The Box of Bliss

"Give me up!"

The Fourth Raikage Ei's fury soared to the heavens.

"Even if I have to give my life today, I'll stop you, monster!"

At this moment, Ei had no other thoughts.

Witnessing the Box of Bliss he had released failing to aid the Cloud Village and devouring nearly two thousand Cloud Ninjas lives in just moments, he was now prepared to sacrifice himself.

For such a grave mistake, he couldn't forgive himself.

Among all the Raikages, he was perhaps the most useless.

Not only did he let the mighty Hidden Cloud Village plummet to the lowest of the Five Great Villages during his term, but he also believed the rumours and summoned a monster that brought great trouble to the village.

Since his sins were so heavy, he decided to use his life to prevent further mistakes from spreading.

With this determination, Ei stimulated even more Lightning Release chakra at the risk of his own health. Before leaving, he, as the Fourth Raikage, issued one final command:

"Toshiro, lead all the Cloud Ninjas to retreat now."

"Lord Raikage..."

Toshiro's face changed as he wanted to say something, but Ei interrupted him sternly,

"This is an order!"

"...Understood."

After giving Ei a deep and persistent look, Toshiro reluctantly nodded.

"In addition, I entrust the Cloud Ninjas to you from now on. As for what happens next...the village has shed too much blood already. It's up to you to decide." Ei added.

"I...I understand."

This time, faced with Ei's solemn request, Toshiro, who understood the heavy burden on his shoulders, nodded firmly and quickly led his team to the weakened Cloud Ninjas. They were ready to leave.

"Wait! How can we just run away like this? What about my big brother? I want to help him!"

Kira, too weak to even rap, as usual, protested.

With a cold and emotionless face, Toshiro didn't hesitate. He knocked Killer Bee unconscious with a single chop and then handed her over to a nearby wooden figure. He then turned to the group and said,

"This is Lord Raikage's order. Now, everyone, retreat!"

The once-mighty Cloud Village was now weakened to the brink of collapse due to channelling chakra to the Box of Bliss. Its original six thousand Cloud Ninjas and two Jinchuriki-level chakra warriors were now almost powerless.

Among the few who could still fight, apart from the Fourth Raikage Ei, was the group of Cloud Ninjas led by Toshiro. However, their recent battle experience had shown that they couldn't even scratch the surface of their opponent and suffered increasing casualties.

The monster that emerged from the Box of Bliss couldn't be defeated through sheer numbers.

Leaving here wouldn't serve any purpose; thus, Ei instructed them to lead the exhausted Cloud Ninjas to safety and preserve their hope.

After all, if the remaining four thousand Cloud Ninjas and two Jinchuriki were also absorbed by the Box of Bliss, the Cloud Village would truly be lost.

As for the monster, Satori, Ei was determined to hold it back with all his might.

Now, watching the group of Cloud Ninjas led by Toshiro depart, Ei stood facing Satori, who was still chasing the Box of Bliss. He didn't rush to chase after them but instead indulged in the moment:

"This is the taste I've been looking for! Filled with fear, dread, and trembling, just like the inside of the Box of Bliss. Run all you want; it will only give me more pleasure in the hunt and collect more fear. It's truly wonderful!"

"Wonderful, my foot! Get lost, you damned creature!"

Boom! Boom!

Ei grabbed two huge stone slabs and hurled them at Satori with murderous intent.

Satori effortlessly dodged them, then turned its head, which had no visible eyes, towards Ai and smirked coldly,

"It seems some people can't wait to be eaten. Well, I'll savor your chakra first before the main course."

Swoosh!

Satori's wings unfurled behind it and lunged at Ei even faster than when it faced Toshiro and the others.

Thanks to the contribution of the six thousand Cloud Ninjas and the two Jinchuriki, Satori, which had absorbed two thousand Cloud Ninjas just moments ago, was now much stronger than in the original story. Its strength had grown further due to its connection to the Box of Bliss.

It didn't deceive Ei about the need to absorb more chakra to gain the power to conquer the entire ninja world. And when that time came, it would fulfil Ei's wish to conquer the ninja world. After all, the rumours about the Box of Bliss granting wishes were not false.

However, the means and process of fulfilling wishes often differed from what people expected.

Rip!

At this moment, faced with Satori's attack, Ei, with all his speed and reaction time, couldn't land a single hit. Satori seemed to anticipate his every move.

Ai furrowed his brows slightly, and with unrelenting speed, he used every part of his body as a weapon, launching a relentless barrage of attacks.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, a series of explosive roars echoed over the battlefield. One blue and one black, two figures, one small and one large, were engaged in a battle that was too fast for the human eye to follow.

Later on, their battle spilled over into buildings of various sizes in the Hidden Cloud Village, causing them to collapse rapidly.

"Don't waste your energy; you can't touch me," Satori declared.

Ai, who had been unable to land a hit on Satori, was growing frustrated. He had even hoped to catch Satori off guard by brushing against it with his claws, but Satori reacted swiftly, retracting its claws and thwarting his plan.

"This reaction time is exaggerated! Not even someone like the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, could achieve this without using the Flying Raijin jutsu," Ai thought to himself.

Observing Satori's evasion, which always seemed premeditated, Ei had a realization. Satori must be able to read minds, making it nearly impossible to anticipate its moves.

But even if he knew that the monster before him could read minds, how could he defend against it? Could he fight solely on instinct, with his mind going blank, relying entirely on his instincts?

That might work against weaker opponents, but facing Satori, who was stronger and faster than him, was not enough. Instinct was limited in effectiveness; it could enhance your baseline abilities but couldn't reach the upper limits.

Ai shook his head and glanced back for a moment. Toshiro had executed his mission perfectly, leading all the Cloud Ninjas to safety.

At the same time, he noticed that many delicious prey had already escaped the danger zone, and Satori, realizing that it couldn't get rid of Ei, had finally stopped pursuing him.

Although Satori could kill Ei with its current power, it would take a lot of time. It clearly preferred to

Feast on a larger group of prey.

"Since you're so eager to die, let me grant your wish!" Satori exclaimed.

With that, Satori grabbed the Box of Bliss with its massive claw and began chasing after Toshiro and the others.

"Hold on!" Ei exclaimed, using all his strength to block Satori.

Though he still couldn't land a hit, Satori needed time and movement to dodge Ei's attacks.

As time passed and he could not shake off the annoying creature by his side, Satori became increasingly furious. He could see Toshiro and the others about to disappear from view.

"If you want to die on your own, I'll accommodate you first!" Satori declared.

After saying this, Satori's Box of Bliss emitted another strange black mist.

It opened its mouth wide, sucking in all the black mist. Then, enveloped in the eerie black mist, Satori looked at Ei and said coldly,

"Sink along with the Box of Bliss!"

Instantly!

A sharp, ear-piercing scream that made one want to tear their body apart erupted from Satori's mouth, transforming into a pitch-black, ominous sound wave that spread in all directions.

Bliss Sound!

One of the abilities that Satori had gained after absorbing chakra far beyond what was originally intended, making it even more powerful.

Listening to it could make people lose themselves and willingly fall into the embrace of the Box of Bliss.

At this moment, Ei, who was at the forefront, couldn't react in time and was caught in Satori's jutsu.

In an instant, his eyes glazed over as he fell into a loop of an irresistibly seductive and reassuring voice as if it contained all the beauty in the world.

"Come back~ Come back~ Return to your ultimate destination~"