Mui drips his blood on the seal and activates it. Flames rise from the seal and engulf Mui.
"Celestial Flame Prison Seal,"
The Fuinjutsu formation rapidly drains everyone's chakra. Mui's body quickly turns pale as he substitutes his life force for chakra. The scarlet flames form a giant pillar with Mui in the center.
"I understand now!" Ayaka murmurs as everyone is shocked by Mui's actions.
"No wonder the Jinrui node is in the center. This is a sacrificial formation. This sealing formation needs the sacrifice of the life force to activate."
"Uncle MUI!"
Tears flow from Ryūzetsu's eyes as she stretches her arm towards Mui's figure.
"Ryu… just like you, I can feel Muku's pain, his agony, his loneliness. I don't want to see him suffer anymore. I don't want to see him become a tool for this evil box."
Mui smiles at her, and his figure vanishes in flames. The scarlet flames turn sentient and wrap around Satori, forming multiple searing chains of flames.
The fuinjutsu formation lights up and multiple sealing runes float in the air.
"Fire Release: Great Heavenly Fire Prison Seal,"
The flame morphs into a giant, fiery figure. The fiery figure slams its palm on Satori's chest, binding Satori's body with the signature seal of Mui's clan.
"NOOO… YOU CAN'T SEAL ME IN THAT BOX!"
Satori roars as the chains drag a figure out of Satori's body. A pale Muku falls to the ground. Satori's figure turns into a giant demonic face of negative chakra. It attempts to bore into Muku's body, but the scarlet flames keep it at bay.
"F-Father!"
Muku slowly opens his eyes and stares at the giant, fiery figure.
"Muku!"
The fiery figure gently grazes Muku's face.
"I am sorry, Father!" Tears flow from Muku's eyes as his hand passes through the flames.
"I was not a good son!"
"No… I… I wasn't a good father!" Mui's pained voice rings in everyone's years.
"Thanks for everything, Father!"
Muku's body glows with a fiery hue and dissipates into countless flame petals.
"RYU… I am sorry I wasn't able to fulfill my promise to spend my entire life with you." Muku's melancholic voice drifts into Ryūzetsu's ear as a fiery feather flies towards her.
"Muku!"
Ryūzetsu stretches her hand and grabs the fiery feather in her palm. She closes her palm and places the fiery feather close to her heart. Tears flow from her eyes as Muku's smile radiates in her memory.
The flame petals and the fiery figure of Mui wrap around the will of Satori separated from Muku's body. A blazing inferno rises in the sky and the flames engulf the box of Ultimate bliss.
The demonic face on the box opens its mouth and drags Satori's will back into the box.
Weng…
The demonic mouth shuts close, and the glow in its eyes dims down. The box power down and silently stays in the middle of the prison ground.
The Konoha 12 and the other shinobis pay a silent tribute to Mui and Muku's souls.
"MUUKUUUU!"
Ryūzetsu falls to her knees and burst out in tears. Her wails echo throughout the entire Hozuki castle.
Akura, Hinata, and Ino stand beside her to console her, but they are at a loss for words. In the end, they allow her to release her grief through wailing.
"It's gone! The dam seal sealing our chakra is gone!"
Some of the prisoners burst out in laughter as they notice the lack of Celestial fire prison seal on their bodies.
"We are finally free!"
They swiftly dash towards the gates of the Hozuki castle to escape.
"Let's capture them!"
Shikamaru signals to the rest of the members of Konoha 12, who nod at him and quickly subdues the prisoner.
Half an hour later,
The Konoha 12 members lock every prisoner back into their cell.
"Let's wait for the officials from the Kusagakure to rectify the prison situation." Shikamaru, who is the leader of the operation, shakes his head.
"What about this box?" Sasuke asks him.
"Hmm… for starters, let's try to seal this box using the scrolls I got from the village."
Shikamaru takes out a bunch of scrolls.
"Lady Kushina gave these scrolls to me. They should be able to seal this box."
"Mom made these scrolls!" Naruto curiously stares at the sealing scroll.
"This box is too dangerous. We can't allow it to fall in hands of some evil organizations or people with an ulterior motive, especially the Akatsuki." Shikamaru places the scroll around the giant box.
"Let me do it!"
Naruto takes over. He bites his thumb and drops blood on the scroll and makes a series of hand signs to activate the sealing.
WHAM…
The sealing scroll emits a blinding light that engulfs the box. After a few seconds, the light dims down, but the box is still in its place.
"Hmm… the sealing failed!" Naruto frowns.
"Let me try again!"
He spills another drop of blood on the scroll and makes the necessary hand signs. Another blinding light engulfs the box, but the box is still in its previous state.
"We can't seal this box with ordinary methods!"
Naruto helplessly shakes his head.
"What a drag!" Shikamaru sighs helplessly and places his hand on his forehead to think of a solution.
"Should we call Lady Kushina from Konoha?" Sakura makes a suggestion.
"Oh! That's a good idea. I almost forgot about it." Naruto nods and takes out a kunai from his pocket.
