Hearing those words, Bunpuku felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His entire body froze in place, then collapsed like a punctured ball, slumping helplessly to the ground.
At that moment, this old man—in his sixties—burst into uncontrollable sobs. His voice was so grief-stricken and mournful that anyone who heard it would be moved to tears.
Beside him, Chiyo also wept upon hearing his cries—not only for Ryūnosuke, but also for Sunagakure itself.
If there had been any other choice, she never would have voiced such an inhuman idea. But there was no choice.
This was no longer about what she or Ryūnosuke might want—it was that they simply had no alternatives. Right now, Sunagakure had no one else fit to succeed as Kazekage.
Chiyo herself might hold Kage-level strength, but even among Kage, she was at the very bottom tier. Relying only on her and an aging Bunpuku who was already nearing the end of his days would never be enough to defend Sunagakure's vast foundation.
If Ryūnosuke truly died, they might endure for a few more years. But once Bunpuku grew too old to stand, then even if Konoha chose not to strike, the other three great villages—eager for expansion—would never leave Sunagakure's great wealth of land and resources untouched.
That was why Sunagakure needed Ryūnosuke.
A whole, battle-ready Ryūnosuke, capable of exerting Kage-level power. They needed him to resist the restless ambitions of the Four Great Villages, and to safeguard the growth of the next generation's Kazekage.
The two cried for a long time before their tears finally ran dry. That night, two figures carried a half-dead man back into Sunagakure under cover of darkness, silently entering the village's puppet workshop.
The next morning, Bunpuku attended Sunagakure's new round of high-level meetings. At the meeting, he explained the matter of Sunagakure's surrender, and publicly declared that Ryūnosuke had suffered serious injuries, though his life was not in danger.
According to Bunpuku, Ryūnosuke would require three months of peaceful recuperation, after which he would resume command of Sunagakure. In the meantime, Bunpuku himself would handle the signing of postwar agreements and oversee the village's daily affairs.
The explanation was vague, but thanks to Bunpuku's decades of prestige, it was just enough to steady the uneasy hearts of the populace, allowing the looming crisis to fade away.
Yet no one knew that within the Puppet Workshop, besides Chiyo and the half-dead Ryūnosuke, there was also a small, red-haired figure watching quietly…
...
While Sunagakure, under Bunpuku's leadership, slowly returned to a semblance of normalcy, the news of Hoshiyomi's victory over the Third Kazekage—and of the Second Great Ninja War's end—had already reached Konoha's rear lines.
In a small town in the Land of Rain, Jiraiya's face lit with amazement as he read the latest intelligence.
"That guy Hoshiyomi is really something else. To think he even defeated the Third Kazekage… But this is good. At least now this war-weary land can finally have a chance to breathe."
But with the war's end… didn't that also mean it was time for him to part ways with those three little disciples?
The thought made Jiraiya's expression complicated. After all, there's no such thing as an eternal banquet—every gathering must end. His time with those students was reaching its conclusion.
Still, Jiraiya was an open-hearted man. Though sadness touched him for a moment, he soon shook it off, his face once again breaking into that familiar careless grin. No way would the gallant Jiraiya allow their farewell to be such a sorrowful one.
Besides, since Nagato was the Child of Prophecy, then surely he would one day shine across the shinobi world, just as "Naruto" did in stories.
Even if they couldn't see each other again, Jiraiya believed he would continue to hear of their deeds in the years to come.
...
Konoha. Hokage's Office.
"Come in."
At Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice, Sakumo pushed open the door.
The Hokage, who had been buried in paperwork, looked up and smiled warmly.
"You've come. How has your rest at home been these past days? I imagine it must have been good, spending some time with your son."
Hearing those words, Sakumo couldn't help but picture Kakashi's face in his mind, and a blissful smile spread across his lips. This past year, he thought, had been the happiest of his entire life.
With Tsunade and Hoshiyomi's care, Mayu's pregnancy and delivery went smoothly, and both mother and child were safe. After returning, Sakumo had spent an incredibly joyful year together with his wife and son.
Thinking back on it now, he couldn't stop himself from laughing:
"Yeah, I never imagined that playing those simple little games with my son could bring me so much happiness. Speaking of which, I really owe it to Hoshiyomi—if he hadn't helped me with the frontline logistics, I doubt I would've gotten such a long leave."
Seeing Sakumo's happiness, the Third Hokage's face also softened into a smile.
"I've got even better news for you."
With that, Hiruzen took a confidential report out of his drawer. Sakumo opened it, and after just a glance, his face showed clear surprise.
"It's over? How could it have ended so quickly? The last report said we had to prepare for a prolonged war."
Leaning back with satisfaction, Hiruzen puffed on his pipe and said:
"Keep reading—you'll see. That kid Hoshiyomi is no ordinary one."
Sakumo continued reading as instructed, and the more he read, the more shocked he became. When he finally finished, he gave a somewhat helpless smile.
"To think he defeated the Third Kazekage—the one they called the strongest Kazekage in history—right on the battlefield. I thought that after breaking into the Kage-level myself, I might have closed the gap between us. But it looks like he's still far, far ahead of me."
Hiruzen shook his head again and again, echoing Sakumo's sentiment:
"I never imagined it either. At first, I only thought of you all as geniuses, but I never expected you to become this strong. In my lifetime, being able to train such exceptional juniors as you… even when I go down to meet Tobirama-sensei, I'll be able to pat my chest and proudly say I didn't bring shame to him."
Hearing that, Sakumo quickly protested:
"Lord Third, you're joking. You're still young—how could you say something like that for no reason?"
At those words, Hiruzen turned his gaze to the portraits of Hashirama and Tobirama on the left wall and murmured:
"Not young anymore. I'm already forty-six. It's time I make way for the younger generation. If I cling to this seat while the village has talents far more capable, wouldn't that make me nothing more than a useless relic clinging to power? I don't want to go down to the afterlife and be scolded to my face by my teacher. This position should be handed to someone truly worthy. I have no wish to suffer that shame."
Sitting opposite, Sakumo was utterly stunned by these words. For a long moment, he didn't even know what to say.
...
The news of the Second Great Ninja War's end spread like wildfire under Konoha's intelligence network, reaching every corner of the shinobi world in less than half a month.
After a long period of uneasy calm, the shinobi world erupted again—and the name Gekko Hoshiyomi resounded across the lands.
His feats spread through the shinobi world like tales from a storybook: the night raid on Iwagakure's main camp, the fierce battle against the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, sowing discord within Sunagakure, the relentless pursuit from the Land of Rain all the way into the Land of Wind, and finally, gravely wounding the Third Kazekage on the very border of Wind Country."
These tales traveled far and wide, until even playwrights in the Land of Fire wrote an entire kabuki drama inspired by him—grandly bestowing upon him the title: Konoha's God of War.
From then on, the name Konoha's God of War resounded throughout the shinobi world, becoming even more widely known than his previous title, "Konoha's Silver Moon."