Hozuki Castle

The next morning.

Yan had already appeared at the border of the Land of Waterfalls, near the Land of Grass.

Aside from handing Kabuto and the others over to Orochimaru for training, his goal for this trip was, to put it bluntly, to collect cards.

Take, for instance, the Box of Ultimate Bliss in Hozuki Castle, the mother and daughter Karin in Kusagakure, the Star of the Land of Bears, Moryo of the Land of Demons, the Chakra Armor and environmental terraforming devices of the Land of Snow, or the Dragon Vein in the Land of Wind, and so on.

When you add it all up, it seems like quite a lot; it's just a question of whether one year will be enough.

And this first stop was Hozuki Castle, the international prison.

The warden, Mui, had the initial dream of using the Box of Ultimate Bliss—left behind by the Sage of Six Paths—to grant a wish that would allow the Land of Grass to rule the Ninja World, eventually going so far as to sacrifice his own son.

Calculating the time, Mui's son, Muku, shouldn't have been sacrificed yet, but it was likely approaching soon.

Could the soft-hearted Yan just pretend not to see this?

That was certainly impossible!

Since that was the case, he would just have to do a good deed, reluctantly take the Box of Ultimate Bliss away, and prevent the separation of father and son!

Thinking of this, Yan's pace as he ran toward Hozuki Castle became much lighter.

It was just a pity that running on foot felt a bit beneath his dignity, and his research into flight ninjutsu was hitting a bottleneck.

However, this was within Yan's expectations.

After all, if flight ninjutsu were truly that easy, there wouldn't be so few people in the Ninja World who could fly.

In a secret underground chamber of Hozuki Castle.

Several mysterious figures wearing animal masks were gathered around a long table, upon which lay a man covered in seal scripts, struggling incessantly.

"The ritual begins."

A mysterious figure wearing an ox-head mask stepped forward, ignoring the prisoner's pleading expression, and expressionlessly pressed his right hand onto the man's bare chest.

With a surge of chakra output, the seals on the prisoner's body were awakened, emitting rays of light.

Immediately following, a massive amount of chakra poured out from the prisoner's chest, gathering above the long table.

"Ah! It hurts!"

"I don't want to die, please, let me go!"

The pain caused by the extraction of his chakra made the prisoner scream uncontrollably, his body beginning to tremble violently.

The mysterious figures paid no heed to the screams ringing in their ears, their hands moving in a continuous series of seals.

Before long, the chakra within the prisoner's body was rapidly drained dry.

It transformed into a pillar of crimson energy, pouring continuously into a black box nearby that was carved with the faces of wicked demons.

At the same time, in this mysterious underground chamber, many other prisoners were having their chakra extracted through the same process, their life force dissipating at an extremely rapid rate.

As time ticked by, more and more chakra was injected, and the demon faces gradually began to glow.

The mysterious figures watched the Box of Ultimate Bliss, which seemed on the verge of opening, with great excitement.

The dream of the Land of Grass once again dominating the Ninja World seemed to be within reach!

But soon, as all the chakra extracted from the prisoners was injected into the Box of Ultimate Bliss, the box only vibrated slightly, and the light on the demon faces slowly faded, as if it lacked the necessary follow-through.

"It failed again!" an elder wearing a sheep-head mask sighed. "Damn it, we were so close."

"It was expected, wasn't it?" the ox-head elder consoled.

"There must be something missing!" the monkey-head elder narrowed his eyes and said, "Could it be that we need to sacrifice a genius?"

"A genius?" the horse-head elder frowned. "It's not like we haven't tried those talented prisoners in Hozuki Castle; it didn't work, did it!"

The monkey-head elder shook his head, a strange smile curling at the corner of his mouth as he continued.

"If prisoners won't do, then why don't we try one of our own?"

The horse-head elder's brow furrowed even deeper upon hearing this, as if he had thought of someone, and he hesitated.

"You mean... Muku?"

"Exactly!" the monkey-head elder nodded with a smile. "My Grass Fruit faction has been suppressed too heavily by the Grass Flower faction; geniuses are rare, and the most talented among them is Lord Mui's son."

"If the Box of Ultimate Bliss truly requires the sacrifice of a genius, then he is certainly the most suitable candidate!"

"But..." the sheep-head elder, hearing the monkey-head elder's suggestion, appeared very hesitant, seemingly unable to bear it.

"..."

At this moment, the heavy door suddenly opened with a 'bang', and a young man walked in wearing a red uniform, a black cloak draped over his shoulders, and long black hair atop his head.

Mui first scanned the elders in the secret chamber, then looked toward the Box of Ultimate Bliss, which now showed no reaction, and couldn't help but frown as he spoke.

"How much longer until the Box of Ultimate Bliss opens? We have waited long enough."

The sheep-head elder replied, "Soon, just a little more! This matter cannot be rushed; the more we rush, the easier it is to make mistakes. We need to prevent those cowards from the Grass Flower faction from coming to stop us."

"But we don't have time!" Mui snapped. "The Grass Flower seems to have noticed the commotion on our end; they even mentioned sending people to investigate a few days ago!"

"Let them look!" Elder Horse-Head snorted. "They want to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss and rule the Ninja World just as much as we do; those lackeys of the Great Nations just refuse to admit it!"

It was clear that Mui did not want the Grass Flower involved, so he turned to Elder Sheep-Head and asked, "You said we were 'almost' there earlier—what exactly is missing?"

Faced with the inquiry from the Lord of the Castle, Elder Sheep-Head suddenly became hesitant, his speech stuttering.

"Th-that... it's missing..."

Halfway through, he seemed unable to bring himself to say the answer, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

"It's better if Elder Monkey-Head says it; this was his suggestion!"

Mui turned his gaze toward Elder Monkey-Head, his eyes filled with a trace of majesty, his uniform fluttering despite the lack of wind.

Elder Monkey-Head felt a chill in his heart as he met Mui's gaze, but for the sake of the Land of Grass, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Lord Castle Master, we have tried many methods, but none have succeeded in opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss."

"According to my hypothesis, we are still missing a genius to serve as a sacrifice."

"Among the Grass Fruit, the most gifted individual is Young Master Muku. If we sacrifice Young Master Muku, the Box of Ultimate Bliss will surely open, and the Land of Grass's domination of the Ninja World will be within reach."

Upon hearing this, Mui's expression turned instantly grim. A surge of chakra began to pour from his body, and the invisible pressure weighed heavily upon the elders in the secret chamber, causing cold sweat to stream down their faces.

"Muku is my son. You have a lot of nerve, daring to propose such a suggestion!"

No one in the room dared to answer.

The atmosphere in the secret chamber became exceptionally heavy, and the elders watched Mui nervously, waiting for his decision.

After a long silence.

"Muku is my son..." Mui repeated, his voice low and hoarse. "I never wanted to drag him into this, but..."

His eyes revealed a struggle and pain, but in the end, they were overtaken by ambition, and he sighed softly.

"Fine. If this is the only way, then so be it!"

"..."