Shion's small face filled with anticipation.
"If I could make a wish, I'd want to become a true shrine maiden!"
As Miroku's daughter, she had grown up watching how the people of the Land of Demons revered her mother.
So Shion's greatest wish was to become a shrine maiden respected just like her mother.
"Not bad."
Kiyohara nodded.
Shion's wish did not surprise him.
Uchiha Itachi fell silent for a moment, then said,
"I want world peace."
When he said this, there was no hesitation in his dark eyes.
On the night of the Nine-Tails incident, he had sat in the backyard corridor holding Sasuke, feeling that chakra, powerful enough to destroy everything, rampaging through the village.
At that time, he had thought: if this world had no war, no hatred, and none of those disasters that could make his little brother cry, how wonderful would that be?
"Ambitious."
Kiyohara looked at him and nodded slightly.
Itachi's wish was good. It was just that in the original story, the way he realized that wish went ridiculously wrong.
The Uchiha clan indeed never launched a coup again, and Konoha remained at peace, but the price was the extermination of the Uchiha clan…
If Senju Tobirama saw that, he would definitely give Itachi a thumbs-up and say he could go to heaven.
Then Kiyohara looked at Uchiha Izumi.
"Izumi, if the Box of Ultimate Bliss really could grant any wish, what would you want?"
Uchiha Izumi froze for a moment.
She blinked her peach-blossom eyes, the beauty mark near the corner of her eye shifting slightly with her thoughtful expression.
The question stumped her.
What did she want?
To become stronger?
Yes, she wanted to become stronger. She wanted to become someone who could help Teacher.
Her cheeks warmed slightly.
If any wish could be granted, she hoped Teacher could always stay with her.
Not just seeing him every few days like now, but seeing him every day and hearing his voice every day.
But that wish was too childish.
And saying it out loud would be so embarrassing.
"If you say your wish out loud, won't it stop working, Kiyohara-sensei?"
Uchiha Izumi raised her head, a sly look flashing in her peach-blossom eyes as she tried to bluff her way through.
Kiyohara looked at her slightly flushed cheeks and did not press further.
"It might."
Kiyohara nodded.
Shion's expression changed slightly, and her eyes filled with regret.
"Then I shouldn't have said my wish just now!"
Kiyohara laughed.
He reached out and patted Shion's shoulder.
"You can reach that goal yourself. Why rely on the Box of Ultimate Bliss?"
"Mm!"
Shion nodded, and the regret in her eyes was replaced by renewed confidence.
The airship continued flying.
The clouds outside the porthole gradually thinned, revealing a gray-blue sea below.
The island where Hōzuki Castle stood was surrounded by water on all sides. Its only external route was a stone bridge guarded by Kusagakure ninja.
It could be called a natural prison.
Its development into a well-known international prison was inseparable from this special geography.
"We're almost there."
Kakuyoku Fubuki said from the cockpit.
The airship began descending. The hull tilted slightly as it approached a hidden reef beach on the island's southern side.
That was the landing point Kiyohara had selected in advance. It was far from the sentries at Hōzuki Castle's main gate and would not alert the island's sensory barrier.
The airship landed steadily. The cabin door opened, and a salty sea breeze rushed in.
Uchiha Izumi was the first to jump down, stepping onto the damp reef and curiously looking around.
Uchiha Itachi followed close behind, quickly scanning the terrain and memorizing which reefs could serve as cover, as well as possible retreat routes.
Shion was the last to come down. Her movements were more cautious than the two Uchiha, but her eyes also carried the nervousness of carrying out a mission for the first time.
"Wait here."
Kiyohara gave Kakuyoku Fubuki an instruction, then led the three children deeper into the island.
Hōzuki Castle was built on the highest rock plate in the island's center. Gray-black stone walls rose from the edge of a cliff.
The patrol guards not far ahead quickly noticed Kiyohara and the others walking in openly.
"Who goes there?"
A guard shouted sharply.
"This is territory under Kusagakure's jurisdiction. Without travel documents, you may not tres—"
"Deal with him, Itachi."
Kiyohara said.