Fwish…
He disappears from his place, and the kunai falls to the ground.
A few moments later he reappears on the prison ground with Kushina and Tsunade in tow.
Hmm…
"So, this is the infamous box of Ultimate Bliss."
Tsunade and Kushina curiously inspect the box.
"I can sense a malicious energy from this box." Kushina warily stares at the mouth of the box.
"This box certainly has a history of calamity and disaster." Tsunade nods in agreement.
Kushina walks forward to examine the box.
"Mom, be careful!" Naruto warns her.
Mm…
Kushina nods and taps the surface of the box.
"I have never seen material like this. This box is definitely not from this world." She murmurs.
"Right! Kurama also thinks so. Even with my and Kurama's full power, I wasn't even able to make a scratch on the box." Naruto agrees with her.
Kushina stares at the eyes of the demonic mask.
"Huh!"
A frown appears on her face. She removes the necklace around her neck and removes a piece of strange metal from it.
Weng…
The unknown piece of metal hum with energy and vibrate in Kushina's hand releasing some space undulations.
"As I suspected!"
She stores the unknown metal piece and turns towards the group.
"Kushina, did you find anything?"
"Mm… and it's a pretty big discovery." Kushina nods at them.
"I also found the reason why we can't store this box in a sealing scroll."
"Oh, what is it?" Everyone curiously asks her.
"This box is a gateway to a separate dimension. It doesn't have infinite space like everyone assumed it to be. The demonic mouth is a portal leading to a different dimension. A tremendous amount of energy is required to open the portal to another world. This might be the reason the elder of the Kusagakure spent centuries trying to open the box since the energy consumption to open the portal is phenomenal." Kushina reveals the true nature of the box.
"So, is the legend about the Kusagakure using this box to conquer the rest of the world false?" Maroi asks her with respect.
"No, there is some truth to it." Kushina shakes her head.
"After listening to Satori's tale, I am pretty sure it's a powerful malevolent spiritual creature from another dimension. The Uzumaki clan members have sealed plenty of such creatures albeit not as powerful as Satori, into other dimensions. Our sealing ritual banished these evil spirits to some desolate dimension. So, the descent of calamity by opening this is certainly true. Who knows if we reopen this box, a hoard of evil entities from another world might invade our world?" Kushina explains to them.
"Then, Lady Kushina, what should we do with this box?" Shikamaru asks her.
"Hmm… since we can't store it, we should carry it to Konoha, and I place multiple restrictions around this box and carefully seal it someplace secure," Kushina suggests.
"Then I will…"
Before Naruto could complete his sentence, Kushina shakes her head.
"Any spacetime jutsu is ineffective against it. We have to carry it normally."
"That's unfortunate!" The Konoha 12 members shake their heads in disappointment.
While everyone is musing about what to do with the box, a strange phenomenon occurs in front of Ayaka.
WHAMM…
Suddenly, a wooden box appears in front of Ayaka.
"AH!"
Ayaka shrieks in surprise, drawing everyone's attention.
"What's the matter, Ayaka?" Tsunade and Kushina turn their attention to her.
The wooden box in front of Ayaka emits a blue light and hums with a strange frequency.
Rumble… Rumble…
The Box of Ultimate Bliss responds to that strange hum and vibrates. A crimson glow envelops the box, and it floats in mid-air. The box of ultimate bliss shrinks to the same size as the wooden box and the demon faces on the box shift slightly to form an eye on top of the box.
A bright glow encompasses both boxes as both boxes fly toward each other.
BOOM…
Both boxes collide with each other, releasing a powerful shockwave that pushes everyone back.
RUMBLE… RUMBLE…
Tremors run across the ground as an earthquake hits the area. Soon, both boxes disappear from everyone's view.
After a few seconds, the group stabilizes its footing.
"What was that?" Ino asks in trepidation.
"Those strange boxes came into contact with each other and it led to an earthquake!" Even Choji is surprised by his own words.
"Ayaka, what was that?" Tsunade asks her for an explanation.
Some subtle emotions flicker across Ayaka's face for a few seconds before her expression turns normal.
"It was something left behind by Nii-san to contain that box. We don't have to worry about it anymore." Ayaka stretches out her palm and summons a palm-sized Box of Ultimate Bliss.
"Unfortunately, only I can carry it like this since this box is a kind of contracted to me." Ayaka shakes her head.
"Very well!"
Despite their doubts Tsunade and Kushina nod at her statement.
"Let's return to the village!"
Tsunade turns towards Guy and Maroi.
"I am sure both of you are aware of your mission."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama… Hokage-sama!" Both nod at her.
Fwoosh…
Tsunade and Kushina disappear in a flash of light.
"Alright, everyone! This marks the end of our mission." Shikamaru declares.
"We will return to the village to prepare for war."
"Let's go! I can't wait to pummel those Akatsuki members in the war." Naruto bumps his fist.
"Umm… sorry Naruto, but we have another mission for you." Guy interrupts him.
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A/N:- My new Naruto fan-fic, 'The Rogue Demon of the Shinobi World' is out.
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