After Kaguya awakened, she released the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
But her naturally quiet nature made her feel anxious and uneasy about communal living.
Naruto initially tried to have heart-to-heart talks to ease her concerns, but Kushina believed urgent matters should be handled slowly, and suggested that Kaguya temporarily live on the moon, accompanied by her and Minato.
Naruto thought about it—the moon was Earth's neighbor, and visiting would be convenient—so the matter was settled.
With the great war concluded, the ninjas also returned to their villages, each carrying their own concerns.
But the problems left behind were far more serious than anticipated.
In the days that followed, the ninjas all felt as if they were living in a dream.
After all, through this war, their long-held ninja philosophy—built through training, missions, and real combat—had suffered a devastating blow.
After calming down, what followed was complete bewilderment.
Faced with beings whose every gesture could change heaven and earth, no matter how hard they tried or how desperately they struggled, they could only become cannon fodder.
Effort was the last lifeline for those without talent.
If even effort became meaningless, what could they do?
Many ninjas became dejected from then on, no longer harboring grand ambitions, becoming the 'lying flat' faction among ninjas.
Those with slightly more awareness decided to leave the ninja ranks and seek other paths.
This was the epitome of what Amamiya Ruri had mentioned in her pre-war monologue: 'clinging to the well's edge, taking one look at the outside world, then falling hard back down'!
But there was nothing wrong with this—recognizing one's own insignificance was also a form of growth, and withdrawing at this point was a wise choice.
Those who lay flat or left the stage simply let go of survival pressure and got by day to day, gaining a sense of lightness.
The truly troubled were those who successfully jumped out of the well, knew their own insignificance, yet chose to face reality. What awaited them would be a long and painful 'breaking out of the cocoon'!
In Konohagakure's conference room, Hokage Kakashi, various clan heads, and jōnin were discussing solutions to post-war problems.
Heavy rain fell outside the window, and the atmosphere inside was unusually somber.
Yamaguchi Shinpei, the special jōnin responsible for Konoha personnel, held a long list with a grave expression: "As of now, 362 ninjas have submitted petitions to withdraw from Konoha's ninja registry, including ANBU jōnin. If we let them leave, the village's vital forces will..."
His hesitation revealed his worry about Konoha's future.
But Kakashi, presiding as Hokage, remained calm: "As long as their backgrounds are clean and they apply for discharge through legal channels, we can only try to persuade them to stay, but we cannot control their decisions. Everyone has their own aspirations, so let them leave... As for the decline in combat power, I think Konoha isn't the only one facing this problem."
The helplessness beneath Kakashi's calm words made the atmosphere even heavier.
At this moment, someone joked: "If Danzō and Root were still around, these people would probably have been dealt with halfway..."
Shikaku picked up the conversation, teasing: "Root's dark era has long ended. The current Konoha is completely bathed in sunlight, so shouldn't we also be more sunny and not so gloomy..."
"Haha... that's true."
The oppressive atmosphere eased somewhat, and the meeting continued.
Shizune, captain of Konoha's medical corps, said seriously: "After the war, the number of patients at Konoha Hospital has significantly increased."
Someone was puzzled: "What's going on? Didn't everyone return uninjured? Why do they need treatment?"
Shizune said: "Not physical injuries, but psychological disorders."
"Due to Uchiha Obito's time-reversal dōjutsu, almost all participating ninjas actually experienced multiple 'deaths' and 'rebirths,' with the most extreme cases repeating between death and revival over a thousand times. This has caused varying degrees of psychological disorders. Mild cases involve numbness toward death, while severe cases have developed 'delusional syndrome'—some think they're already dead, others believe they can never die, and some have become obsessed with the feeling of ferrying between life and death."
"Additionally, there's a widespread phenomenon where everyone has developed strong stress reactions to spiral patterns—either anxiety or extreme excitement—which has already interfered with normal life."
Kurenai Yūhi supported her chin with her slender hand, her beautiful eyes sparkling: "Spiral patterns... oh! When Obito released that time dōjutsu, he did indeed create spirals!"
She had given birth not long ago, so she hadn't participated in the war. When the conflict erupted, she served as logistics personnel protecting Amegakure's civilians.
Her complexion was better than usual—after all, Asuma had also been revived by Rinne Rebirth.
Asuma also looked refreshed: "Speaking of which, the symbol on our Konoha ninja uniforms is the former Uzumaki clan's family crest."
Yamashiro Aoba's eyes behind his sunglasses stared at the cipher division ninja 'Shiho' across from him, who was responsible for meeting minutes: "Um, to be honest, I'm troubled by this symptom. I've been restless these past few days..."
More precisely, he was staring at the spiral glasses Shiho wore.
"Shiho, could you please remove your glasses? Please..."
Shiho was the braided woman who had helped Shikamaru decode Jiraiya's message during the Pain battle.
Seeing Yamashiro Aoba's hands clasped together and trembling continuously, everyone finally realized the seriousness of the situation.
Shiho removed her spiral glasses, revealing the birthmark she thought would affect her appearance. She quickly took out a pair of non-spiral, opaque glasses from her pocket and put them on, then looked toward the corner of the meeting room. Seeing Shikamaru resting his chin on one hand and dozing off, apparently not noticing, she felt relieved.
She adjusted her glasses, looked at Yamashiro Aoba, drew a circle with her pen tip on a blank page, and continued taking meeting minutes.
Kakashi said with difficulty: "But we can't change the uniforms over this—they're a symbol of friendship between Konoha and the Uzumaki clan."
At this point, Shizune put down the documents in her hands and said earnestly: "In the past, medical ninjas existed only to treat ninjas' physical injuries. As for psychological intervention, while it existed, it was never studied as a specialized subject."
"What impressed me most and made me feel regretful was that Tsunade-sama was troubled by hemophobia for over ten years. If there had been corresponding measures, perhaps she wouldn't have..."
"Therefore, I propose that it's time to establish a new branch among medical ninjas—'psychiatric medical ninjas.'"
Thinking of past nightmares, Hatake Kakashi empathized: "That's right, Shizune hit the key point. Psychological intervention for ninjas is indeed urgent, but in the field of psychiatric medicine, we have too little material..."
Kurenai said intelligently: "But the general framework exists—mainly psychological counseling or through genjutsu methods..."
Genjutsu was the power of the 'mind.' Powerful genjutsu users typically had inner worlds that were complex yet not chaotic, profound yet delicate.
Caw caw caw...!
The sound of crows suddenly echoed in Kakashi's mind. He clenched his fists and said in a low voice: "Perhaps we should specifically consult with that person... In any case, let's put this on the agenda."
Item by item, the post-war affairs discussion proceeded methodically under everyone's collective wisdom.
Finally, they reached the most sensitive issue.
Click!
Nara Shikaku lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, then spoke in a steady tone: "Speaking of which, everyone heard Naruto's declaration on the battlefield about coming from the future, right?"
The meeting room, which had been filled with whispered conversations, suddenly fell silent.
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