"Yes."
Uchiha Itachi nodded, lowered his body, drew his kunai, and dashed forward.
His speed was not that fast. Among his peers, it was outstanding, but in the eyes of a true jōnin, it was still far from enough.
But against prison guards like these, it was plenty.
These guards dealt with prisoners whose chakra had already been sealed.
Most ninja who could not strengthen themselves with chakra were no different from ordinary people.
Even many taijutsu techniques required circulating chakra.
Once chakra flowed within the body, Hōzuki Castle's special seal, Fire Release: Heavenly Prison, would punish them.
Thud.
The handle of the kunai struck the guard. His eyes instantly rolled back, and his body collapsed limply.
The other guard reacted and thrust the hooked spear in his hand toward Uchiha Itachi.
But his movement was too slow. So slow that Uchiha Itachi even had time to turn sideways to dodge, then strike the back of his neck with a reverse palm.
The two guards fell almost at the same time, without even managing to sound the alarm.
Uchiha Itachi withdrew his kunai, his chest rising and falling slightly.
This was his first true attack against an enemy, completely different from sparring with companions at the training ground.
He could feel his heartbeat beating faster than usual.
"Is this battle?"
Uchiha Itachi thought.
"Keep moving."
Kiyohara said.
The group continued forward.
A guard blew an alarm whistle, and the shrill sound rang nonstop.
"Intruders!"
"Stop them!"
Shion stopped.
She looked at a guard charging toward her and formed hand seals.
"Seal!"
She shouted softly, and a layer of chakra flame appeared in her palm.
This was a basic sealing technique Kiyohara had taught her. It could fix the target's limbs in place.
The guard's body suddenly stiffened. He remained frozen in a running posture, unable to move, fear appearing on his face.
Uchiha Izumi rushed in from the side. Using the momentum of her charge, she kicked the guard in the chest.
The guard flew backward, slammed into the wall behind him, and slid down unconscious.
She landed back on the ground and exchanged a glance with Shion. The two nodded at the same time.
Their coordination was smooth.
Kiyohara watched all of this.
The three students were all performing beyond expectations.
If Kiyohara had come personally, he could have swept through everything and finished it all in minutes.
But then it would lose the meaning of training them.
It wasn't as if he could personally sweep through everything forever, right?
The shinobi world was so large. Kiyohara would be worked to death.
"How dare you!"
A furious shout came from ahead.
All the guards stopped at once and retreated to both sides, opening a path.
Mui, the lord of Hōzuki Castle, slowly walked over from the prison entrance.
The prisoners inside had also noticed the commotion outside. They climbed up the walls one after another and looked out.
But no one dared run out.
Once they fled beyond a certain distance, the Heavenly Prison seal would turn into chains of fire and burn them into charred corpses.
However, this technique was ineffective underwater. Unless one could immediately escape into water and then leave through the sea.
But the surrounding seawater was extremely turbulent. Even if a ninja was lucky enough to escape, they would die in the violent sea, unable to stand on the water's surface at all.
Therefore, since Hōzuki Castle was established, no prisoner had ever left alive.
"Who are you?"
Mui frowned at Kiyohara.
He had long black hair, with one strand hanging over his stern cheek, making him look both elegant and dignified.
Mui looked at the guards lying on the ground, his attention focused entirely on Kiyohara.
In his view, the children Kiyohara had brought were not worth noticing at all.
Only Kiyohara gave him the sense that he was not simple, as if he were a powerful person.
"I'm just here to demand justice."
Kiyohara said calmly.
Konoha's prisoners were still Konoha's people. Since when could Hōzuki Castle punish them privately however it wished?
Of course, Kiyohara was only using this reason to make his actions justified.
After all, after today, the shinobi world would hear news that Hōzuki Castle had been attacked.
"You force your way into Kusagakure's jurisdiction, injure my subordinates, and say you're here to demand justice?"
Mui was almost amused by Kiyohara's audacity.
He had always guarded the prison and had not participated in the Third Great Ninja War, so he had never seen Kiyohara.
He only knew that Konoha had a very powerful Hokage.
