Hozuki Castle (The Blood Prison).
A massive fortress located on a remote island in the sea.
It was surrounded by turbulent, fierce undercurrents and deadly whirlpools.
Combined with the Fire Style: Celestial Prison jutsu passed down through generations of Hozuki Castle wardens to seal prisoners' chakra, escaping was considered impossible.
As the saying goes: Easy to enter, impossible to leave.
For ordinary ninjas whose chakra had been sealed, the raging waves crashing against the cliffs were equivalent to taking a massive Water Style jutsu head-on.
However, on this dark turbulent sea, a small boat was casually navigating toward the island.
Strangely, around this small boat, the raging waves seemed to hit an invisible forbidden zone, instantly flattening out and becoming extremely calm.
On the boat stood Makoto, Uchiha Hikari, and Tsunade.
The calm sea surface wasn't due to Makoto possessing the Pokémon ability Delta Stream.
Rather, Makoto had long mastered the ability he named "Weather Forecast," which actually far exceeded the scope of mere weather control.
While previously injecting Natural Energy into Mei Terumi to let her experience Primordial Sea Mode, Makoto took the opportunity to understand how to master high-level natural laws related to water and the ocean.
That is to say, Makoto could now casually cast Ocean Expansion at any time.
This feeling of continuously maxing out his elemental mastery gave Makoto the bizarre illusion that he was turning into Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon.
But Makoto quickly realized: This is just what they call "different paths leading to the same destination."
In the Naruto world, those who reach the Six Paths level all possess complete mastery of the Five Basic Natures.
In the initial stages of being a ninja, having more attributes is better.
This is completely opposite to the Xianxia Cultivation novels next door, where "Single Spiritual Roots" are the ultimate cheat code.
And it makes sense.
In the Cultivation world, a person's initial talent totals only 100 points.
If it's divided among five elements, you're mediocre.
You want all 100 points in one element.
Whereas in the Naruto world, chakra attributes are based on a pass/fail proficiency check.
It's not a shared pool of 100 points; rather, if you are born with an affinity, that specific attribute is guaranteed to be at least a 60/100, and can be trained to 100.
To achieve ultimate life sublimation (Six Paths), you just need to collect them all.
"We've arrived."
Makoto, Uchiha Hikari, and Tsunade stood before the towering, tightly shut iron gates of Hozuki Castle.
Normally, when the major Ninja Villages delivered prisoners here, they would send an eagle to notify the warden in advance.
The port defenses would disarm, and the gates would open.
But the three of them had clearly arrived uninvited.
Before leaving Konoha, Tsunade didn't know Makoto intended to come here, so she hadn't filed any diplomatic paperwork.
"Let's try diplomacy before force, if possible," Tsunade said, grabbing Uchiha Hikari by the shoulder just as the girl took a step forward.
Tsunade offered an awkward smile.
If Jiraiya heard this, he'd definitely think Tsunade had been replaced by a White Zetsu clone.
Tsunade advising others not to resort to violence?
"I was just going to knock on the door?" Uchiha Hikari turned back, looking at Tsunade with genuine confusion.
"Do I really seem like some kind of destructive maniac with anger issues to you?"
'Well, aren't you?!' Tsunade really wanted to retort, but she thought better of provoking the girl who had just turned a demon into fireworks.
Uchiha Hikari walked up to the massive castle gates.
FWOOSH.
A massive, glowing skeletal Susanoo arm manifested behind her.
The Susanoo's fist pulled back and slammed against the reinforced iron gate.
BOOM!
The entire fortress shook as if hit by an earthquake.
"Is that how you knock on a door?!" Tsunade was dumbfounded.
Was this knocking, or was it a siege?!
"How else would you knock on a door this big? You try, then," Hikari turned around with an innocent expression, stepping aside to make way for the Hokage.
'As if I would!' Tsunade thought.
'With all that noise, surely everyone in Hozuki Castle heard us.'
'There's no need for me to do anything now.'
'Wait...'
After hearing Hikari say, "You try, then," Tsunade instinctively thought about what she actually would have done.
