Hearing this, Shadow stepped back half a pace and smiled. "You two handle things here. I will go take a look at this so-called Box of Ultimate Bliss."
Cold sweat broke out at Muei's temples and slid down his face. His last shred of hope shattered completely. These three were not just after him, they even knew about the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Kakuzu and Nagato paid no attention to Shadow's movement. Shadow's figure dissolved into the air like ink sinking into water, vanishing without a sound.
"Where did he go?" a guard beside Muei blurted out.
The next moment, Shadow appeared on the ground at the entrance to the dungeon.
"Stop him!" Muei roared, snapping out of his shock.
A dozen guards who had just gathered rushed toward Shadow without thinking. Shadow did not turn around, and something strange happened.
The deep shadow beneath his feet seemed to come alive. Like ink spreading across water, it surged and expanded, instantly forming a vast black domain. Human-shaped silhouettes rose silently from the roiling darkness.
The sounds of flesh being cut rang out in rapid succession. Blood sprayed into the night in vivid arcs.
The guards at the front felt a sudden chill at their waists. Looking down, they saw their upper bodies separated from their lower halves, momentum carrying them forward as they fell. Others were cut apart as well, and those not killed instantly crawled on the ground, screaming in agony with broken bodies.
Cries of pain and terror echoed as the dozen guards fell like harvested grain into pools of blood. Severed limbs, scattered blood, lifeless heads, and torn chests littered the area. The scene had become a brutal slaughter ground, the stench of blood overwhelming the smoke.
"What are those things?!"
As people stared at the shapes emerging from the shadows, fear spread across their faces. The figures were lean and swift, with blade-like claws for hands and sharp, conical feet. Their movements were fast and silent.
Black Shadow Legion, Piercing Blade Unit, Claw Shadows.
Unlike the "Ghost Shadows" that had appeared before Rasa, these Claw Shadows did not use varied weapons or serve multiple roles. They existed for one purpose only. Killing.
Their entire bodies were weapons, with terrifying close combat ability and extreme speed. Silent, swift, efficient, and lethal, they moved like executioners in the dark.
"Is that a Ninja Tool he obtained from the Underground Palace, or is it his own ability?" Nagato narrowed his eyes, surprise showing through.
It felt somewhat similar to White Zetsu. This was far more practical than something like Shadow Clone. From start to finish, Shadow had not lifted a single finger.
He simply stood there while the shadows beneath him became an open gate, from which the killers surged out and slaughtered more than ten lives in moments. Ignoring the stunned Muei and the remaining guards, he walked straight toward the deepest level of Hozuki Castle, where the Box of Ultimate Bliss lay underground.
Seeing this, Muei finally recovered and instinctively moved to stop him. The Box of Ultimate Bliss must not fall into their hands.
"Your opponent is us."
Kakuzu's calm voice reached his ears as an arm bound by Black Threads slammed forward.
Meanwhile, Shadow stepped into the underground passage, sensing the malice in the air. Under his hood, his eyes flickered faintly. Guards continued to pour in from ahead and behind, trying to block his path.
He did not strike and did not slow his pace. At his side, the Claw Shadows moved like loyal executioners, without flashy Ninjutsu, relying only on pure and brutal technique. Each flash of their claws cut through muscle, tendon, and bone, clearing the way with mechanical efficiency.
At last, Shadow reached the end of the passage and saw a room resembling a laboratory. On the wall before him was a carved face, twisted between a smile and a snarl.
This was the so-called Box of Ultimate Bliss. Each of its four sides bore a face of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, and the one before him was only a single aspect.
Shadow could clearly feel that this thing was alive. A cold, greedy gaze pressed against him, almost tangible. Beneath it was a subtle temptation, like a whisper urging him to offer his Chakra and speak his wish.
"All-powerful?" Shadow smiled faintly.
The lure was crude and obvious. Anyone who dared make a wish would see it fulfilled in a twisted way. Any wish, whether for wealth, status, or power, would ultimately be forced into the form of strength.
And that strength was the monster sealed within the Box of Ultimate Bliss, known as "Satoru."
Even knowing the truth behind it, Shadow showed nothing. He walked up to the face and placed his hand on the cold stone surface.
A vast flood of Chakra poured from his palm into the Box of Ultimate Bliss. The carved face shuddered violently as cracks spread across it like a web, stone fragments falling away. The expression grew disturbingly vivid, tinged with greedy desire.
Just as the power neared a critical point, as if release was imminent, Shadow calmly withdrew his hand and cut off the flow.
The face froze, its false vitality vanishing into rage and frustration. A stronger wave of temptation surged toward Shadow, trying to ignite desire within him. What answered it was not Chakra, but darkness.
The shadow beneath Shadow spread and climbed the wall, covering the face. Blackness that could seal Chakra seeped through the cracks. The stone face trembled, showing clear shock as its body was gradually locked down.
The chamber shook violently as the Box of Ultimate Bliss struggled, rock walls cracking under the strain. It was like a living thing fighting desperately to escape.
"You understand human speech. I will give you two choices."
Shadow spoke with a hint of amusement. "First, come with me, and I will release you. Second, be sealed by me and remain buried here for hundreds or thousands of years."
"As a creation of Otsutsuki Hagoromo, you know I can do this."
At the mention of that name, the violent shaking abruptly stopped. Silence fell over the chamber as the face froze in disbelief and confusion. How could this person know the Sage of Six Paths?
The shadows continued to tighten, pressing in with cold certainty. At last, a deep, rhythmic thudding echoed from within the Box of Ultimate Bliss, like the beat of a massive heart. It carried the sound of reluctant acceptance.
"Good choice," Shadow said softly.
Then he added, "But you are too big to carry like this."
The box fell silent again. Moments later, a low hum began as its structure compressed and reshaped itself. The massive form rapidly collapsed, shrinking in plain sight.
In a few breaths, the terrifying face vanished. In its place hovered a cube the size of a puzzle block above Shadow's palm. Four distorted faces of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure were etched upon it.
It no longer tempted, instead radiating suppressed malice. Like Pandora's box.
"This will do."
Shadow grasped the Box of Ultimate Bliss and turned his wrist, letting it sink silently into the shadows of his robe. "Now all that remains is Orochimaru's side," he thought.
Before that, the box would need some adjustments. His body melted into the ground, becoming a streak of shadow racing toward the Land of Fire.
In the passage above, the sounds of battle and screams still echoed. Yet no one knew that in the stone chamber, only bare walls and scattered gravel remained to tell of what had just occurred. The most valuable treasure of Hozuki Castle had already changed hands.