"Kiyohara-sensei, please let me fight him."
Uchiha Itachi volunteered.
He knew there was a huge gap in strength between himself and Mui, but it was precisely that gap that made him want to experience it firsthand.
Only by standing before a true strong person could one know how far one was from that level.
Kiyohara nodded.
The next moment, Uchiha Itachi charged toward Mui.
Mui raised his right hand, and a ball of crimson flame appeared in his palm.
"Fire Release: Heavenly Prison."
Mui used his clan's unique Fire Release technique.
The flame in his palm turned into countless crimson chains and shot toward Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi's pupils shrank. He forcibly twisted his body, trying to block with his kunai.
Clang!
The first chain was deflected.
But more chains quickly circled around from the side, wrapping toward his ankle.
The crimson chains suddenly tightened and yanked him out of the air, slamming him heavily onto the ground.
A shallow pit appeared in the stone floor, debris flying everywhere.
"Itachi!"
Uchiha Izumi cried out.
Mui gave Uchiha Itachi no chance to breathe.
His figure blurred and appeared before Itachi. His right palm struck toward Itachi's chest.
Kusagakure Style: Exploding Palm.
The palm force passed through the chest and directly shook the internal organs.
Uchiha Itachi was sent flying, crashing into the prison wall before sliding down.
"No injury?"
Uchiha Itachi was puzzled.
Looking down, he discovered there was a spiraling current of wind on both his chest and back.
It was Kiyohara-sensei!
Uchiha Itachi instantly realized that Kiyohara had used Wind Release at that instant to cushion the impact for him.
"So fast."
Mui had not even seen Kiyohara form seals.
"Annoying brat. I'll clean them up first."
He immediately made his decision.
He would take care of these brats first, then face Kiyohara seriously.
In an instant, Mui attacked Uchiha Izumi.
Uchiha Izumi's palms began sweating, and her heart shouted for her to run quickly.
But Mui's speed was too fast, and her body could not react in time.
Just as Mui was about to grab Uchiha Izumi, a hand reached out from the side and clamped down on his wrist.
"What are you trying to do to my beloved student?"
Kiyohara said calmly.
Crack.
Mui's wrist bent, and a white broken bone protruded beneath his skin. In an instant, Kiyohara tore off his arm.
"Ah!"
Mui let out a scream.
His body staggered backward, and his left hand pressed against the severed wound on his right shoulder.
Blood gushed between his fingers, flowing down his robe and gathering into a small dark-red pool on the ground.
What terrifying strength!
In Mui's eyes, Kiyohara's danger level continuously rose.
Such strength was absolutely not ordinary.
He had managed to become a castle lord, meaning he was already far stronger than many elite jōnin. He could even exchange blows with some Kage.
Yet Kiyohara had torn off one of his arms just like that?
A few drops of blood splashed onto Uchiha Izumi's clothes. Her peach-blossom eyes were wide.
"Izumi, Shion, Itachi, if you find it too bloody, you can close your eyes."
Kiyohara said.
Uchiha Izumi raised her hand and wiped the bloodstain from her clothes with the back of it.
"Not at all."
Uchiha Izumi shook her head.
When Kiyohara protected her just now, all her fear had been washed away.
She lowered her head and looked at the smeared blood on the back of her hand, feeling only that her heartbeat was very fast.
Mui kept staggering backward. The guards behind him looked at each other.
They were all Kusagakure ninja, but their strength was nowhere near Mui's.
If Mui was defeated in a single exchange, what could they possibly do?
"You… are there perhaps some misunderstandings…"
Mui looked at Kiyohara and planned to talk properly.
"Misunderstandings?"
Kiyohara's tone was flat.
"You privately handled prisoners and sacrificed them, didn't you?"
Mui's body suddenly shook.
The color drained from his face, and panic flashed through his eyes.
"I don't understand what you're saying…"
His lips trembled, but he forced himself to remain calm.
"The Box of Ultimate Bliss."
Kiyohara said it directly.
"!"
Mui was shocked that Kiyohara knew this secret.
In all of Hōzuki Castle, fewer than ten people knew this secret.
