Chapter 177: After the War is Over, I Have Something to Tell You
The dust finally settled on the cataclysmic battle, concluding only when Mie shattered the sealing formation and Black Zetsu dragged him away into the shadows.
Despite the apocalyptic scale of the clash, the post-war damage assessment yielded a miraculous statistic: not a single life had been lost. The casualty list consisted entirely of minor injuries. A few patrol members caught some shrapnel from chakra bombs raining down from the sky while assisting Nara Kajisuke, and a handful of others were knocked off their feet by the shockwave when the aerial fortress detonated in mid-air.
The Nine-Tails had fought with wild, untamed ferocity, while the Seven-Tails had been directly screwed over by Black Zetsu's interference. Now, only the smoking wreckage of the sky fortress remained scattered across the landscape. The scavengers from the Research Facility were already swarming the debris, carefully cataloging the scraps as they waited for their two lead researchers to return from the frontlines and reverse-engineer the technology into something distinctly Konoha.
On the other side of the battlefield, the wielder of the Rinnegan had been thoroughly suppressed by the Fourth Hokage. His devastating ultimate technique had been perfectly deflected by the village's barrier. While it caused extensive structural damage to the surrounding architecture, it claimed zero lives—with the sole exception of the Fourth Hokage herself, who sustained heavy injuries in the process.
Interestingly enough, the epicenter of that "extensive structural damage" just so happened to be the Hyuga Clan's main compound and its immediate surroundings.
Back when Stelle first took office as the Fourth Hokage, she had rolled out a complete architectural modernization plan. The entire village had undergone a major transformation. Every major ninja clan, including the proud Uchiha and the storied Senju, had cooperated smoothly, resulting in a highly organized and efficient village layout.
Every clan, that is, except the Hyuga.
Several deeply conservative Hyuga elders had flatly refused to renovate or re-plan their territory, stubbornly insisting on preserving their ancient, traditional aesthetic. As a result, their sprawling estate had remained uniquely old, dilapidated, and obnoxiously large compared to the rest of the modernized village. Stelle hadn't even bothered to argue with them, simply crossing their compound off her management list.
By sheer, beautiful coincidence, this battle had served as a highly effective, completely free manual demolition service. It saved the administration the hefty cost of hiring a specialized wrecking crew.
Truly, a stroke of incredible luck.
Due to her severe injuries, Stelle was currently enjoying an honorable, mandatory stay at the Konoha General Hospital.
With a severely fractured left leg, extensive burns across her body, and a colorful array of internal organ damage, she was completely immobilized and successfully confined to a wheelchair.
Stelle stared at her reflection in the small hand mirror, utterly speechless. She could accept battle damage. She could accept the pain. But she absolutely refused to accept being wrapped head-to-toe in thick white bandages, stuck in a rolling chair like a fragile invalid.
To make matters worse, the intense heat of the battle had scorched several sections of her hair. The hospital staff had been forced to trim away the burnt ends, reducing her signature long, straight black hair into a choppy, uneven short cut. To her eyes, the new look was indescribably ugly.
"Am I really this hideous now? I'm too ashamed to let anyone see me." Stelle threw the mirror aside and pulled the thick hospital blanket entirely over her head, rolling into a tight, miserable burrito. "Take that wheelchair away. I'd rather sleep in this bed until the end of time."
"Master, I promise you, in my heart, you are still the most beautiful and stunning woman in the entire world."
Seeing his master's dark mood, Minato Namikaze immediately deployed his natural, succubus-like charm to coax her out of her shell. A smile as bright and warm as the morning sun graced his face, his azure eyes clear and gentle. Even though he was blatantly flattering her, his expression remained so earnest and serious it looked as though he were delivering a critical military report.
Stelle didn't buy a single word of it.
This blonde menace had already managed to make Kushina Uzumaki fall for him at a ridiculously young age. Before Stelle even realized what was happening, he had completely charmed the fiery red-haired girl, and Stelle still had no idea how he pulled it off with such effortless grace. He had even managed to become fast friends with the Nine-Tails, treating the massive beast like a sworn brother. Even Stelle, who had spent years carefully farming mood values from the giant fox, couldn't compare to his natural affinity.
He was, quite literally, a human succubus.
"Your promises are worthless. I'm not going outside even if you hold a kunai to my neck, and absolutely no idle visitors are allowed in my room!" Stelle barked from beneath the covers, shifting her weight to bury her face deeper into the mattress. "Have the administration send all the battle reports directly here. Also, find a decent cartographer to sketch out that new canyon for me. Make sure the measurements are exact to the millimeter; I need to study how to deal with that massive eyesore."
Minato scratched his cheek, offering a helpless smile. Honestly, he thought his master looked quite striking with short hair—it gave her a sharp, heroic, and spirited edge—but she clearly wasn't in the mood to hear it.
Deciding a change of tactics was necessary, he leaned closer to the blanket lump. "If you really don't want to go out, then you don't have to. How about this? Tonight, I'll personally cook your favorites. Sukiyaki, fresh dorayaki, and premium Wagyu barbecue. Sound good?"
The blanket shifted slightly. "Now that's more like it."
Standing quietly by the window, Uchiha Kagami watched the exchange with a rare, doting smile. It wasn't often he got to see the usually calculating and shameless Stelle acting so childishly.
