Country of Grass — Hōzuki Castle.
"As expected of the Uzumaki Clan's sealing arts… It really took all five of us to undo it."
Inside a dim chamber cluttered with ancient surgical tools and dusty research equipment, Hōzuki Castle's warden, the sleepless guardian No-Sleep, stood beside four masked Grass Village elders. All five stared eagerly at Senju Senki, who lay on a stone operating bed, face flushed with anticipation.
With both the Five-Element Seal and Fire Release: Heavenly Prison fully dispelled, the chakra surging inside Senki overflowed wildly—already beyond that of an ordinary Kage-level shinobi. Their chances of opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss had increased dramatically.
"Senki-kun, we're at the critical moment. Regulate your chakra carefully."
"And the four elders—stay absolutely silent."
No-Sleep formed seals, chanting mantra-like syllables belonging to no known nation.
Before him stood a massive stone relief carved into a hideous, grinning ogre's face. As his chakra circulated—
WHOOOM—
—the ogre's jaw creaked open, and a crushing suction force wrapped around Senju Senki.
(This is it. The Box of Bliss will be mine.)
Originally, Senki had planned to seize the box the moment it opened. But surrounded by five elite jōnin-level Grass shinobi, even he knew he couldn't win. So he obediently poured his chakra into the ogre's maw.
Time crawled. The box's pull grew stronger. When Senki's complexion turned pale, No-Sleep prepared to halt the ritual. Without a tailed beast—whose chakra was near-infinite—opening the Box in one attempt was impossible.
And Grass Village had no tailed beast to offer.
Still, if they could open it… Grass Village might reclaim its former glory.
But then—
Out of nowhere—
Senju Senki suddenly leapt to his feet.
Before anyone could react, he dived straight into the Box.
SLAM.
The ogre's jaws snapped shut.
All five Grass shinobi froze.
"Is he insane?!"
One elder exploded.
"We've tried to open the Box for decades! No one who entered ever came out!"
Another cursed.
"If he wants to die, fine—but don't drag us down!"
"He's the precious heir of the Senju clan! Konoha only sent him here to temper his personality—if they demand him back, what do we do?!"
"What else? Kneel, of course! We can't fight Konoha!"
"That lunatic! If he dies, the secret of the Box will be exposed!"
"Enough, elders."
No-Sleep's calm voice sliced through the panic. Draped in his red high-collared cloak, he stepped forward.
"Panicking won't help. Besides… Konoha is being attacked by three great nations. They might not even survive."
He paused.
"But—if Konoha defeats all three nations, plus the Land of Lightning… they'll already be the sole hegemon of the shinobi world."
"Then it's simple."
He raised a finger.
"Confess obediently—earn mercy."
"Resist—and Grass Village dies to the last man."
Silence settled. One by one, the elders sighed. They understood.
After sweeping through three great nations, Uchiha Soren finally returned to the Land of Whirlpools.
"Minako… you really are getting better."
"Isn't this what Lord Hokage likes~?"
Soren lay half-relaxed on the soft couch in Uzumaki Minako's childhood home. She had lived here before being sent to Konoha nearly ten years ago, after being deemed a suitable Nine-Tails candidate. To her, this house carried the bittersweet scent of a former life.
She leaned closer, her smile both teasing and wickedly confident.
"If I don't discipline you properly today, you'll forget who your teacher is."
Soren raised an eyebrow—then activated both the Expansion Technique and the Body Activation Technique.
The "training match" that followed was long, heated, and very private.
The details vanished behind a lowered curtain and a fade of silver moonlight.
Much later—
Bathed in the moon's pale glow, a breathless Minako curled atop his chest. Her voice was a soft, fox-like whisper—sweet, clingy, stubborn.
"Give me the Seven-Tails. I want to help you on the battlefield, like Lady Mito."
Soren stroked her hair gently.
"Don't force yourself. It's still a tailed beast. I don't want you hurt."
"Don't underestimate me," she pouted. "I was once chosen as a Nine-Tails candidate. One little Seven-Tails is nothing."
"Your mouth never stops."
He flicked her forehead lightly.
"I'm sleeping first. If Konoha calls, I'll leave immediately."
Minako clung to him like an octopus, refusing to let go. Holding her warm, teasing form in his arms, Soren closed his eyes—yet his mind remained sharp.
After evolving to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the traditional path of ocular evolution had reached its limit. Only one true ancestry remained—
The Ōtsutsuki.
More specifically, the lineage of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths.
To gain the Rinnegan, one needed:
Indra's eyes → Uchiha
Ashura's body → Senju
But there was a higher, rarer path—
one that reached toward Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, progenitor of chakra, inheritor of the Bone Pulse.
Fragments of the ancestral bloodline lingered:
Senju — Sage's Body
Uchiha — Sage's Eyes
Uzumaki — Sage's Chakra
Hyūga — Byakugan Lineage
Kaguya's bloodline — the lost Ōtsutsuki bone
If all these were combined…
the complete ancestral bloodline could re-emerge.
He could brute-force it through Ascension Points—but the ten-thousand-point price tag was absurd.
Self-reliance was better.
Unless…
He pursued an entirely different evolution.
Soren frowned slightly. He didn't care for the Ōtsutsuki appearance, and honestly, he thought the Rinnegan wasn't nearly as handsome as the Eternal Mangekyō.
He opened his Ascension Panel.
Besides leveling up…
there was fusion.
"Sage Mode… Natural Energy… There are still three sages alive in this world…"
A smile curved his lips.
"Perhaps it's time they learned how painful Susanoo's love can be."
Still chuckling, Soren wrapped his arms around Minako and drifted into sleep.
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