Those sacrificed prisoners were publicly declared to have escaped or died of illness. Kusagakure's higher-ups were responsible for covering it up, deceiving the major ninja villages.
Where had Kiyohara gotten this information?
Could there be a traitor inside?
Mui's first reaction was that spies from other nations had already infiltrated Kusagakure.
"Fire Release: Great Heavenly Prison!"
Mui suddenly erupted.
He was unwilling. Unwilling to let the hope he had spent years building, the only hope to save his son Muku, be taken from him like this.
So he used the enhanced version of Fire Release: Heavenly Prison.
Crimson flames ignited in the palm of his left hand, fiercer than when he dealt with Uchiha Itachi earlier. The flame condensed in his palm and transformed into dozens of chains shooting out.
Pfft.
However, before those chains could strike Kiyohara, Mui's remaining arm was severed cleanly at the elbow.
The cut was smooth as a mirror, and blood sprayed from the wound, staining half his body red.
Mui lowered his head and looked at his empty left shoulder.
Wind Release!
He had not even seen when Kiyohara made his move.
"Mui, you're too weak. Save your strength."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Now that both of Mui's arms were severed, he could no longer use ninjutsu.
Kiyohara turned and looked at Shion.
"Seal him. He's still useful."
Shion froze for a moment, then quickly stepped forward.
Sealing formulas appeared in her palm and landed on Mui, locking away his remaining chakra and mobility together.
Kiyohara then dealt with several guard leaders who came after hearing the commotion.
"Let's go."
After stopping Mui's bleeding, Kiyohara had Uchiha Itachi carry Mui.
The group entered the prison, and the prisoners looked at Kiyohara with fear.
No one dared approach rashly. They all looked at the open prison gate.
"Can we escape?"
"Escape and you die. Didn't you see Mui is still alive?"
The prisoners whispered among themselves.
Although they longed for freedom, their lives were more important.
Before long, Kiyohara and the others found Mui's helpers.
Following the original plot, Kiyohara located the mechanism.
Click.
The stone slab slid aside, revealing stairs extending downward.
At the end of the stairs was a huge stone door.
Kiyohara pushed it open.
Underground hall.
The ceiling was very high, so high that it did not feel like they were underground.
At the center of the hall sat a gigantic box.
The box was about two stories tall. Its entire body had a dull metallic luster, and its surface was carved with strange patterns.
Each of its four sides had a face: joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. The expressions were so twisted they did not look like things of this world.
Below the box was a stone base. Around the base, large dark-brown stains remained on the floor.
Uchiha Itachi raised his head, his dark eyes looking at those four distorted faces.
"Kiyohara-sensei, is this the Box of Ultimate Bliss?"
"Mm."
Kiyohara walked up to the box.
"Rumor says this object is indestructible."
Kiyohara drew his ninja blade and tried slashing it.
Bang!
A series of sparks flashed, but the Box of Ultimate Bliss suffered no damage.
'If it were disassembled and reforged into other ninja tools, it would probably be extremely hard.'
Kiyohara thought.
He remembered that in the movie's ending, the Box of Ultimate Bliss had been sunk into the sea and sealed, not destroyed.
It was not that Naruto and the others did not want to destroy it, but that they could not. They could only choose to sink it into the deepest part of the sea and prevent others from salvaging it.
Then Kiyohara tapped the surface of the box with the body of his blade. Only a dull echo came out.
"Kiyohara-sensei, this box looks really scary."
Uchiha Izumi said.
Could this thing really grant wishes?
"Hehehe. This box is not something you can casually control."
Mui, carried by Uchiha Itachi, saw Kiyohara's interest in the Box of Ultimate Bliss and could not help sneering.
"Birth of enlightenment, movement by enlightenment, end awaiting enlightenment."
"Supposedly, the Box of Ultimate Bliss can send captured enemies into the box and turn them into puppets. It can read minds, correct?"
Kiyohara glanced at Mui.
Mui's strength was actually not bad. In the end, he had only died because he was careless and was ambushed, suffering severe injury.
"You understand quite a lot."
