Konoha Notes

Chapter 127 Birth
Tsutakawa, the leader of Kusagakure, entered Hozuki Castle surrounded by a group of elders with varying expressions.

Wuwei had already received the news and was waiting at the entrance of the passageway leading to the depths. Even his usually calm and composed face couldn't help but show a faint shadow of gloom.

Wuwei greeted them, saying, "Welcome, Lord Tsutakawa, and all the elders."

Tsutakawa had no interest in small talk: "Open the Box of Bliss, Muwei."

Wuwei's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly: "People should still be..."

“That child’s chakra is enough to fill this gap!” Tsutaka interrupted him. “I’ve already heard about your assassination attempt. We can’t delay any longer.”

"That is exactly it, non-action."

"Let's begin, for the future of Kusagakure!"

The other elders of Kusagakure also spoke up to persuade him.

Wuwei remained silent for a moment. His gaze swept over the faces behind Tsutakawa, seeing longing, fervor, and some other inexplicable thoughts.

Finally, he nodded slightly: "I understand, I'll prepare tonight."

In the stillness of the night, only the ceaseless roar of the waves crashing against the rocky cliffs could be heard.

Deep within the Ghost Lantern Castle, the enormous Box of Elysium stands in the center, its twisted and eerie reliefs appearing particularly grotesque under the pale light.

The boy named Kong lay on the stone bed, his eyes empty and devoid of any light.

"Die, let everything be destroyed..." Kong murmured softly.

Wuwei stood by the stone bed, listening to the desperate whispers, and his hand, which was about to form a hand seal, paused almost imperceptibly for a moment.

But a moment of pity arose in him, which was quickly overshadowed by a deeper sense of duty and a more enduring ideal.

He was a ninja from Kusagakure.

Wuwei dispelled the Heavenly Prison spell that had been placed on Kong.

The Box of Bliss awoke from its slumber, and the reliefs on its surface seemed to come alive, one of them opening its mouth to suck the empty space on the stone bed into it.

After being sucked into the air, the entire Ghost Lantern Castle shook violently. A blinding light suddenly burst forth from the crack in the Box of Elysium, shooting into the sky and easily tearing apart the rock ceiling of the underground space, piercing straight into the night sky.

The enormous box roared as it broke free from the earth's constraints, carrying countless pebbles and dust as it shattered the ground, finally landing majestically in the spacious courtyard in the center of Ghost Lantern Castle.

"What...what happened?!"

"What it is?!"

"Look at the courtyard!"

The enormous commotion alerted all the ninjas in the city. From the guards of Kusagakure to the imprisoned prisoners, they all rushed out in terror, looking towards the center of the light and dust.

Wuwei walked step by step through the broken underground passage to the courtyard, and arrived at the Box of Bliss.

"Hahaha! We did it! We finally did it!"

With a burst of wild, almost morbid laughter, Tsutakawa led the elders into the courtyard. His face was flushed with excitement, and his eyes were frighteningly intense, as if he could already see the world bowing down beneath his feet.

What made Wuwei's pupils shrink even more was that beside Tsutakawa, a handsome young man whom he knew all too well was tightly held—his son, Wugou.

He shouted loudly, "Make a wish! Wuwei!"

"We vow to make Kusagakure conquer the entire ninja world! Let this world grovel at the feet of Kusagakure!"

The frenzied shouts echoed in the courtyard, causing many of the Kusagakure ninja to change color.

Just then, an elder who had been silently following Tsutakawa suddenly made a move and snatched Wugou from Tsutakawa's side.

Meanwhile, among the Kusagakure ninjas on guard, a female ninja with long white hair landed next to the elder. Upon seeing her, Mugou stopped struggling.

"Dragon Tongue?"

Ryuusei stood beside Muko, watching Tsutakawa and the elders around him warily: "Muko, Lord Tsutakawa has gone mad."

The elder released Mugou and looked at Tsutaka: "Conquer the world? Even with the power of the box, Kusagakure alone cannot withstand the backlash from the entire ninja world!"

"Wuwei, don't be blinded by Tsutakawa's ambition! Just wish for Kusagakure to become strong! Strong enough to protect itself and prosper, that's what truly matters for the village!"

The sudden change silenced the entire courtyard. Frenzy and reason clashed fiercely under the eerie light emanating from the box.

Tsutakawa was trembling with anger and was about to explode.

Wuwei's gaze swept between the fanatical Tsutakawa and the excitedly pleading elder.

Finally, the attack landed on Wugou and the dragon tongue beside him.

Wuwei turned to the Box of Bliss: "Box of Bliss, hear my wish—"

"Please grant Kusagakure the power to protect itself and move towards prosperity!"

"Make my wish come true!"

As the wish was made, the Box of Bliss trembled, and the relief of the giant mouth that had once swallowed the void on the surface of the box slowly opened once more.

A thin, familiar figure emerged from the crowd, walking unsteadily.

It is empty.

But his current state was extremely strange. His body was stiff like a marionette, and his skin was so pale that it was devoid of any color. His eyes were completely empty, yet deep within them burned a chilling flame that sent shivers down one's spine.

