The situation settled.
Makoto and his group left the Root's base and returned to the surface.
After entrusting Konohamaru to Iruka, the Konoha's Ninjas dispersed one by one, leaving only the players around him.
"Makoto!"
A shout came from afar. Kayoko waved in their direction.
"Mom!"
Airi and Marina ran up and embraced their mother.
The three members of the Team Makoto had also returned.
Megumi limped, supported on either side by Ran and Utaha… the Spirit Transformation Technique had taken a great toll on her.
Makoto smiled and walked toward them.
To the astonished gazes of all the players, he scooped up Megumi and lifted her high.
"Well done! Megumi! I love you!"
For the plan to proceed so smoothly, Megumi was undoubtedly the MVP.
Megumi was completely dumbfounded, watching her field of vision go up and down, up and down.
When she finally came to her senses, the astonished stares around her made her cheeks burn.
Even with her easygoing personality, she couldn't help shouting: "Makoto-kun! Put me down! Put me down!"
So embarrassed that she forgot to call him 'Sensei'.
In the distance, a figure stood frozen.
Aki Tomoya.
When the chaos began, he had hidden in the orphanage, not daring to come out until things quieted down. He never expected that the first thing he'd see upon emerging was this scene.
The murmurs of the Konoha's Ninjas around him drifted to his ears:
"Huh? Who's that girl?"
"She seems to be Makoto's student. Called Kana... Kana something?"
"Huh? I thought Makoto only had two students? One with nice legs and one with a horn on her head?"
"Idiot, Jonin Instructor all have three students. Didn't you know?"
"Looking closely though, that girl is actually quite cute. Unassuming, but she has a pure aura. Quite fitting for Konoha's new top fighter."
"But I heard Makoto is with the Aizono sisters?"
"Fool, the man will definitely be Hokage in the future, if not the Fifth then the Sixth. What's wrong with taking a few more?"
The more Tomoya listened, the worse he felt inside.
That was his heroine, his!
But what made him feel so pathetic was that he didn't even have the courage to object. These people all had superpowers… if he said anything, he'd get slapped the next second.
What made him even more miserable was… he suddenly realized that the scene of Makoto lifting Megumi high was strangely beautiful, like a CG from a gal game.
It felt like... like his wife was paired with someone else, and the husband was actually enjoying it.
But it wasn't over.
In the distance, Makoto put Megumi down.
The next second, he cupped her face.
"Mwah—"
At that moment, he understood the saying: A girl's blush is worth more than anything.
Tomoya could only use one phrase to describe his feelings at that moment:
I think I'm about to suffocate.
He was like a mouse that had always lived in dark sewers, suddenly thrown into the glaring sunlight.
"Makoto-kun, you—"
Megumi glared at Makoto, both embarrassed and angry.
This was her first kiss! How could he do this here, in front of so many people...
But seeing the ecstatic expression on his face, the rebuke on her lips died away.
Just then—
[Congratulations, player. You have completed the dungeon: Konoha Crush Plan. Teleporting back to the real world shortly. Countdown: 9, 8, 7...]
As the Reincarnation System's countdown reached zero—
After four and a half years, the world before the dozen or so players began to spin.
When their vision steadied, what lay before them reminded them of what they had been doing before the crossing.
Tomoya, Eriri, Utaha, and Megumi sat at a table against the wall in a family restaurant. They remembered… before the crossing, they had been sitting here discussing their gal game project.
Ran stood in her own home, looking at the living room that Mouri Kogoro had left in disarray.
The Aizono Family gathered in their living room, as usual expecting Makoto's return.
And Makoto and Yukino stood on opposite sides of a street on the night avenue.
Yukino also remembered: before her second crossing, she had been looking for Makoto, wanting to bring him to justice.
Even with the gap in strength, if she could find an opportunity to ambush him...
But recalling Makoto's performance in the Konoha Crush Plan just now, and looking at the man across the street whose body had returned to sixteen—
Her body trembled.
Now, the gap between them... an ambush wouldn't solve it.
"Heh... haha... HAHAHAHAHA!"
Makoto burst into laughter again, the same kind as the Four Great Uchiha Laughers.
It seemed laughing after every crossing was becoming a habit of his.
Makoto's wild laughter exploded without restraint, echoing wantonly through the night-shrouded streets.
Although there were few pedestrians on the street at this moment, quite a few glances still couldn't help but be drawn his way.
But Makoto's smile remained as usual, as if everything and everyone around him had nothing to do with him. After his emotions gradually subsided, he strode away in the opposite direction from which he came.
Before the second crossing, he had planned to return to the Aizono Residence to see how the Aizono Family had fared during the month he had been gone.
But having spent a full four years together in the world of Naruto, there was no need to rush anymore.
Instead, there was one place he suddenly felt like visiting.
Makoto then crossed the street directly, brushing past Yukino who was standing nearby.
The moment their figures crossed, he even deliberately turned his head and lightly raised an eyebrow at Yukino, whose expression had stiffened.
And Yukino, from beginning to end, stood frozen in place as if chilled, lacking the courage to even lift her head and meet Makoto's gaze.
She could only grip the hem of her clothes tightly, listening to the steady, oppressive footsteps as they gradually faded away, eventually disappearing completely into the night.
Meanwhile, none of the players who had returned to the real world from the Naruto World alongside Makoto after four years were idle.
By the seaside, the football team of Shuchi'in Academy was conducting off-campus evening training under the cover of darkness.
The team members were lined up neatly, jogging at a steady pace along the coastline, their footsteps perfectly synchronized.
But just then, Tobe Kakeru suddenly collapsed to the ground, as if an invisible hand had abruptly snatched away his spirit.
This sudden accident immediately threw the surrounding teammates into a panic.
"What's wrong? Tobe, are you okay?"
"Is it too much training today? Couldn't handle it?"
"Quick! Go get the coach!"
The group crowded around Kakeru, exclaiming in surprise and asking questions. Everyone instinctively assumed he had just temporarily fainted from overexertion.
Only Hayato, as if suddenly struck by an extremely terrifying thought, turned pale and stood rigidly in place, frozen.
The burly sports coach quickly pushed through the crowd with large strides and barked, "Move aside, move aside, keep your distance and let the air circulate!"
Initially, the coach didn't take it seriously either, merely treating it as ordinary physical exhaustion. He reached out to apply pressure to Kakeru's philtrum, preparing to administer emergency first aid.
But the moment his fingertips touched the other's skin, the coach's face also turned pale, and his voice couldn't help but tremble:
"He's... he's not breathing!?"