The Three-Tomoe Sharingan was absolute domination against ordinary genin and chūnin.
Only a seasoned jōnin could attempt to contend with it—and even then, "contend" was generous.
A place like Hōzuki Castle, a prison rather than a shinobi village, simply didn't have that kind of strength. The entire structure relied on a single lynchpin: its warden, Mui.
His Fire Release: Heavenly Prison was a mobile, living cell—and the only real reason Hōzuki Castle hadn't collapsed long ago.
"Kitazawa-sama," Itachi said once they boarded the boat, "I'll lead the ANBU to secure Hōzuki Castle first."
"Go."
Kitazawa nodded, unconcerned.
Mui was the only potential threat on the island, and even he wasn't strong enough to make this interesting. With seven ANBU squads present, Kitazawa didn't need to lift a finger.
Itachi vanished the next instant.
Kitazawa looked toward the distant silhouette of Hōzuki Castle.
"Let's move."
"Sasuke!" Naruto grabbed an oar. "Race you—who rows faster wins!"
"Idiot."
Sasuke shot him a side glance. "Rowing's about rhythm, not speed."
"Huh? Oh!" Naruto brightened immediately. "Then let's row together with the power of youth!"
"…"
Sasuke turned away, refusing to dignify that.
The boat glided steadily toward the island, cutting through calm waters under their mismatched teamwork.
Ten minutes later, they arrived.
The jailers who had stood guard earlier were now unconscious on the snow, replaced by four ANBU operatives.
"Kitazawa-sama."
The ANBU bowed as he stepped off the boat.
"Where's Itachi?" Kitazawa asked casually.
"Itachi-sama is in the main hall. He just finished dealing with Mui."
"Understood. Take us there."
Kitazawa led Hinata and the others up the stone steps.
Hōzuki Castle, with its dark stone towers and cramped walkways, resembled a miniature fortress-city.
"Kitazawa-sama."
Itachi was the first to greet him inside the main hall.
"Well done."
Kitazawa's eyes shifted toward a bound young man kneeling in the center of the room.
"This is Mui, the warden," Itachi introduced.
Mui raised his chin despite the rope around him.
"Konoha attacking Hōzuki Castle violates the agreements set by the Five Great Villages."
"You broke the rules first."
Kitazawa's voice remained calm. "Feeding Konoha prisoners to the Box of Paradise."
Mui's face instantly drained of color. Sweat trickled down his temples.
He had been unshaken when captured—but the moment the Box was mentioned, his composure cracked like thin ice.
He wasn't afraid of being exposed.
He was afraid of losing the Box.
That artifact was his life's obsession… his only hope of saving his son, Muko. If Konoha seized it, everything he had gambled on would vanish.
"Kitazawa-sama," Itachi said, perfectly timed, "we found the Box of Paradise, but it can't be moved yet. Please inspect it yourself."
"What… impossible…"
Mui whispered, eyes wide.
Only he knew the Box's location. Or so he thought.
"Take me."
Kitazawa no longer spared Mui another glance.
Itachi led them to an underground chamber.
A massive box loomed in the dim light—pitch black, its surface cold and eerie. Four carved faces—joy, anger, sorrow, and delight—twisted grotesquely on each side.
"So this is the Box of Paradise?"
Sasuke circled it with curiosity. "How does it grant wishes?"
"It hasn't been opened," Kitazawa replied.
He unsheathed Zangetsu and struck.
CLANG!
The sound echoed violently through the hall.
Not even a scratch.
"As expected—tough enough," Kitazawa said, putting the blade away.
He placed his hand on the box, letting chakra seep in.
A hidden formula—an unfamiliar sealing jutsu—surfaced beneath his senses.
Opening it required massive chakra and a specific five-seal sequence performed simultaneously.
Even he couldn't brute-force the seal without wasting too much time. The technique was ancient and foreign.
"Itachi," Kitazawa said, pulling back. "We need the unlocking seals."
"Understood. I'll interrogate Mui."
Itachi vanished.
