The current situation in the Ninja World was as follows: Sunagakure had expressed submission to the Ninja World Government two years ago. Now, Kumogakure had been destroyed, and Iwagakure had been incorporated into the government's territory.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, only Kirigakure remained.
Just as Tsunade returned to Konoha, bringing Onoki's head to offer at her younger brother Nawaki's grave, an Anbu suddenly appeared behind her, kneeling on one knee.
"Hokage-sama, a message has arrived from Kirigakure. They are willing to send an envoy delegation for peace negotiations."
Tsunade nodded.
"Understood."
To be honest, she wasn't surprised that Kirigakure would make this choice.
After all, Kirigakure had been on the verge of collapse due to the Fourth Mizukage's decades-long [Bloody Mist] rule.
And two years prior, the fact that the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had been controlled by a Sharingan was exposed. However, this didn't improve Kirigakure's situation much.
That fellow Obito was also utterly ruthless. Upon discovering that Mei and others had uncovered the secret, he forcibly released the Three-Tails from within Yagura, causing its death, leaving no benefit for Kirigakure whatsoever.
Makoto strongly suspected this was mainly because Kirigakure had forcibly implanted the Three-Tails into Obito's beloved goddess, Nohara Rin, leading to her death, and thus Obito harbored a deep-seated grudge against the village.
With Kirigakure also announcing its submission to the Ninja World Government, this Ninja World War had ended in just one short week.
Many called this conflict the [Fourth Great Ninja War].
Konoha was immersed in a celebratory atmosphere. Although Konoha was technically a subordinate organization of the Ninja World Government, being the second-in-command was still better than being third or fourth, right?
At the celebration banquet, Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga Clan, received considerable attention.
The heads of other clans, such as the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka Clans, came to toast him.
After all, everyone had witnessed Hinata's performance during this war.
Even setting aside the future, she was already a pillar of Konoha's strength.
If Makoto wished, as soon as Tsunade retired, he could immediately arrange for Hinata to become the Sixth Hokage.
Hiashi was also overjoyed. He drank quite a bit, his face turning as red as a boiled lobster. His usually stern, unsmiling face was now creased with laughter.
Holding a sake cup in one hand and patting the shoulders of the neighboring clan heads with the other, he rambled on about how 'Hinata has worked very hard since she was young' and similar things.
"Pfft... disgusting."
Kurenai sat at the edge, holding a cup of sake she'd barely touched, muttering her complaint under her breath.
"It's not that bad. I mean, if your daughter were that strong, you'd be happy too."
Her best friend, Mitarashi Anko, was frantically stuffing dango into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster. She didn't even bother wiping the crumbs falling from her lips as she spoke.
Hearing the words 'your daughter', Kurenai's body stiffened slightly.
She instinctively touched her lower abdomen, then her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the dog of a man surrounded by a group of girls at the center of the crowd.
Kurenai looked away, took a sip of her sake, and added quietly:
"I'm not jealous of Hyuga Hiashi. It's just that he never really cared about Hinata before. Now that Hinata has become strong, he puts on this 'proud father' act. It's really hard to watch."
Anko swallowed the dango in her mouth and, for once, didn't argue, just hummed vaguely in agreement.
…
The Tailed Beasts captured by Makoto had been released from their Poké Balls and were curled up in a corner of the village.
Their colossal, mountain-like forms attracted a lot of attention.
Ikuyo stood on a nearby rooftop, resting her chin on her hands. She tilted her head, looked them over, and then said seriously:
"Aside from the Two-Tails, they all look pretty..."
Besides the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails obtained from Kumogakure, the Five-Tails, Kokuo, had also been extracted from Han by Ai and was currently in a free state.
However, it too feared Makoto's power, dared not make any reckless moves, and obediently remained in Konoha as a pet.
Utaha walked over to Makoto and asked in a low voice:
"Sensei-kun, if you're going to revive the Ten-Tails, doesn't that mean you'll have to kill Naruto later?"
