Three days ago, in Kusagakure~
The once impenetrable Hozuki Castle, hailed as the strongest prison in the ninja world, had been reduced to rubble.
Screams echoed through the village, and dismembered bodies littered the grounds, turning the area into a living hell.
Wato, the lord of Hozuki Castle, knelt on the ground, weak and coughing up dark clots of blood. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
The defensive line of Hozuki Castle, which he had always prided himself on, had been utterly shattered by a single man.
The elite forces stationed at Hozuki Castle, composed of twenty skilled Jonin from Kusagakure, had been effortlessly defeated. Even if they faced a Kage, Wato had confidence they could stand their ground, or even emerge victorious.
But in the blink of an eye, all of the Kusagakure ninjas had been blasted away by a surge of overwhelming power, rendered incapable of fighting.
What terrified Wato even more was that the intruder had gone straight for the Box of Ultimate Bliss, inspecting it as if he already knew everything about Kusagakure's greatest secret.
Ever since Wato's failed attempt to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss, the village had kept it as its most tightly guarded secret, sealed within Hozuki Castle.
In Wato's mind, only the highest-ranking officials of Kusagakure knew about the Box's existence, and there was no way anyone else in the ninja world could have known its location.
What Wato didn't know was that Uchiha Madara, who controlled an army of countless White Zetsu, had a transparent view of the entire ninja world. There was almost nothing beyond his knowledge.
However, the Uchiha compound, now enveloped by the sealing barrier of the Uzumaki clan, was no longer visible to him, which greatly annoyed Madara.
The former clan leader couldn't even gaze upon his old home now?
"How boring. Weaklings like you just disgust me."
A low, hoarse voice echoed as Madara, with his head of white hair and draped in pale armor, spoke with indifference.
Though Wato lay trembling on the ground, he was secretly channeling his chakra, trying to heal his crippled body.
"Maybe… maybe there's still a chance."
Wato had mastered Kusagakure's secret technique: Fire Release: Heavenly Prison. This technique allowed him to inject chains that could bind an enemy's chakra, preventing them from using any jutsu.
If he could just touch this person, no matter how strong they were, the tide of battle would turn.
Wato kept his head low, waiting for the perfect moment to strike back.
His mind raced as he mentally scanned through the known powerful figures of the ninja world, but none of them matched this intruder.
Who exactly was this person who had broken into Hozuki Castle?
Out of the corner of his eye, Wato glanced at the strange man in front of him, and his heart sank as he noticed a terrifying detail.
The peculiar patterns in the man's pupils flashed with a faint purple glow. Wato caught only a glimpse, but it was enough for him to immediately lower his head and feign death, his mind swirling in confusion.
Those eyes... They resembled the legendary Rinnegan, said to be the supreme dōjutsu of the Sage of Six Paths himself!
Wato recalled his failed attempt to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss months ago, where he had sacrificed his own son. Now, a wild thought crossed his mind.
"Could it be… because I sought the power of the Sage, the Sage of Six Paths himself has descended to punish Kusagakure?"
"Is this... divine retribution?"
The overwhelming pressure emanating from the Rinnegan kept Wato prostrated on the ground, too afraid to raise his head. Yet amidst this crushing fear, he also felt a burning rage rising within him.
Wato had grown up in Kusagakure, enduring war and poverty from a young age.
Thanks to some rare opportunities, he had survived and grown stronger in the chaos, unlike most Kusagakure ninjas who perished on the battlefield in their teens.
After surviving the Second Great Ninja War, Wato learned a harsh truth.
In the ninja world, the existence of smaller nations was inherently tragic. They were merely buffers between the great powers or the loyal dogs called upon when needed and discarded like trash when they were not.
Once he became a high-ranking official of Kusagakure and the lord of Hozuki Castle, Wato devoted himself to studying the Box of Ultimate Bliss, hoping to use its legendary power to revive Kusagakure and change its miserable fate.
He had found the village's ancient relics and even sacrificed his son, but nothing happened.
In his grief and despair, Wato confessed everything to the village elders, only to discover that his tragedy was the result of internal power struggles among Kusagakure's leaders.
The story that one had to sacrifice their most precious thing to open the Box was a lie fabricated by one faction within the village!
