Chapter 209: Is Kaguya a Shining Lady?
"Raikage-sama, those three arrived yesterday without prior notice and caused quite a disturbance."
"They also came for the Box of Ultimate Bliss. After my persuasion, they agreed to visit it together with you today."
Mui seemed to have guessed what the Raikage was about to ask and directly explained Shiromo's group's purpose.
It felt like he was trying to play a game of driving one tiger to fight another, letting two tigers compete for the same prey.
"Without prior notice?"
The Raikage caught that key point and thought of the intelligence he had received some time ago, after Tsunade took over as Hokage, the Land of Fire's daimyo had mysteriously had his entire family wiped out.
Uh, that "wiped out" wasn't an insult. It was a factual statement.
From the Raikage's perspective, he had to analyze this from a conspiracy angle.
The timing was simply too coincidental.
At least the Iwagakure Village and Kirigakure Village had put on a show, first the daimyo died, then the new Kage took office and began consolidating national power.
Konoha didn't even bother pretending.
Tsunade took the position first, and then the Land of Fire daimyo's whole family conveniently died off.
In any case, the Raikage didn't believe the rumors claiming that the murderer of the Land of Fire daimyo was the same person who killed the Land of Earth daimyo.
He had always thought the Land of Fire and Konoha were the most conservative places.
The Kumogakure Village had already been considered conservative by having their daimyo voluntarily give up part of his authority and live as a ceremonial figurehead.
But Land of Fire and Konoha, before this, had shown absolutely no movement.
He had thought the old Third Hokage had simply decided to bury his head in the sand.
Yet the moment Tsunade took power, such a huge move happened.
It was said that the daimyo's only heir hadn't died at first, but was later blown up.
Such ruthless, decisive methods made the Raikage wary of Tsunade.
He had only met her once back then and knew nothing about what kind of person she truly was.
Now Tsunade had brought Shiromo, the man who once snatched away the Seven-Tails jinchūriki, to Hozuki Castle…
"Bad intentions, Raikage-sama."
Omoi whispered beside him.
"You're the ones who came uninvited, people of the Kumogakure Village."
A voice rang out, making Omoi's face instantly awkward.
They heard that?
The Raikage didn't mind. Since they had heard it, he might as well be direct.
He walked toward Shiromo's group and stopped in front of them.
He didn't recognize Uchiha Hikari, so he first looked at Tsunade and Shiromo.
"Fifth Hokage, we meet again. And this gentleman… After the last time, I sent my subordinates to gather intelligence on you, but apart from your name, we found nothing."
"Since the warden says you're also here for the Box of Ultimate Bliss, then you must have heard its legend as well, the one that says it can grant the opener's wishes."
The Raikage's eyes sharpened as he stared at the two of them.
He wanted to know whether Tsunade and Shiromo appearing together was meant to obtain the Box and gain immense power in order to start a war.
"Of course. We also know it's a mysterious artifact from the era of the Sage of Six Paths."
"But judging from how it opens by absorbing chakra, its appearance couldn't have been earlier than before Ōtsutsuki Kaguya descended."
Shiromo continued calmly.
However, everything after that made no sense to the Kumogakure Village group.
Who was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?
Buckets? Trees? Planting trees? Chopping trees?
Her name even contained 'Kaguya', was she related to the Kaguya clan? A bone-user?
"You Kumogakure Village have the Six Paths Treasures, right? They're said to be made by the Sage of Six Paths."
"But the Box of Ultimate Bliss isn't described that way, it's only said to be from the 'Six Paths era.'"
Though that makes sense. The Sage of Six Paths may look a little untrustworthy when he smiles, but as a person he wasn't bad enough to create something so evil.
So where did this box come from?
Could it be that Kaguya was actually some kind of shining lady, and when she left she dropped a surprise loot box?"
"..."
Everyone from the Kumogakure Village knew Shiromo was saying something important and mentally recorded it all, yet not a single word made sense.
"Where the box came from isn't important. In short, we're here to destroy it, so no one can use it to stir up trouble in the future."
"It can't destroy the world, and destroying a country would be difficult, but causing unnecessary casualties would be effortless."
"Every life is precious."
(The daimyos: Really? We don't believe that.)
"You're here to destroy the Box of Ultimate Bliss?"
The Raikage sighed emotionally.
Finally, a sentence he could understand.
Hearing this goal, the Raikage relaxed slightly.
If that was truly the case, then things would be much easier.
Their purpose in coming here had been to confirm whether the legend of the Box was real and what it actually did.
If it could be used, they would use it.
If it had unacceptable side effects or other dangers, then they would destroy it or seal it, anything but let it fall into someone else's hands.
Seen this way, their goals actually aligned in some respects.
The current problems were:
First, the Raikage couldn't fully trust Shiromo and take everything he said as truth.
Second, their aligned goals depended on the Box truly being impossible to use beneficially and needing destruction.
But the Raikage glanced at his younger brother Killer Bee behind him, and at Yugito on the other side, who was bored and scratching the railing with her fingernails.
They had two jinchūriki here, plus himself, more than enough combat power.
What about Shiromo's side?
Tsunade, Shiromo, and an unknown little girl.
He had fought both Tsunade and Shiromo before, but neither had lost in raw strength.
Last time he withdrew because Shiromo's side already had the Seven-Tails jinchūriki and could unleash a tailed beast at any moment.
But today, Shiromo's side had no jinchūriki.
They had two.
So what was there to fear?
And there was another benefit.
Since Shiromo and Tsunade were the ones proposing to destroy the Box first, no matter how they did it, they would be the ones making contact with it.
The Kumogakure Village wouldn't have to take any risks.
Wasn't that perfect?
Even if opening the Box required massive chakra, it would be Tsunade providing it, not his brother Killer Bee or Yugito.
Great. Perfect.
"I didn't expect you to care so deeply about peace in the ninja world. I admire that."
"Let us of the Kumogakure Village provide cover for you. Please."
The Raikage extended a hand and gestured for Mui to lead the way.
This wasn't just for show.
Letting Shiromo and Tsunade take the risk didn't mean he wanted them dead, if anything abnormal happened, they would indeed step in.
"Alright, everyone, please follow me."
Mui walked ahead, leading them to the center of Hozuki Castle, to a vast open plaza.
In the middle of the plaza stood a massive cube-shaped box made of some unknown material.
It seemed Mui had already finished preparations last night.
As Shiromo walked toward the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Mui said nothing.
He already had a complete plan and wasn't afraid of Shiromo damaging the Box.
After losing his son, he had tried countless times to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss and to destroy it, all without success.
Aside from injecting chakra and letting it open on its own, there was no other way to open it…
Click.
Boom!
Shiromo placed his hand on the Box.
Two sharp sounds rang out.
The shell twisted slightly, then exploded into powder.
Mui: ?
(End of this chapter)