The ninja world gradually returned to peace.
The live broadcast ended as well, replaced once again by the normal programming of Red Sun TV.
People walked out of their homes with uncontrollable excitement written all over their faces.
Many had already begun rebuilding their houses, hope shining in their eyes.
There were subsidies.
There was a future.
Even if life became harder for a while, it was still thousands of times better than the worst possible outcome.
For ordinary people, contentment was often the simplest source of happiness.
The reanimated powerhouses brought back through Beiruho's Impure World Reincarnation were all fully revived by Naruto.
They reentered the ninja world and reunited with their descendants and loved ones, each experiencing their own joys and sorrows.
The Senju brothers returned to Konoha and received a grand welcome from the villagers.
The entire village was as lively as a festival.
Uchiha Madara had nowhere else to go, so he returned as well.
But after seeing the warm reception the Senju brothers received, he immediately felt bitter inside and nearly turned around to leave.
Fortunately, Uchiha Fugaku welcomed him at the right moment.
Fugaku respectfully invited Madara back into the Uchiha Clan and treated him with the utmost courtesy as the clan's ancestor.
Only then did Madara finally feel a little better.
Naruto also met Uzumaki Kushina again.
And for the first time in a long while—
He completely lost the calmness and confidence expected of the strongest man in the ninja world.
Instead, he became awkward.
Embarrassed.
He didn't even know how to face his mother.
In the end, he shamelessly used "busy work" as an excuse and fled, leaving Hinata behind to keep Kushina company.
"Pfft…"
"That child is way too adorable…"
Kushina laughed through tears, her eyes filled with tenderness, love, and deep heartache.
She had already learned about everything Naruto experienced growing up.
The discrimination he faced as a child.
The cold treatment from the villagers.
His desperate training.
Becoming a ninja at seven years old.
Rising uncontrollably afterward.
Becoming a Jōnin at twelve.
Then becoming the Fifth Hokage at the fastest speed in history.
And now—
He had personally pushed forward the unification of the ninja world and become the true strongest ninja alive.
Not only that—
Naruto had secretly established the Red Sun Society, gathered powerful figures from every village, promoted reform after reform, and turned the organization into one of the most important forces behind the unification of the ninja world.
Its reputation had already become legendary across the world.
Hearing all this made Kushina incredibly proud.
But more than pride—
She felt overwhelming guilt and heartbreak.
Because success never came without sacrifice.
The higher Naruto stood today, the greater the price he must have paid.
And Naruto was only fifteen years old.
Yet he had already reached the pinnacle of the ninja world.
What kind of pain…
What kind of loneliness…
What kind of determination…
Had driven him this far?
Just thinking about it made Kushina's eyes fill with tears again.
"Auntie…"
Hinata still felt shy and awkward at first.
But Kushina's warm and energetic personality quickly dissolved the distance between them.
The two soon became close like mother and daughter.
After all—
The person closest to them was the same person.
Naruto escaped under the excuse of work.
But honestly, he truly did have countless things to deal with.
The ninja world had already been completely shaken by his actions.
Even the reanimated powerhouses no longer dared to make any reckless moves in front of him.
The unification of the ninja world had essentially succeeded.
But managing such a massive world afterward was unbelievably troublesome.
The Land of Fire was already under stable control.
The Land of Rain wasn't a problem either.
But the Land of Wind, Land of Lightning, Land of Earth, and Land of Water had only submitted in name.
How should they be integrated?
How should the ninjas of each village be organized?
How should the nations be restructured?
How could people truly accept becoming part of a unified ninja world?
And beyond the Five Great Nations, there were still countless smaller countries and villages that needed handling.
Even after delegating most responsibilities, Naruto still had mountains of decisions waiting for him.
"Seriously…"
"There's way too much trouble."
"My head hurts."
Naruto slumped lazily in his chair.
"Shisui, go ahead and organize a Ninja Council first."
"Select representatives from every village and major region. Use the old village elders as a foundation and gather influential figures from across the ninja world."
"Then let them discuss all the reform proposals we already prepared."
"As long as they reach a consensus, implement it throughout the ninja world."
"Oh, right."
"I also brought back information from several parallel ninja worlds."
"Let them use it as reference material."
Naruto waved his hand impatiently.
"Anyway, I'm only responsible for crushing anyone who causes trouble."
"As for all that administrative nonsense…"
"Don't bring it to me."
Uchiha Shisui sighed helplessly.
Then he silently gathered the documents and left the office.
Over the years, he had already become familiar with Naruto's personality.
Naruto was excellent at controlling the overall direction.
But asking him to manage details?
That was basically torture.
Thankfully, after years of development, both Konoha and the Red Sun Society already had stable systems in place.
Even when Naruto disappeared for two years, everything continued operating smoothly.
And now that Naruto had returned and completed the final push toward unification—
His biggest role was honestly becoming the symbol of the ninja world itself.
After spending the entire afternoon playing games in the office, Naruto finally stretched comfortably and prepared to get off work.
"Lord Hokage!"
"Fifth Hokage-sama!"
"President-sama!"
People greeted him constantly as he walked down the streets.
Naruto smiled and nodded back one after another.
The worship in their eyes…
The admiration…
The way they looked at him almost like a god—
It made Naruto unbelievably satisfied.
