Box Spirit

Bang!

"They're all useless! Even with an intelligence advantage, you still failed to bring back the Box of Bliss. What use are you?"

Inside the Root base, Shimura Danzō slammed his palm heavily onto the table. The chance to unite the Shinobi World had slipped away right before his eyes. How could he not be furious?

The Root member kneeling on one knee reported truthfully, "Sir, by the time we arrived in the Land of Grass, Iwagakure had already taken the Box of Bliss away. It was too late to stop them..."

"The mission failed, and you still had the nerve to come back!" Enraged, Danzo stabbed the unfortunate shinobi before him to death with a kunai. Two more Root members emerged from the shadows and silently disposed of the body.

After calming himself slightly, Danzo immediately issued a new order. "Contact the spies planted in Iwagakure. Find a way to obtain information on the Box of Bliss!"

"Yes!" The Root shinobi accepted the order and left.

Danzo sat there with a grim expression. Even if he could not obtain a treasure like the Box of Bliss himself, he absolutely could not allow it to fall into anyone else's hands. Otherwise, it would inevitably pose a tremendous threat to Konoha!

Meanwhile, in the Tsuchikage's office in Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, frowned at the intelligence report in his hand, his expression extremely grave.

The Land of Earth bordered the Land of Grass, so Ōnoki had naturally been among the first to learn of the Box of Bliss. He had sent people to the Land of Grass to search for it, only to discover that the box's original owner had simply tossed the Box of Bliss before Iwagakure shinobi and left without a word.

There was a conspiracy!

No, perhaps it was an open scheme!

A note was attached to the Box of Bliss, containing the witch's rules and taboos regarding the box—

[1. Only by reciting the correct prayer can one summon the true Box Spirit.]

[2. The spirit will demand a sacrifice when granting a wish.]

[3. Please remain in awe of the spirit. It possesses exceptional intelligence and autonomy.]

The prayer was written on the back of the note, but Ōnoki hesitated. He did not trust the information left behind by the witch, yet every shinobi in Kusagakure was dead. No one else knew how to use the Box of Bliss, leaving him deeply conflicted.

"What a hot potato!" Ōnoki wore a miserable expression. There had to be some hidden danger in the Box of Bliss. Otherwise, Kusagakure would have conquered the world long ago!

The three rules were vague, with pitfalls everywhere. What would happen if someone recited the wrong prayer? What would happen if they offended the spirit? Those were all unknowns.

The Box of Bliss was like gambling. If he did not touch it, he would not lose anything. Yet ever since obtaining this damned box, the eyes of almost the entire Shinobi World had focused on Iwagakure. Spies from every faction had sprung into action. As long as it remained in Iwagakure, it would forever be watched by those who coveted it, never knowing peace.

Nor could Ōnoki simply throw the box away. What if someone else blindly stumbled into fulfilling some incredible wish and reenacted the tragedy of the Land of Grass? That would be...

After agonizing over it for a long time, Ōnoki ultimately decided to give it a try. The test site was set on a wasteland twenty kilometers outside Iwagakure, with a Chunin who had volunteered for the test serving as the one to initiate the ritual.

The Chunin was named Gravel. He had suffered severe injuries during the Third Shinobi World War, and old wounds plagued him. He did not have long to live, so he was more than willing to offer his remaining value to the village.

Ōnoki personally brought his subordinates to observe Gravel from afar. Gravel stood calmly before the Box of Bliss and loudly recited the somewhat eerie prayer—

[Mysterious existence from an unknown land]

[Symbol of endless desire]

[Eternal spirit that cannot be seen, described, or understood]

[I offer my soul as sacrifice and pray for Your descent into this world!]

Gravel repeated the prayer over and over as time slowly passed. Other than his voice, the surroundings were utterly silent.

"Why isn't there any response?" Gravel's expression was grave, but he continued without stopping.

After who knew how many recitations, a cold, sinister aura suddenly washed over him, and Gravel's eyes widened. The enormous masks on the four walls of the Box of Bliss fell away, revealing the writhing giant mouths beneath them. A crimson glow spilled from those mouths, outlining a faint, indistinct door.

It was as though two different dimensions had converged at that moment, and the door gradually intruded from illusion into reality.

Creak—

A mournful gust of wind came from behind the door. It was the sound of the door being pushed open. Even a mere crack leaked an intense sense of foreboding.

The crack widened. In just a few seconds, an indescribable figure formally descended. "Humble mortal who summoned me, I will abide by the rules of the transaction and grant your wish. Tell me, what do you desire?"

Gravel lowered his head, concealing the tension on his face. His voice trembled slightly. "I want to regain my health!"

—This had been decided beforehand. The Tsuchikage would observe Gravel's changes to determine whether granting a wish carried any hidden dangers.

"Offer twenty living humans to the Box of Bliss as sacrifices within three days, and your wish shall be granted!" After saying this, the spirit retreated behind the door and vanished.

Gravel stood there in a daze for quite some time. That was it? Why did it feel so anticlimactic?

Only afterward did Gravel learn that he alone had seen and communicated with the Box Spirit. The Tsuchikage, standing nearby, had merely seen Gravel talking to the Box of Bliss by himself. He had not sensed the slightest abnormal aura.

"Take twenty prisoners from the prison for Gravel." Ōnoki calmly gave the order.

Gravel did not put on airs, nor did he hypocritically develop a saint complex. Before long, twenty prisoners were brought over, and Gravel personally threw them into the mouth of the Box of Bliss.

The next moment, Gravel felt his entire body grow much lighter. His heart beat powerfully, filled with the health he had not felt in ages. "I really recovered?"

"Send him to the hospital for a thorough examination." At the Tsuchikage's command, medical shinobi immediately examined Gravel again and again, inside and out, from head to toe. They nearly dissected him.

In the end, they concluded that the Box of Bliss had perfectly fulfilled Gravel's wish, with no strange side effects.

Even so, Ōnoki still wanted to complain that it was outrageously expensive. Twenty people in exchange for one person's health—what kind of profiteer was that?

Yet some things could not be accomplished no matter how many lives were sacrificed. Only at times like these could the value of the Box of Bliss be shown.

During the subsequent tests, Ōnoki confirmed the Box of Bliss's abilities. He was both excited and terrified. If the Box of Bliss fulfilled wishes in twisted ways, its destructive power would not be too great. But a Box of Bliss capable of precisely granting wishes would absolutely become a genuine source of disaster!

"As expected of the symbol of 'endless desire.'" Ōnoki sighed. Earlier, he had personally summoned the spirit once, and it had tempted him by saying it could make Madara Uchiha obediently become his slave beneath his feet.

Ōnoki... had been shamefully tempted. Fortunately, his reason had not yet been overwhelmed by desire...