the survivors!" Sakura slowly descended back onto the Leviathan, dispersing her True Blood Mode.
In just three minutes, it had burned six hundred of her achievement points, causing her great heartache.
But the results were also very impressive. In the distance, a roaring sound suddenly came. Something seemed to light up in the depths of the ocean. Crimson red rolled in the deep gray ocean currents, reflecting the scorching flame light from beneath the earth's crust.
Burning wind came from the end of the sea, carrying gray dust and white mist. Fire and lightning spread across the sky and sea.
As if the entire world was boiled by the sea, it seemed to return to the liquid environment rich in organic molecules in the planet's early oceans.
"As for you two!" Sakura turned her head. Her emerald eyes reflected the lying corpses of Obito and Madara.
Yin-Yang Release was activated again, extracting the Eight-Tails and Three-Tails that she had compressed and throwing them into Madara and Obito's bodies respectively.
"Reflect deeply on your sins. You will spend the rest of your lives living on the ocean floor, monitoring the movements of those infected with the Chimera Virus, and simultaneously patrolling the world, searching for any traces left behind by the Otsutsuki Clan!"
As Sakura's judgment was given, the two were swallowed by the vast Chakra of the two Tailed Beasts, their bodies dragged into the water, disappearing from sight.
"Hmph, they got off too easy!" Sasuke watched the distant light spheres and snorted coldly.
Hearing this complaint, Sakura's gaze swept over Sasuke with a meaningful look.
Speaking of which, in the original work, the person who ultimately shouldered the task of searching for the Otsutsuki in the Ninja World was exactly Sasuke, who had defected and then been dragged back by Naruto.
But now, that duty had been taken over by Madara and Obito, allowing Sasuke to free up his hands to properly revitalize his Uchiha Clan.
"If you're worried, you could follow them and supervise their punishment~"
Naruto said with a teasing expression, reaching out to hook his arm around Sasuke's neck. "But be careful not to die alone~"
"None of your business! Worry about yourself first!" Sasuke pushed away his hand and retorted. "After you marry that Hyuga young lady, you'll have plenty of Byakugan to endure!"
"What did you say? You eternal single dog!"
"I'm talking about you, you blond-haired big player!"
The two boys, one black and one gold, pressed their heads together, sparks flying between their gazes.
"Sigh, you two! Aren't the Chakras of Asura and Indra already gone?"
Watching the bickering pair, the corners of Sakura's mouth curled up in a helpless smile. She reached out and hooked her arms around both their necks. "Let's go! Home!"
The sails of the Leviathan swelled, flying toward the only remaining continent in the distance.
…
Year 73 of Konoha!
Under the sunny sky, white clouds came from afar. Under the warmth of the sun, they cast mottled shadows, covering the high-rise buildings of Konoha Village.
Vehicles traveled on the wide concrete roads. Pedestrians on the streets looked at each other, their expressions bewildered.
Excited tourists held up their phones, taking pictures of the statues of the three heroes who saved the Ninja World at the Konoha's Memorial Hall.
The wind from the distance carried the salty, fishy smell of the sea through the streets and alleys, entering Konoha's Second Ninja Academy, which was dotted with green fields.
"At the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the fighting caused the sea level to rise hundreds of meters, submerging most of the world's land. From then on, the Ninja World entered the era of the Four Seas. The vast majority of the population concentrated on the Land of Fire continent. A small number of people set sail to live on isolated islands overseas..."
Inside the classroom, Umino Iruka held a book, reading aloud the latest modern history exam syllabus printed by the Konoha Examination Institute, teaching the students the latest exam content.
"Sensei, Sensei, you were once the homeroom teacher for those three heroes, right? Can you tell us about their younger days?"
A well-informed but meddlesome student suddenly interrupted, disrupting the slightly dull theory class order.
But this chaos did not incur the disgust of others. Instead, it pulled up quite a few sleepy heads, who perked up and pricked up their ears.
"Ah, them..." Iruka's gaze swept over the pair after pair of expectant eyes, the corners of his mouth unable to help but curl up.
"They were much more serious in class than you all, and their grades were very good. They were always among the top of the school!"
"Ehh—! Boring!" The children's jeers were long and drawn out, each one dejected and booing.
"Then, Sensei... where are those three lords now?" A girl with white eyes timidly raised her hand. The somewhat worn clothing on her body proved that she was not from the Hyuga Clan's main family.
But at this age, near graduation, her forehead was extremely smooth, without the former shadow of the caged bird.
"Ah, they are surely busy with matters concerning this country and the world!" Iruka smiled and tapped the blackboard.
Then he raised the exam syllabus in his hand and continued explaining the knowledge in the textbook to the children.
The wind from the distance still blew. The ancient Ninja World had taken on brand new vitality.
And the heroes who had created all these changes were now sitting around a bonfire, raising their cups of wine and meat.
Sakura placed one foot on a wooden wine barrel, shouting to her companions beside her.
"Everyone, today we celebrate the newcomer joining our pirate crew. Cheers!"
"Yeah!" x n
Countless beautiful sisters, fish-men, giants, winged-people, raised their glasses together, toasting to the Ninjas who had come from afar!
Thus, amidst the splashing of wine and the joyful laughter permeating Medical Island Marian, the feast continued.
The story continued.
Thus, it happily extended into the limitless time of the future.
[The End]