427. Box of Ultimate Bliss Part-1

"He is in…"

BOOM…

The deafening sound of an explosion echoes in the surroundings.

"What's that sound?"

Sasuke and Maroi frown and hurriedly dashes toward the window. A giant pillar of crimson flame rises from the base of the bell tower and engulfs the entire tower.

Shiing…

Sasuke activates his Sharingan and glances at the crimson flames.

"This sinister energy… it's the negative chakra."

He grits his teeth and recognizes the chakra from the demonic invasion three years ago.

Whoosh…

Both of them flicker out of Mui's office and stand on the rooftops of one of the buildings. They glance at the bell tower as it blazes with crimson flames.

"Oye! What's going on?"

"What are these flames?"

The prisoners and guards gather on the exercise ground and stare at the burning bell tower with curiosity.

"Oye! Isn't this a perfect opportunity for us to escape? The guards must be pretty busy with this fire!" A few prisoners suggest.

"Yes, I don't want to spend another second in this rotten place."

A few prisoners form groups and charge toward the entrance of the blood prison.

"The prisoners are running. Hurry up and block them!"

The guards wield their spears and confront the prisoners.

"Don't get in our way!"

The frenzied prisoners engage in a brutal fight against the prisoner. Soon, a commotion breaks down in the prison, as many prisoners fight against themselves and the guards to settle their new and old grudges.

A few psychotic prisoners attack Sasuke and Mui to calm their thirst for blood.

Swish…

Sasuke summons his katana and slashes all prisoners with malicious intentions in half with a swing of his blade.

Swish…

He swings his sword to wipe the blade and sheathe it. Maroi, who was busy making hand signs, stops and stares at Sasuke in amazement.

"You are quite a formidable shinobi!" Maroi praises him.

Rumble… Rumble…

Tremors run across the ground. A giant summoning formation appears on the ground beneath them.

SHOOOMMM…

The giant summoning seal glows with a bright flash of purple light.

"NOT GOOD!"

Whoosh…

Sasuke swiftly grabs Maroi and flickers out of the giant summoning circle in a Knick of time.

WHAM…

A giant pillar of purple energy erupts from the ground and shoots into the sky. The giant column of energy engulfs every person in the exercise and evaporates their flesh and blood into bones. After a few seconds, even the bones crumble to dust.

Huff… Huff…

Maroi falls to the ground and pants. He warily stares at the giant pillar of purple energy and notices the state of the unfortunate guards and prisoners.

"That Mui! He has gone nuts! To kill his own people…"

Maroi grinds his teeth and curses Mui in anger.

"I thought I was a goner for a second. If not for you…" Maroi glances at Sasuke with an appreciative glance.

Whoosh…

While the two were discussing among themselves, Ryūzetsu flicker beside them.

"What took you so long, miss Ryūzetsu?" Sasuke glances at her.

"I… I… was communicating with my superiors." Ryūzetsu is startled by Sasuke's question.

"You knew?!"

Sasuke ignores her questioning gaze and turns his attention toward the center of the giant summoning circle.

Goosebumps are crawling across his skin as he senses an ominous chakra from there.

The dust clouds settle down to reveal a giant box with a demonic mask-like face on every side of the box.

"This… this is the Box of the Ultimate Bliss!"

Maroi's and Ryūzetsu's eyes widen in surprise.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! I didn't expect the gate itself to be the box of the Ultimate Bliss." Maroi marvels at the sheer size of the giant box.

"There is no doubt about it. This is the Box of the Ultimate Bliss." Ryūzetsu ties her hair and pulls out her prison clothes to reveal a set of anbu operative garbs.

"You are a woman!" Maroi is surprised by Ryūzetsu's sudden transformation.

The rest of the lucky guards and prisoners who were outside the range of the summoning circle silently stare at the giant box in the center with trepidation.

"What… what's that thing?"

A few of them gulp their saliva and stare at the box with terror.

