Paradise Box.
This box was something Heiyan had snatched while rescuing Pakura from Hozuki Castle Prison. After bringing it to Penglai, he temporarily placed it in a secret location far away from the village.
On the sea surface over ten kilometers away from Penglai, there floated a small artificial island about ten meters square created by Heiyan using Yin-Yang Release. Filled with powerful sealing power, it served as a solid prison.
In the center of the island sat the Paradise Box. Its surface crawled with black seal formulas, completely suppressing any Chakra fluctuations from leaking out.
Four elite shinobi from the Uzumaki clan, each skilled in sealing techniques, worked in pairs taking shifts guarding here. They were instructed to immediately report any signs of disturbance to the village elders.
Heiyan descended slowly from above, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Thank you two for your hard work. From now on, your mission is complete. Return to the village and rest well."
He said toward the two currently on duty.
"Yes, Master Heiyan!"
They responded forcefully, bowed deeply to Heiyan, then quickly left.
Heiyan walked up to the Paradise Box, lifting his head to face the large human face carved onto its surface.
Each of the four sides of this box bore one facial expression: happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy. It was said that if one assumed a prayer-like pose before it, any wish could be granted.
But in reality, Heiyan already knew all those legends were false. Inside the box dwelled only a monster named Satori.
The Paradise Box is born with Satori, moves with Satori, and will perish with Satori.
As the ultimate weapon from the era of the Sage of Six Paths, it had sparked endless conflicts across the world of shinobi, nearly bringing about global ruin.
Now, Heiyan decided it was time to deal with both the box and the Satori hiding within.
Paa!
He reached out, pressing his palm flat against the box's surface and channeling his Chakra into it.
Opening the Paradise Box required immense quantities of Chakra. But for Heiyan, this wasn't much of an issue.
Soon,
After absorbing massive Chakra from Heiyan, the box began emitting waves of red light. The face appeared to come alive, exuding a sinister and unsettling aura.
Next came the wishing phase.
"Kukuku…"
The face let out an eerie laugh, its giant round eyes fixed on Heiyan, eager to hear what naïve wish this pitiful human might have.
Heiyan remained calm and emotionless, gazing at the face as he spoke: "Get out."
That was his wish.
Upon hearing these words, the face froze momentarily.
Throughout more than a thousand years, it had been awakened again and again, witnessing countless greedy, desirous, and crazed human hearts. Yet never had anyone spoken to it like this young silver-haired man—so indifferent.
His wording and tone weren't making a wish; rather, they sounded like idle remarks made to a jesting fool.
Therefore, faced with such disrespect from Heiyan, the face originally representing "anger" grew even angrier until its expression twisted grotesquely.
Boom!
The next second, a powerful purplish-black energy burst forth from the Paradise Box, creating fierce gales that raged outward. At the same time, the human face directly facing Heiyan opened its pitch-black abyss-like mouth.
Tat-tat-tat!
Under Heiyan's gaze, a figure stepped out from the darkness.
It was a woman appearing to be in her early twenties, with delicate features. From her attire, she seemed like a kunoichi from the Warring States period.
But Heiyan couldn't have cared less who she was.
Because he knew, this woman was just another unfortunate soul who had previously been sent into the Paradise Box as a sacrificial vessel.
Sure enough.
With a terrifying scream, the woman writhed in agony. Her entire body began to rapidly expand, transforming into a ten-meter-tall black monstrous humanoid.
The monster had two huge wings, four long, sharp white fangs sticking out of its mouth, and big brown claws for hands and feet.
It was Satori.
"Human, you're quite bold to dare order me out like that."
After appearing, Satori sneered down at Heiyan.
Yet strangely, even though this was their first meeting, something about Heiyan felt oddly familiar.
Silvery-white long hair, a robe adorned with tomoe, and a pair of horns atop his head.
Wait a second.
Suddenly realizing something, Satori shuddered—over a thousand years ago, the one who created him, the Sage of Six Paths, looked almost exactly like this!
"You..."
Understanding dawned, Satori warily examined Heiyan while instinctively stepping backward.
"I heard you have mind-reading abilities, capable of deciphering any enemy's attack and reading their thoughts,"
Heiyan took a step forward, eyeing Satori with amusement.
"Why don't you try guessing what I'm thinking right now?"
Satori fell silent. Then he roared, "Don't get too cocky, human!"
Before the last word left his mouth, he struck first, soaring upward and beating his wings with full force, unleashing a storm of black feathers at Heiyan.
Though called feathers, they were harder and sharper than steel, easily capable of harming even Tailed Beast-level beings.
This was merely a test attack by Satori.
Just how formidable was this human before him? Was he another colossal being like the Sage of Six Paths—or merely a paper tiger hiding behind bravado?
If it turned out to be the former, Satori would immediately retreat back inside the Paradise Box—a place even the Sage of Six Paths could barely destroy;
But if it proved to be the latter, then this human provoking him would soon experience the meaning of living hell.
Though Satori's thoughts were complex, reality unfolded very simply.
Swish! Heiyan vanished on the spot, activating the Flying Thunder God Technique.
In the next instant, he reappeared above Satori, slamming downward with a Truth-Seeking Ball in hand, much like a Rasengan.
His movement had been too swift; even after reading Heiyan's intent, Satori couldn't react in time.
Thus.
Boom!