Makoto had also discussed the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan with the women. The first priority was obtaining all Nine Tailed Beasts to revive the Ten-Tails.
But doing so would require extracting the One-Tail from Gaara and the Nine-Tails from Naruto.
And after watching Ai successively extract three Tailed Beasts from their Jinchuriki, the women understood that once a Jinchuriki loses their Tailed Beast, they would quickly die.
It was one thing for enemies like B and Yugito, but Naruto and Gaara were allies.
To be honest, killing them was somewhat hard to bear.
Makoto said:
"After reviving Kaguya, take her out immediately, then extract the Tailed Beasts again and seal them back."
That's right, the method Makoto provided was a blitzkrieg.
First, extract the Tailed Beasts from Naruto and the others to revive the Ten-Tails.
Then have Madara become the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, then let Black Zetsu pull a fast one to revive Kaguya.
Then kill that foolish woman and immediately extract the Tailed Beasts again and seal them back into Naruto and the others... problem solved.
In the original work, hadn't Naruto also had the Nine-Tails extracted by Madara, only surviving because Obito helped retrieve a portion of its power and transfer it into him?
"Will there be enough time?"
Megumi had somehow also come over, her tone carrying a hint of incredulity.
She had been watching when Ai extracted the Five-Tails earlier.
After returning, she had specifically calculated it. A Jinchuriki who loses their Tailed Beast would survive at most a few minutes.
And according to Makoto's plan, after extracting the Nine-Tails from Naruto, they would have to summon the Ten-Tails, have Madara become its Jinchuriki, have Black Zetsu seize Madara's body to revive Kaguya, then defeat that Kaguya...
Would Naruto even hold up through that entire series of operations?
Although Megumi and the others didn't have a close relationship with Naruto, during the Chunin Exams' first written test, his bold and heroic declaration had left a good impression on them.
They didn't really want to see Naruto die like that.
Makoto's expression remained calm:
"Then we'll have the Tailed Beasts leave a portion of their Chakra inside them."
During the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original work, B also had the Eight-Tails extracted from him.
At the critical moment, Gyuki directly severed one of its own tails, leaving it inside B to prolong his survival.
After the war ended completely, the Eight-Tails was resealed inside him, and he survived all the way into the Boruto era.
This method would be enough to allow Naruto, Gaara, and the others to hold on for a while.
"Thank you very much, Commander-sama."
Temari, who had been quietly listening nearby, stepped forward with a grateful expression and thanked Makoto.
When she first heard about the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, Temari was genuinely terrified.
Because it would mean sacrificing her younger brother, Gaara.
Now that she heard Makoto had a way for Gaara to survive, the stone that had been hanging heavy in Temari's heart for so long finally fell to the ground.
Reze came up from behind with a sly smile, placed both hands on Temari's shoulders, and rested her chin on top of her head.
"Words alone don't show much sincerity. How about joining us tonight?"
Temari's body stiffened. She slightly turned her head, glancing at Reze from the corner of her eye, not immediately understanding her meaning.
It was only when Reze's fingers slid down her shoulders that Temari felt as if she'd been jolted by electricity, her hairs standing on end.
Only then did she grasp the implication.
Finally, Temari said, in a voice almost only she could hear:
"If Commander-sama is willing..."
Seeing the inexplicably expectant look on this woman from Sunagakure, Hanabi gave her sister's firm buttocks a hard pinch.
"Nee-chan, you can't fall behind! Go get him!"
Hinata's face turned even redder than Temari's.
In fact, regarding this matter, her father Hiashi had spoken with her not long ago.
At that time, Hiashi hadn't minced words. He directly stated that Hinata was 16 years old and perfectly capable of becoming a woman.
And who else would help his daughter make that transition if not Makoto?
He had given you such immense benefits. If you didn't give something back, was that right?
Damn it, if sleeping with Makoto could grant him the Tenseigan, Hiashi declared he'd have no problem going in himself.