Chapter 107: The Hidden Grass Village’s Ruthless Secret, Hōzuki Castle Prison

On an island near the coast surrounding the Hidden Grass Village.

There was a special prison here—Hōzuki Castle.

Hōzuki Castle was a prison established by the Hidden Grass Village at the request of various countries, specifically designed to imprison special shinobi criminals.

For example, if a shinobi committed crimes involving multiple shinobi villages, they might be imprisoned in Hōzuki Castle.

At this moment.

Inside a secret chamber within Hōzuki Castle.

The lord of Hōzuki Castle, Mūi, a Jonin of the Hidden Grass Village, had gathered here with four elders of the Hidden Grass Village.

The four Hidden Grass elders wore strange animal masks on their heads.

A sheep, a cow, a dog, and a monkey.

There was also an envoy from the Hidden Stone Village present.

"I say, everyone, can this Box of Ultimate Bliss be activated or not?"

The Hidden Stone envoy spoke impatiently.

On the battlefield ahead, the Hidden Stone and Hidden Grass Villages had joined forces and were locked in a stalemate with Konoha.

If they continued dragging things out like this, then once the war ended, the benefits the Hidden Stone could obtain would be extremely limited.

The Hidden Grass Village had claimed that they possessed a secret weapon called the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

He didn’t know how powerful it was.

But regardless of its power, they should at least bring it out first!

"Activating the Box of Ultimate Bliss requires an enormous amount of chakra. Although we’ve been working hard all these years, we’re still short by a little. If the Hidden Stone can send a Jinchūriki here, then the Box of Ultimate Bliss can be activated immediately."

The Hidden Grass elder wearing the cow mask spoke.

Any Jinchūriki would be enough.

With the enormous amount of chakra possessed by a Tailed Beast, there would definitely be more than enough.

"Impossible!"

The Hidden Stone envoy immediately rejected the proposal.

The Hidden Stone did not have a method of training Perfect Jinchūriki like the Hidden Cloud.

Their Jinchūriki could not be casually sent onto the battlefield during wartime.

If they sent a Jinchūriki here to provide chakra for that Box of Ultimate Bliss, what would happen if something went wrong?

"Then we can only rely on sacrificing shinobi. That should allow us to gather enough chakra to activate the Box of Ultimate Bliss soon."

The cow-masked elder shook his head and spoke somewhat regretfully.

Every shinobi represented combat strength for the village.

If too many of them died, how could the Hidden Grass Village continue?

"Sacrificing that woman to the Box of Ultimate Bliss should be equivalent to sacrificing many people."

The Hidden Grass elder wearing the monkey mask spoke.

He was referring to Karin’s mother.

She possessed the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, giving her extremely powerful vitality and a tremendous amount of chakra.

Sacrificing her alone should be enough to replace many people.

In fact!

With the amount of chakra currently stored within the Box of Ultimate Bliss, perhaps only one more sacrifice would be enough.

"What a pity. That woman’s ability is extremely useful."

The sheep-masked elder sighed regretfully.

Whether someone had suffered an injury or exhausted their chakra, they could recover simply by biting that woman.

Such an ability was incredibly useful!

To a large extent, the Hidden Grass Village had been able to join the war against Konoha this time because of that woman.

They would have injured or exhausted shinobi bite her, allowing them to quickly recover their combat strength and continue fighting against Konoha.

However.

Because they had been exploiting that woman’s ability too frequently recently, she was already close to her limit.

"Just right. Before she dies, she can still serve one more purpose."

The dog-masked Hidden Grass elder sneered.

In any case, that woman was merely a refugee who had fled to the Hidden Grass Village.

And for the sake of activating the Box of Ultimate Bliss, for the sake of reviving their village’s former glory...

She could be considered to have died for a worthwhile cause.

The cow-masked Hidden Grass elder nodded.

"That woman’s daughter inherited her ability as well. We can cultivate her a little."

What a pity.

She was only a child. Even though she possessed the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, she did not have much chakra at her current age.

At most, she could heal two or three people at a time before becoming exhausted.

The Hidden Stone envoy couldn’t help shaking his head as he listened to their discussion.

He thought he was cold-blooded enough.

He had never expected these people from the Hidden Grass Village to be even more insane than him.

He also knew about the woman possessing the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan whom they were talking about.

She possessed the special ability to heal injuries and restore chakra simply by having someone bite her skin.

Recently, the Hidden Grass Village had used her ability without restraint, directly exhausting the powerful vitality of that woman to the point of death!

It had to be known that she was a member of the Uzumaki clan!

The naturally powerful vitality of an Uzumaki clan member had actually been exhausted to this state.

It was clear that the Hidden Grass Village had treated that woman entirely as a tool.

And even after all this, the woman was still going to be sacrificed to the Box of Ultimate Bliss and give up her life.

"Since that’s the case, then it’s settled."

The lord of Hōzuki Castle, Mūi, remained expressionless, but he couldn’t help secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

The Hidden Grass Village had truly paid a heavy price to activate the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

Earlier, after being persuaded by several elders, he had even considered whether he should sacrifice his own son, Muku, to the Box of Ultimate Bliss!

Now, if they sacrificed that woman possessing the Uzumaki bloodline, his son wouldn’t have to die.

With the decision made, the six people stood up together.

A cell was opened.

Light poured inside.

Within the cell lay a red-haired female ninja, barely breathing.

There was also a little girl with red hair who looked about seven or eight years old.

"Get up. Use your ability again."

Mūi’s voice was cold.

When he saw that the red-haired female ninja did not move, Mūi frowned and walked forward, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her up.

The skin exposed beneath the woman’s clothes was covered in countless bite marks, leaving her in an utterly miserable state.

Her chest rose and fell slightly, showing that she was still breathing.

"Let go of my mother!"

Little Karin rushed forward, only to be kicked away.

She slammed into the wall.

Her head spinning, she struggled to get back up, only to see those people taking her mother away.

The cell door closed.

Karin was once again plunged into darkness.

Her tiny body curled up into a ball.

"Can someone please come save me..."

"Can someone please come save my mother..."

Underground beneath Hōzuki Castle.

"So this is the Box of Ultimate Bliss?"

The Hidden Stone envoy’s expression changed slightly.

In front of them was an enormous cube, seven or eight meters tall.

Each of its four sides bore a twisted face.

Joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure!

Faces representing four different emotions.

Mūi skillfully sacrificed Karin’s mother to the Box of Ultimate Bliss without the slightest hesitation.

Swish!

A series of terrifying roars erupted from the Box of Ultimate Bliss, cries that struck directly at the soul!

They seemed to contain endless pain and heart-wrenching wails!

"It has finally been activated! The Box of Ultimate Bliss! Unleash its power!"

"The revival of our Hidden Grass Village has finally arrived!"

"The era of the Hidden Grass Village conquering the shinobi world is finally about to descend!"

The Hidden Grass elders wearing animal masks were so excited that they had nearly reached a state of madness!

With the legendary ninja tool of the Sage of Six Paths, their Hidden Grass Village would no longer need to look at the Hidden Stone’s expression.

They would no longer need to fear Konoha!

"Conquer the shinobi world?"

The Hidden Stone envoy couldn’t help frowning.

Were these people from the Hidden Grass Village dreaming?

They actually dared to entertain such an idea!

Mūi stood before the Box of Ultimate Bliss and spread his arms.

"Box of Ultimate Bliss, unleash the power to conquer the world!"

The Box of Ultimate Bliss let out another mournful cry.

On its front side, the twisted face opened its enormous mouth.

Inside was deep and gloomy, and an ominous aura surged outward.

A thin, frail figure staggered out...

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