After seeing clearly that the person who had arrived was Yuzuru, Mui was so frightened that he dropped to his knees on the spot.
This city lord, who ruled over Hōzuki Castle like a local emperor, did not even have the courage to meet Yuzuru's eyes.
There was no helping it. The gap between their statuses was simply too vast.
Looking at Mui kneeling on the ground, Yuzuru silently sized him up for a while before finally stating his purpose.
"Mui, I heard from Kenfu that Kusagakure's Box of Ultimate Bliss is in your possession. Is that right?"
At those words, Mui's face turned even paler.
Ever since his son died, he had always wanted to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss and revive him.
Now that Yuzuru had personally come here, had he noticed something?
But no matter what the truth was, Mui could only answer honestly now.
He said in a low voice, "Lord Yuzuru, the Box of Ultimate Bliss is indeed sealed inside Hōzuki Castle, and I am responsible for guarding it."
Yuzuru nodded and said softly, "Then take me to see it."
"Yes sir."
Mui did not dare disobey Yuzuru's order. He led Yuzuru ahead, bringing him to the underground secret chamber beneath Hōzuki Castle.
In the center of the chamber stood a strangely shaped box.
"Lord Yuzuru, this is the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
Mui forced out a faint smile and pretended to ask curiously, "Lord Yuzuru, do you have some purpose for the Box of Ultimate Bliss?"
Yuzuru withdrew his gaze from the Box of Ultimate Bliss and looked at Mui.
"What? Do you have an objection?"
Mui immediately waved his hands and said with a smile, "I would not dare. It is just that a monster is sealed inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss. According to legend, it possesses the power to destroy the ninja world."
"I was afraid you might not know the background, so I wanted to inform you in advance."
Hearing this, Yuzuru sneered.
"Destroy the ninja world? That was in the past. Now that I am here, what kind of storm can it possibly stir up?"
After saying that, Yuzuru picked up the Box of Ultimate Bliss and strode outside.
Mui hurriedly followed after him and asked, bracing himself, "Lord Yuzuru, are you planning to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss?"
Yuzuru did not stop walking. He merely said indifferently, "Mui, if you have something to say, say it directly."
Seeing that his thoughts had been seen through, Mui could only say, "Lord Yuzuru, according to legend, the Box of Ultimate Bliss can grant the wish of the one who opens it."
"I want to revive my son, so..."
Mui quickly took two steps forward, knelt before Yuzuru, and gritted his teeth.
"Could I beg you to give me the chance to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss?"
Yuzuru glanced at Mui and said flatly, "Mui, that is merely a lie fabricated by the monster inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss so it can escape."
"From what I know, the monster inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss was born from humanity's negative emotions."
"Do you really think something like that would kindly help humans grant their wishes?"
After hearing Yuzuru's words, Mui froze in place for a moment.
But in the end, he still insisted, "No matter what, Lord Yuzuru, please let me try!"
"Whether it succeeds or not, I am willing to atone with my life."
Seeing this, Yuzuru did not say anything more. He simply tossed the Box of Ultimate Bliss to Mui.
"Let's go. Find an open space outside."
Mui was overjoyed and said solemnly, "Yes sir!"
The two quickly arrived at the central plaza of Hōzuki Castle. Mui carefully placed the Box of Ultimate Bliss on the ground.
"Lord Yuzuru, opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss requires sacrificing life and a massive amount of chakra..."
Yuzuru had long since prepared for this. He immediately opened the Kamui Dimension and transferred dozens of White Zetsu out from within.
"I will handle the chakra. Begin."
Mui nodded firmly. Then his hands began forming seals as he muttered under his breath.
Before long, an extremely cold and sinister negative aura spread out from the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
That aura quickly enveloped all the White Zetsu. Their vitality began draining away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Yuzuru raised his arm, and an enormous amount of chakra surged toward the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Mui's face flushed red as he excitedly spread his arms wide.
"Open, Box of Ultimate Bliss! Revive my dead son!"
As if responding to his words, the lid of the Box of Ultimate Bliss opened, and a pitch-black spatial portal appeared before Mui.
Immediately after, a pale-faced man with a vacant expression walked out.
"My son, you finally came out!"
An excited smile appeared on Mui's face. Then his expression turned savage.
"Now that the Box of Ultimate Bliss has been opened by me, this world belongs to us!"
As early as ten years ago, he had already wanted to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss and conquer the ninja world.
Back then, his son had been swallowed by the Box of Ultimate Bliss while helping him.
Over the past ten years, he had tried every possible method to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss, but every attempt had failed.
The life sacrifices needed to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss were not a problem. If there was one thing Hōzuki Castle did not lack, it was death-row prisoners.
However, the massive amount of chakra required to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss was something Mui had no way to provide.
He had never expected that, through a strange twist of fate, Yuzuru would actually help him open the Box of Ultimate Bliss!
"Lord Yuzuru, I truly must thank you properly."
"If not for you, I might never have been able to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
"And since you have already unified the entire ninja world, I will be the next ruler of the ninja world."
Looking at Mui, who was completely different from before, Yuzuru's expression did not change at all.
He had never believed the man from the very beginning. Letting him open the Box of Ultimate Bliss was merely going along with his scheme.
"Muku, kill him for me!"
Mui looked at Yuzuru and said coldly.
The next second...
Pfft!
With a dull sound, Mui felt a sharp pain in his chest.
He lowered his head in disbelief, only to see that his chest had already been pierced through by a pale hand.
"Muku, what is going on..."
Mui could not understand it no matter what. Why would the son who had obeyed his every word back then kill him the moment he was released?
He tried hard to find something on Muku's face, but in the end, all he could see was Muku's puppet-like, emotionless expression.
"Mui, your son spent so long inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss that he was corroded by negative emotions long ago."
"The thing before you now is only the outer appearance assumed by a monster."
"Speaking of which, if you had not taken the initiative to help me open the Box of Ultimate Bliss, I probably would have had to spend quite a bit of effort myself."
After hearing Yuzuru's words, Mui's eyes turned venomous once more.
"Are you proud of yourself?"
"This monster has already been released. No one in the ninja world can be its match."
"You... just wait to die!"
Yuzuru chuckled softly.
"There is no need for you to trouble yourself over that."