Bang!
"Useless trash! Even after gaining the intelligence advantage, you still failed to retrieve the Box of Ultimate Bliss! What good are you to me?!"
At the Root base, Shimura Danzō slammed his hand heavily on the table. The chance to unify the entire shinobi world had slipped right through his fingers—how could he not be furious?
A Root member, kneeling on one knee, reported honestly,
"Danzō-sama, by the time we reached the Land of Grass, Iwagakure had already taken the Box of Ultimate Bliss. It was too late to stop them..."
"You dare show your face after failing the mission?!" Danzō snarled, driving a kunai straight through the unlucky shinobi's chest. As the body slumped to the floor, two other Root operatives silently stepped out of the shadows to dispose of it.
After taking a moment to steady his emotions, Danzō barked new orders,
"Contact the spies we have planted in Iwagakure. I want every scrap of information about the Box of Ultimate Bliss!"
"Yes, Danzō-sama!" the Root ninja responded swiftly and disappeared.
Danzō sat in silence, his expression grim. A treasure like the Box of Ultimate Bliss... even if he couldn't have it himself, he absolutely could not allow it to fall into someone else's hands. If it did, it would pose an immense threat to Konoha!
...
Meanwhile, in the Tsuchikage's office in Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was frowning deeply at the intelligence report in his hands, his face grim.
The Land of Earth shared a border with the Land of Grass. Naturally, Ōnoki had been among the first to learn of the Box of Ultimate Bliss. He immediately sent teams to retrieve it, but to his astonishment, the box's original owners simply abandoned it—right in front of the Iwagakure shinobi—and left without a word.
There was definitely a conspiracy.
No... maybe it was an open trap.
A note had been left on the box, written by the witch who once possessed it. It listed several rules and taboos regarding the box:
[1. Only by correctly reciting the prayer can the true spirit within the box be summoned.]
[2. The spirit demands a tribute when granting a wish.]
[3. Treat the spirit with reverence. It possesses immense intelligence and autonomy.]
The prayer itself was scribbled on the back of the note. Yet Ōnoki hesitated—he couldn't bring himself to trust anything left behind by a witch. Worse, all the shinobi from Kusagakure were dead; no one else knew how the box worked.
"This thing's a damned hot potato..." Ōnoki grumbled. If the Box of Ultimate Bliss had no hidden dangers, Kusagakure would've dominated the shinobi world by now.
The three rules were deliberately vague, full of pitfalls. What would happen if the prayer was recited incorrectly? What if the spirit was disrespected? No one knew.
The box was like a gamble. Leaving it alone would avoid risk—but now that it was in Iwagakure's possession, spies from every faction had started to stir. As long as the box remained, Iwagakure would never know peace.
Throwing the box away wasn't an option either. If it fell into the wrong hands and someone accidentally fulfilled an overwhelming wish, it could lead to another tragedy like the one that wiped out Kusagakure.
After agonizing over it for a long time, Ōnoki finally made up his mind: they would conduct a test.
They chose a desolate plain about twenty kilometers outside the village. A volunteer chunin would serve as the summoner for the ritual.
The volunteer's name was Rekiishi. Wounded during the Third Great Shinobi War, he had long suffered from incurable internal injuries and was nearing the end of his life. He was more than willing to give whatever value he had left to the village.
Ōnoki personally led a group of trusted subordinates to observe from a distance.
Standing calmly before the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Rekiishi began to chant the eerie, ancient prayer:
"Mysterious being from beyond the known world—"
"Symbol of endless desire—"
"The eternal spirit, unseen, indescribable, incomprehensible—"
"I offer my soul as tribute and beseech your descent upon this world!"
Again and again, Rekiishi recited the prayer, his voice echoing through the barren plains. Apart from his chanting, the world was eerily silent.
"...Why is nothing happening?" Rekiishi's face darkened, but he kept chanting without pause.
No one knew how many times he repeated it.
Suddenly, a wave of cold, oppressive air burst forth. Rekiishi's eyes widened in shock.
The massive mask carved into the sides of the Box of Ultimate Bliss cracked and fell away, revealing a pulsating, grotesque mouth hidden beneath. From that mouth oozed a crimson glow, weaving itself into the outline of a barely visible door.
Two separate dimensions seemed to intersect in that instant. The door slowly pushed into the fabric of reality.
Creak—
A wailing wind seeped from the door as it cracked open. Though it was only a tiny gap, it exuded an overwhelming sense of dread.
The crack widened.
And in just a few seconds, an indescribable figure slipped through.
"You who have summoned me, pitiful mortal. I shall abide by the rules of our contract and grant your wish. Speak—what is it that you desire?"
Rekiishi bowed low, hiding his trembling face, and whispered hoarsely,
"I want... to be healthy again!"
This had been agreed upon beforehand. Ōnoki planned to observe any changes in Rekiishi to see if the spirit's promise carried hidden dangers.
"Within three days," the spirit intoned, "offer twenty living humans into the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Your wish shall be fulfilled."
Having spoken, the spirit withdrew behind the door and disappeared without a trace.
Rekiishi stood dumbfounded for a long while. Was that it? Why did it feel so... anticlimactic?
It wasn't until later that he realized—only he could see and communicate with the spirit. From Ōnoki's perspective, Rekiishi had simply been muttering to himself in front of the box, without the slightest hint of any anomaly.
"Bring twenty prisoners to Rekiishi," Ōnoki ordered calmly.
Rekiishi didn't hesitate, nor did he succumb to any misguided sense of mercy. In no time at all, twenty prisoners were rounded up, and Rekiishi personally tossed each one into the gaping mouth of the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
The moment the last one was sacrificed, Rekiishi felt it—his body, lighter and stronger, his heart beating with vigor he hadn't felt in years.
"I... I'm healed?" he gasped.
"Send him to the hospital for a full examination," Ōnoki commanded.
Medical-nin subjected Rekiishi to an exhaustive battery of tests, practically dissecting him inside and out.
The final conclusion: the Box of Ultimate Bliss had fulfilled his wish perfectly. No strange side effects. No hidden curses.
Even so, Ōnoki couldn't help but complain internally: What a rip-off. Twenty lives for the health of a single man... what a dirty deal!
And yet, there were some things no amount of lives could buy. It was in moments like this that the true value—and terror—of the Box of Ultimate Bliss became clear.
In the follow-up experiments, Ōnoki gradually confirmed the box's capabilities. He was both exhilarated and terrified.
If the Box of Ultimate Bliss had granted wishes through twisted, ironic means, its impact would have been manageable. But a device that could accurately and cleanly fulfill any wish... that was a true calamity waiting to happen.
"The very embodiment of 'endless desire'..." Ōnoki muttered to himself, shuddering.
He himself had once summoned the spirit.
The spirit had tried to tempt him, whispering that it could turn Uchiha Madara into his obedient, groveling slave.
For one brief, shameful moment...
Ōnoki had almost given in.
Thankfully, his rationality hadn't been completely consumed by his desires—at least not yet.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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