Stepping away from the glass, he approached the bed. "Didn't you say you wanted to see how to handle that massive rift near the training grounds? I'll take you there."
"I just said I'm not sitting in that stupid chair—eh? Wait, what are you doing?!"
The blanket was suddenly peeled back. Before Stelle could process the movement, she found herself scooped up and securely cradled in Kagami's arms.
"I'll take you to the site so you can see it with your own eyes. That way, you won't have to keep stressing over a sketch," Kagami said, his voice steady.
He held her with extreme care. This was the first time since they had grown into adults that he had taken the initiative to pull her this close. Outwardly, his handsome face remained perfectly calm, but internally, his heart was hammering against his ribs in sheer panic. The arms supporting her weight were entirely stiff, rigid with the fear of accidentally aggravating her injuries. He barely dared to breathe.
"Carrying me like a princess? This is infinitely more humiliating than the wheelchair!" Stelle squirmed, fully intending to reject the offer, but Kagami didn't give her the chance.
His eyes flashed, and he immediately activated the Body Flicker Technique, blurring out of the hospital room with her in his arms.
Stelle's jaw tightened. You go out to fight one major war, and you come back this assertive? Are you trying to rebel against me? Believe it or not, I will absolutely ignore our bond as fellow disciples and pummel you into the dirt just like I pummeled Danzo Shimura!
A few rapid blurs of motion later, the two materialized just outside the village borders, standing at the edge of the newly altered terrain.
A massive, abyss-like rift tore through the earth, a jagged scar that silently screamed of the terrifying destructive power behind the enemy's ultimate technique.
Stelle stared down into the sheer drop for a long time, her mind rapidly calculating the logistics of leveling the earth versus developing the crater as it was. Maybe we just build forward? Set up a multi-level Commercial Street hanging over the edge? A tourist trap for ninja enthusiasts?
After a few minutes of intense mental math, a sharp headache began to throb behind her temples. She sighed, deciding to immediately dump the problem onto her favorite scapegoat.
"Let Danzo handle the zoning and construction. My head hurts just looking at it." She shook her head, fully embracing her desire to slack off.
Beside her, Kagami suddenly lowered his gaze. His jaw set slightly, as if he had just finalized a massive internal debate.
"Stelle," he began, his voice unusually quiet. "After this war is finally over... I have something I want to tell you."
Stelle blinked, glancing up at his serious profile. "What is it? Why can't you just say it now?"
Kagami looked away, his dark eyes flickering toward the horizon. "Let's just wait until the war is over."
In the past, he had always operated under the assumption that life was long. He believed he had an entire lifetime to stay by her side. He had convinced himself that it was perfectly fine not to confess his feelings, fine not to push for a relationship, as long as she was happy and he could remain her loyal shadow.
But the day he had caught her falling hairpin amidst the chaos of battle, a cold, piercing panic had erupted from the very marrow of his bones. In that split second, his entire perspective shattered.
He suddenly realized just how fragile and agonizingly short life truly was.
He had made a silent vow to himself. Once this war concluded, if he still had breath in his lungs, he would lay everything bare. He would tell her every single thing he had kept locked away in his heart, regardless of the outcome.
"By the way, regarding your eyes," Stelle suddenly spoke up, her tone shifting to a more serious, clinical edge. "What did the Senju elders say?"
As the supreme commander of the Land of Lightning battlefield, Kagami wasn't originally supposed to return to the village at all.
However, highly classified intelligence regarding his Sharingan had somehow been leaked to the enemy. Stelle didn't even need to investigate to guess the culprit. It was almost certainly Black Zetsu's doing. Whenever something inexplicably malicious or perfectly timed to ruin her day happened in this world, Black Zetsu was the prime suspect. Since Danzo was currently chained to a desk managing her finances and no longer available to take the blame for everything, Black Zetsu was the only logical target.
Regardless of the source, the secret of Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan had spread. Hearing the rumors that overusing the Mangekyo inevitably led to permanent blindness, the Third Raikage and Blue B, alongside the Two-Tails, had immediately launched a relentless campaign of harassment and attrition.
They were all overwhelmingly powerful elite shinobi. To hold the line against monsters of that caliber, Kagami had no choice but to repeatedly activate his Mangekyo. Even with the heavy frontline support of Akimichi Torifu, the continuous drain on his ocular power was severe.
During his most recent clash with the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, the situation had spiraled out of control. The host had suddenly lost her grip on reality, going completely berserk and entering a full Tailed Beast transformation. To suppress the rampaging beast and prevent massive casualties among the Konoha forces, Kagami had been forced to unleash the ultimate, highly taxing technique hidden within his right eye—a move he had sworn never to use.
The technique had instantly neutralized the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. If the Third Raikage hadn't arrived at breakneck speed to provide emergency support, the host would have died on the spot, forcing the Hidden Cloud to wait years for the Two-Tails to resurrect.
While the Two-Tails Jinchuriki was now completely out of commission, the victory came at a steep price. Kagami's vision had degraded rapidly, his eyes developing significant, painful complications.
Taking advantage of the current stalemate—where neither side was willing to risk a full-scale, all-out offensive—Kagami had slipped back into Konoha. His primary goal was to consult the medical elders of the Senju Clan, hoping they could use their specialized vitality techniques to delay the deterioration of his optic nerves.
If he was destined to go blind, he needed to ensure his eyes lasted at least until this war was won.
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