Tsunade glanced at the massive, handle-less gates of Hozuki Castle.
Since this place only allowed entry and not exit, and visitors were always scheduled in advance, there was no doorbell.
There wasn't even a guard stationed outside the walls.
If it were up to her... she definitely would have just used her Super Strength to punch it open too.
'So why was I criticizing her?' Tsunade facepalmed.
...
While Tsunade was reflecting on her own hypocrisy, the battered castle gates groaned open.
The warden of Hozuki Castle, Mui, emerged with a heavily armed squad of prison guards, cautiously eyeing the three intruders.
"Ah... so it's the Fifth Hokage."
Mui let out a sigh of relief upon recognizing Tsunade and signaled for the guards behind him to lower their weapons.
"Might I ask what urgent matter brings the Hokage to Hozuki Castle completely unannounced?" Mui inquired, masking his irritation with forced politeness.
Tsunade instinctively looked at Makoto.
'How am I supposed to explain this? Just come right out and say we're here to rob a priceless treasure from the Sage of Six Paths era?'
'Wouldn't that make us no different from bandits?'
"We're here to take a treasure from the Sage of Six Paths era that you have hidden here. Hurry up and hand it over."
Uchiha Hikari completely bypassed diplomacy, speaking up for Makoto.
She then waved a hand in front of her nose in disgust.
"This place is a prison, right? It stinks of sweat, and the air smells like dead fish. I don't want to stay here long. Fetch it."
Hearing that the Hokage's group had come for the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Mui's expression immediately hardened.
His calculating gaze lingered on the diamond-shaped Yin Seal on Tsunade's forehead for two seconds before he offered a blatantly insincere smile.
"Of course. That's no problem. However... the Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village mentioned this artifact not long ago and even scheduled a time to visit the island soon. There's always an order to these things, right? First come, first served."
"The Raikage?"
Tsunade was taken aback and frowned deeply.
The Raikage was involved in this too?
If the militant Hidden Cloud Village wanted the Box of Ultimate Bliss, it certainly couldn't be for anything good.
They couldn't possibly want to wish for world peace.
Makoto, on the other hand, didn't seem particularly surprised.
The Blood Prison movie actually begins with the Raikage and Samui's team discussing the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Only then are they attacked by a fake Naruto, triggering the subsequent plot to frame the Jinchuriki and send him to the prison.
It could be said that Mui and the Raikage were using each other.
The Raikage wants to obtain the Box to enhance the Cloud Village's military strength.
Mui wants a massive amount of chakra to force the Box open and retrieve his lost son, Muku.
In the original timeline, the "massive chakra" battery Mui targeted was Naruto Uzumaki.
But now, due to Makoto's various upheavals changing the ninja world, the Raikage had learned about the Box earlier and made contact with Mui directly.
At this point, Mui no longer needed to frame Naruto.
He had his eyes on the Tailed Beast Chakra from the Hidden Cloud.
Specifically, Killer B, who should have remained safe in Cloud Thunder Valley, but was likely dragged along by his overbearing brother.
The real question was how Mui planned to make Killer B—who was coming as an honored guest—stand still while his chakra was absorbed by a demonic box.
The Raikage's desire for power might temporarily surpass his rationality, but that didn't mean he was a fool.
In the original movie, the Raikage ultimately sinks the Box into the ocean, sealing it permanently after seeing its true nature.
So, once his beloved younger brother Killer B was threatened, Mui was absolutely going to taste a Liger Bomb to the skull.
'No.'
'Wait.'
Makoto thought about how Mui's eyes had lingered hungrily on Tsunade's Yin Seal just a moment ago.
'Does this guy want to feed Tsunade's Yin Seal chakra into the Box too?'
Makoto almost laughed out loud.
What exactly did Mui think his Fire Style: Celestial Prison jutsu was?
Did he really think a localized branding jutsu meant for D-Rank thugs could seal the chakra of perfect Jinchuriki and Kage-level monsters?
Does he think his jutsu is Kamijou Touma's 'Imagine Breaker' that cancels all magic?
The absolute arrogance!
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