Tethering Flower Poison

Most of them had spent the day rushing at high speed.

Some had even gone through several battles, draining much of their energy, and had gone to sleep early.

By two in the morning, most people had already drifted off.

The three Kusagakure ninja had not slept.

"Ryohei, we're counting on you!"

The two shorter Kusagakure ninja bowed to the tall, thin Ryohei.

There was little expression on Ryohei's face.

"Busuke, Yamura, I'll be going on ahead."

Ryohei lifted his clothes, revealing red runes carved all over his body.

His hands rapidly formed seals, and every red rune on his body lit up.

As he completed the final seal, all the red runes on Ryohei's body flared to life, forming marks that resembled flames.

Ryohei clapped his hands together, and a summoning array appeared in midair.

A meticulously dressed man appeared in the room.

The newcomer was Muwi, the lord of Hozuki Castle.

It was as if all the blood had been drained from Ryohei. He collapsed onto the bed like a dried corpse, no longer breathing.

Using a person to summon another person required immense strength. Those with weaker strength who could still use it had to pay a tremendous price.

After entering the room, Muwi glanced at the dead Ryohei.

There was not the slightest ripple in his cold eyes.

He turned to Busuke and Yamura.

"Have the Purple Blood Fruits been crushed?"

Busuke lowered his head and answered, "Everyone was close together. They definitely all smelled it."

"Where is the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki?"

Yamura pointed upward.

Yamura continued, "Sir, there's also something unusual about the Hidden Sand Village group."

"Hm?" Muwi let out a questioning sound. "Speak plainly."

Yamura stretched out his hand and spread several fingers, tiny flames burning atop them.

They pointed respectively toward Naruto and Gaara.

Surprise appeared in Muwi's eyes.

"The Hidden Sand Village actually sent a Jinchuriki?"

"Yes, Lord Muwi. The Hidden Sand Village group is in the room to the south."

Muwi nodded and pondered for a moment.

He took out a rectangular box about two fingers long.

"This is Tethering Flower. Begin."

Busuke carefully accepted the Tethering Flower from Muwi, then took out an exquisite little brazier.

He added kindling to the brazier and lit the charcoal inside.

Then, he carefully poured the Tethering Flower from the box into it.

Tethering Flower was a semitransparent gelatinous substance. When heated by charcoal—

—it slowly released a blue mist. The mist was extremely pale, and after drifting out, it gradually became invisible.

The mist began to seep out through the crack beneath the door.

What they were burning was an extraordinarily precious poison.

It was called Tethering Flower, a toxin condensed from the Tethering Flower Poison Vine of Kusagakure.

They were burning only a piece about the size of a little finger.

It took the poison vine roughly three years to condense even that much.

The crucial point was that this poison vine had gone extinct forty years ago.

There was not a second batch to be found in the entire ninja village.

This was Kusagakure's final reserve.

Tethering Flower Poison was a mixed toxin. More precisely—

—it only became poisonous after mixing with the scent of a Purple Blood Fruit.

And its antidote was simple: the flesh of the Purple Blood Fruit.

Purple Blood Fruits were also extremely precious. Outside Kusagakure, they were practically impossible to find.

Anyone who had smelled a Purple Blood Fruit would experience a toxic reaction in their blood upon smelling Tethering Flower within twelve hours.

This toxic reaction made the limbs go limp and prevented the use of Chakra.

It also caused dizziness and unconsciousness.

Shamu, in the room downstairs, instantly opened his eyes.

He sensed that something was wrong.

After reaching his level of strength, his instincts always gave him warnings. It was the same even as a Shadow Clone.

He had felt tonight that those three Kusagakure ninja might be suspicious.

But the three of them really were only around low Chunin level, barely above Genin.

Shamu did not know exactly how they intended to make their move.

Just then, Shamu faintly caught a delicate fragrance.

The scent was extremely faint. Without paying attention, it would have been impossible to notice.

Shamu frowned and immediately held his breath, then took out a Storage Scroll.

He undid the seal, revealing several gas masks inside.

As Shamu put one on himself, he took out two more for his two clansmen.

Then he heard the sound of bodies hitting the floor. Turning around, he saw that both of them had collapsed limply.

Shamu gave them a brief examination. Neither seemed to be in mortal danger, but their heartbeats were extremely rapid.

"Can you still move?"

His clansman shook his head slightly. It was obvious that even shaking his head took great effort.

"What about Chakra?"

His clansman did not even shake his head this time, only moved his eyes from side to side.

Shamu had inhaled only a small amount, yet his limbs were already weak, and even the Chakra in his body was becoming difficult to control.

Tsk, tsk.

A lesson learned.

There was actually such a powerful poison. Just a little smoke could completely rob someone of their ability to act and even disrupt their Chakra.

If I hadn't had a gas mask, I probably would have been done for too.

Shamu had not expected to stumble over poison.

It seemed he would need to properly learn detoxification techniques from Tsunade and Shizune later, or improve his physical condition further.

After putting gas masks on the two men and confirming they were not in mortal danger, Shamu went to the door.

He quietly opened a narrow crack, preparing to check the situation below.

He saw a person in a high-collared trench coat coming down from the Kusagakure ninja's room on the second floor, accompanied by two Kusagakure Genin.

Shamu recognized him at a glance: Muwi.

The lord of Hozuki Castle.

Well, that's something. How did the lord of Hozuki Castle get in?

Seeing that one of the three Kusagakure ninja was missing, Shamu roughly guessed what had happened.

But that question was no longer important.

The key question was whether he had brought the Box of Paradise.

That thing could only be transported; it could not be summoned.

Muwi walked to Naruto's door and gripped the handle.

A fiery red glow spread out, and the lock melted instantly.

But the moment the door opened—

Rasengan!

Naruto was covered in a Chakra Cloak as he thrust out a Rasengan.

Naruto had not been poisoned?

No. On closer inspection, Shamu could tell that Naruto's steps were unsteady, and the Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak around him was unstable as well.

Muwi did not seem particularly surprised.

He merely sidestepped calmly, then swept Naruto back into the room with a roundhouse kick.

Inside, Sasuke and Hinata were slumped weakly against the wall.

Although Kurama inside Naruto's body had discovered the poison immediately, the Tethering Flower Poison took effect too quickly. Naruto had not managed to hold his breath in time.

After being swept back by the kick, Naruto could no longer maintain the Tailed Beast Cloak.

It dispersed at once. Even with Naruto's massive Chakra reserves, his limbs were weak. "Who are you?!"

"You're not one of this round's examinees..."

Naruto's voice grew softer and softer as he felt his strength gradually draining away.

As the footsteps drew closer, Muwi walked in, ignoring Sasuke and Hinata lying against the wall.

Muwi spread all five fingers, his palm turning red, and struck Naruto with it. Naruto could not help letting out a muffled groan.

Fire Release: Heavenly Prison!

A scorching pain spread across Naruto's body, and sealing chains appeared over large areas of his body.

Muwi grabbed Naruto with one hand and walked straight out the door.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched Naruto being taken away.

He wanted to attack, but his limbs were weak, and he could not get up at all.

"Naru...to..."