Author Note:
The prophecy has been fulfilled… 100 Power Stones have been offered. The bonus chapter descends!
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"To be able to suppress the Ten Tails like this… have you gotten stronger again?"
Namikaze Minato let out a sigh, forcing a wry smile.
If before he had been relieved and impressed by Guts, now there was only a sense of helpless admiration. The man had left everyone so far behind that catching up felt impossible.
"Sensei, Madara..." Shisui glanced at the ancient ancestor lying breathless on the ground.
"His eyes. You should know what to do," Guts said.
Shisui crossed his arms, hesitating only for a second before squatting down. He placed his hands over Madara's closed eyelids.
Two thin trails of blood seeped out from beneath, proof of the destruction of the eyes the entire shinobi world had once dreamed of possessing.
No one present felt the slightest pity.
"Phew…"
Guts exhaled slowly, sitting on the ground as if the Ten Tails itself were just a cushion. Leaning back against the strange white mass, he said,
"Before Madara died, he told me how the Ten Tails had been divided back then. Once you've got your hands on it…"
"Get it done quickly. Looks like I'm stuck in this hellhole for a while."
Without his suppression, the Ten Tails would be like a rabid hound again, thrashing and raging without end.
"Thank you, Guts," Namikaze Minato said sincerely.
Not just the shinobi world, but Minato's own family owed him more than they could count.
Sixteen years ago with the Nine Tails, now again in the Fourth Ninja World War, time after time, Guts had saved them.
Guts, who had been about to close his eyes for a quick rest, cracked one open with a faint smile. "No need for thanks. I have my own reasons."
Minato only smiled. He knew Guts's way of talking...always downplaying himself and began preparing the sealing work for the Ten Tails.
Before long, Hinata and Hanabi arrived, followed by Anko, Terumi Mei, Tsunade, Kurenai, Konan, Uzuki Yugao, and more.
After hearing what had happened, they all gathered near Guts, some relieved, some moved, others quietly in awe.
And just as quietly… the women began to notice something.
When did Guts end up with so many women around him?
There weren't even this many back home.
Tsunade, the "main female lead," found her gaze drifting toward Yugao, Konan, and the others who usually seemed to have nothing to do with him.
The icy Konan turned away a little too quickly.
"I'm only here to thank him for helping Nagato get revenge. Don't read too much into it," she said in a tone far too deliberate to be casual.
Yugao, still masked, spoke just as awkwardly. "I'm his fan. I admire Senpai Guts. He's the hero who saved the shinobi world."
Tsunade pressed a hand to her forehead. She had a bad feeling, an eighty percent chance she'd be sharing a dinner table with all of them sooner or later.
The War Is Over
Through Minato, the Fifth Hokage, word spread first to the Allied Shinobi Forces in every village, then to the rest of the world.
People celebrated like never before.
In this war, Guts had almost single-handedly turned the tide, earning the title of the war's greatest hero...greater even, many said, than Senju Hashirama ending the Warring States era.
He had saved the world.
A month later, under the leadership of Hinata with her Tenseigan and Minato's sealing expertise and using the technique taken from Uchiha Madara, the Ten Tails was finally split back into eight tailed beasts.
Both the tailed beasts and the humans were calmer now. None of the beasts lashed out upon release. They had all seen clearly inside the Ten Tails during the war.
Even without the rest of the world, Guts alone was enough to convince them a second war would be suicide.
Through the hard bargaining of Uzumaki Kushina, the only Jinchūriki, a peace agreement was reached:
The tailed beasts would live far from human lands, never initiating attacks on people.
The shinobi villages, in turn, would never hunt them again.
Kushina would be the last Jinchūriki, this agreement lasting until the next generation, and maybe even beyond.
The war had been too costly. For at least a century, no one wanted to see another.
Once freed, the tailed beasts returned to their own territories to live peaceful, wild lives.
With the Ten Tails no longer his responsibility, Guts returned to Konoha alongside the girls.
Aftermath
A three-day memorial service followed. Even though none of Guts's close companions had fallen, it was still a ceremony for those who had fought under his lead, a mark of respect from the hero who had saved the world.
After the mourning came joy. Konoha shifted from grief to a level of celebration it had never seen.
Guts, Hinata, Hanabi, and Minato who had all played key roles, became living legends.
People came from every corner of the world just to see them, especially Guts.
So many, in fact, that Minato had to put a restraining order at the village gates.
After much thought, Terumi Mei passed the title of Mizukage to Chojuro. Between him and Suigetsu, she felt Suigetsu's character made him unsuitable for the role.
Still just a jōnin not even an elite, Chojuro was blindsided by the promotion, feeling less like he'd won a prize and more like he'd stepped into deep trouble.
Terumi Mei didn't care. She left the mess to him, Ao, and the others and moved into Guts's house in Konoha.
Tsunade didn't take that well, giving Guts the cold shoulder for several days.
Neither Konoha nor the Mist objected, after all, the Fifth Mizukage wasn't young anymore, and if she wanted to walk alongside the world's savior, who could complain?
Shisui had planned to return his eyes to Sasuke, but Sasuke himself refused.
Something had shifted in him since the war perhaps Itachi's sacrifice and last request had reached him after all.
In the end, Guts had him fitted with a pair of ordinary eyes. Sasuke's situation now seemed stable, at least in Naruto's eyes.
Guts didn't care much about the boy, but Naruto visited him in jail constantly, even more than Haruno Sakura, the hopeless simp.
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A month later, Guts was out strolling through the village with Hinata and Hanabi. He'd been bored and just wanted to walk.
Tourists from other nations greeted him along the way, and he waved back casually.
If he tried to respond to everyone, he'd lose his voice in minutes.
"A lot of beautiful girls talk to you now," Hanabi teased, bumping his shoulder.
"Heart skipping a beat yet?"
"Well~ maybe I just won't bring you two next time. Would make things easier for me." Guts grinned knowingly.
"Hmph!"
Even knowing he was teasing, Hanabi turned away in mock annoyance.
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