The Sage of Six Paths' thousand-year scheme

In a remote village in the western part of the Land of Fire.

"I'm so tired." Eri's ankle hurt a little.

After three days of forced marching, the squad successfully reached the border.

According to reports, over the past year or so, villagers have been disappearing without a trace in many parts of the Land of Fire.

Intelligence agencies suspect that ninjas from another country are secretly stirring up trouble.

Didn't you see that Tobirama Senju was secretly plundering ninjas from the Land of Lightning in order to Ninjutsu?

The only puzzling thing is why they targeted ordinary people.

If it were human trafficking, it wouldn't be enough to cause an 80-year-old woman to disappear.

Who has such a heavy taste?!

Initially, Konoha didn't take it too seriously, but after three waves of ninja were lost in succession, including Jonin squad that never returned, the higher-ups gradually realized the seriousness of the problem.

Just then, his disciple expressed his resistance to the boring mission, so Kyosuke decided to personally set off to complete this S-Rank mission.

This can be considered as giving the disciples some experience.

"Come on, I'll carry you." Seeing that she was a little tired, Yuto didn't say much and simply squatted down, gesturing for Eri.

The princess, who had initially intended to refuse, rolled her eyes slightly, blushed, and had her companion carry her on her back.

"Thank you, thank you!"

"Don't mention it, we're comrades now."

Beside him, Kurama Jun rubbed his chin, his eyes seemingly enlightened.

"... They've got a way with him." Kyosuke silently shook his head, thinking that his son had been completely controlled by them.

In this respect, girls are always much more mature than boys.

With his mind solely focused on training and becoming stronger, Yuto probably doesn't even understand what romantic attraction between the sexes is.

In his eyes, Eri, like Jun, is a friend worth protecting.

Even if it were Kurama Jun had just taken over, he would have squatted down without hesitation.

Kyosuke, who was observing silently, was unsure whether he should praise his son for treating everyone equally.

Ignoring the children's squabbles, he focused on heightening his senses to guard against any potential sneak attacks.

Soon, the team arrived at the entrance to the village, the very place where the most recent disappearance had occurred.

"Something's not right." As soon as he stepped into the village, Uchiha Yuto, whose perception was the most outstanding, suddenly realized something.

It's too quiet.

No matter what happened, a rural village wouldn't be this quiet.

There wasn't even a sound, let alone human voices.

"Damn it, we're too late." Yuto turned around and looked at his two companions. "The situation is unclear. I'll use my Shadow Clone to go and investigate."

"Good."

"I'll listen to you."

Seeing this, Kyosuke nodded, thinking to himself that the brat wasn't completely stupid after all.

If they were to split up and allow hidden enemies to lurk in the shadows, the squads would inevitably be picked off one by one.

At that point, let alone Anzai Eri who is more focused on healing, Kurama Jun might not even have time to activate his bloodline limit when facing a surprise attack from multiple enemies.

In the end, it was still him, the teacher, who had to save the day.

That would defeat the purpose of training the team.

Bang!

Before long, Yuto's Shadow Clone discovered the hidden enemy and the large number of corpses piled up on the ground, which had not yet been transported.

"Damn it, who are you people?!" Yuto was furious.

He never imagined that this group would be so ruthless as to actually slaughter the entire village.

Is he crazy?!

"Hey, a bunch of brats have come this time." A mocking voice rang out, and an unknown ninja squad emerged from the shadows.

Their gaze swept over Kyosuke, who was an adult, and the leader replied with a cold laugh, "You don't need to know who we are."

"Just understand that you'll soon become fodder too."

Feed? Kyosuke frowned in confusion, feeling that things were getting increasingly complicated.

"Spare the leader's life," he ordered the three boys.

This group is quite strong; the leader possesses at least the Elite Chunin Chakra.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to defeat his three disciples.

With Genjutsu control and Body Flicker Technique killing, the battle was over before Eri even had to lift a finger.

Grabbing the crippled leader, Kyosuke didn't waste any words with him. Sharingan to hypnotize him, he immediately made the enemy reveal the truth.

"We're responsible for capturing them and sending them to Kusagakure..."

"Hozuki Castle..."

Hozuki Castle is a ninja prison established by the centrist Kusagakure, commissioned by various countries.

The location is a small island near Kusagakure, surrounded by the sea. The island is named after a type of sour berry called "Hōzuki".

The Hozuki Castle are all members of the clan who use the Fire Release: Heavenly Prison technique.

The prisoner was imprinted with a binding technique that suppressed his Chakra and prevented him from escaping. Even Naruto the Nine-Tails couldn't break free from that Heavenly Prison Fire Release.

Kyosuke just couldn't understand why Hozuki Castle kept robbing people.

Etc...

A sudden realization dawned on him, and he understood Hozuki Castle's intention.

"The Box of Elysium!"

Those bastards must be after that weird box.

The Box of Bliss is said to grant one wish to whoever opens it.

Legend has it that it was the ultimate weapon from the era of the Sage of Six Paths, and the box has four faces on its four sides, representing joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

During the era of the Sage of Six Paths, Kusagakure almost ruled the world through it.

Unfortunately, people don't realize that it can't actually grant wishes; the box only contains terrifying monsters created by destruction and fear.

The story from ancient times wasn't actually about ruling the world, but rather about monsters nearly destroying the entire Shinobi World.

Having figured this out, Kyosuke was no longer surprised by Hozuki Castle's actions.

However, another question kept rising in his mind.

The Box of Bliss is so evil, why did the Sage of Six Paths create it?

With Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's power, apart from Kaguya, who in the world could rival him? Why bother creating such a life-devouring ninja tool?

Unless, it possesses some kind of necessity for its existence.

"If it's not meant for killing enemies, then it must be intended for some kind of experiment."

"Six Paths... Kaguya... devours human lives..."

"Human life can also be understood as the absorption of Chakra..."

In a daze, a bold guess suddenly popped into my mind.

Could it be that the Sage of Six Paths is using the Box of Bliss to try and condense Chakra Fruit similar to the God Tree?!

Just like Kaguya in the beginning, she slowly gathers enough Chakra by using the prisoners in the Blood Prison without harming innocent people.

Even if progress is slow, there is still enough time.

With thousands of years of accumulation, the Chakra stored within must be astonishing.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it." Kyosuke said this, but his eyes brightened more than ever before.

He wondered if his guess was correct, and if there really was Chakra Fruit inside the Box of Bliss.

So, is it possible for him to take it away?

Regardless of whether it's possible or not, Kyosuke feels it's necessary to go to Hozuki Castle in person.