Kitazawa wasn't worried.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was the ultimate interrogation tool—stronger than Konoha's entire Torture & Interrogation Division combined.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Naruto whispered, "is our S-rank mission really… just making a wish?"
He had imagined fierce enemies, narrow escapes, dramatic fights.
So far, they'd rowed a boat and watched Itachi glare people into unconsciousness.
Sasuke and Neji also looked confused.
"Of course not."
Kitazawa smiled faintly. "Be patient. You'll have plenty to do soon."
The three exchanged uneasy glances but said no more.
Less than five minutes later, Itachi returned and handed Kitazawa a scroll.
"This is Mui's portion," he reported. "He claims the formula is split among himself and the four elders of Kusagakure."
"As expected…"
Kitazawa skimmed it. Incomplete—obviously.
He would need the other four pieces.
"No," Kitazawa corrected himself. "We won't."
"Itachi."
"Yes."
"Take the ANBU and go to Kusagakure. Retrieve the remaining formulas."
For anyone else, infiltrating a village and extracting four jōnin-level secrets would be a nightmare.
For Itachi, it was a single glance.
Itachi nodded once and disappeared with the ANBU.
With nothing to do, Kitazawa turned back to the Box.
He pressed his hand against the surface again, this time pushing chakra deep inside—
A violent suction force latched onto him, drinking in his chakra greedily.
At that moment, a voice slithered into his mind:
"Born of enlightenment… moved by enlightenment… ended by enlightenment…
Speak your wish.
Everything shall be granted."
Kitazawa calmly cut off the flow of chakra and stepped back.
The Box shuddered violently—then stilled.
It wasn't active yet.
And even if it were, he could escape easily. He had no intention of letting it drag him inside like Muko.
"Kitazawa-sensei?"
Hinata had noticed his sudden movement and looked up anxiously.
"Hinata," Kitazawa said, a thought flashing through his mind. "Use your Byakugan. Look inside the Box of Paradise."
She nodded and activated her dōjutsu immediately.
Her pale eyes widened.
"There's… an extremely dense, very gloomy chakra inside."
Kitazawa nodded; exactly what he'd expected.
If chakra felt gloomy to a Hyūga, it was almost certainly pure Yin Release.
And only in such a suffocating Yin environment could a creature like Satori be born.
Everything aligned with his earlier hypothesis.
Forging two Yin-Release bows… letting Satori craft Yin arrows—all of it was possible.
The real hurdle was the sheer hardness of the Box itself.
Whether he wanted to dismantle it for raw material or forge it into weapons, it would be a nightmare.
But he wasn't worried. He was a high-ranking Konoha official now—he could summon every blacksmith and tool craftsman in the village to brainstorm solutions.
For now, he focused on learning the activation formula.
The segment Mui possessed wasn't too difficult. It was only one-fifth of the whole and its function was limited.
An hour later, Itachi returned with four more scrolls.
Kitazawa skimmed through each—the formulas matched Mui's version with only slight deviations. None were difficult. Within half an hour, he had all five pieces memorized.
Although the ritual required five people, the theory was simple:
five shadow clones with sufficient chakra would work just as well.
"Itachi," Kitazawa said, "have the ANBU use Earth Release to move the Box—ground slab included—out to the open area."
He'd already confirmed the Box wasn't rooted to the ground.
Just unbelievably heavy. No wonder Itachi couldn't move it alone. But with Earth Release, it was nothing.
Besides, fighting underground was unacceptable.
If Satori appeared, it would tear through this basement and the entire prison above. A mass prison break was the last thing he needed.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sama."
Itachi vanished with a short nod.
Kitazawa led Hinata and the others outside while the ANBU worked. He continued practicing the remaining formula sequences as they walked.
Within minutes, Hōzuki Castle shook faintly—the ANBU had hauled the enormous black mass up from the basement and into the open area near the shore.
"Opening the Box requires a massive amount of chakra," Kitazawa announced. "All of you will inject your chakra when I give the signal."