After this revelation, Wato allied with the faction that truly knew how to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss, planning a grand scheme to save his son and obtain the power of the Box.
But before they could reveal the secrets to Wato, Uchiha Madara descended upon them, killing Kusagakure's leaders.
"What a marvelous construction. The rumors were true," Madara muttered as he examined the Box of Ultimate Bliss, a trace of approval in his voice.
Though aged and frail, the infusion of energy from the White Zetsu had returned a sliver of his former glory.
Madara scrutinized the outer shell of the Box, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A torrent of flames, hot enough to crack the earth, roared toward the Box of Ultimate Bliss. The scorching sound of the flames echoed through the chamber, a noise that sent chills down Wato's spine.
Seeing the immense power and range of the fire technique, the brief anger in Wato's heart vanished, replaced by a bitter smile.
Such raw strength was far beyond anything he could hope to resist.
"With just a single fire technique… is this truly the Sage of Six Paths come to punish us?"
Even in his old age, Uchiha Madara's combat prowess, enhanced by the White Zetsu, remained unparalleled in the ninja world.
Wato's assumptions weren't entirely wrong. Though Madara wasn't the Sage himself, he was a descendant of the Sage's lineage.
As the flames subsided, Madara squinted at the Box of Ultimate Bliss, satisfaction evident in his expression.
Despite the overwhelming heat, the Box's black surface remained untouched, as flawless as ever.
Madara nodded approvingly.
This was the true power of a tool forged by the Sage of Six Paths, a treasure worthy of his attention.
"Universal Pull!"
An invisible force lifted Wato into the air, pulling him toward Madara.
Wato gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with defiance, as he made one last attempt to resist, only to find his chakra completely sealed.
A purple gleam flickered in Madara's Rinnegan, and Wato, helplessly, dropped to his knees, falling into a deep genjutsu.
"Tell me everything you know about the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
Wato's eyes glazed over, now reflecting the pattern of the Rinnegan, and he woodenly replied:
"I once heard that to open the Box, one must offer their most precious thing. I sacrificed my son, but it failed."
Madara frowned. Was he really dealing with an idiot?
Is this what the current ninja world has to offer? This was not the information he wanted.
Several Kusagakure elders, already on the verge of death, had also been captured by Madara.
With a flash of the Rinnegan, their souls were pulled from their bodies, revealing the true story behind the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Inside Kusagakure, there had been a long-standing debate about the Box.
One faction, the Sealing faction, believed the Box would bring only destruction and should remain sealed for eternity.
The other faction, the Practical faction, like Wato, sought to open the Box and use its power to revive Kusagakure.
The Sealing faction had long held power in the village, suppressing the Practical faction, and had concocted the lie about sacrificing something precious to dissuade those who wanted to open the Box.
No one could have predicted that Wato would actually sacrifice his son, exposing the Sealing faction's deceit.
With this, the Practical faction overthrew the Sealing faction and met with Wato to plan how to open the Box.
The conditions to open the Box were twofold: first, one needed to master a specific technique; second, one had to offer up chakra equivalent to that of a tailed beast to open this ultimate weapon of the Sage of Six Paths.
This was the true reason behind the founding of Hozuki Castle. Decades ago, the Practical faction had started quietly preparing, gathering prisoners to collect enough chakra to one day open the Box.
Madara sought the Box of Ultimate Bliss because he had begun to doubt his original plan.
While he trusted in Nagato's talent and his ability to control the Rinnegan, he also worried that Nagato might not follow through with the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Instead of remaining in the shadows, Madara decided to take matters into his own hands, seeking an opportunity to regain his youth and perform one last dance in the ninja world.
Madara wasn't even hoping to return to his peak; as long as his body could become ten years younger, he was confident that he could sweep through the Five Great Nations and single-handedly piece together the Ten-Tails.
Madara knew that ordinary medical ninjutsu was useless in restoring his body to its prime, even though the Gedo Statue could slightly delay his aging.
But the Box of Ultimate Bliss was different—being one of the Six Path ninja tools, it was worth a try.
Donning his White Zetsu armor, Madara extracted a large amount of life force from the Gedo Statue, and the aging tiger once again set out, heading toward the Village Hidden in the Grass.
