Setting Out for the Blood Prison

Ryuzetsu and Akari stood at the Kusagakure Gates. The former exhaled. "He is quite late," she felt the need to point out. The white-haired genin turned to her Chunin superior. She watched Akari walk around in circles.

"Yes. Worst case we will have to leave without him. I'll properly scold him when we get back," Akari said. Internally, she wondered what would keep her newest master so late. It would be bad if something happened to him. Then again, for a young man as powerful as he was, she doubted that whatever kept him was so concerning that it could threaten his life.

However, neither kunoichi had to wait for much longer as Naruto swiftly appeared next to them. "Hmmm, scold me? Been a long time since anyone's done that to me," Naruto said as he came before them. Both were ready to point out his lateness, but they were quick to take in his newest features. Ryuzetsu did not see it, but Akari sported a rather decent-sized blush on her face. Not even Ryuzetsu was unfazed by Naruto's new look.

"Naruto, is that you? What happened to your hair, and did you get taller?" Akari asked. Naruto laughed at these questions. He flipped a piece of his red hair from the side of his face.

"Perhaps a few new changes were in order. I hope you both approve," Naruto said. He could already tell from their faces that they did. He could practically feel the lust hanging off Akari's body. It would seem that he would have to sleep with one eye open or he might not get the opportunity to complete his personal vow. Then again, his body had aged significantly. Who was to say? Perhaps another transformation and he would find himself with the appropriate body for those types of activities.

As for Ryuzetsu, her silent gaze was enough to tell him that she found him attractive as well. It was rather humorous to watch her shift her eyes to his new form and then to someplace else. "Perhaps we should leave while we still have the night at our side," Ryuzetsu figured. It made the former blonde chuckle that she said this without looking at him.

"I agree. I've wasted enough of our time. Let's go, dattebayo!" Naruto encouraged. The two kunoichi looked at him for a moment before deciding the same. In no time, they vanished into the trees and made their way for the Blood Prison.

For the team of three, the first few hours of the trip were rather uneventful. The only sound to be heard was their footsteps against the three branches. They knew that they would not make it to the prison before the week was over, but it did not mean that they couldn't pick up the pace to make this journey faster.

Naruto took the time to go over the plans that laid inside his head. So many pieces interconnected together. He was thankful for the time to go through them all. In his rage and his transformation, his cultivation had not allowed him much time to think about his plans. He had been solely focused on painting the picture of destruction that he envisioned not just for Konoha, but for the entire shinobi world.

One might ask, why would Naruto care about the other nations? He currently had no qualms with them. Well, he didn't have them now, but he would have them sooner or later. Naruto was not so naive as to think that destroying Konoha would be the end of his enemies. No, the other four nations would seek to occupy the territory that he had created and that would bring further conflict.

However, there was another reason why he wanted to destroy the other four. He merely wanted to. It would be rather interesting to see how the power scale between each of the Five Great Nations. How wonderful would it be the bring it all crashing down?

"Naruto-san?"

Naruto took himself away from his thoughts when he heard his name being called. He turned to the source of the noise and noticed Ryuzetsu was running alongside him. "What's up, Ryuzetsu-san?" Naruto asked. He was quick to notice how intensely she was staring at him. He found her gaze to be rather lovely.

"The Box of Ultimate Bliss, I don't know what rumors you've heard, but none of them do it justice. You're not from Kusagakure so I can't say I have faith in your abilities, but you were recommended by Daijin-sama. I have no choice, but to see you as a comrade. I say this for your own good. If we do find the Box, then it must be destroyed. It is evil. I'm telling you this because you need to understand the severity of this mission," she told him.

As soon as those words left her mouth, Ryuzetsu found the world around her to be rather distant. She stared into the red eyes of the red-haired boy she had been traveling with and felt her senses go numb. The feeling of the wind, the sound of her steps on tree branches, even her very sense of smell, had faded away leaving her in a black void.