Mui looked at Kiyohara in surprise.
But he was not worried.
Right now, there was not enough chakra to activate the Box of Ultimate Bliss. If there had been enough, he would have already wished his son back.
"Can this really read minds?"
Shion asked curiously.
"Yes."
Kiyohara nodded.
A puppet controlled by the Box of Ultimate Bliss would transform into a monster called Satori.
At the same time, as long as one harbored fear, Satori could read one's movements—that is, it could predict in advance based on one's thoughts.
"Tell me the sealing technique."
Kiyohara said.
Mui raised his head and looked at Kiyohara.
"Even if I tell you… you won't be able to gather the required chakra."
"This box has already consumed many sacrifices, but it's still far from enough…"
"That's not something you need to worry about."
Kiyohara interrupted Mui.
Even ten years later, when Naruto had grown up, Mui still had not gathered enough chakra.
In desperation, he had absorbed the Nine-Tails chakra inside Naruto to succeed.
But Kiyohara did not need that.
After multiple future fusions and devouring the Three-Tails' flesh, his own chakra reserves had already surpassed the level of an ordinary tailed beast.
In terms of chakra volume alone, he alone was enough to match the total amount accumulated by the Box of Ultimate Bliss over ten years.
After all, the quality of the ninja imprisoned here varied greatly.
"Tell me the sealing technique used."
A crimson light appeared in Kiyohara's eyes, and the Mangekyō pattern slowly rotated in his pupils.
The instant Mui's gaze met those Mangekyō, his pupils suddenly lost focus.
His lips moved, and he began speaking, reciting the sealing formula of the Box of Ultimate Bliss all at once.
After Kiyohara finished listening, the crimson in his eyes faded.
Just then, noisy footsteps came from above. With Hōzuki Castle's guards leaderless, the prisoners took the opportunity to riot, wanting to break through the prison's restraints and escape this hell.
"Izumi, Itachi, Shion. Go deal with the remaining guards outside, as well as any prisoners trying to come here. Be careful. Don't force yourselves."
Kiyohara said.
The guards inside were not strong, and all the prisoners were unable to use ninjutsu and chakra.
"Yes, Kiyohara-sensei!"
The three answered in unison and ran toward the entrance.
After they left, Kiyohara turned to face the Box of Ultimate Bliss and raised his right hand.
His palm pressed against the box as he began pouring in chakra.
Kiyohara had his back to everyone. The black in his eyes faded, replaced by a field of pale white.
The Byakugan's penetrating vision pierced through the box, allowing him to see inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Inside was a chaotic separate space. There were no boundaries, no up or down, only endless black mist churning.
Deep within the mist, a massive mass of Yin Release chakra was coiled.
"As expected, it's Yin Release."
Kiyohara stroked his chin with his other hand, and his Byakugan returned to normal eyes.
He understood now why this ninja tool was said to grant wishes.
Yin Release itself possessed the power to alter reality.
For example, Izanagi converted unfavorable states, including injuries and even death, into dreams, manipulating the boundary between fantasy and reality.
The essence of the Box of Ultimate Bliss was another form of Izanagi.
An Izanagi that used other people's chakra as its activation condition.
Mui's empty eyes gradually recovered, and he immediately widened them.
He could feel that the box he had spent ten years and countless lives barely half-filling was now being filled at unprecedented speed.
The four faces on the surface of the box began to glow. The outlines of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure twisted in the light, as if they had come alive.
"Impossible… Your chakra amount… how…"
Mui looked at Kiyohara.
Could this man be a jinchūriki?
Yes. Only a jinchūriki could possess that much chakra.
Kiyohara ignored Mui behind him. Only after he had poured in enough chakra did he slowly stop.
He hooked one hand under the lower edge of the Box of Ultimate Bliss, and the stone slabs beneath his feet cracked outward like a spiderweb.
The several-meter-tall giant box was lifted by him with one hand.
"A little heavy."
Kiyohara thought.
With his current physical strength, for something to feel heavy, its density had to be astonishing.
No wonder no one in the movie could destroy it. The material used to forge this ninja tool probably came from some long-lost mineral vein.
