The Uchiha clan, which was wiped out entirely, lacked vision.

Chapter 286 The Box of Bliss

"It's all Itachi's fault. Not only did he fail to defeat the enemy, but he also destroyed the village like this."

"Hey, you can't say that. After all, Itachi did his best!"

"Heh, I'd rather he hadn't tried his best. Maybe he slacked off, and the only damaged part of the village was that small area of the Hyuga clan's land!"

Itachi lowered his head, listening blankly to the whispers of the ninjas not far away, feeling extremely distressed.

He wasn't affected by these gossips; he was genuinely distressed that he couldn't protect the village.

He certainly didn't want to fight in the village, but the choice of battlefield was not up to him.

How could the enemy possibly do as he wished and go outside the village to fight?

But if he doesn't go all out against an enemy like Neji, he won't be able to defeat the enemy, let alone even touch the enemy's body. How can he fight then?

After much thought, he realized that he had only made one mistake throughout the entire process.

That is—he lost!

If he wins and captures or kills Neji, then although the village will still suffer such great damage, a hidden danger will be eliminated at its root, and morale will not be as low as it is now.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. For Konoha Village, any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem.

However, neither Uchiha An nor Hyuga Neji could solve their problems with money.

Even now, force can't resolve the issue with the two of them.

This is the most important reason why the villagers are restless.

Itachi spent the whole night in a daze, rescuing many people from the ruins, but he felt no joy at all.

After daybreak, Mizuki convened another Jonin meeting.

Once everyone had arrived, Shui Mu got straight to the point: "We're all family here, so I won't beat around the bush."

"After successfully completing the Wood Release trial, the overall strength of the village's ninjas has indeed been greatly improved. However, as everyone saw in yesterday's battle, this level of improvement is clearly still insufficient to defeat a powerful enemy."

"Therefore, after careful consideration, I have decided to suspend the Wood Release Sacred Body Trial Project."

As soon as these words were spoken, the people below immediately stirred up a commotion.

Although Neji wiped out most of the Wood Release ninjas last night, the strength they displayed was still quite formidable. They were just unlucky enough to encounter a cheat-like Neji, which is why they seemed so weak.

Various races are generally more willing to accept this kind of "trial" that can allow someone to rise to the top in one step.

In particular, some ninja clans lost their own "Wood Release ninjas" last night and urgently need to use "trials" to make up for the gap with other clans.

Now that they heard that Shuimu was planning to terminate the project, they were immediately dissatisfied.

"Lord Mizuki, we should actually give those Wood Release ninjas more time to grow."

"They've only been Wood Release ninjas for a few days, and they've already faced a powerful enemy like Neji, which is why they performed relatively poorly."

"Wouldn't it be inappropriate to dismiss these 'trial warriors' based on their performance in just one battle?"

"I think this trial" should not only continue, but should be expanded to allow more people to participate.

"Only when the number of Wood Release ninjas increases will it be more likely that more powerful ninjas like Itachi will emerge."

A group of ninjas advised against Mizuki terminating the plan.

This surprised even Mizuki. He hadn't expected that this treacherous scheme that An had secretly devised would cause so many ninja clans to fall into it and refuse to climb out.

But after blinking his eyes, he understood.

He knew the whole story, that those so-called "Wood Release ninjas" had something planted in their hearts and had entrusted their lives to An, so he knew this was a trap.

However, these ninja clans were unaware of this. They only saw that other clans had successfully trained "Wood Release ninjas" who could unleash "Wood Release: Advent of the World of Trees," and they were extremely envious. How could they allow their village to give up halfway?

The thing about Wood Release ninjas is either that nobody has them and nobody will have any objections.

However, if some families have it and some families don't, then the families that don't have it will definitely be unhappy, feeling that they are being targeted and ostracized by the village.

Having figured this out, Mizuki simply changed his plans, smiling as he said, "Perhaps I didn't consider this carefully. I was just thinking that now that the village has been destroyed again, rebuilding it requires a lot of manpower, so it's really not suitable to conduct this 'trial' on a large scale again. Therefore, I want to stop for now."

"Since everyone is so enthusiastic about this, let's continue the trial."

"However, considering the shortage of manpower in the village, we should not expand the scope further and keep it limited to the various ninja clans."

What are your thoughts, gentlemen?

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

A group of Jonin from various ninja clans assumed that Mizuki was acting in the best interests of the clan and was trying to curry favor with them. They were overjoyed and thanked him profusely, saying, "We appreciate Lord Mizuki's kindness."

"Thank you very much for your care for the ninja clan. We will definitely support you in continuing to lead Konoha Village."

Shui Mu listened to their compliments with a smile, and waved her hand reservedly.

"We're all doing this for the benefit of the village, so there's no need for words of thanks."

"By the way, I asked you all to go back and consult the ancient texts. Did you find any information that would be useful in defeating powerful enemies?"

The head of a minor ninja clan raised his hand and loudly proclaimed, "I found in my family's records that there is a divine artifact from the time of the Sage of Six Paths in the Land of Grass, called the 'Box of Bliss.'"

According to records, the "Box of Bliss" was the ultimate weapon from the era of the Sage of Six Paths, and it is said to grant one wish to whoever opens it.

"Legend has it that during the time of the Sage of Six Paths, Kusagakure almost gained the whole world through it."

"What?!" After hearing what he said, Mizuki immediately frowned and waved his hand, saying, "This record sounds problematic."

"If this Box of Bliss were truly as wonderful as described in the book, the Land of Grass would have long been one of the Five Great Nations, instead of being so weak as it is now."

Before he could finish speaking, a high-ranking ninja from a powerful clan said, "I've also seen this 'Box of Bliss' in my clan's records. According to the records, the Land of Grass was a great power back then, and they used that 'Box of Bliss' to destroy several other countries."

"But for some reason, the Land of Grass collapsed overnight."

"There's a rumor that an enemy made a wish upon the Box of Bliss to destroy the Land of Grass, and then the Land of Grass perished."