"This sealing technique... it actually bears some resemblance to the Outer Path techniques. Now I'm even more intrigued."
Madara laughed wildly as he deciphered the technique to unseal the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
But soon a problem emerged: Madara was shocked to discover that the chakra from all the prisoners in Hozuki Castle was pitifully weak.
This wasn't surprising, though. Any ninja with real strength wouldn't be sent here, and even if they were temporarily held, they'd find a way to escape.
However, after inspecting the prison, Madara did make a decent discovery—he found an orphan from the Uzumaki clan with excellent potential, around the same age as Nagato.
She was a beautiful red-haired girl, but her body was covered in bite marks, whip scars, and bloodstains, a clear indication of the abuse she had suffered from both prisoners and Grass ninjas.
Madara coldly observed the Uzumaki girl, his resolve to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan solidified further.
"This ninja world... it truly is rotten to the core. It must be purified with the Eye of the Moon Plan!"
Madara looked at her and asked indifferently, "What's your name?"
The red-haired girl, staring at the cold Madara, showed no fear.
She had awakened the Uzumaki clan's unique body, filled with chakra capable of healing her wounds.
After being abducted by the Grass Village, she had been subjected to constant abuse and mistreatment, making her highly sensitive to malice.
She could clearly sense that while this terrifying figure before her looked intimidating, he bore no ill will towards her—at least he was far better than the Grass ninjas and prisoners.
"My name is Uzumaki Kana."
Madara looked at the girl, who showed no fear, and fell silent, his thoughts drifting back to long ago.
Back when Konoha had just been founded, he had once tried to help a child who had fallen, but only ended up scaring him to tears. It was then that Madara realized how out of place he felt in Konoha.
An unknown emotion flickered within Madara, and he snapped his fingers. Several White Zetsu emerged from the ground, awaiting his command.
"Take her back. Have her stay with Nagato for now."
The White Zetsu gleefully carried Uzumaki Kana, transferring their green healing chakra to mend her wounds.
Uzumaki Kana, amazed by the White Zetsu, felt both touched and saddened. From the moment she was born in the ninja world, this was the first time anyone had taken care of her.
"Well, we're off! Stay safe, Lord Madara!!"
The White Zetsu bid farewell to Madara with their usual playful tone, disappearing into the ground with Kana in their arms.
Madara remained indifferent. After living with these childlike White Zetsu for over twenty years in the cave, he had long since grown used to them.
In a way, Madara was a seasoned kindergarten teacher by now.
"Well then, I still need to gather some ninjas with abundant chakra. Let's target those lowlifes from the Five Great Nations. They'll come running like wild dogs once they catch the scent of a Six Path tool."
That was Madara's plan—simple and brutal.
Using the Box of Ultimate Bliss as bait, he would lure ninjas from the Five Great Nations to become sacrifices and tools for his own rejuvenation.
In truth, even without sacrificing other ninjas, Madara could still supply the chakra of tailed beasts himself if he exerted all his strength. Even in his twilight years, he was capable of such feats.
But under Madara's Rinnegan, he could see that the Box of Ultimate Bliss emitted a strange, dark aura, making him wary.
"This Box of Ultimate Bliss... is probably not that simple."
If he recklessly poured out his chakra, wouldn't that be as foolish as a parent sacrificing their own child?
So he would let these ninjas, hungry for war and power, come to clear the path for him.
Musume, the leader of the Grass Village, groggily rose from his desk, dragging his broken body, limping toward his usual workplace to begin writing a plea for help.
Thus, the leaders of the Five Great Villages all received an earnest letter requesting aid to deal with the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Though Madara was in his later years, with his unparalleled combat experience and the all-powerful Rinnegan, even the leaders of the Five Great Nations didn't concern him.
"Whoosh!!"
With a flash of cold light, Musume and the Grass ninjas' heads separated from their bodies.
Several White Zetsu emerged from the ground, transforming into their likenesses.
Madara sneered coldly, turning his gaze toward Konoha.
"That youngster who loves taijutsu... Will he come as well?"
"If he does, he'll stay here forever."
A cold gleam flashed in Madara's eyes, and his battle spirit surged, his body growing excited for the first time in a long while.
_________________
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
Patreon.com/ShadySmuggler