He leaped up and directly smashed through the ceiling from the entrance of the underground hall, flying out and landing on the open ground outside the castle.
The instant the Box of Ultimate Bliss landed, the ground shook violently.
The four faces looked toward the sky, their joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure becoming even more distorted.
Kiyohara stood before the box and looked at the four faces.
"Then, I command you, Box of Ultimate Bliss."
His voice was not loud, but it clearly entered the box.
"Make me the second Sage of Six Paths!"
Kiyohara made this wish.
It was not because he truly expected the Box of Ultimate Bliss to let him ascend in a single step, but because he wanted to see just what this ninja tool, said to grant any wish, could do.
Box of Ultimate Bliss, let me see your limit.
Click.
The masks worn by the four faces of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure fell off.
The four doors of the Box of Ultimate Bliss opened at the same time. Their mouths split to their ears, twisted to an unbelievable degree. Behind the doors was pure blackness.
A massive suction force surged out.
That suction did not target the body, but chakra.
Kiyohara could feel the Box of Ultimate Bliss trying to suck his chakra and consciousness into it together.
At the same time, countless whispers sounded beside his ears, like hundreds or thousands of people speaking in his mind at once. Their voices overlapped, trying to burrow into cracks in his consciousness.
Kiyohara snorted coldly.
Spiritual energy erupted from his body like an invisible wall, scattering all those whispers.
With his current Yin Release mastery, this degree of consciousness erosion did not even count as scratching an itch.
Immediately afterward, a large amount of black chakra began drilling out of the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
That chakra was like liquid ink, surging out from the four giant mouths, flowing along the box, and pouring toward Kiyohara's body.
Kiyohara allowed that black chakra to invade his body.
"So this is the Box of Ultimate Bliss's chakra?"
Kiyohara frowned slightly.
He felt the sensation of that chakra flowing through his pathways.
It was more evil than the Nine-Tails' chakra, carrying pure malice.
But Kiyohara also discovered that his chakra reserves were increasing.
Roughly, they rose by about half of his original amount.
"It really does have something."
Kiyohara thought.
His chakra volume was rising.
That black chakra was fusing with his cells and transforming into his own power.
At the same time, however, that malice was trying to influence his consciousness, trying to plant something inside his heart.
Kiyohara made a reverse tug.
He gathered that portion of chakra carrying will together, forcibly stripped it out of his chakra pathway system, and flung it, along with that malice, onto the open ground beside him.
The moment the black chakra hit the ground, it became a cloud of thick smoke.
When the smoke dispersed, a monster appeared on the ground.
It was a humanoid creature with huge black wings.
Its torso was so thin it seemed to have only a spine. Its head was enormous, its fangs protruding outward, and it emitted a cold, evil chakra fluctuation.
It was… Satori.
"Roar!"
Satori raised its head and let out a roar, the sound wave making the碎 stones on the ground jump.
Kiyohara looked at it, disappointment flashing through his eyes.
As expected, the power of the Box of Ultimate Bliss had limits.
It could indeed grant wishes, but the way it granted them was by twisting them.
Mui wished to see his son, and he saw him, but his son had become Satori.
Kiyohara wished to become the Sage of Six Paths, and the Box of Ultimate Bliss did indeed give him chakra and make him stronger, but he was still incomparably far from the Sage's level.
His Yin Release chakra had already been powerful, so the improvement from the Box of Ultimate Bliss was fairly limited.
However, this vessel would be very good if used to forge ninja tools. It was probably indestructible, and there would be no need to worry about it being damaged.
While Kiyohara was pondering, Satori lunged.
Its huge black wings spread behind it, claws reaching down toward Kiyohara's head.
Kiyohara stood in place, the Mangekyō pattern in his eyes slowly rotating.
"Hayatama-no-Mikoto."
Kiyohara spoke.
The next moment, the world abruptly slowed.
The surging waves on the distant sea and every detail of motion were stretched out in Kiyohara's field of vision, like a continuous image split into countless frames.
Satori's claws hung in midair, and dust particles in the air seemed frozen.