His gaze swept over Wuwei, then over the Kusagakure ninja in the arena, and finally settled on Tsutakawa and the elders who had participated in capturing him and Kazuma.

Wuwei instantly became more vigilant.

"Did the wish fail?" Tsutakawa looked at the sky. "Perfect, this time I'll do it myself..."

The next instant, Tsutakawa's upper body flew up. He lowered his head, and an empty hand swept across his body, slicing through his flesh and bones.

"How could this be..." Wuwei stared at the scene in disbelief, subconsciously trying to control Kong through his subtle connection with the Box of Bliss.

Kong's movements froze, and a pained expression of struggle appeared on her face.

"Ho...ho..."

A roar burst from his empty throat. His body began to undergo a horrific distortion, violently expanding and twisting.

Black, raven-like feathers tore through clothing and grew wildly, while enormous wings suddenly spread open from behind, casting a despairing shadow that covered the entire courtyard.

In just a few breaths, the frail boy vanished completely. In his place stood an extremely bizarre monster—it had no head in the conventional sense, a gigantic mouth in the center of its torso, and its limbs were connected by black, spine-like structures.

"Offer everything to the Chest of Bliss."

"The Hidden Grass Village will naturally become powerful..."

The monster said this, and at the same time, all the reliefs on the four sides of the Box of Bliss opened their mouths, generating a huge suction force that pulled everything in the courtyard, trying to suck everyone in.

The monster transformed into a black shadow, moving through the Ghost Lantern Castle and destroying the resistance of the people within.

High above Hozuki Castle, Obito Uchiha quietly observed everything below.

"This is enlightenment?"

"The monsters bred by this desperate and hypocritical world?"

In the courtyard below, Wu seemed to sense something, flapped his wings, and his massive body soared into the sky at an astonishing speed.

Several jet-black feathers shot towards Obito.

Obito raised an eyebrow slightly: "Oh? You can actually sense my presence."

The feather passed through his body without any hindrance, as if it had struck an illusory projection, causing no harm whatsoever.

"Not bad strength," he commented, seemingly showing some interest.

He looked at the roaring monster and the box radiating ominous energy, and slowly reached out his hand, as if wanting to touch something.

However, just as he was about to touch Wu, the eyeless monster retreated rapidly with an almost precognitive intuition.

"Um……"

Obito withdrew his hand. Even though he didn't know Kamui's abilities, he could still dodge instinctively? If that's the case, it's going to be a bit troublesome.

"Never mind," he thought to himself. "After all, it's not a tailed beast, not essential to the plan, so it's not worth wasting time on it."

Having lost interest in staying any longer, Obito Uchiha vanished without a trace.

After circling in the air for a while and losing sight of its peculiar target, Wu turned all its attention back to the Ghost Lantern Castle below.
-
Konoha Village, Hokage Building.

Shuji, who was dozing off at his desk, was startled awake by a series of urgent knocks on the door. He looked up somewhat blankly and found that Tsunade, who was at another desk, had also been woken up and was rubbing her sleepy eyes with an annoyed expression.

Princess Senju said he couldn't leave, and he wouldn't leave. He hadn't left the Hokage Building for two days.

"Lady Tsunade, there's an emergency." A suppressed, urgent voice came from outside the door.

"Huh? What emergency... Okay, okay, I got it, I'm coming right away." Tsunade rubbed her face vigorously, trying to clear her head.

Seeing this, Shuji simply tilted his head to the side and continued sleeping.

What does it have to do with him if they're looking for Tsunade? Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up...

"Jonin Shuji, the Hokage said that since you are here, please come along as well," the Anbu outside the door spoke again.

Shuji chose to play dead and remain motionless.

"Get up." Tsunade gave him a push.

"Lady Tsunade, please tell the Third Hokage that I am dead."

"Go and talk to the old man yourself."

With a forced sigh, Shuji opened his eyes. This ninja world should just be destroyed. He couldn't take it anymore. He was only fifteen this year, yet he was already more powerful than in his previous life.

After tidying up a bit, Shuji followed Tsunade into the Hokage's office.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not the only person in the office; Danzo Shimura was also there, as well as Kakashi Hatake, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

Kakashi was startled when he saw Shuji looking like he'd been drained dry.

"What's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing..." I'm just dying.

"Shuji, you don't look well. Do you need to rest for a while?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with concern.

"..." Yes, I can leave right away.

Before Shuuji could answer, Tsunade asked, "What exactly happened? Even Kakashi is here."

The Third Hokage didn't answer directly, but looked at Kakashi and said, "Kakashi, you answer."

Kakashi continued, "My ANBU squad was ordered to conduct surveillance and investigation in the waters near Hozuki Castle. About five hours ago, we observed an unusually large energy burst in the direction of Hozuki Castle."

"Then, Byakugan confirmed that an extremely powerful chakra reaction had appeared in the center of the city."

"We attempted to approach and scout, but instead discovered three Kusagakure ninjas at sea. All three were seriously injured and have been taken to Konoha Hospital for treatment."

Danzo then said, "The Root team I sent to infiltrate Hozuki Castle has completely lost contact. Based on the current intelligence, it seems that Kusagakure has successfully opened the Chest of Bliss."

The air in the office instantly dropped to freezing point.

(End of this chapter)