'So easy to fool! Kusagakure's Anbu really aren't that smart.' With this thought in mind, Naruto returned to his cell, thoroughly satisfied.
While checking the system for the Mission Line III's completion rate, a sudden doubt arose in his mind, 'Those guys from that Grass-Reality really have some patience. Why haven't they come to drain me dry yet?'
'Opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss probably requires an enormous amount of Chakra, right? Even though he'd ended up in prison thanks to that bastard Sasuke, it was clearly a stroke of luck for them.'
In this Shinobi World, people with more Chakra than him were rare. With a prime target like me delivered straight to their doorstep, how could they resist?'
'Were they the Liu Xiahui of the Shinobi World? With grand ambitions hanging in the balance, why weren't they rushing to suck me dry? Damn it! Didn't they want to open that blind box?'
Three days passed, and the Grass-Reality still showed no signs of making a move. Naruto grew impatient and decided it was time to break out.
'What a joke. If a movie plot dragged on for half a year, wouldn't I be rotting in here forever? If they won't start things, then I'll just force the plot forward myself.'
If they didn't even care about a prison break, Naruto would simply vanish. After all, the promise he made to Ryuzetsu would come true one way or another, even if he escaped and disappeared.
Of course, Ryuzetsu knew nothing about this. In her heart, she believed Mui was a cold, unfeeling man… someone who would sacrifice even his own son for the sake of Kusagakure's prosperity.
Little did she know, Mui had changed. Countless nights had been spent tormented by a single wish… to resurrect his son. Even if Naruto hadn't appeared, or if it had been someone else, Mui would have still opened the Box of Ultimate Bliss to revive Muku.
What Naruto had promised was to convince Muui to open the box and resurrect Muku… not to guarantee Muku's revival. In a way, it was a loophole, but it wasn't exactly a lie.
Though it was shameless, coming from Naruto, it felt perfectly in character. Deceiving an unrelated girl didn't weigh on his conscience at all.
That night, after the cell check, Naruto decisively chose to escape. He moved silently… well, not entirely silently, since Ryuzetsu in the next cell noticed something was off.
"That man really deserves to die!"
Realizing Naruto was trying to break out, Ryuzetsu gritted her teeth and rushed out of her cell, chasing his shadow from the warehouse rooftop all the way to the edge of a cliff.
The prison's lights grew farther away as Ryuzetsu panted heavily, facing the endless darkness ahead. The silhouette just within reach suddenly sent a chill down her spine.
"Stop!" She shouted, speeding forward with wind-like agility before flipping in front of Naruto, arms spread wide, "Where do you think you're going?"
Below them was a cliff, and beyond that is a pitch-black sea, the roaring waves crashing like thunder. Naruto glanced at her and frowned.
"What gives you the right to stop me?"
"What?" Ryuzetsu was stunned for a moment before remembering the contract she'd signed, and a sense of foreboding struck her.
"I'm your master. You… you can only cooperate with me. You have no right to interfere with my actions." Naruto narrowed his eyes as the prison's searchlight swept across the dark sea behind him.
The ocean was indistinguishable from the night.
"You, you, you!!!!!"
"Me what? Did you forget what you signed?" Naruto shot her a cold look and shoved her aside without hesitation.
"Don't annoy me. Consider this a warning."
Ryuzetsu, furious and anxious, yelled at Naruto's back.
"That's a whirlpool down there! If you jump, the undercurrents will tear you apart before you even have time to refine Chakra."
"Oh really? I don't believe you." Naruto looked arrogant and turned to Ryuzetsu, clicking his tongue. Just as he was about to leap, a beam of light suddenly struck him.
"Hurry! Someone's escaping!"
"The warden is coming!"
"Agh…!" The seal activated, and Naruto dropped flat on the ground without even trying to resist.
Ryuzetsu, whose seal had already been released, remained unaffected. Therefore, the moment the light hit, she hid in the shadows.
Only after the prison guards dragged Naruto away did she step out, her expression complicated as she watched them leave. Then, she silently returned to her cell.
…
Inside the prison's inner block.
"Did you hear? Someone tried to escape!"
Ryuzetsu slipped back into her cell unnoticed as whispers spread outside. Tonight, the Hozuki Castle was unusually lively… searchlights, guards, everything in full force.
"No way! Who could possibly break out of this place?"
"Who knows? Unless someone left with the seal still on them. There's no way to avoid using Chakra, right?"
"Except for that guy, the one who doesn't need chakra. If it's him, he might actually pull it off. You know, that freak with the insane physical strength…"
"Hah, that guy's a total weakling! Even I can hold out for half a minute under Muui's seal, but the moment it activated, he just flopped to the ground like a dead fish!"
Ryuzetsu nodded in agreement. Not only that, but that blond bastard was also a shameless, backstabbing scumbag who turned on his word without hesitation. Just thinking about his smug face made her sick.
But after calming down, she couldn't help but worry about Naruto's safety, 'Ugh… Why do I even care about that jerk?'
'Ah!!!!!!'
After spiraling into self-loathing for a while, Ryuzetsu shook her head and was about to say something when suddenly, the prison began to tremble violently. With a deafening boom, a crimson energy pillar erupted into the sky.
The ceiling started cracking, the support pillars swaying and crumbling bit by bit. Half of the prison's inner area was instantly obliterated under the force of the energy pillar, reduced to dust.
"What's happening?" Ryuzetsu stood frozen in shock.
In an instant, screams and explosions erupted one after another. The burning walls collapsed like dominoes, and the flames rapidly spread toward her.
Gritting her teeth, Ryuzetsu huddled in her cell, waiting for the fire to pass. Once the bars were red-hot from the flames, she kicked them open and forced her way out of the cell. Scanning the sea of fire around her, she picked a direction and ran.
Meanwhile, the Box of Ultimate Bliss had already been activated. Naturally, Naruto's trash-talking played a part, but two-thirds of his Chakra had still been drained.
In theory, the Box of Ultimate Bliss was a bottomless pit that would suck dry all the Chakra of its sacrificial offering. But in reality, this box had its limits, and it couldn't hold more than its original creator's capacity.
While the Kyubi's Chakra couldn't compare to the Sage of Six Paths', 73% of Kyubi's full Chakra was more than enough to fill the Box of Ultimate Bliss to the brim.
To be precise, by the time it had absorbed 50%, the Box of Ultimate Bliss was already completely saturated.
With a quick flip, Naruto easily broke free from the altar, rolling to his feet in one smooth motion. Before he could even throw out another taunt, he heard furious shouting from the other side.
"Perfect! Mui, the Box of Ultimate Bliss is open!"
"Make your wish and make the Land of Grass into the greatest power in the Shinobi World! Hurry! We've finally reached this moment!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, about to yell, 'Wish for your mom!' when he caught sight of a stubborn little figure crawling out of the inferno on the other side of the prison.
Her clothes were singed short, even the edges of her chest bindings were visible.
Though true gold fears no fire, the difference in male and female pelvic structures was unmistakable once clothes burned away. There was only one woman in the prison, and even from 800 meters away, Naruto recognized her as Ryuzetsu.
'Weirdo, why is she running through such a huge fire without even dodging?'