Inside Hōzuki Castle, it wasn't just one Grass ninja cursing in fury.
None of them had expected that, with a great enemy right at the gates, Mui wouldn't use the Box of Ultimate Bliss to gain overwhelming power for himself—but would instead waste his wish on bringing his son Muku back.
They genuinely could not understand it.
Even if Mui brought Muku back, so what?
Uchiha Chizumi could arrive at Hōzuki Castle at any moment. Wouldn't they all still die then?
"The sins on my own hands may indeed be beyond cleansing," Mui said, glancing at the Grass ninja with a cold sneer in his heart. "But my son has no sin on him."
From beginning to end, Mui had been crystal clear about what he wanted.
Or rather, he had only ever wanted one thing—to bring his son back.
In Mui's eyes, if he could get Muku back, then even losing his own life would be worth it.
"So this is your wish?"
"Then as you wish."
As Mui stood there watching the Box of Ultimate Bliss with nervous anticipation, it responded.
The instant its voice rang out, Mui's face twisted into ecstatic joy.
Amid the furious curses of the Grass ninja, and under Mui's hopeful gaze, a figure slowly rose from inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss, pushed open the lid, and began walking toward him.
"M-Muku…"
Looking at that familiar face, Mui truly felt, for the first time, that even if he died now, he would have no regrets.
To bring his son back, he had drained the chakra of who knew how many prisoners in Hōzuki Castle. His own hands were stained with countless sins. He had even manipulated these Grass ninja.
And for what?
For this moment—for Muku to return.
Now that Muku was really standing before him, Mui's voice trembled, and he felt as though everything he had done had been worth it.
"Mui, you deserve to die! You really deserve to die!"
If the Grass ninja had still carried even a trace of doubt before about whether the Box of Ultimate Bliss could truly grant wishes, that doubt vanished the moment Muku appeared before them.
And it was precisely because they no longer doubted it that they now felt Mui deserved death.
That wish—there had been so much more they could have done with it!
They could have wished for invincible power!
They could have wished for the strength to rule the shinobi world!
What the hell had Mui done?
"Father, I'm back."
But Mui could no longer hear the Grass ninja cursing behind him.
All he could hear was Muku smiling as he approached him, calling him "Father" again, standing before him once more.
Then why… did his stomach hurt?
When Mui looked down and saw Muku's hand buried deep inside his abdomen, confusion finally overtook his eyes.
"Since Father sacrificed so much for me, I'm sure you won't mind giving me your chakra too, right?"
Muku's soft voice still rang in his ears, but by now Mui understood.
What he had released was not his son.
What he had released was the monster that had been sealed inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
He could feel his chakra pouring out of him—being sucked away by the creature wearing his son's face.
Behind him, the Grass ninja who had been cursing just moments ago wisely shut their mouths.
It wasn't that they didn't want to keep cursing.
It was that they had now realized that whatever Mui had released… it wasn't Muku.
The smarter ones among them began dragging themselves away with the last of their strength. None of them had forgotten that the Box of Ultimate Bliss devoured chakra.
If this thing didn't even spare Mui—the man who had freed it—then why would it spare them?
"So little power…"
The creature wearing Muku's face—Satori—felt the chakra inside him and looked displeased.
Then Satori's eyes shifted to the exhausted Grass ninja nearby.
For Satori, their fear was another source of strength.
The Box of Ultimate Bliss had four faces carved into it—joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. That meant it could gain chakra by feeding on those four emotions.
These Grass ninja had witnessed everything from start to finish. Their fear was now steadily becoming Satori's power.
But it still wasn't enough.
It was like a beast.
No—not like a beast.
It was a beast formed from human fear and despair.
It lunged straight into the Grass ninja, drenching itself in their blood, savoring the purest terror they could offer.
"You want to rule the shinobi world?"
"Not a bad wish. Once I recover my full power, perhaps I'll make the entire shinobi world crawl at my feet."
Standing amid the blood-soaked slaughter of Hōzuki Castle, Satori's eyes gleamed with greed and longing.
Even after massacring everyone in the castle, it still felt unsatisfied.
Far, far from satisfied.
But Satori didn't hesitate for long. Its gaze abruptly shifted toward another direction in the sky.
"Chizumi, the smell of blood is really strong, meow!"
In the sky on the other side, Uchiha Chizumi, Kitsujiro, and Karin were already drawing close to Hōzuki Castle. They could even see its outline by now.
"Yeah. I smell it too."
Chizumi frowned. In his Tenseigan vision, Hōzuki Castle seemed to contain only one living being now.
And that living being was filled with warped chakra made from despair, rage, and resentment.
"Looks like Hōzuki Castle really did open the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
The moment Chizumi sensed that twisted chakra, he more or less knew what had happened.
"Kitsujiro, stay here and look after her. I'm going to Hōzuki Castle."
Chizumi dropped out of the sky, set Karin down, and left Kitsujiro behind.
He had no clear sense yet of how strong the monster released from the Box of Ultimate Bliss really was.
But just to be safe, he had no intention of bringing Karin into the battlefield.
Uchiha Chizumi would never allow his justice to be stained by even the smallest blot caused by carelessness.
"Leave it to me, meow!"
Kitsujiro understood that as Chizumi kept growing stronger, the number of ways he could help had grown fewer and fewer.
But guarding one little girl?
Kitsujiro was absolutely confident nothing could go wrong there.
Then Uchiha Chizumi rose into the sky once more.
Scorching heat waves rolled off him in every direction, and under Karin's stunned gaze, she saw it clearly—
Uchiha Chizumi seemed to transform into a sun.