In Konoha's sixty-fifth year, two pieces of news shocked the entire Shinobi World.
The first was that Madara Uchiha—the culprit who had seized Iwagakure's Four-Tails and Five-Tails and slain Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki—had been killed by Konoha's Fourth Hokage, Uzumaki Kuming, on the border between the Land of Birds and the Land of Earth.
The second concerned Konoha's Fourth Hokage, Uzumaki Kuming, as well. On January 1st, Uzumaki Kuming would marry Kirigakure's Mizukage, Mei Terumi, in Konoha.
These two pieces of news had been released by Sunagakure and Iwagakure in Madara Uchiha's case, while the latter announcement had come from Konoha and Kirigakure.
It was September. The scorching summer was drawing to a close, and the temperature had dropped to around twenty degrees. Passersby still wore short sleeves and shorts, but whenever the breeze blew, they could already feel a faint chill.
Outside Konoha's prison, Sasuke Uchiha, who had been detained for over ten days, had finally completed all his interrogations. With Uzumaki Kuming and Uchiha Fugaku standing surety for him, he was finally able to walk out of the prison.
"Whew!" Sasuke Uchiha stood at the prison entrance and took a deep breath. A faint smile appeared on his cool face. Returning to Konoha this time, he felt more relaxed than ever before.
"Sasuke, welcome back to Konoha."
Uzumaki Kuming and Karin had been waiting beside the prison entrance for some time. Seeing Sasuke emerge, Naruto stepped forward with a smile. Back then, Sasuke had left the village in pursuit of power, and Naruto had searched for him for a long time. It was only after Sasuke met Uzumaki Kuming in the Land of Rain that he truly found his goal.
And after following Madara Uchiha for so long, Sasuke had not only grown stronger. More importantly, he had