Prison Storm

Mo Jingxian, dressed in the attire of a minor ninja village, walked through the streets of Hozuki Castle.

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

"Ninja from another village, we suspect you of engaging in illegal activities. Please come with us."

The ninjas pointed their blades at him, blocking all paths of retreat.

Judging by their practiced movements, it was clear this was not their first time doing such a thing.

Mo Jingxian calmly extended his hands, looking as if he were offering his neck for the blade.

Yesterday, he had finally reached an agreement with Long Yunzhi, which required him to voluntarily infiltrate the Hozuki Castle prison.

According to Long Yunzhi, to avoid arousing Mui's suspicion, the connection between the two of them had to be severed.

However, he also provided a key piece of information: the current lord of Hozuki Castle, Mui, was secretly capturing ninjas from other villages.

Today, Mo Jingxian had disguised himself and hadn't been wandering the streets for long before he was gifted a pair of silver bracelets.

Two specialized Sealing Bracelets were clamped onto his wrists, sealing his chakra circulation and rendering the ninja no different from a commoner.

The Grass Ninja leading the team breathed a sigh of relief; this mission was not an easy one.

In recent months, he had participated in several capture missions, and everyone arrested had resisted fiercely.

This was the first time he had encountered someone so cooperative; once the Sealing Bracelets were on, even if the prisoner had other ideas, they couldn't stir up any trouble.

In consideration of the guy's active cooperation, there was no need to resort to further measures.

A black cloth hood was pulled over his head.

Mo Jingxian was hoisted onto a shoulder and carried away at high speed.

When the hood was removed, he found himself already inside a prison cell.

There was no questioning, no trial; he was tossed here like a piece of cargo.

The cell was small, with iron windows, an iron door, and even the walls were built from solid granite.

For a ninja who had lost their chakra, trying to escape was nothing more than a pipe dream.

The cell was less than ten square meters and didn't even have a bed, but Mo Jingxian felt it was quite alright.

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

The Ninja World was quite strange; while some technology was highly advanced, other regions seemed to live in the ancient past.

This led to many things appearing highly incongruous.

Take this prison cell, for instance; its comfort level even exceeded that of an inn.

He tucked these messy thoughts into a corner of his mind.

Mo Jingxian sat down to study the Sealing Bracelets on his wrists.

The chakra stored in his body was like an old turtle dozing off; no matter how desperately he tried to mobilize it, it would only twitch slightly.

It seemed the sealing effect was excellent.

After testing it, he mobilized the water elements in the surrounding space.

A stream of water thinner than a strand of hair snaked through the keyhole of the shackles.

It quickly made a circuit inside.

Mo Jingxian's mind simulated the internal structure of the shackles, revealing not just mechanical devices, but also a sealing rune.

The rune was not complex.

Before long, he had dismantled the principles behind this rune.

It was a rearrangement and combination of three basic sealing runes: Slowness, Inertia, and Aggregation.

This sealing technique was somewhat interesting, and the logic behind the communication of several of the runes made his eyes light up.

Prison life was inherently boring, so this actually provided him with some amusement.

Happy times are always short-lived.

In less than an hour, the sealing technique lost its mystery in his eyes and had been thoroughly researched.

"Sigh!"

He let out a soft sigh in his heart.

He had lost an interesting toy.

He did not tamper with the sealing formula inside the shackles; it was not yet the right time.

He admitted that part of his reason for jumping into this trap voluntarily was driven by greed.

However, the moment he heard about the mysterious inheritance, he had already made his decision.

Increasing his lifespan was a temptation, but more importantly, he speculated that the records within the inheritance might be able to lift the veil on a corner of this world's mysterious rules.

A long time had passed, and he only remembered the general plot of the Hokage series.

Regardless, he knew the origin of ninjutsu; it was nothing more than two aliens coming over to plant a tree.

But what about before that?

Where did the supernatural power go before the appearance of chakra?

One could infer a thing or two from the lairs of the Three Great Yokai, as the so-called senjutsu also involved this energy known as chakra.

That was not true senjutsu, or rather, that kind of senjutsu was not pure enough.

There was another point: these sentient animals were all very long-lived. Mo Jingxian did not believe for a second that they lacked a true inheritance of senjutsu.

He did not yet have the strength to stir up trouble at the lairs of the Three Great Yokai, so he could set those thoughts aside for now.

However, he would never give up on the benefits delivered right to his doorstep.

As for the guarantees of Long Yunzhi, he would not believe a single word; it was merely mutual exploitation.

The problem now facing him was how to find that vanished inheritance.

Mo Jingxian vaguely remembered that Hozuki Castle appeared in a movie once, though he was unclear on the specific events that transpired there.

He slapped his head in frustration, blaming his past self for not watching more of the side stories back then.

Thinking more was useless; there was only one way forward for now.

If the prison were to fall into chaos, perhaps that plot could be triggered.

Just as he was pondering this, he heard a "clatter, clatter..."

"Out for yard time!"

The doors of the row of cells were opened, and the prisoners stepped out from their individual rooms one by one.