Kiyohara felt the air resistance compressed to its extreme.
With the support of Hayatama-no-Mikoto, his physical speed broke through its limit.
The air, which originally could not be touched, became an obstacle to Kiyohara.
Then Kiyohara formed hand seals.
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
Pale-white wind-nature chakra gathered in his palm, forming a huge shuriken more than two meters in diameter.
The four blades spun at high speed, producing an ear-piercing hum and cutting the surrounding air into visible white turbulence.
Kiyohara flicked his wrist.
The Rasenshuriken left his hand.
In Satori's pupils, that pale-white shuriken came closer and closer.
It sensed Kiyohara's attacking intent, and its body instinctively began dodging. Its wings contracted, and its torso leaned sideways.
But it was too slow.
In Kiyohara's current state, everything had become extremely fast.
The ninjutsu he threw was naturally also affected by that push, becoming incomparably swift.
The spinning Wind Release shuriken struck its chest.
Boom!
Wind-nature chakra transformed into countless chakra needles smaller than cells and began cutting Satori's body at the cellular level.
Half of Satori's body, along with its huge right wing, disintegrated in an instant.
It broke into countless specks finer than dust, and with a blow from the sea wind, scattered into the air.
The remaining half of its body fell from the sky and smashed into the ground. Black blood gushed from the wound.
It raised its head, the remaining ghostly green flame flickering in its eye socket.
"Why…? I clearly sensed your movement…"
Satori also had consciousness.
The Box of Ultimate Bliss did not erase the consciousness of its puppets. It only made them unconditionally absorb chakra and slowly strengthen the box itself.
"You sensed it, but you still couldn't dodge."
Kiyohara said directly.
Satori possessed the ability to read hearts. As long as an opponent harbored malice, it could predict that opponent's movement.
But this ability had a fatal limitation. Even if it knew, its body could not keep up.
Kiyohara did not even need to empty his mind and erase malice like Naruto.
His speed had already surpassed Satori's reaction limit.
At this time, Uchiha Itachi had just finished dealing with a guard who tried to attack him when he suddenly saw a huge monster appear on the open ground in the distance.
His heart tightened, and he instantly understood something, quickly rushing toward Kiyohara.
At the same time, Shion and Uchiha Izumi also noticed the movement here. They quickly dealt with the enemies beside them and hurried toward the open ground.
The island was not large. Hōzuki Castle occupied most of it, with only open ground near the island's edge remaining.
Before long, the three arrived and saw the scene before them.
Kiyohara stood calmly in place, while the monster before him had already lost half its body and was on its last breath.
Satori let out an unwilling roar. It flapped its remaining wing again and lunged toward Kiyohara, attempting a final struggle.
Kiyohara's face showed no expression. He had already lost interest in continuing to play.
He clapped his hands together, and a large amount of Wood Release chakra surged. Countless green branches rose from the ground like vines, tightly wrapping around Satori's body and preventing it from moving.
Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding Technique.
The ground split open, and countless thick branches burst from the earth.
The surfaces of those branches were covered in fine wooden thorns as they wrapped around Satori.
Kiyohara walked up to it. A black character, "Seal," appeared in his right palm.
He bent down and slapped the "Seal" mark onto Satori's forehead.
Satori's body began twisting and shrinking, turning into a cloud of black smoke before flying back into the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
"It feels weaker than in the story."
Kiyohara thought.
He guessed it might be because he had just absorbed too much of the Box of Ultimate Bliss's chakra.
Thinking this, Kiyohara examined the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
The four doors of the box were still open, but the black chakra flowing out had become thin. Kiyohara could feel that most of the Yin Release chakra inside the box had been consumed.
"Izumi, come here."
Kiyohara waved to Uchiha Izumi.
Uchiha Izumi quickly walked to his side.
"Make a wish to it. Make a specific wish, such as increasing your power. It can't realize overly abstract wishes."
Kiyohara pointed at the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Uchiha Izumi looked at the four twisted faces, then closed her eyes, clasped her hands before her chest, and moved her lips slightly.
