The iron gates of Hōzuki Castle groaned open.
Tsutakawa, leader of Kusagakure, stepped inside, flanked by elders whose faces bore a mixture of zeal, doubt, and madness. The damp corridor swallowed their footsteps, the torchlight flickering off the cold stone.
At the entrance to the inner passage stood Mui, already waiting. Even his normally calm expression carried a trace of unease.
"Welcome, Lord Tsutakawa. Elders."
Tsutakawa brushed past him without so much as a glance. "Enough greetings. Mui—open the Box of Paradise."
Mui's brow furrowed slightly. "The preparations aren't complete. The chakra quota still hasn't—"
"That child's chakra is sufficient to fill the gap!" Tsutakawa snapped, eyes blazing. "I've already heard of the assassination attempt. We can't delay any longer."
"Indeed, Mui," another elder chimed in, voice trembling with excitement. "For the future of Kusagakure, let's begin!"
The others murmured in agreement, their eyes reflecting the same feverish gleam.
Mui fell silent. His gaze swept over their faces—some twisted with ambition, others hollowed by desperation. What he saw made his chest tighten.
After a long pause, he finally nodded.
"...Understood. We begin tonight."
The night was still, save for the endless crash of waves against the cliffs.
In the deepest chamber of Hōzuki Castle, the Box of Paradise loomed like a god's coffin—massive, black, its grotesque carvings writhing under the dim light of the torches. The air itself seemed to hum, thick with dread.
On a stone altar before it lay a boy. Sora.
His eyes were vacant, devoid of life. His lips moved weakly, barely forming words.
"...Die... Let everything... be destroyed..."
Mui stood beside him, hand raised to perform the release seal. For the briefest moment, his fingers trembled.
Pity flickered across his face—and vanished. Duty replaced it. He was a shinobi of Kusagakure.
He dispelled the Heavenly Prison seal on Sora's body.
The Box responded immediately.
Its carvings began to twist and pulse, the stone surface rippling like living flesh. The monstrous gaping mouth slowly opened, inhaling with a sound like the earth itself groaning.
Sora's body lifted from the altar, drawn in helplessly. The stone mouth devoured him whole.
Then—
A tremor shook the entire fortress.
The ground rumbled violently, cracks spiderwebbing across the walls. A blinding light erupted from the seams of the Box, spearing upward, shredding through layers of rock, and bursting into the night sky like a pillar of divine wrath.
The Box tore free from its underground prison, shattering stone and metal alike. Amid an explosion of dust and flame, it rose and crashed down into the open courtyard above—towering, terrible, alive.
"What—what's happening?!"
"Look outside! What is that thing?!"
"Is the castle collapsing?!"
Panic spread like wildfire. Kusagakure shinobi and prisoners alike poured from every corridor, staring in horror at the glowing monolith now dominating the courtyard.
From the shattered underground passage, Mui emerged, his robes torn, his face illuminated by the sickly golden light.
Behind him came the elders—and Tsutakawa, his eyes wide and fever-bright.
"Hahahahaha!" Tsutakawa's laughter rang through the courtyard, unhinged and exultant. "It worked! It's finally awakened!"
In his grasp was a kid with delicate features and terrified eyes—Mui's son.
Mui froze. His pupils shrank.
"Make the wish, Mui!" Tsutakawa bellowed, dragging the boy forward, using him as a hostage and for blackmail. "Wish for Kusagakure to conquer the world! To make every nation bow before us!"
His roar echoed through the courtyard, met with a mix of gasps and uneasy murmurs. Even among Kusagakure shinobi, the word conquer struck deep and cold.
Then—
An elder who had followed silently until now suddenly lunged, pulling Mui's son from Tsutakawa's grasp.
A white-haired kunoichi landed beside them. Ryūzetsu.
Muku's eyes widened. "Ryūzetsu?"
She placed herself between him and Tsutakawa, eyes burning with resolve.
"Mui! Tsutakawa has lost his mind!"
The elder holding Mui's son nodded grimly. "Conquer the world? Ridiculous! Even with the Box, Kusagakure alone cannot withstand the combined wrath of the Five Nations!"
He turned toward Mui, voice trembling but firm.
"Mui, don't be deceived by his ambition. Wish instead for Kusagakure to become strong—strong enough to stand on its own, to protect its people. That's what the village truly needs!"
The courtyard fell silent.
Fanaticism and reason collided under the blinding light of the Box, painting every face in shades of fear and madness.
Tsutakawa's expression twisted with fury. "Traitors…!"
Mui stood between them, his heart pounding. His gaze lingered on Tsutakawa—the face of obsession—then on Ryūzetsu and the pleading elder beside his son.
He took a slow breath.
Turning to the towering Box, he raised his voice.
"Box of Paradise, hear my wish!"
"Grant Kusagakure the strength to protect itself—and to prosper in peace!"
The air trembled. The Box shuddered violently.
The carved mouth on its surface yawned open once more. A low, guttural roar filled the air as something began to emerge.
A thin, pale figure stepped out—Sora.
But the boy who had been swallowed was no longer human. His body moved stiffly, like a puppet's. His skin was ashen and lifeless. In his hollow eyes burned a flicker of crimson flame—cold, hungry, and endless.
His head turned slowly. He looked first at Mui, then at the stunned Kusagakure shinobi, and finally at Tsutakawa and the elders who had condemned him.
The light around the Box darkened, twisting into a vortex.
And in that suffocating glow, it became clear—
The Box of Paradise had not granted a wish.
It had answered one.
Mui's instincts screamed. Every nerve in his body went taut.
Something was wrong.
