Prison Turmoil

Mo Jingxian, dressed like a small-village ninja, walked along the streets of Hozuki Castle.

As he passed a desolate alley, several Grass Ninja suddenly appeared and surrounded him.

"Out-of-village ninja, we suspect you of engaging in illegal activities. Come with us."

The ninjas pointed their blades at him, blocking every escape route.

Judging by how practiced they were, this clearly wasn't their first time doing this.

Mo Jingxian calmly held out his hands, looking ready to accept his fate.

The previous day, he had finally reached an agreement with Long Yunzhi. As a result, he now had to sneak into Hozuki Castle's prison.

According to Long Yunzhi, they had to cut off contact with each other to avoid arousing Mui's suspicions.

However, he had also provided one crucial piece of information: the current warden of Hozuki Castle, Mui, was secretly arresting ninjas from other villages.

Today, Mo Jingxian had disguised himself, and before he'd even had much time to stroll around, he'd been rewarded with a pair of silver bracelets.

Two special Sealing Bracelets were fastened around his wrists, sealing his Chakra and leaving him no different from an ordinary civilian.

The Grass Ninja leading the group secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This job hadn't been easy.

Over the past month, he'd taken part in several arrest operations, and every person they'd caught had resisted fiercely.

This was the first time he'd encountered someone so cooperative. Once those sealing handcuffs were on, even if the man had some other idea, he wouldn't be able to make any waves.

Since this guy had cooperated willingly, there was no need to use any more force.

A black hood was pulled over his head.

Mo Jingxian was slung over someone's shoulder and carried away at high speed.

When the hood was removed, he was already in a prison cell.

There was no questioning or trial. He was simply tossed in here like a piece of cargo.

The cell was small, with an iron-barred window and an iron door. Even the walls were built of solid granite.

For a ninja who'd lost his Chakra, escaping would be nothing short of a fool's dream.

The cell was less than ten square meters and didn't even have a bed, but Mo Jingxian found it pretty nice.

At least it was cleaner and more comfortable than the inns he'd stayed in.

The Ninja World was strange. Some technologies were highly advanced, yet certain regions seemed to be stuck in ancient times.

This made a lot of things seem out of place.

Take this cell, for example. It was even more comfortable than an inn.

He tucked these miscellaneous thoughts away in a corner of his mind.

Mo Jingxian sat down and began examining the sealing handcuffs on his wrists.

The Chakra stored in his body was like an old tortoise dozing off. No matter how desperately he tried to rouse it, it only managed the faintest twitch.

It seemed the seal worked very well.

After testing that, he tried manipulating the water element in space.

A stream of water finer than a strand of hair slipped through the keyhole in the handcuff.

It quickly made a round inside.

Mo Jingxian formed a mental model of the handcuff's inner workings. Besides the mechanical components, there was also a sealing glyph.

The glyph wasn't complicated.

It didn't take long.

He had soon figured out how the glyph worked.

Slowness, inertia, and aggregation—the glyph was a rearrangement of three basic sealing glyphs.

This Sealing Jutsu was quite interesting. The logic connecting several of its glyphs gave him a flash of inspiration.

Prison life was dull to begin with, but this had given him something to enjoy.

Happy times were always short.

In less than an hour, the Sealing Jutsu had lost its mystery to him. He had thoroughly studied it.

"Ah!"

He sighed softly to himself.

One less interesting toy.

He didn't tamper with the sealing formula inside the handcuffs. It wasn't time yet.

He admitted that a part of his decision to jump into this situation had been driven by greed.

But the moment he'd heard about the mysterious inheritance, he'd already made up his mind.

The prospect of extending his life was tempting, but more importantly, he suspected the inheritance's records might reveal a glimpse of this world's mysterious laws.

A lot of time had passed, and he only vaguely remembered most of the Naruto plot.

But one thing was clear: the origin of ninjutsu involved two aliens coming to plant a tree.

What had come before that?

Where had the supernatural powers from before Chakra appeared gone?

The lairs of the three great yokai offered some clues. The so-called Senjutsu also involved an energy like Chakra.

That wasn't true Senjutsu—or rather, that kind of Senjutsu wasn't pure enough.

There was another point: these animals that had gained humanlike intelligence all lived incredibly long lives. Mo Jingxian didn't believe they could have survived without possessing a true Senjutsu inheritance.

He wasn't strong enough to cause trouble at the lairs of the three great yokai yet, so he could put that idea aside for now.

But there was no way he'd give up a benefit handed to him on a platter.

As for Long Yunzhi's assurances, he wouldn't believe a single word. They were just using each other.

The problem facing him now was how to find the missing inheritance.

Mo Jingxian vaguely remembered Hozuki Castle Prison appearing once in a movie, but he couldn't recall exactly what happened.

He smacked his forehead in frustration, blaming his past self. Why hadn't he watched more of the side stories back then?

There was no point dwelling on it. He had only one option for now.

If the prison descended into chaos, perhaps that would trigger the plot.

As he was mulling it over, he heard a "clang, clang..."

"Come out for exercise!"

The doors of the row of cells opened, and the prisoners filed out of their individual cells.

Mo Jingxian blended into the crowd and followed the flow of people to the prison yard.

He took a deep breath.

When someone left a cramped cell and entered the yard, the open space was a feast for the eyes.

