After Satoru left, Kusagakure suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
The shop owner crawled out from under the counter, clutching a few homemade snacks, and cautiously made his way to the second floor.
"Master ninja… has that monster outside been dealt with?"
Naruto glanced at him and shook his head lightly.
"Not yet. And honestly, the real trouble for your village has just started. I'm afraid Kusagakure won't be seeing peaceful days for a long time."
Hearing this, the shop owner fell silent. Then his gaze shifted to Karin.
"…It's because of this child, isn't it? She feels familiar… just like that young doctor from the hospital."
Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed Karin and jumped straight down from the second floor of the izakaya.
Watching them leave, the villagers—who had just started to relax—grew anxious again.
They didn't even know what they feared more anymore—the monster coming back… or their village's future.
Walking through the streets of Kusagakure toward the location of the Box of Bliss, Naruto didn't bother disguising Karin this time.
They moved openly.
Many Kusa ninja immediately recognized Karin, but when they felt Naruto's oppressive aura, not a single one dared step forward.
Seeing the hesitation of the shinobi and the complicated, regretful looks from the villagers, Karin frowned.
"Why are they looking at me like that?"
Naruto sneered.
"Why else? Their free healing tool ran away. No more biting you whenever they feel like it, no more free treatment… of course they look like they just lost their favorite toy."
A faint gloom crossed his face.
People like Karin… weren't rare in the ninja world.
The Jinchūriki of every major village were the perfect example—forced to bear hatred, treated like weapons, and expected to die for the village with a smile.
And if they didn't? Suddenly they were "ungrateful."
Yeah… what a load of bullshit.
Karin seemed affected by the atmosphere, her expression dimming.
Noticing that, Naruto smirked.
"Forget the past. So what now? You wanna take revenge on these Kusa bastards yourself… or just sit back and watch their village burn to the ground?"
Karin fell silent, thinking.
Then she looked at him.
"Master Mianma… what would you do?"
Naruto paused for a moment, then smiled casually.
"Me? I'd let them rot on their own."
He glanced at the villagers.
"But you're different. If it were me, I'd beat the shit out of them whenever I felt like it. They didn't just annoy you—they actually hurt you."
Karin clenched her fists slightly.
"…Then I'll watch them destroy themselves. Just like you said, Master Mianma."
She made her decision.
Revenge didn't have to mean killing them herself. Watching everything they built collapse… might be even better.
Besides, her mother's wish… was for her to live a normal life as a ninja.
Before long, the two arrived near the Kusagakure base, where the battle against Satoru was still raging.
Naruto raised an eyebrow slightly.
Konoha and the Akatsuki working together?
He almost laughed.
Yeah… nothing unites enemies faster than a shared "oh shit, we're all gonna die" situation.
Karin, on the other hand, was completely captivated by the battle.
Especially Tsunade.
One punch—BOOM!—and the ground exploded like it owed her money.
Karin's eyes sparkled.
If I had that kind of strength… nobody would've dared touch me.
At that moment, Naruto suddenly sensed a familiar chakra and turned his gaze toward the distant forest.
There, standing atop a tree, was a figure wearing a spiral mask—
Obito Uchiha.
Obito also noticed Naruto. Without hesitation, his body twisted into a vortex and disappeared.
No pointless fighting.
That was a lesson he'd learned the hard way.
Naruto snorted.
When he reached the forest, Obito was already gone. Instead, Naruto casually dealt with the White Zetsu that had been disguising itself, sealing its body into a scroll.
"If people start copying this thing's abilities, that'll be a real pain in the ass…"
Honestly, Uzushiogakure already had plenty of White Zetsu samples stored away, captured and studied by the previous clan head using sealing techniques.
No need to hoard more.
Forming hand seals, Naruto created a shadow clone to stay with Karin.
Then he looked toward the Box of Bliss.
Anything connected to the Divine Tree… he wasn't letting that shit slip away.
Soon, he locked onto a weak chakra signature and vanished instantly.
When Naruto found Wuwei, the man had locked himself in a small dark room, completely broken.
"Why… why did it fail?!"
"Isn't the Box of Bliss supposed to grant wishes?!"
Naruto appeared beside him, voice cold.
"It does grant wishes. Just… not the way you imagined."
"Your son was resurrected."
He paused, eyes indifferent.
"But now he's nothing more than a slave to the Box."
That was the terrifying part of the Box of Bliss.
It fulfilled wishes—but in the most twisted way possible.
World peace?
Easy.
Kill everyone.
No people, no war. Problem solved.
Wuwei froze.
"You… who are you?!"
Naruto didn't bother answering. His Sharingan activated instantly, dragging Wuwei into a genjutsu.
He extracted everything—sealing methods, research data, all information related to the Box of Bliss.
Then he tossed the data to Kurama.
"Kurama, can you figure out anything about the Divine Tree from this?"
Kurama scanned the information, frowning deeply.
"…If this thing really works the way it does, then I doubt it has much to do with the Divine Tree."
He paused.
"It feels more like… something else entirely."
He suddenly stopped talking.
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
Even Kurama couldn't identify it?
Then this thing… might be older than the Divine Tree itself.
Maybe only the Sage of Six Paths knew the truth.
Shaking off those thoughts, Naruto decided to seal the Box first.
He could study it later.
Meanwhile, back at the battlefield—
Konoha and the Akatsuki had already tried multiple times to seal Satoru, but every attempt failed.
All eyes turned to the Kusagakure leader.
He could only shake his head helplessly.
"The ancient records only explain how to open the Box of Bliss… not how to close it."
Jiraiya, Itachi, and the others all looked grim.
They had the strength to suppress Satoru—but their chakra wasn't infinite. They couldn't keep this up forever.
Then—
The ground suddenly trembled.
A massive vibration surged from below, as if the earth itself had come alive.
In the next instant—
A gigantic hand burst out from underground, grabbed Satoru, and dragged him straight down into the depths.
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