Kusagakure's leader Tsurukawa, surrounded by elders with varying expressions, entered Hozuki Castle.
Muen had already received word and waited quietly at the entrance to the passage leading deeper inside. His normally calm, unruffled face could not help showing a trace of faint shadow.
Muen greeted them. "Welcome, Lord Tsurukawa, honored elders."
Tsurukawa had no interest in pleasantries. "Open the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Muen."
Muen's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Right now, the people should still be..."
"That child's chakra is sufficient to fill the gap!" Tsurukawa interrupted him. "I have heard about the assassination attempt on you. We can delay no longer."
"Precisely so, Muen."
"Begin, for Kusagakure's future!"
Several other Kusagakure elders also spoke up in persuasion.
Muen fell silent for a moment. His gaze swept across those faces behind Tsurukawa, seeing desire, seeing fanaticism, and some other indescribable ulterior thoughts.
Finally, he nodded slightly. "I understand. I will prepare tonight."
Deep into the night, only the eternal rumbling of waves crashing against rock walls remained.
In Hozuki Castle's deepest depths, the massive Box of Ultimate Bliss stood at the center. Those twisted, bizarre reliefs on the box's walls appeared especially grotesque under the pale light.
The boy named Sora lay upon a stone bed, eyes hollow, containing no light whatsoever.
"Die, let everything be destroyed..." Sora murmured quietly.
Muen stood beside the stone bed, listening to this despairing whisper. His hands preparing to form seals paused almost imperceptibly for an instant.
A trace of pity arose within him, yet it was quickly covered by deeper duty and longer-held ideals.
He was a Kusagakure shinobi.
Muen released the Heavenly Prison technique placed upon Sora's body.
The Box of Ultimate Bliss awakened from slumber. The reliefs on the box's surface seemed to come alive. One opened its mouth and sucked Sora from the stone bed into itself.
After absorbing Sora, the entire Hozuki Castle shook violently. Blinding light suddenly erupted from the Box of Ultimate Bliss's seams, shooting skyward, easily tearing through the underground space's rock ceiling and piercing straight into the night sky.
The massive box rumbled, breaking free from earthly constraints. Wrapped in countless rubble and smoke, it burst through the ground, finally descending majestically into Hozuki Castle's central spacious courtyard.
"Wh-what's happening?!"
"What is that thing?!"
"Look at the courtyard!"
The tremendous commotion alarmed every shinobi in the castle. Whether Kusagakure guards or imprisoned criminals, all surged out in terror, looking toward the center of light and dust.
Muen walked up from the shattered underground passage step by step into the courtyard, approaching the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
"Hahahaha! Success! Finally success!"
Accompanied by wildly joyous laughter bordering on pathological, Tsurukawa rushed into the courtyard with the elders. His face flushed with excitement, eyes burning intensely, as though already seeing the world submit at their feet.
What made Muen's pupils contract sharply was that beside Tsurukawa, he tightly grasped a refined youth Muen knew all too well—his son, Muku.
He shouted loudly, "Make a wish! Muen!"
"Wish for Kusagakure to conquer the entire shinobi world! Let this world prostrate itself at our Kusagakure's feet!"
Fanatical shouting echoed through the courtyard, making many Kusagakure shinobi change color.
Just then, an elder who had been silently following beside Tsurukawa suddenly acted, snatching Muku away from Tsurukawa's side.
Simultaneously, among the vigilant Kusagakure shinobi, a white-haired kunoichi landed beside that elder. Upon seeing her, Muku ceased struggling.
"Ryuzetsu?"
Ryuzetsu stood beside Muku, vigilantly watching Tsurukawa and the elders beside him. "Muku, Lord Tsurukawa has fallen into madness."
That elder released Muku, looking at Tsurukawa. "Conquer the world? Merely with Kusagakure, even possessing the box's power cannot withstand the entire shinobi world's counterattack!"
"Muen, do not be deceived by Tsurukawa's ambition! Wish only for Kusagakure to become strong! Sufficient for self-protection, sufficient for prosperity. This truly considers the village's welfare!"
The instant upheaval rendered the entire courtyard silent as death. Fanaticism and rationality clashed intensely under the bizarre box's glow.
Tsurukawa trembled with rage, about to explode.
Muen's gaze swept across the fanatical Tsurukawa and the emotionally pleading elder.
Finally, it settled on Muku and Ryuzetsu beside him.
Muen turned toward the Box of Ultimate Bliss. "Box of Ultimate Bliss, hear my wish—"
"Please grant Kusagakure power sufficient to protect itself and advance toward prosperity!"
"Fulfill my wish!"
As the wish was made, the Box of Ultimate Bliss trembled. On the box's surface, that giant mouth relief that had once devoured Sora slowly opened again.
A thin, familiar figure stumbled out step by step.
It was Sora.
However, his current state proved extremely bizarre. His body was stiff like a puppet on strings, skin pale without a trace of blood. His eyes were utterly hollow, yet deep within burned some heart-palpitating cold flame.
His gaze swept across Muen, then looked toward those Kusagakure shinobi in the field, finally settling on Tsurukawa and those elders who had participated in capturing him and Kazuma.