The prisoners spread out and gathered in groups of three or five, enjoying their rare time outside.

The prisoners were well-behaved. No one crossed the boundaries; they followed the rules without being told.

Mo Jingxian stretched his limbs and pretended to take a stroll as he secretly surveyed the prison's layout.

The yard was enclosed by high walls and metal fencing on three sides. Beyond them, he could hear flowing water.

Behind him were the cells. Five teams of ninjas patrolled the perimeter, not counting the hidden sentries.

All the prisoners wore these sealing handcuffs. For people who'd lost their Chakra, escape was all but impossible.

After making a round, he didn't spot anything unusual.

Could the secret be hidden in the cellblock?

Mo Jingxian found an empty spot and sat down, wondering whether he should investigate tonight.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

His thoughts were interrupted.

A scrawny man with a sharp, ratlike face came over and sat down beside him as if they were old friends.

"Yeah. So you're an old-timer, then."

That was how prison was. Chatting was about the best entertainment you could hope for.

The scrawny man raised a finger and gestured around the yard.

"Out of everyone here, no one's been around longer than me."

Mo Jingxian smiled. This guy had a way with words.

The scrawny man gave him a smug look. "What'd you get locked up for?"

"I ate dumplings without dipping them in vinegar. What about you?"

"I ate dumplings without dipping them in soy sauce."

The two exchanged a knowing smile.

After chatting for a while, Mo Jingxian brought up someone.

"Do you know a guy named Kashima Chuwa?"

The scrawny man replied casually:

"I do, but..."

"But what?"

The scrawny man glanced around, leaned closer to Mo Jingxian, and whispered:

"Kashima Chuwa betrayed Lord Long Yunzhi. He's hiding in this prison now. If you want to find him..."

"How? How can I find him?"

Mo Jingxian didn't believe Long Yunzhi would have made no preparations.

Although the hardliners supporting the current warden of Hozuki Castle, Mui, had the upper hand, Long Yunzhi had spent years cultivating his influence. He was bound to have a backup plan.

Just as he'd expected, the scrawny man was one of Long Yunzhi's people.

It seemed Long Yunzhi had started laying the groundwork long ago.

The scrawny man still wore a grin, but his voice turned calm.

"My lord said that as long as you can cause enough chaos, once the prison falls, Kashima Chuwa is yours to deal with."

Mo Jingxian wore the same grin. The two of them looked like old friends enjoying a cheerful chat.

"Causing chaos is easy!"

"You're planning to... Ah!"

The scrawny man was just about to ask when a fist suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Before he could react, the fist slammed into the bridge of his nose like a hammer.

His brain turned into a grocery store.

Sour, spicy, and salty flavors all came rushing in at once.

And Mo Jingxian wasn't finished.

He'd caught the scrawny man off guard, and now he grabbed him off the ground and hauled him up.

Then he slapped him across the face.

"Tell me! Why'd you eat dumplings without soy sauce?"

The scrawny man was dazed. "I don't like it... No, why'd you hit me? Wait, what was I trying to say?"

The prisoners saw a show breaking out and immediately crowded around them.

"Hey! Scrawny, fight back! Don't tell me you can't beat a kid."

"Exactly... I'm taking bets. Anyone want in?"

The prisoners got excited. They didn't get shows like this every day, and some of them even started taking bets.

The patrolling ninjas didn't hurry over to stop them. They seemed not to care about this sort of thing at all.

Mo Jingxian winked at the scrawny man, not bothering to check if he'd caught on to the plan, and kept slapping him rapidly and viciously.

"Smack!"

"That's for harassing your elderly neighbor!"

"Smack!"

"That's for jerking off in the street!"

"Stop!" The scrawny man hurriedly called for a halt. He thought he should play along with Mo Jingxian's act.

But there were some things he couldn't take the blame for, or his reputation would be ruined.

The scrawny man looked at Mo Jingxian with tears in his eyes. "I didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"I didn't jerk off in the street."

"Smack!" Mo Jingxian slapped him again. "You think I don't have the right to frame you?"

Mo Jingxian acted like a shameless bully.

On the status panel, his reputation was climbing rapidly. It was about to break through 1,500.

Clearly, he'd succeeded in making the prisoners angry.

"Kid, let him go. You're pretty cocky... Ah!"

If he was going to cause a scene, he might as well make it a big one.

Prisoner A hadn't even finished speaking when Mo Jingxian's sole made intimate contact with his face.

Hit and run. He wasn't about to give anyone a chance to gang up on him.

The prisoners froze for a second. Then a surge of fury shot straight to their heads.

"Get him!"

"What a little punk!"

"Grab him..."

The prisoners poured out like bulls breaking from a pen, snorting with rage as they chased Mo Jingxian around the yard.

Even those who'd once been ninjas were no different from ordinary people here.

With a "Life" attribute of 35, Mo Jingxian dodged, counterattacked, and retreated in one fluid motion.

"Wheee..."

The guards finally reacted and blew the alarm whistles.

Everything had been fine just a moment ago. How had it turned into this so quickly?

Confused and furious, more than a dozen prison guards rushed in and started hitting people indiscriminately.

Before long, the disturbance was under control.

When they investigated the cause, nearly every prisoner pointed a finger at... Mo Jingxian.