"The Box of Ultimate Bliss is evil? Dear Ryuzetsu, you think it is evil because you lost your friend to it. No, the only thing that's evil is the bastards who sacrificed your friend. No, perhaps the evil one...was your friend for leaving you alone. Because he wasn't strong enough, you had to suffer alone with no one else to understand you,"

What...was talking to her? A voice that tingled her ears and fed her mouth words of delicious honey. Yes, perhaps that was true. It wasn't the Box's fault her friend was taken. It was the Kusagakure officials and their crazed lust for power. Yet, they were too weak to control such an object of unfathomable strength. They...were not worthy.

"No, the Box is evil. I've seen it. It must...be...destroyed. It must be. It's what Muku would have wanted," She said. Wasn't she talking to someone before now? Was she talking to herself? She couldn't remember. All she could remember was that she greatly missed that voice.

"Ah, yes. Muku, what a true friend he was. He didn't even try to resist. He didn't tell you about that night either. He didn't trust you. His duty was more important than you. Yet, here you stand suffering from the consequences of his mistake. Because of his weakness, you have been held back by the shackles of duty. Imagine...if someone as strong as you had the Box of Ultimate Bliss. You could make them pay for their misdeeds. You could make them suffer. You could...make them wish for death,"

Yes. Yes. Yes, death. It was what they deserved. Those damn elders, Muku's father, Muku, they all deserved to die. They all deserved to be destroyed. They were weak. The Box wasn't evil. It just found them unworthy of the magnitude of its power. If she had it...she could show them who was truly worthy.

"No, Muku is my friend. It wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could have done. He...didn't tell me because...it must have been to protect me. He wasn't that type of person," Ryuzetsu argued. She clutched her head as the words invaded her mind, but she could not stop them from wrapping around her brain like a heavy fog.

"When one is about to die, or feels they are about to, that is when their true nature is revealed. Dear Ryuzetsu, you are so strong. You do not need to be surrounded by weaklings, liars, and false friends. You tire of being alone, you tire of shouldering the weight of isolation. Give it to me. Trust...in me. Let us open the Box together and you will become a woman so beautiful, so strong, so capable, that you will not need to make excuses for crutches that tie you down. All you will need...is me," the voice said.

"All...I will need...is you, Naruto-san. All I will need...is you. Muku...was just a pathetic weakling," The white-haired kunoichi said. Her gaze were dazed and unfocused. Slowly a smile appeared on her face as she imagined opening the box and taking revenge upon all who had kept her down. She...didn't need them. She didn't need Kusagakure. All she needed was power and…

"Ryuzetsu-san? Hello!"

Ryuzetsu snapped out of her gaze and found all of her senses had returned. She found herself staring at Naruto. He looked at her curiously. "Are you alright? We can take a break if you want," he advised.

The young genin touched her face and found sweat dripping onto her hand. "Huh? What happened?" she asked. She didn't remember much anything after she had just spoken with Naruto.

"You were just telling me about the Box of Ultimate Bliss. I assured you that if the time came we would try to destroy it," the red-haired boy replied to her.

"Yes...it must be destroyed. Thank you for...reminding me," she said. She then felt a heavy jolt of electricity fire through her body when she felt him touch her shoulder. It nearly made her lose her pace and fall from the trees.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine! Don't touch me!" she exclaimed and swatted his hand away. She widened her eyes in surprise of her own outburst. She then looked forward to see Akari looking at them with a curious gaze. Ryuzetsu then turned her gaze to Naruto. She felt the guilt fill her body by his concerned expression. She had no way of knowing, but a blush appeared on her face when she looked upon him.

"I'm...sorry. I suppose I'm just more tired than I thought. I'll just...need some space," she said. She then dashed a few branches away to be by herself. Naruto watched her go and the grin on his face only grew wider. Yes, Ryuzetsu, all you needed...was Naruto. Just Naruto!

....

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