Muen instantly raised his guard.
"Did the wish fail?" Tsurukawa looked at Sora. "Perfect. This time I will personally..."
The next instant, Tsurukawa's upper body flew up. He lowered his head. Sora's palm had swept across his torso, severing his flesh and bone.
"How could..."
Muen watched this scene in disbelief, instinctively attempting to control Sora through his subtle connection with the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Sora's movements stalled momentarily. A trace of struggling, pained expression surfaced on his face.
"Guh... guh..."
Roaring squeezed from Sora's throat. His body began undergoing terrifying mutation, violently swelling and twisting.
Pitch-black, crow-like feathers tore through clothing and grew madly. Massive wings suddenly spread from his back, casting shadows covering the entire courtyard that inspired despair.
Within several breaths, that frail youth completely vanished. In his place stood an extremely bizarre monster—it lacked a conventional head. Its torso's center was a giant mouth. Its limbs connected via black spinal column-like structures.
"Sacrifice everything to the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
"Naturally, Kusagakure will obtain strength..."
The monster said thus. Simultaneously, the reliefs on all four sides of the Box of Ultimate Bliss opened their mouths, generating tremendous suction pulling at everything in the courtyard, attempting to suck everyone present inside.
The monster transformed into a black shadow, shuttling through Hozuki Castle, destroying all resistance within.
High atop Hozuki Castle, Uchiha Obito quietly observed everything below.
"This is Satori?"
"The monster nurtured by this despairing, hypocritical world?"
In the courtyard below, Satori seemed to sense something. Its wings beat once. Its massive body shot skyward at shocking speed.
Several pitch-black feathers fired toward Obito.
Obito raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? It can actually sense my presence."
The feathers passed through his body without obstruction, as though striking an illusory projection, causing no damage whatsoever.
"Not bad power," he evaluated, seeming to take slight interest.
He watched that roaring monster and the box emanating ominous energy, slowly extending his hand as though wanting to touch something.
However, just as he was about to make contact with Satori, this eyeless monster retreated rapidly backward with almost precognitive instinct.
"Mm..."
Obito withdrew his hand. Though unaware of Kamui's ability, it could still rely on instinct to evade? In that case, handling it became somewhat troublesome.
Forget it. His thoughts shifted. Ultimately not a Tailed Beast, not a necessary component of the plan. Not worth wasting time here.
Having lost interest in staying longer, Uchiha Obito's figure vanished without trace.
Satori circled once in the air. Having lost that peculiar target, it redirected all attention back toward Hozuki Castle below.
Konoha Village, Hokage Tower.
Shuji, dozing lightly at his office desk, was startled awake by urgent knocking. He raised his head somewhat dazed, discovering Tsunade at another office desk had also just been disturbed, rubbing sleepy eyes with an unhappy expression.
The Senju princess said she would not let him leave, so she would not. He had not left the Hokage Tower for two days already.
"Lady Tsunade, there is an emergency situation," came ANBU's voice from outside the door, suppressing urgency.
"Ah? What emergency... All right, all right, I know. Coming immediately." Tsunade vigorously rubbed her face, trying to become more alert.
Seeing this, Shuji quite naturally tilted his head and resumed sleeping.
Looking for Tsunade had nothing to do with him. Even if the sky fell, tall people would support it...
"Jōnin Shuji, Lord Hokage says since you are also present, please come along as well," the ANBU outside spoke again.
Shuji chose to play dead, remaining motionless.
"Get up," Tsunade pushed him.
"Lady Tsunade, please inform the Third that I have already died."
"Go tell the old man yourself."
Reluctantly opening his eyes, Shuji sighed deeply. This shinobi world should just be destroyed. Could not endure it anymore. Only fifteen this year, yet already more overworked than his previous life.
After tidying up slightly, Shuji followed Tsunade into the Hokage's office.
Currently, the office held not only Sarutobi Hiruzen but also Shimura Danzo and the long-absent Hatake Kakashi.
Seeing Shuji's appearance, as though utterly drained, Kakashi could not help being startled.
"You, what happened?"
"Nothing much..." Just nearly dead.
"Shuji, your complexion is very poor. Do you need to rest first?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked with concern.
"..." Wanted it. Could leave immediately.
Before Shuji could answer, Tsunade said, "What exactly happened? Even Kakashi is here."
The Third Hokage did not answer directly but looked toward Kakashi. "Kakashi, you explain."
Kakashi followed up. "The ANBU squad I led was ordered to conduct surveillance investigation in seas near Hozuki Castle. Approximately five hours ago, we observed abnormally massive energy eruption from Hozuki Castle's direction."
"Subsequently, Byakugan confirmed an extremely powerful chakra reaction appearing at the castle's center."
"We attempted closer reconnaissance but discovered three Kusagakure shinobi on the sea. All three suffered serious injuries. They have now been sent to Konoha Hospital for treatment."
Only then did Danzo speak. "The Root squad I dispatched to infiltrate Hozuki Castle has completely lost contact. Combined with current intelligence, Kusagakure has likely succeeded in opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
The office's atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild