"That is Satori," Natsume glanced at Mui.
His heart must be shattered right now.
"Though you guard the Box of Ultimate Bliss, you know too little about it," Natsume said bluntly. "It won't revive Muku for you. It will only use Muku to be reborn."
"I don't believe it! How could this be?" Mui dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
"Revive Muku?" Ryūzetsu looked at his agony and realized she might have misjudged him.
"Mikoto, take Sasuke away," Natsume ordered, ignoring the pair.
"Roar!"
Seeing Sasuke depart, Satori shook its wings.
Black chakra surged like a tidal wave.
"Rasengan!"
Bathed in golden light, Naruto appeared over its head and shouted, "Hurt Sasuke and die!"
Satori dodged with ease.
"Naruto, don't get so emotional," Natsume reminded as he formed hand seals.
Sage Art: Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
A water-blue wall rose before them.
The black chakra crashed against it, sending ripples—but failing to break through.
Against the sturdy wall, the chakra flood only rolled sideways.
"Sensei, I can't do it!" Naruto launched a flurry of punches and kicks at Satori, all of which missed.
"…"
Natsume twitched his mouth.
In the original, Naruto relied on the stillness of Sage Mode.
Right now, that's tough.
"Then use a wide-area attack," Natsume said after a thought.
Naruto's eyes lit up; he reacted fast and formed hand seals.
Wind Release: Great Ensnaring Net!
Countless winds wove into a massive net, enveloping Satori.
Each strand connected to the next, razor-sharp like blades.
Satori's body was too large—no room to dodge such an expansive attack.
So it raised its claws and slashed down.
The net tore.
Naruto was thrilled rather than worried, because some wind blades clipped its body.
And then—nothing.
"What the—?" Naruto blurted. "Its defense is that high?"
Sage Art: Water Release: Severing Wave!
Natsume's attack followed.
A highly compressed water jet pierced Satori's body.
"Argh!"
Satori screamed.
"Sensei, you're awesome!" Naruto yelled, ecstatic. "It's hurt!"
Satori looked miserable.
A bowl-sized hole gaped in its abdomen.
Inside, black flesh writhed—downright ominous.
But the wound healed quickly.
Enraged, Satori put its hands together and formed a massive black-red sphere.
A chilling dread followed.
Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!
Before Natsume, a seed sprouted into a tree in an instant; then it swelled into a giant.
The giant—more a giant tree-man—matched Satori in height, with a wooden dragon twined around its shoulder.
It raised both hands and caught the black-red orb.
A whoosh of air—
The orb was hurled back and smashed into Satori.
It exploded.
Violent shockwaves kicked up dust and grass, blasting outward in all directions.
"So that's Wood Release?"
Naruto's eyes widened.
He hadn't seen Natsume's Sand Village display firsthand—only heard it was spectacular.
Seeing it now floored him.
He also didn't notice the gold light around him twitch.
Kurama had remembered old traumas.
"Is it dead?" Naruto stared at the blast center.
The smoke cleared.
Satori was even worse off than before.
Not an inch of it intact.
Bloody and mangled, exposing blackened bones.
But it didn't die.
Thick black chakra gushed out.
In moments, it restored itself.
Natsume narrowed his eyes.
He sensed it clearly this time.
That restorative chakra came from the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
In other words, to kill it you'd have to destroy the box; otherwise it's like in the original—you seal it.
Natsume willed it.
The wooden dragon on the Wood Human's shoulder shot forward.
Satori instinctively tried to dodge.
The Wood Human grabbed its arms, pinning it.
In that instant of stiffness, the wooden dragon wrapped around it.
Natsume clapped his hands.
Done.
That's how dull it is.
There was no way Satori could break free from the Wood Human and Wood Dragon.
The former can catch a Tailed Beast Bomb one-handed and toss it back.
The latter can bind Kurama and absorb chakra.
With both on it, Satori had no options.
Unless it was stronger than Kurama.
But that's impossible.
Its only edge is pseudo-immortality.
But Kurama can resurrect too.
"Natsume-sensei is incredible," Naruto said, surprised the fight ended in a blink rather than a grueling battle.
"I'd say he can probably match the First Hokage," Minato ventured.
"Ask Kurama and you'll know for sure," Kushina landed a true strike.
Kurama, fuming, yanked back its chakra and retreated into its cell, ignoring them.
"Looks like it's true," Minato added another jab.
In the distance, Mikoto exhaled.
Sasuke was fine—just fainted from exhaustion.
So she saw almost the entire fight.
How to put it?
She'd already witnessed the jaw-dropping Susanoo plus Great Buddha combo, so she wasn't shocked to the core.
Even so, her legs still went weak, her eyes dazed.
Without her eye technique, she couldn't beat Satori at all.
But in Natsume's hands, it was just too easy.
She knew she could never leave this man in this life.
"What do we do now?" Ryūzetsu asked in a low voice, unable to hide her trembling.
The battle had reset her understanding of the world.
She'd never imagined a ninja could be this strong.
So strong she couldn't even muster resistance.
"Do nothing," Mui had barely regained his composure. He sighed. "Because nothing we do will matter."
"Natsume-sensei," Naruto finished talking with his parents and stepped forward, pointing at the struggling Satori. "What do we do with this big guy?"
"Seal it into Sasuke, just like Kurama was sealed in you," Natsume said, glancing at Sasuke.
"This one's so ugly," Naruto shook his head. "Uglier than Kurama."
"If you say that, Kurama will get mad," Natsume couldn't help but laugh.
Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment.
He didn't mention Kurama had already rage-quit into silence.
