As long as people didn't die, their stories would never end.
After elementary school came middle school, after middle school came high school, after high school came university. After starting work, there would be job-hopping, marriage, children... Even if a story was mundane, it would continue on and on!
That was why Naruto: Shippuden was followed by Boruto, and presumably Boruto would be followed by someone else's story.
Back to this book: my original plan was to finish Ryūchi Cave, then joke around a bit with Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke's marriages, and finally end with Kurenai getting pregnant. That probably could have lasted another twenty or thirty chapters—if I did well, maybe even a hundred. But once I thought about Naruto getting married, that whoever-it-was on the moon would definitely come down to join the fun. If that arc ran a little long, Houka's child would be born. Once the child was born, the whole stay-at-home dad and mom thing could probably be spun out for another hundred chapters. By then Boruto would be born too, and after a few little brats wet themselves, some Otsutsuki or other would jump out and shout, "Come on, party with us!"
So, after thinking it over for a long time, I decided to end it here—end it on the road to Ryūchi Cave.
Just as Kurenai said, this was a perfect ending. Because Akatsuki had won, because Black Zetsu had died, because Kaguya Otsutsuki had no way to come out and show off, because everyone had been resurrected, and because none of the hardships from Boruto had come to pass.
And Houka, carrying the victory of the Fourth Shinobi World War with him and without a single regret, would laugh and fool around with his wife, friends, and juniors, traveling carefree and at