Back when he was a child, he had sworn he would earn everyone's acknowledgment someday.
Now—
That dream had completely come true.
It felt amazing.
Absolutely amazing.
The only problem was—
Too many people greeted him.
Every few steps, someone called out to him.
Whether it was Konoha villagers, members of the Red Sun Society, or visitors from other nations, everyone treated him with extreme respect.
All eyes were fixed on him.
Like a world-famous superstar surrounded by fanatics.
Naruto felt like his face was about to freeze from smiling so much.
If this continued, he thought he might actually go insane.
With a single step, he disappeared from the street.
"What's wrong with these people?"
"Why are they so crazy now?"
Naruto muttered in confusion after reappearing outside his house.
Sasuke suddenly appeared nearby and calmly explained:
"Because during the disaster, the Land of Fire and Konoha barely suffered any damage."
"People believe you secretly protected the entire country."
"To them, you're practically a god now."
"It's normal for them to act fanatical."
Beside Sasuke stood Sakura.
Soon after, Shikamaru, Chōji, Ino, Kiba, Neji, Rock Lee, Tenten, Shino, and the others all appeared one after another.
Compared to Sasuke's calmness, the others still looked somewhat restrained around Naruto.
"Oh?"
"Everyone came over for dinner?"
Naruto's eyes lit up immediately.
"I haven't had a lively gathering like this in forever."
He truly looked happy.
Friends gathering together.
Celebrating peacefully.
This was real happiness.
And with so many people present, the awkwardness between him and Kushina would naturally ease quite a bit.
Naruto was more than happy about that.
"Naruto-kun, you're back!"
Hinata opened the door with a gentle smile.
"Everyone's already here. Come inside."
"Wow, Hinata, you already look like the lady of the house."
"D-Don't tease me…"
"I'm just helping…"
Hinata blushed instantly.
Everyone laughed as they walked inside together.
Naruto entered afterward.
Then he froze slightly.
The entire house was spotless.
The floors shined like mirrors.
Everything had been cleaned so thoroughly it practically looked brand new.
"Son, you're back!"
Kushina appeared wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
"Look at this!"
"Mom cleaned everything perfectly, right?"
"Hahaha!"
"I didn't expect I'd still be this good at housework!"
"Sit down, everyone!"
"Dinner's almost ready!"
"And thank you all so much…"
"Thank you for becoming Naruto's friends."
"Thank you for making sure he never had to stay alone."
Kushina spoke rapidly like a machine gun, sweat covering her forehead while warmth and love overflowed from her eyes.
It was almost as if she wanted to pour all the maternal affection Naruto had missed over the past decade into him all at once.
Naruto quietly suppressed the emotions surging inside him.
He didn't know how to respond to this kind of love.
It felt heavy.
Warm.
And unfamiliar.
"I…"
"Right! I almost forgot."
"There's one more person."
Naruto suddenly raised his hand.
Two masses of chakra light appeared from the seal inside his body.
One merged directly into Kushina.
The other gradually transformed into the figure of a blond man.
"Whoa!"
"It's the Fourth Hokage!"
"It really is him!"
"He looks exactly like the face on Hokage Rock!"
The others immediately became excited.
"Naruto?"
"Kushina?"
"What's going on here…?"
Minato slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he saw Kushina, his expression changed completely.
"Minato…"
Kushina's eyes instantly filled with tears.
"Wait."
"I'll fix this too."
Naruto suddenly reached into empty space and pulled out a strange mask.
Then he casually tossed it aside.
A gigantic Shinigami phantom appeared inside the room.
But the moment it saw Naruto—
Its expression changed instantly.
Like it had just seen the most horrifying monster imaginable.
"Relax."
"This'll only take a second."
Naruto smiled casually.
Then—
He tore open the Shinigami's stomach with his bare hands as easily as ripping paper apart.
The Shinigami let out a horrifying scream.
Even though most people couldn't hear it directly, everyone could see the agony written all over its face.
The Twelve Konoha rookies stared blankly.
Then slowly looked back toward Naruto.
Their expressions became incredibly strange.
Even Kushina and Minato were stunned.
They never imagined their son had such a terrifying side.
For a brief moment—
They even felt sympathy for the Shinigami itself.
Too pitiful.
A ball of light flew out from the Shinigami's stomach and merged into Minato's body.
Naruto waved his hand impatiently.
The wounded Shinigami disappeared into the void miserably, full of anger and resentment.
"Impure World Reincarnation."
"Rinne Rebirth Technique."
Under Naruto's control, Minato's body transformed from illusion into flesh and blood.
Life returned to him completely.
"Minato…"
"Kushina…"
Kushina finally lost control and rushed forward, tightly hugging Minato.
The two embraced each other emotionally.
Inside the room, everyone applauded loudly under Hinata's lead.
Even Naruto grinned happily.
His smile carried genuine satisfaction.
And hidden beneath it—
A trace of slyness.
"Good."
"Now you two can stick together all day."
"You won't have time to smother me anymore."
"Perfect."
Naruto sniffed lightly, pretending not to care.
But when Kushina suddenly pulled him into the embrace and hugged him together with Minato—
Naruto instinctively closed his eyes.
Greedily savoring the warmth he had never truly experienced before.
Ah…
So this was what family warmth felt like.
It really was wonderful.
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