Mo Jingxian blended into the line, following the flow of people to the prison yard.

He took a deep breath.

When a person moves from a cramped cell into the yard, there is a sense of visual satisfaction from the sudden openness.

The prisoners scattered, gathering in groups of three or five to enjoy their rare time outside.

The inmates were well-behaved, with no one crossing boundaries, automatically following the rules.

Mo Jingxian stretched his limbs, pretending to take a stroll while secretly observing the layout of the prison.

Three sides of the yard were high walls with iron mesh, and there was the sound of flowing water outside.

Behind him were the cell blocks, with five teams of ninjas patrolling the perimeter, not counting the hidden sentries.

All the prisoners wore these sealing shackles; for those who had lost their chakra, escape was basically impossible.

After walking a full circle, he did not discover anything special.

Could the secret be hidden in the cell area?

Mo Jingxian found an empty spot to sit down, wondering if he should conduct a search tonight.

"You're the new guy, right?"

His train of thought was interrupted.

A thin man with a sharp, monkey-like face came up and sat down beside him quite naturally.

"Hmm, so that makes you an old-timer."

The prison environment was like this; idle chatter was considered a decent form of entertainment.

The thin man extended a finger and gestured around the yard.

"Counting everyone here, no one has more seniority than me."

Mo Jingxian smiled; this guy was quite interesting.

The thin man gave him a smug look: "What did you get locked up for?"

"I ate Chiaotzu without vinegar. How about you?"

"I ate Chiaotzu without soy sauce."

The two looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.

After chatting for a while, Mo Jingxian took the initiative to bring up a certain person.

"Do you know a man named Kashima Chuwa?"

The thin man replied casually:

"I know him, but..."

"But what?"

The thin man glanced left and right, leaned in close to Mo Jingxian, and whispered:

"Kashima Chuwa betrayed Lord Long Yunzhi and is currently hiding in this prison. If you want to find him..."

"How? How can I find him?"

Mo Jingxian did not believe that Long Yunzhi would have made absolutely no preparations.

Although the radical faction led by Mui, the lord of Hozuki Castle, currently held the upper hand, Long Yunzhi surely had a backup plan after years of maneuvering.

Sure enough, the skinny man was one of Long Yunzhi's people.

It seemed Long Yunzhi had begun laying his plans long ago.

The skinny man still wore a playful grin, but his voice turned cold.

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

Mo Jingxian wore a matching grin, the two of them looking like old friends chatting happily.

"Creating chaos is simple!"

"Are you ready to... ah!"

Just as the skinny man was about to ask, a fist suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Before his consciousness could react, the fist struck his nose like a hammer.

A grocery store seemed to explode inside the skinny man's head.

Sour, spicy, and salty sensations flooded in all at once.

It wasn't over yet.

Mo Jingxian, having launched the sudden attack, grabbed the fallen man and hauled him up.

He delivered a resounding slap.

"Speak! Why don't you dip your Chiaotzu in soy sauce?"

The skinny man was stunned: "I don't like to... no, wait, why are you hitting me? That's not right either, what was I going to say?"

The prisoners out for yard time saw the entertainment and immediately crowded around.

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

"Yeah, yeah... I'm taking bets! Anyone want to wager?"

The prisoners were excited; a show like this didn't happen every day, and some were actually placing bets.

The patrolling ninjas didn't rush over to stop them, as if they didn't care about such trivial matters at all.

Mo Jingxian winked at the skinny man, not caring if the other understood his intent, and slapped him again, fast and hard.

"Smack!"

"That's for harassing the old lady next door."

"Smack!"

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

"Stop!" the skinny man hurriedly called out, though he felt he should play along with Mo Jingxian's act.

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

The skinny man looked at Mo Jingxian with teary eyes: "I didn't."

"Didn't what?"

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

"Smack!" Another slap landed. "Do you think I don't have the right to frame you?"

Mo Jingxian acted arrogant and unscrupulous.

On his panel, his Reputation points were refreshing rapidly, about to break through the 1,500 mark.

It was clear he had successfully incited the prisoners' anger.

"Kid, let him go, you're being pretty arro... ah!"

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

Before Prisoner A could finish his sentence, the sole of Mo Jingxian's shoe had made intimate contact with his face.

He hit and ran, never giving them a chance to swarm him.

The prisoners were stunned for a second, then a surge of rage rushed to their heads.

"Beat him up!"

"He's too arrogant!"

"Catch him..."

With a roar, all the prisoners charged like bulls let out of a pen, nostrils flaring as they chased Mo Jingxian across the yard.

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

Relying on his 35 points in the "Life" attribute, Mo Jingxian dodged, countered, and retreated with fluid, effortless movements.

"Whoo-whoo..."

The guard ninjas finally reacted and blew their alarm whistles.

Everything had been fine just a moment ago, so how did it turn into this in the blink of an eye?

Filled with confusion and anger, a dozen prison guards rushed in, striking anyone in their path.

Before long, the riot was suppressed.

When they investigated the cause, almost every prisoner pointed their finger at... Mo Jingxian.