Instant defeat.
In the blink of an eye, Heiyan annihilated every member of the "Herb Core" organization. The only survivor was Wutian, the Hozuki Castle Lord, who now lay critically injured and barely conscious.
"You..."
Wutian stared in horror at the armored figure before him, his consciousness gradually fading until he finally collapsed onto the ground, slipping into complete unconsciousness.
Tat tat tat.
Heiyan stepped over the bodies of the Herb Core members and made his way to the great door. Tilting his head up, he examined the sorrowful human face carved upon it.
"Now can you tell me who you really are?"
Behind him came Pakura's voice. She stood several meters away from Heiyan, her eyebrows knitted together as she asked again, "Are you truly from Sunagakure? Was this all part of a plan devised by Rasa?"
Upon hearing this, Heiyan turned around.
"If I were from Sunagakure, would you return there with me?"
Rather than directly answering Pakura's question, he countered with one of his own.
Pakura hesitated for a moment before slowly shaking her head.
"No, I won't go back."
After a moment of silence, she spoke—her voice steady and firm.
Whether or not this was part of Suna's elders' scheme, the suppression she'd suffered under Rasa, the cold shoulder Chiyo and others gave her, and the villagers' hatred and curses—none of it was pretend.
Once, she had deeply loved Sunagakure, willing to dedicate everything—even her life—for it. But after experiencing all these events, she had finally seen through everything and felt nothing but disappointment toward that place.
She, Scorch Release Pakura, no longer wished to live in such a cold and heartless environment, nor did she want to be a mere tool used by Suna's higher-ups.
Therefore, no matter what, she wouldn't return to Sunagakure with this man.
Even if it meant death.
Yet just as Pakura braced herself for execution and prepared to accept her fate—
"Good."
Relieved, Heiyan let out a breath and smiled at her. "Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. Actually, I'm not a Sunagakure ninja. How about you come with me instead?"
His greatest concern was that Pakura might stubbornly cling to blind loyalty toward Sunagakure. If she insisted on returning, Heiyan wouldn't feel right forcibly stopping her.
"Then tell me—who exactly are you?!"
Pakura raised her voice once more, sharply demanding. Heiyan had completely bewildered her; her tone became unstable in confusion.
Under her gaze, Heiyan slowly removed his faceplate.
"Tell me you didn't really think I was dead?"
Meeting her eyes directly, he wore a faint smile while explaining, "This armor I'm wearing was forged using Shukaku's chakra—it works pretty well too..."
Before he could finish speaking,
Whoosh.
Pakura launched herself forward and flung into Heiyan's arms. She said nothing, lowering her head, burying her face against his chest while tightly hugging his waist.
Plop.
Two crystal-clear tears fell from Pakura's orange-colored eyes, splashing onto the ground like blossoms. Soon after, scalding streams of tears flowed continuously down both sides of her cheeks.
Briefly startled, Heiyan made no move to push Pakura away. Instead, he gently patted her back comfortingly.
He could vividly imagine the injustice, pain, and despair she had endured these days. No matter what, she was ultimately just a teenage girl—no one her age should ever bear such suffering.
At the very least, she shouldn't have to go through it alone.
"It's okay now. I'm here."
He softly whispered into Pakura's ear, doing his best to soothe her emotions.
"I'm sorry."
Pakura then realized she had lost her composure. She wiped away her tears and stepped back from Heiyan, but without noticing, her cheeks were already flushed with embarrassment.
"Cough cough," Heiyan pretended to cough twice to ease the awkwardness, quickly changing the topic.
"Let me help you release the Fire Release: Celestial Cage Sealing Formula first."
"Alright." Pakura obediently nodded and, right in front of Heiyan, removed the Two-Tails Catgirl Armor, revealing the sealing formula on her forehead.
"Let me take a look."
Heiyan stepped closer, gently lifting Pakura's delicate chin with his hand as he leaned in for a better examination.
This slightly intimate posture caused Pakura's beautiful face to flush again, her heart pounding wildly.
However, Heiyan wore a serious expression, frowning deeply as he focused on figuring out how to break the Fire Release: Celestial Cage Sealing Formula.
Generally speaking, the simplest method was to directly kill Wutian—the one who cast the technique. Once he was gone, the seal binding Pakura would naturally dissolve.
But that came with a major downside:
Every prisoner inside this prison was sealed with the Fire Release: Celestial Cage by Wutian. Should he die, they'd regain their abilities and surely riot to escape imprisonment.
From what Heiyan knew, among the thousands of convicts locked up here—if we just lined them up for execution one by one, some of them would surely be innocent. Yet if only half were executed, many guilty ones would definitely slip away unpunished.
The best idea was to keep those criminals locked up here forever—alive or dead, it didn't matter—as long as they never got out to wreak havoc on the outside world.
That's precisely why Heiyan spared Wutian's life.
If the first method wouldn't work, no problem—Heiyan swiftly came up with a second idea.
Since Water Release techniques naturally suppressed Fire Release ones, anyone under the Fire Release: Celestial Cage seal could negate its effect simply by entering water. However, the surrounding sea near this island was constantly violent and stormy; prisoners attempting to escape by jumping overboard usually drowned before the seal could even fade.
Thinking this through, Heiyan retrieved a diving mask from his Storage Scroll and handed it to Pakura, instructing her to put it on.
Then—
[Water Release: Water Prison Technique!]
Immediately, Heiyan conjured a spherical water prison enclosing Pakura. Utilizing Water Release's dominance over Fire Release, along with reverse unsealing techniques, he successfully freed Pakura from the fire-based confinement.
Splash.
As Heiyan released the water prison, Pakura sat on the ground drenched, her clothes clinging tightly to her body, outlining her graceful curves. By now, all traces of the sealing formula had vanished from her.
"My power...has returned."
Joy filled Pakura's face as she stood up, casting Heiyan a grateful glance. Then, realizing her current appearance might seem indecent, she quickly activated her chakra to evaporate the moisture from her clothes and hair.
"Let's leave this place."
Heiyan said to her.
"Mm." Pakura nodded happily, finally a long-missed smile appearing on her face.
A few minutes later.
The bright moon hung high in the night sky.
Boom!
At the center of the prison plaza, the ground suddenly bulged upward, ripped open by an iron-sand cone ten meters in diameter.
Right after, Heiyan wrapped one arm around Pakura and then shot out [Celestial Binding Chain] from his palm. Bound by the chain, a massive box flew out from the hole.
This box stood seven or eight meters tall. On each side was a carved human face representing four emotions: happiness, anger, grief, and joy.
In truth, the grand gate they had seen earlier deep within the underground laboratory was none other than this Paradise Box.
Heiyan knew a monstrous entity named Satori lay sealed within this box. If enough chakra was poured into it, the creature could be released.
However, Heiyan had yet to decide how he would handle the beast.
Therefore, he decided to take the Paradise Box back to Penglai first and then look into it at his leisure.
"Grab onto me tightly. I'm going to speed up."
Heiyan quickly told Pakura. Once she signaled her readiness, he took off into the sky, carrying both her and the Paradise Box.
"What's happening?"
"What just occurred?"
Just then, many guards and prisoners were startled awake, rushing outside or peering through the prison bars at the commotion.
Before anyone could recover from their astonishment, they saw only the giant metal box ascending into the heavens—and quickly vanishing into the endless night sky.
This was the first successful escape from Hozuki Castle Prison since its founding.
And it had all been too easy.
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