"Did… did the wish fail?" Tsutakawa muttered, stepping forward, his greedy gaze locked on the boy who'd emerged from the Box. "Then I'll make the wish myself—"
He never finished the sentence.
With a sickening shhk, Tsutakawa's upper body separated cleanly from his legs. For a heartbeat, his head turned as if in disbelief—then both halves hit the ground.
Blood fountained across the stones.
Mui froze, unable to comprehend what had just happened. His eyes tracked the figure standing amidst the blood mist—Sora, his hand still extended, the motion almost casual.
Impossible...
Through his bond with the Box, Mui tried to seize control—to suppress the monster he'd inadvertently released. For a moment, it worked.
Sora's movements jerked, his face contorting in pain, a muffled growl tearing from his throat.
"...Ho… ho…"
The sound deepened into a roar that shook the courtyard. His body twisted grotesquely, bones cracking, skin tearing.
Black feathers erupted from beneath his flesh, bursting through his tattered clothing. Massive, obsidian wings unfurled from his back, blotting out the moonlight.
Within seconds, the frail boy was gone. In his place stood a nightmare.
The creature had no head—only a massive, gaping mouth embedded in its torso, lined with teeth like shards of obsidian. Its limbs were connected by black, spine-like cords that pulsed as if alive.
And from that mouth came a voice that was not Sora's.
"All sacrifices belong to the Box of Paradise."
"And Kusagakure… shall gain power eternal."
As the words fell, the monstrous mouths carved into the Box's surface came alive—all four sides opening their stony mouths. A massive suction force erupted outward, drawing in air, debris, and bodies alike.
Ninja screamed as they were pulled off their feet. The courtyard became a storm of dust and terror.
The monster—Satori—spread its wings and vanished into motion, a streak of shadow tearing through the castle. Each sweep of its claws shredded stone and flesh alike.
High above the chaos, Obito stood, calmly watching.
"So this is Satori," he murmured, voice echoing within his mask. "A monster born from the despair… fitting."
Below, the creature halted mid-rampage—as if sensing him. Its wings flared, and in the next instant, it shot into the air like a bolt of black lightning.
Dozens of razor-sharp feathers screamed through the night toward him.
Obito tilted his head slightly, unimpressed. "Oh? It can sense me."
The feathers passed harmlessly through his body.
He looked down at the burning fortress, the cursed Box, and the swirling malice that radiated from within. Slowly, he extended a hand—as if reaching toward something unseen.
Satori abruptly froze mid-flight. Its headless body jerked backward, retreating with a primal instinct that bordered on clairvoyance.
Obito's fingers halted an inch from the air. Beneath the mask, his single Sharingan narrowed.
"Interesting," he murmured. "Even without understanding my jutsu, it senses danger."
The faintest hint of a smile ghosted across his face. "Troublesome… but not worth the effort."
With that, his form flickered—and vanished into the void.
Left alone in the dark sky, Satori let out a guttural shriek. Then, deprived of its strange target, it turned its gaze back toward Hōzuki Castle and descended like a falling star.
Konoha Village—Hokage Building
The heavy silence of midnight was broken by frantic knocking.
Inside the Tsunade's office, Roshi jerked awake at his desk, blinking blearily. Across from him, Tsunade stirred as well, hair tousled, expression thunderous.
For the past two days, they had been imprisoned in paperwork purgatory.
"Lady Tsunade," came the muffled voice of an ANBU from outside, urgent and low. "An emergency report!"
Tsunade groaned, rubbing her face. "What emergency? It's the middle of the night… Fine, fine, I'm coming."
Roshi let out a long, pointed sigh—and promptly slumped back down onto the desk.
If Tsunade couldn't sleep, that was her problem. As far as he was concerned, when disaster came, the tall ones could hold up the sky.
"Jonin Roshi," the ANBU called again. "Hokage-sama requests your presence as well."
Roshi went perfectly still. Maybe if he didn't move, they'd assume he was dead.
Tsunade poked him in the head. "Up."
"Lady Tsunade," he mumbled into the desk, "please inform the Third Hokage that I've passed away."
"Then tell him yourself," she snapped.
With a resigned groan, Roshi stood, adjusting his collar with the weariness of a man twenty years older. Let the world burn, he thought. I've suffered enough.
When they entered the Hokage's office, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Hiruzen sat behind his desk, pipe unlit. Danzo stood beside him, face unreadable, and next to them was Kakashi, mask and all, eyes sharp.
Kakashi blinked when he saw Roshi. "You look terrible. What happened to you?"
"...Life," Roshi muttered.
"Roshi," the Third Hokage said kindly, "you look exhausted. Should I let you rest first?"
"Yes," Roshi said instantly.
"No," Tsunade said, cutting him off.
"Now," she added sharply, "someone explain why everyone's acting like the end of the world's at our doorstep."
The Third exhaled slowly and gestured to Kakashi. "You tell them."
Kakashi stepped forward, tone measured but grim. "My ANBU squad was tasked with monitoring the waters near Hōzuki Castle. About five hours ago, we detected a massive chakra surge—unlike anything recorded before."
He paused. "Byakugan scouts confirmed an enormous chakra source at the castle's center. We attempted to approach but encountered three Kusagakure shinobi adrift at sea. All were critically injured. They've been sent to Konoha Hospital."
Danzo's voice followed, low and cutting. "My Root operatives dispatched to infiltrate the castle have all gone silent. Cross-referencing this intelligence, there's no longer any doubt—"
He looked at Hiruzen.
"Kusagakure has opened the Box of Paradise."
The room fell into icy silence.
Even Tsunade's expression hardened, all traces of drowsiness gone. Roshi, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, stared blankly at them all and muttered under his breath—
"...I knew I should've stayed asleep."
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