Half a month later.
The Land of Snow was celebrating the end of war, decorated with lanterns and festive decorations, but inside a room, Terumi Mei and the other two women looked gloomy.
"Mei younger sister, are you sure you saw Ye Liang that day?" Kushina Uzumaki sat on the bed, wearing the expression of a commanding older sister.
Terumi Mei pondered for a moment before nodding firmly.
"Yes! It definitely was him! Otherwise, there's no way to explain why White Zetsu suddenly withdrew his troops. It must be that Ye Liang defeated that impostor!"
Kushina fell into deep thought.
Standing nearby was Anko: "Sisters, don't worry! Lord Ye Liang isn't the kind of person who would abandon the woman who stood by him through thick and thin. I believe he'll definitely return."
"That actually makes sense, come to think of it."
Kushina nodded, then suddenly scoffed, "Pfft! Who wants to be abandoned anyway! I don't even care about him!"
As soon as she finished speaking, there suddenly came hurried footsteps from the door!
"Mistress Ye's consorts! Lord Ye Liang has returned!" It was Obito Uchiha's voice!
"What?! Ye Liang has returned!"
Kushina, who had just been 'scoffing', rushed out first, while the other two couldn't wait to step outside their room either.
"Where is Ye Liang now?" Kushina asked. Right after her words, she saw a heroic figure descending from the sky. The figure spun around gracefully before wrapping her in his arms: "Right in your embrace!"
Kushina blushed furiously.
At this moment, the other two also rushed over.
They tightly embraced Ye Liang with all their might, as if fearing he'd leave again.
"Cough cough!"
Ye Liang nearly couldn't breathe!
Anko was okay, although she was also D-ranked, but still young. However, Kushina and Terumi Mei were way too mature! Their, uh... assets were practically suffocating him!
"Everyone... enough already..."
After a moment of affectionate reunion...
Ye Liang asked Obito to notify others while he went to the village hall.
Before long, the news of Ye Liang's return spread like wildfire. Not only did the Uchiha clan return, but even the surviving people of the Land of Snow came, along with members of the Hyuga clan!
"Everyone! You've worked hard to help me defend the village. I'm Ye Liang, and I'm the founder of this village." He clasped his hands together in a respectful bow.
Fugaku Uchiha immediately stepped forward, kneeling on one knee!
"Lord Ye Liang, you've finally returned. If you had come back half a day later, we wouldn't have known what to do anymore!"
Ye Liang nodded solemnly.
Seeing almost everyone behind Fugaku bearing injuries, he also felt remorseful for his negligence: "I'm sorry everyone! Actually, it's all my fault. If not for me, none of you would have suffered such serious threats."
"How could it be Lord Ye Liang's fault?! If not for Lord Ye Liang saving us at the last moment and defeating the impostor, we would've all perished outside the village!"
"Yeah, yeah! It's all thanks to Lord Ye Liang! We're most grateful to Lord Ye Liang!"
Terumi Mei also walked up.
"Lord Ye Liang, many of us saw when you lured away the impostor earlier. May I ask timidly, is the impostor that you lured away really dead?"
"Dead!"
Ye Liang nodded. "Dead beyond revival!"
"Then everything's fine!"
Terumi Mei stepped back again.
Ye Liang shook his head. What he meant and what they understood were worlds apart. He felt regret for letting his Heart Demon grow, while everyone else believed he had saved the world!
Sigh. Well, whatever. Since everything's over, why should I even care anymore?
He shook his head and dropped the topic for good.
"Miina-san! There are some things I should just speak openly about. The Leader of the White Zetsu has already been dealt with by me, and the remaining White Zetsu have been controlled using a secret technique.
Those few days I took earlier were to ensure their complete and irreversible burial.
But!
There's another important matter I'd like to ask all of you.
Tell me!
Would you all be willing to leave this place with me?"
"Leave?"
Everyone exchanged confused glances. "We don't have homes anymore. If we leave here, where else can we go?"
"All other countries have already been destroyed by the White Zetsu. Even if we went back, we'd have to rebuild everything from the ground up, and that'd take ages."
Terumi and the others also looked puzzled. "Ye Liang! Everyone is already extremely exhausted. Isn't it too much to ask people to rebuild the village right now? Our Otogakure doesn't even lack for food."
She thought Ye Liang was essentially trying to kick everyone out.
Ye Liang shook his head.
"That's not what I meant."
He pulled out the time-space turtle he'd prepared in advance. "You might all have been wondering about my absence recently, so I'll just tell you the truth now.
Actually, I was the first one to encounter the Leader of the White Zetsu, and I fought him. Unfortunately, I lost. To reverse this devastating defeat, I used this time-space turtle to travel across time and space!"
He lifted the turtle in his hand slightly.
Everyone looked completely baffled, even Terumi wore a faintly awkward expression.
Seeing the disbelieving looks in everyone's eyes.
Ye Liang suddenly snapped his fingers!
The surrounding environment changed.
What was just a moment ago the icy Snow Country had now become the nearby area of an intensely hot volcano!
[Amenominaka!]
[Dojutsu capable of teleporting everyone at once!]
"This is Spatial Dimension capability! If I can teleport all of you here together, surely you can believe I can travel through time-space as well."
Everyone exchanged glances!
Although it still seemed far-fetched, fewer people voiced their doubts now.
Terumi gave a slight nod.
Seeing the situation calming down, Ye Liang again raised the time-space turtle. "The current world is completely trashed. Even after decades, it's unlikely to return to its original state.
Under these circumstances, I'd like to ask everyone: would you be willing to come with me to another time-space? There's another identical world there, and a village named Otogakure as well, which is perfectly suitable for accommodating all of you!"
He spoke concisely and clearly.
To leave or to stay... that was the question.
Everyone started to think deeply.
At this point, no one even thought to question Ye Liang anymore. Still, these people had been living here all along, and suddenly asking them to leave the land they relied on for survival naturally made them reluctant.
This was especially true for the natives of the Land of Snow, as well as some members of the Uchiha Clan who had relocated here long ago. They'd struggled in Konoha, but now they were thriving in the Land of Snow — so of course they were reluctant to leave.
Noticing everyone's hesitation, the three women stepped forward without delay. "Ye Liang! Wherever you go, we go too! The three of us fully support you!"
Ye Liang looked at them with appreciation and nodded.
Itachi Uchiha and Deidara also stepped forward. "Count us in too!"
Some from the Hyuga Clan stepped forward. "Then count us in as well."
They were new here, so they didn't have any attachments to this place.
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara from Team 7 shifted slightly. "Teacher! We'll never abandon you!"
"Hmm."
Ye Liang nodded in agreement.
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