"Whatever it is! It's bad news. Didn't you see how it ate up Aoichi and the rest?" Another prisoner remarks.

"In any case, we must stay away from this freakish thing. It's better to stay alive than die a horrendous death. The screams of the rest of my friends still echo in my ears."

The prisoners slowly retreat. Silence pervades the surroundings as everyone glares at the giant box in trepidation.

Tap… tap…

The sound of footsteps echoes in the exercise ground. Everyone turns their attention towards the footsteps and notices Mui slowly walk towards the giant box.

"Mui! Tch…"

Sasuke grits his teeth. He unsheathes his katana and flickers beside Mui to slash him with his katana.

Clang…

A black metallic blade rod blocks his attack.

Swoosh…

Sasuke hurriedly blocks a kick with his left arm. He jumps back and retreats.

"It's you!" Sasuke narrows his eyes and recognizes his opponent.

---------- A few hours ago -----------

Inside the meeting hall,

"Mui, we heard about your slip-up!" The goat-masked figure speaks.

"How do you intend to make up for it?" The ram-masked figure questions him.

"What if the outsiders become aware of our plan?" The monkey masked face figure asks him.

"We spent decades to lay down this plan. How can we allow it to fail when we are so close to our goal?" The bull-masked figure clenches his fists.

"We must act with haste. Mui… activate the box of ultimate bliss. It's about time the hidden grass village regains its former glory and rules the entire world." The ram-masked figure raises his hands.

"I will make the necessary preparations." Mui bows his head toward the masked figures.

The masked figure silently leaves the meeting hall using a secret passage.

Tch…

Mui clenches his teeth and grits his teeth. Tears fell from his eyes as he remembers a memory from the past.

"I sacrificed my son for their sake and yet… why? Why I do have to…"

"Do you want to avenge your son?" A deep voice falls in his ears.

"Who… who's there?" Mui swiftly raises his head and puts on his guard.

A white-masked figure is silently sitting on the desk in front of him.

'Who is he? I didn't even sense his presence. If he wanted, then he could easily…' Fear strikes Mui's heart.

"Who are you?" Mui secretly makes one-hand signs and gathers the chakra in his left hand.

"Who am I shouldn't be of any concern? Rather, what do you want?"

The masked figure glares at him with his glowing eyes.

"What do I want?"

"I…"

Whoosh…

While the white-masked figure is distracted, Mui uses this opportunity to attack the latter with his palm.

Swoosh…

The masked figure raises his hand and easily grabs Mui's palm. The chakra in Mui's palm vanishes as the masked figure easily dispels Mui's jutsu.

"How did you…"

Swoosh…

The masked figure releases Mui's hand and speaks.

"So, what do you think about it? Do you want revenge for the death of your son?" He asks him again.

"I… I… I want revenge for my son." Mui grits his teeth and replies.

"Very well! Then I will lend you my aid, but I have a condition."

The masked figure raises his finger.

"Even if I have to sign the deal with the devil, I will agree to your conditions as long as I can seek my revenge." Mui nods at the masked figure.

The masked figure tosses an orb toward Mui.

"This orb has enough chakra to activate the Box of ultimate bliss."

Mui grabs the purple orb and scrutinizes it.

"What do I need to do for you…"

Mui raises his head to ask the masked figure, but the masked figure is nowhere to be seen.

Mui grips the orb and walks toward the giant, demon-masked totem. He makes a series of hand signs and tosses it toward the totem. The demon mask opens its mouth and consumes the orb.

Shiing…

The demon mask glows with a crimson glow and releases a scarlet beam of energy from its eyes. The scarlet beam penetrates the ground and sets the surrounding on fire.

Whoosh…

Mui hurriedly escapes the secret underground area.

Rumble… Rumble…

The demonic masks on the box glow with a crimson hue, and each of them releases a scarlet beam that sets everything ablaze in their surroundings.

Mui exits the underground area and reappears on top of another building facing the exercise ground. He makes some swift hand signs and activates the summoning seal at the center of the exercise ground.