But that wasn't his fault!
"Alright, I'll fetch a sealing specialist," Natsume headed back to the Leaf.
Hinae was out of the question.
It would make Naruto and the others suspicious.
Natsume didn't care, but it was a hassle to explain.
…
The Sealing Unit.
An organization dedicated to sealing tailed beasts, monsters, and demons.
They studied Uzumaki sealing arts.
"Hokage-sama," the unit leader, a capable middle-aged man named Sagara Fu—a skilled civilian ninja—greeted him.
"Bring a few trusted subordinates and come with me."
A moment later, Natsume used Flying Thunder God to take them to the Land of Grass.
Before Sagara Fu and the others could recover from the sudden teleport, their faces twisted in shock.
"What is that monster?"
"So big!"
"I feel like it's just a bit weaker than the Nine-Tails."
"It's Hokage-sama's Wood Release!"
Sagara Fu glanced at Natsume and swallowed.
That power was terrifying.
No wonder Hashirama was called the God of Shinobi.
Only a god is that strong.
He finally understood why Sunagakure had lost so badly and accepted such harsh terms.
So the rumors were true.
"Sagara, seal it into Sasuke," Natsume pointed at Sasuke.
"Yes, sir!"
Sagara Fu answered loudly.
"Full of energy, huh," Natsume flinched. Why shout when you're this close?
"Natsume, will this be okay?" Mikoto asked worriedly.
"Once Sasuke absorbs this power, he'll awaken the Mangekyō," Natsume said, patting her hip when no one was looking. "And if anything goes wrong, I can bring him back."
More precisely, thanks to his god-tier cheat—Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Mikoto let out a soft sound, her face flushing.
"W-we'll wait until we're back," her voice trembled.
"Mikoto, I didn't mean it like that," Natsume blinked, then laughed.
Mikoto lowered her head in embarrassment, a touch of disappointment rising within.
Natsume stopped teasing her.
If he kept it up, he'd suffer too.
He turned to Mui and Ryūzetsu. "What are your plans?"
"Hokage-sama, may I ask—" Mui struggled to his feet. "If Satori is sealed now, will making another wish with the Box of Ultimate Bliss still work?"
"No," Natsume said casually. "The Box grants wishes thanks to Yin Release—the ultimate spiritual power. Yin can create form from nothing—thus Satori is born. Without Satori, the Box loses most of its power."
Mui froze. The last of his hope shattered.
Ryūzetsu deflated as well.
But she took it better.
After all, she hadn't known Muku could be revived.
Seven or eight years had passed; she wasn't as despairing as Mui.
"I need someone to control the Land of Grass and Grass Village," Natsume said, sweeping a look over the two. "In a while, someone will come for you."
He didn't care about their mental states.
If they were smart, he could make them proxies.
If not, it didn't matter.
Still, since they were plot characters, he hoped they'd contribute some Fate Points.
[Because of your actions, the fates of Mui, Ryūzetsu, Sasuke, Mikoto, and Satori have changed. You gained 185 Fate Points.]
Mikoto too?
Natsume glanced at the widow in the distance, puzzled.
He didn't know why, but it was a good thing.
He stepped up to the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Sage Art: Monster Strength!
A thunderous boom echoed.
The box was unscathed.
Natsume raised a brow.
Good stuff.
In the original, it withstood Naruto's Rasengan.
Natsume wanted to test its limits.
Even a serious punch from him didn't dent it.
He was starting to believe the Box was a divine tool left by Hagoromo.
Ordinary ninja couldn't make a tool this durable.
"I'll step out for a bit."
Natsume picked up the box and appeared in the Land of Snow.
…
"Kaguya."
He rushed into a room, grabbed Kaguya, and ran.
They stopped before the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Kaguya glanced at it.
No interest.
Not compared to Natsume.
"What is it?" her tone was cool.
"Can you reforge it into a bow?" Natsume pointed at the Box. "It has good Yin Release inside. I think it could serve as a bow and arrows."
In this world, almost no ninja uses bows.
For a simple reason.
Too slow.
From drawing, nocking, and loosing, to crossing the distance and hitting the target—
It takes too long.
Plenty of time for a ninja to react and dodge.
Natsume's idea was to use Yin Release—spiritual power itself—as the bow and arrows.
Dodging that would be harder.
"You plan to use it?" Kaguya stared at him, then shook her head. "No need."
"For my student," Natsume explained. "She's from the Hyūga clan."
"A woman?" Kaguya asked out of nowhere.
"...?"
Cold sweat ran down Natsume's back.
A love triangle?
He couldn't win that.
"Books say excellent men will be liked by many women," Kaguya's snowy eyes shifted. "I don't care how many like you, but you must like me."
"Of course," Natsume answered sweetly without thinking. "I'll always like you."
Kaguya kept staring at him.
After a moment, she smiled—stunningly.
Natsume was dazed.
Kaguya had smiled before, but always calmly.
This was the first time with real emotion.
"May I kiss you?" Natsume licked his lips.
Kaguya tilted her head, her exquisite face returning to cool.
Under his uneasy gaze, she said, "Anytime is fine."
Then she stepped forward and brushed a kiss against the corner of his mouth.
Not far away, Koyuki covered her mouth.
Though she'd expected it, seeing it still filled her with envy.
I'm not here to break you up—I'm here to join you.
Yes, Koyuki had realized she couldn't monopolize Natsume.
His strength and status were too high.
Her only wish was to leave her mark on his life.
As a daimyō, she didn't much care about marriage anyway. She just needed an heir.