The ANBU lined up. Twenty-four had gathered; four remained stationed around the prison.
Kitazawa formed hand signs, splitting into four shadow clones.
He glanced around—and suddenly remembered Samehada.
That sword could absorb chakra, but it could also transfer it.
It simply never had to, because Naruto never ran out of chakra.
"Naruto, hand me Samehada."
Naruto immediately unrolled a summoning scroll. Samehada appeared with a thud—and instantly wiggled toward Naruto, rubbing against him affectionately.
Naruto grabbed its hilt and passed it to Kitazawa.
"Later," Kitazawa said, resting Samehada atop the Box, "you're going to give all the chakra you have."
"…?"
Samehada froze like a dog realizing it'd just been tricked to the vet.
"Prepare!" Kitazawa barked.
All four clones mirrored him, forming the same rapid sequence of hand signs.
In an instant, intricate curse marks crawled over the Box's surface.
A choking darkness erupted from within, swallowing the Box in a thick wave of Yin aura.
The monolith shuddered—like a beast opening its jaws.
"Chakra—now!"
ANBU raised their hands.
Streams of chakra blasted into the Box like converging rivers.
Samehada reluctantly opened its mouth, vomiting out a violent torrent of chakra.
The Box quaked.
The surrounding Yin aura intensified, heavy enough to weigh on their emotions. Anxiety, gloom, unease—it pressed down like winter fog.
"Step back!" Kitazawa ordered. "But do not stop the chakra flow."
The ANBU retreated while maintaining output.
Kitazawa and Itachi remained where they were.
Thankfully, the Yin aura didn't have any corrosive effects—just emotional pressure.
BOOM!
A violent burst of chakra exploded from the Box.
Black, visible chakra surged outward in ripples.
Then the four carved faces cracked open—each revealing a narrow, yawning passage radiating pure Yin Release.
Kitazawa snatched up Samehada and tossed it toward Naruto.
Naruto caught it—but stared at it in shock.
Samehada had shrunk noticeably, looking pitifully thin.
The sword trembled as Naruto fed it fresh chakra, immediately perking up again, wriggling happily.
A booming voice suddenly echoed across the entire island:
"Born of enlightenment, moved by enlightenment, ended by enlightenment—
Make a wish, and you shall have everything."
The ANBU exchanged glances—none of them foolish enough to rush forward.
"Can it really grant wishes?" Sasuke asked, staring at the ominous box.
"It looks… cursed," Neji muttered.
"I don't feel like making a wish anymore…" Naruto admitted, unsettled.
"Sasuke," Kitazawa said, after confirming the Box was fully open, "step forward."
Sasuke hesitated only a second.
He moved between Kitazawa and Itachi—then looked up at his brother.
"With me and Lord Kitazawa here," Itachi said, gently ruffling his hair, "you'll be fine."
Sasuke took a breath.
"I wish to awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!"
The Box replied instantly:
"As you wish."
A surge of black chakra spilled out, wrapping Sasuke like living tar.
Itachi activated his own Sharingan.
A strange, foreign residue within the black chakra made him frown—Satori's influence.
But its intensity was well within his control.
No need to interfere. Not yet.
Sasuke clutched his forehead.
The Yin chakra stabbed into his eyes—
His two tomoe trembled violently.
Then—
A third tomoe blossomed in each eye.
Sasuke gasped as raw power surged through him.
He clenched his fists, exhilarated.
"Lightning Release—Chidori!"
Black lightning crackled in his palm, louder and sharper than before.
He glanced at the enlarged, more vicious Chidori—and a crazed grin spread across his face.
"Hahaha! This… this is the Three-Tomoe Sharingan! I can see everything!"
He dispelled the jutsu, laughing wildly.
"Sasuke doesn't seem… normal," Neji murmured.
"Yeah," Naruto added gravely, "that laugh doesn't feel youthful at all."
"…"
Neji eyes twitched.
Of all problems, that was what bothered Naruto?
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Next Chapter : Susanoo vs Satori
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