Only by improving her strength could she better help Teacher and stay by Teacher's side.
That was Uchiha Izumi's wish.
One of the four doors, the face representing "joy," lit up with ghostly green light in its eye sockets.
A stream of black Yin Release chakra flowed from the corner of that face's mouth. The black chakra touched Uchiha Izumi's brow and seeped in.
Uchiha Izumi's body trembled slightly. She could feel that Yin Release chakra moving through her chakra pathway system and finally gathering around her eyes.
Then, a touch of crimson appeared in her black pupils.
The first tomoe squeezed out, followed by the second and third.
Three tomoe slowly rotated in her pupils.
"Your eyes turned red!"
Shion pointed at Uchiha Izumi in surprise.
Uchiha Izumi blinked.
She found that her vision had changed.
It had become clearer. The dust drifting in the air and Shion's movements as she spoke were now distinctly visible.
This was… the three-tomoe Sharingan.
But at the same time, she also felt what was contained in that black chakra.
That chakra was granting her power, but it was also whispering beside her ear.
She could not hear exactly what it was saying, only instinctively feeling a chill rise from the base of her spine.
Just as Uchiha Izumi did not know what to do, a hand pressed onto her shoulder.
Kiyohara's palm rested on her shoulder, and a gentle stream of chakra flowed into her pathways.
It stripped out most of the residual black chakra inside her body and sent it back along the original path into the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
The whispers beside Uchiha Izumi's ear disappeared.
"Teacher, I really awakened my eyes!"
She raised her head, the three tomoe in her eyes still slowly rotating.
Kiyohara nodded, then turned his gaze to Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi stepped forward.
He stood before the Box of Ultimate Bliss and closed his eyes.
His wish was the same as Uchiha Izumi's: to gain power.
The black Yin Release chakra surged out again and seeped into his body.
Uchiha Itachi could feel that power gathering around his eyes, and a familiar burning sensation came from deep within his eyeballs.
Crimson appeared.
In the end, there were two tomoe in total.
"Only two tomoe?"
Kiyohara felt that Uchiha Itachi's aptitude was somewhat weaker than Uchiha Izumi's. Perhaps it was because he had not fully matured yet.
Kiyohara likewise acted, extracting the excess Yin Release chakra from his body.
Last was Shion.
She stood before the Box of Ultimate Bliss, hands clasped before her chest, eyes closed.
"I wish… to obtain powerful strength."
Black chakra seeped into her body.
Shion could feel her chakra reserves rise by a level in that instant.
It was not much, but for her, whose chakra volume had always been a weakness, it was already a qualitative leap.
Kiyohara did the same as before, stripping away the Yin Release chakra that carried will, then looked back at the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
The Yin Release chakra inside the box had already been mostly consumed. The four doors slowly closed, and the four distorted faces were once again covered by masks.
The essence of the Box of Ultimate Bliss was a converter.
It could turn ordinary chakra into special Yin Release chakra, then use that Yin Release chakra to "grant" wishes.
Kiyohara took out a sealing scroll and unfolded it.
He was about to seal the Box of Ultimate Bliss inside, but the moment his hand touched the box, he suddenly stopped.
He could feel that a faint, almost imperceptible connection had suddenly appeared between himself and the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Kiyohara raised a brow slightly. He tentatively raised his hand and beckoned to the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
The several-meter-tall giant box trembled.
Then it jumped up, flipped in the air, and began shrinking. In the end, it became a palm-sized square box and landed steadily in Kiyohara's hand.
"Is it because most of its chakra was consumed, and it still contains some chakra I poured in that wasn't converted in time, so it became close to me?"
"Or is it because of my bloodline?"
Kiyohara was somewhat puzzled too.
But according to the setting, this tool was the ultimate weapon from the Sage of Six Paths' era, so the greatest possibility was that it had reacted to his bloodline.
After all, Red-Horn Kiyohara's bloodline could freely use the Six Paths Ninja Tools.
Kiyohara looked at the small square box in his palm, thinking about what to do with it.
Originally, he had planned to dismantle it and reforge it into a weapon, but now it seemed it might be usable long-term.