Chapter 286: Box of Ultimate Bliss
"It's all Itachi's fault. Not only did he fail to defeat the enemy, he destroyed the village to this extent."
"Hey now, you can't say that. After all, Itachi did his best!"
"Heh, I'd rather he hadn't tried so hard. Maybe if he'd held back, the village damage would've been limited to just that small Hyuga clan area!"
Itachi lowered his head, numbly listening to those ninja whispering nearby. His heart ached terribly.
Not because these idle gossips affected him, but because he genuinely felt terrible about failing to protect the village.
Of course he didn't want to fight within the village either. But battlefield choices weren't his to make.
How could the enemy possibly comply with his wishes and fight outside the village?
Yet facing an enemy at Neji's level, if he didn't use full power, forget defeating the enemy—he couldn't even touch the enemy's body. How was he supposed to fight?
He thought it over repeatedly. Throughout the entire process, he'd made only one mistake.
That was... he lost!
If he'd won, captured or killed Neji, then although the village still suffered such tremendous damage, at least they'd have eliminated a threat at its root. It wouldn't be like now with morale so depressed.
A starved camel still outweighs a horse. For Konoha Village, any problem money could solve wasn't truly a problem.
But unfortunately, neither Uchiha Yasushi nor Hyuga Neji could be solved with money.
Now they couldn't even be solved with force.
This was the most important reason for the village's unsettled hearts.
Itachi busied himself numbly all night, rescuing many people from ruins. But his heart felt not a shred of happiness.
After dawn, Mizuki again convened a jonin council.
Once everyone assembled, Mizuki spoke directly:
"Everyone here is one of us. I won't speak falsely with you."
"After the Wood Release trial succeeded, it did indeed greatly improve the village shinobi's overall strength. But everyone witnessed yesterday's battle. This level of improvement clearly still proves insufficient to defeat powerful enemies."
"Therefore, after careful consideration, I've decided to suspend the Wood Release Sacred Body Trial Plan."
The moment these words left his mouth, those below immediately grew restless.
Actually, though Neji had wiped out most Wood Release ninja last night in one fell swoop, the strength Wood Release ninja displayed proved quite formidable. They only appeared weak because they unluckily encountered a cheat character like Neji.
For this "trial" method enabling people to ascend to heaven in one step, clans remained quite willing to accept it.
Especially those clans whose own "Wood Release ninja" had died last night—desperately needing "trials" to close gaps with other families.
Now hearing Mizuki planned to terminate the program, they immediately grew dissatisfied.
"Lord Mizuki, actually we should give those Wood Release ninja more growth time."
"They only became Wood Release ninja a few days ago before facing powerful enemies like Neji. That's why their performance seemed poor."
"If we deny these trial heroes based on one battle's performance, wouldn't that be rather inappropriate?"
"I think this trial not only shouldn't stop—it should expand in scale, letting more people participate."
"Only with Wood Release ninja numbers increasing will we more likely produce more powerful shinobi like Itachi."
Numerous clan members spoke up, opposing Mizuki's plan termination.
This shocked even Mizuki. He hadn't expected this trap Yasushi secretly created to ensnare so many clans—who refused to climb back out.
But blinking his eyes, he understood.
He knew the full inside story—knew those so-called "Wood Release ninja" all had things embedded in their hearts, their lives already in Yasushi's hands. So he knew this was a trap.
But these clans didn't know. They only saw other families' successful "Wood Release ninja" using large-scale "Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees." Green with envy to death—how could they allow the village to quit halfway?
Wood Release ninja—either everyone had them or no one did. Then no one would complain.
But if some families had them while others didn't, those without would definitely grow displeased, feeling targeted and excluded by the village.
Understanding this, Mizuki simply changed plans, smiling:
"Perhaps I was inconsiderate. I merely thought that with the village destroyed again, reconstruction requires massive manpower. It really isn't suitable for conducting large-scale trials, so I wanted to pause."
"Since everyone's enthusiasm runs so high, let's continue the trials."
"However, considering the village's personnel shortage, let's not expand the scope. Just limit it to clan members."
"What do you all think?"
"Oh, that would be excellent!"
The clan jonin thought Mizuki was granting clans benefits, showing goodwill toward them. They immediately beamed with delight, expressing gratitude:
"Lord Mizuki, we all feel your sincerity."
"Thank you deeply for your care toward the clans. We'll definitely support you continuing to lead Konoha Village."
Mizuki smiled while listening to their flattery, modestly waving his hand.
"Everyone's working for the village's interests. No need for thanks."
"Speaking of which, I previously asked everyone to review ancient texts. Did anyone find useful information for defeating powerful enemies?"
A small clan head raised his hand, speaking loudly:
"I found in my family's records that the Land of Grass possesses an artifact from the Sage of Six Paths era called the 'Box of Ultimate Bliss.'"
"According to records, the Box of Ultimate Bliss was the ultimate weapon from the Sage of Six Paths era. It supposedly grants one wish to whoever opens it."
"Legend says during the Sage of Six Paths era, Kusagakure nearly obtained the entire world through it."
"What!" After hearing him finish, Mizuki immediately frowned and waved dismissively. "That record sounds problematic."
"If this Box of Ultimate Bliss truly proved as good as books claim, the Land of Grass would've long since become one of the Five Great Nations. How could it remain so weak now?"
But before his words finished, a major clan jonin spoke up:
"I've also seen this Box of Ultimate Bliss in my clan's records. According to documentation, the Land of Grass was once a great nation. Using that Box of Ultimate Bliss, they consecutively destroyed several countries."
"But something unknown happened. Overnight, the Land of Grass collapsed."
"Rumor says an enemy made a wish to the Box of Ultimate Bliss to destroy the Land of Grass. Then the Land of Grass perished.
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