Within the Shinobi World, everyone was immersed in the joy that followed the end of the war, savoring the hard-won peace and the relief of having survived such devastation.
Amidst the ruins, new villages and towns were being built. On the barren plains, people reclaimed and cultivated fertile lands. In the wake of the great battle, the first wave of newborns came into the world.
However, beneath the surface of peace, new schemes were already beginning to stir.
Some said it was the true end of the era influenced by Kaguya, that the age of shinobi had come to a close.
Topics like these were spreading rapidly across all the villages.
At first, no one took it seriously. Most just saw it as idle chatter from people tired of war—no different than after past Shinobi World Wars, where similar sentiments floated around, only to be forgotten once discontented souls once again sought battle to change their fates.
But when wave after wave of young people began to appear—practicing Breathing Arts and integrating them into everyday life—even the great shinobi villages, and the high-ranking nobles of various nations, could no longer ignore it.
Though Breathing Arts seemed simple compared to Ninjutsu—at best slightly enhancing one's physical strength in the early stages, lacking the flair and versatility of Ninjutsu—and though true mastery was incredibly difficult…
Even the Land of Iron, which had a system second only to the Five Great Nations, could produce only one or two such promising talents every two to three centuries.
A rare genius like Neji, for example, was nearly impossible to come across.
Still, the Breathing Arts' ability to prolong life made them wildly popular among the nobility.
Even after being trimmed down, the arts could boost the strength of their personal samurai retinues.
For ordinary people, learning Breathing Arts meant increasing their own power—meaning they no longer needed to hire shinobi for every little problem.
In fact, when faced with oppression, even an average citizen with some talent could potentially crush their oppressor through sheer effort and technique.
Under such circumstances, the demand for shinobi plummeted.
Many in the new generation of shinobi began to question whether Chakra-based training was even the right path.
In seeking an answer, some tried using ocular techniques to copy others' Breathing Arts for study, but made no progress.
Others bribed those who spread Breathing Arts, obtained the original manuals, and trained themselves—only to find they couldn't grasp the essence.
Some even attempted to train in both Chakra and Breathing Arts, but this often led to a regression in strength instead.
After all, the shinobi method of training never focused on foundational cultivation, but rather on broadening the variety of one's techniques.
Because of this, shinobi attempting to learn Breathing Arts tended to be distracted and lacked understanding—worse off than an old farmer swinging his hoe every day or a fisherman battling the sea.
Breathing Arts emphasized the fullness of both physical and spiritual energy, while shinobi constantly depleted their Chakra. From a fundamental standpoint, the two systems were incompatible—at least until mastery was achieved.
Only pure taijutsu users like Might Guy and Rock Lee were able to reap rewards from the new path, discovering new ways to flourish and relive their prime.
As Breathing Arts spread further, low-level missions no longer required expensive shinobi contracts.Civilians handled matters themselves. Nobles had their samurai deal with threats.
High-end missions were given to the large samurai armies under the daimyōs' control.
Only those mid-tier jobs—too trivial for elites, but too high for commoners, with pitiful bounties—fell to the shinobi villages.
Watching the ninja villages, which had just regained some vitality after the war, begin to wither again…
Many traditional shinobi faced unemployment and the inability to support their families.
From this tension, a new wave of conflict emerged.
All signs pointed to the Land of Iron as the source—where Breathing Arts had originated.
Fortunately, war never broke out.
Now the newly appointed Sword Saint of the Land of Iron—Neji, who was in fact even more powerful with fists than blades—took the lead in negotiations with Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest at a renewed Five Kage Summit.
They eventually reached a compromise.
The Land of Iron would no longer actively spread the secrets of Breathing Arts and would share its techniques with the leadership of the Five Great Nations.
Meanwhile, the major shinobi villages were forbidden from attacking civilians who had trained in the Breathing Arts and could not restrict its civilian spread.
As for the rumor that "the shinobi era is over"—the source was ultimately traced not to the Land of Iron...but to a newly risen, large-scale underground organization—resembling the Akatsuki in its earlier days.
This group had deliberately spread such talk to mislead attention and buy time for its own rise.
With the misunderstanding resolved, the Five Great Nations and the Land of Iron decided to form a joint army to target these underground forces in a new campaign.
Their goal: ensure lasting peace between nations and root out those destructive groups lurking in the ruins of minor countries, hiding from the light!
...
Years passed in a flash.
By now, Naruto had become highly proficient in his duties as Hokage.
He had even started a family and fathered a son.
Yet, the sheer volume of intense daily work overwhelmed him—even with Shadow Clones helping him—leaving him constantly on the verge of burnout.
There was no choice.
The rebuilding of Konoha required major development.
Countless threats skulked in the shadows, needing constant investigation and surgical elimination.
Even with Sasuke assuming the role of Konoha's "dark hand" and executioner, Naruto was still overworked.
After all, unlike Danzō, Sasuke didn't possess a vast intelligence network spread across the Shinobi World.
The Root's former responsibilities naturally fell back on the ANBU—and Naruto himself.
On top of that, the shinobi village had grown into a full-fledged metropolis.
The early administrative structure, set when the village was first founded, was now obsolete.
More and more issues piled onto the Hokage's desk.
As a result, Naruto had no time to discipline his son, Boruto.
Boruto, in turn, lived constantly in the shadow of his father's dazzling legacy.
This affected his personality—and set off a chain of events.
Alongside a group of friends, Boruto embarked on a journey during a period when the ninja village had yet to fully recover from its postwar vacuum.
Through repeated trials and training, he gradually transformed his inherited fame into strength of his own.
In doing so, he clashed repeatedly with the Kāra organization, founded by Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
Just as these conflicts reached a peak—
Three members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan suddenly descended from the heavens!
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki, Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki, and Ōtsutsuki Urashiki—elites among the clan—crossed the vastness of space in their physical bodies and arrived directly in the Shinobi World.
Following the lingering traces of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, they landed straight at the headquarters of the Kāra organization.
"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and the Divine Tree's fruit are missing. Isshiki has betrayed us!"
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki strolled up to Momoshiki, lazily toting a fishing rod.
He had arrived earlier than the others, scouted the Shinobi World, and quickly concluded—
The Divine Tree's fruit had already been consumed by someone.
Worse yet, that individual had mingled with the natives, scattering the noble bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki Clan across the world.
This was, without doubt, a grave crime!
To have spread the Ōtsutsuki bloodline across a planet that had been lost to their coordinates for nearly a thousand years…
It was highly likely that powerful beings carrying their bloodline would emerge.
And such beings—who had already achieved their own form of enlightenment or ascension—would never meekly submit to the clan, nor willingly be relegated to branch-house status...