The towering Satori received the Truth-Seeking Ball Rasengan full force, and most of his head exploded violently.
It tumbled from the sky, slamming into the ocean with a thunderous crash that sent a towering wave dozens of meters high roaring through the sea.
A one-hit kill.
In the face of absolute power, all thoughts and schemes appeared pale and even ridiculous.
A few seconds later.
Whoosh!
Satori burst from the depths, rocketing straight toward the Paradise Box.
"No wonder you're a monster born from the Paradise Box; your vitality is truly tenacious."
Seeing this, Heiyan showed mild surprise but remained composed, calmly flying forward.
By the time he returned beside the Paradise Box, Satori had already shrunk its body and slipped back inside through the mouth of the human face.
"Open your mouth."
Heiyan said, staring at that face.
The face glared at Heiyan furiously, keeping its lips tightly sealed shut.
Seeing this, Heiyan snapped his fingers, summoning six Truth-Seeking Balls and aiming them directly at the face. Obviously, he was ready to force its mouth open by force.
The next second.
Before Heiyan could act, the face seemed frightened by the Truth-Seeking Balls and wisely opened its deep abyss-like mouth wide.
Smiling slightly, Heiyan withdrew the Truth-Seeking Balls and slowly stepped into the Paradise Box.
The inside of the box wasn't cramped—it was an alternate world shrouded in darkness.
Upon arriving here, Heiyan immediately heard countless wails and screams echoing around him—like a chorus of wailing spirits echoing through the night, tormenting one's soul and causing one to lose their sense of self.
Figures shaped like souls emerged from the surrounding darkness, surging toward Heiyan like waves.
These were people whose souls had been turned into puppets after being devoured and drained of their chakra by the Paradise Box.
Clearly, this ability of the Paradise Box had been designed by the Sage of Six Paths as a reference to the Ten-Tails.
"Mortal, you've underestimated me."
At this moment, Satori's voice rang out from the shadows.
While controlling those soul puppets to attack Heiyan, it also launched a psychological assault:
"Without exception, everyone who enters the Paradise Box eventually has their mind corrupted and becomes my puppet. You actually dared to walk in willingly—your confidence knows no bounds."
"Is that so?"
Heiyan had no intention of wasting much conversation with Satori because when he earlier attacked it severely with Truth-Seeking Balls, he'd already obtained some of its blood.
As the shape of his right eye's pupil shifted, the four words—'happiness,' 'anger,' 'sorrow,' and 'joy'—flickered across his eyes. At this moment, [Myriad Forms: Seventy-Two Transformations] had been activated.
Whoosh.
An intense spiritual ripple spread outward in all directions, radiating from Heiyan's right eye like water ripples.
The next second.
Those soul puppets that had originally been charging at him suddenly froze mid-air. Then they simultaneously turned to attack Satori, who was hiding in the darkness.
"Why? Why is this happening?"
Roaring furiously, Satori panicked greatly, though its voice quickly faded away and vanished completely.
Turning an enemy's own weapons against them—that was precisely how terrifying Heiyan's right eye ability was.
After the dust cleared, what stood before Heiyan was an evil soul radiating intense spiritual energy.
This soul was formed from both Satori's spirit and the souls of the people he had devoured. Its immense hatred made it impossible to fully destroy.
Heiyan used an ingenious technique to seal this cluster of souls within a treasure gourd he crafted, then carried it out of the Paradise Box.
Having battled Satori and delved deep into the Paradise Box, Heiyan now understood the true nature of this so-called "ultimate weapon."
He was certain the Paradise Box was forged using Yin and Yang Release by the Sage of Six Paths — it must have taken him years of effort.
Satori's body, as powerful as a Tailed Beast, and his immense spiritual energy were clear manifestations of Yin and Yang Release.
Heiyan suspected the Sage of Six Paths created the Paradise Box to more effectively harness Yin and Yang Release — to nurture and create new life within its confines.
Unfortunately, after the Sage's death, future generations misunderstood his original intent. They only knew it was a treasure left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, so they greedily sought power from it.
As a result, the Paradise Box became corrupted, eventually giving birth to a monster like Satori, who once destroyed many nations and harmed countless lives.
Such a box would be too valuable to simply destroy or discard into the ocean. Now in Heiyan's possession, it served his purposes perfectly.
After all, controlling the Paradise Box was effortless for him with his abilities.
As for what to do with Satori's soul, Heiyan quickly came up with a clever idea after brief consideration.
He rapidly formed hand seals, stopping at the final Snake seal before pressing his palms together.
Woo woo woo.
A chilling wind blew.
A tall, translucent figure silently appeared behind Heiyan. No one else could see it except him.
It had long white hair, wore a flowing white robe, and held a blade in its mouth engraved with mysterious patterns.
It was none other than the Shinigami.
The technique Heiyan performed was [Dead Demon Consuming Seal], developed by the Uzumaki clan.
The [Dead Demon Consuming Seal] could summon the Shinigami from the netherworld. The Shinigami would then use the sword in its mouth to sever the enemy's soul and swallow it, achieving the purpose of sealing.
However, when the caster completed forming the hand seals, it also meant entering a contract with the Shinigami — offering their target to it.
Eventually, both the caster and the enemy would be swallowed into the Shinigami's belly, hating and fighting each other endlessly without rest, never finding peace.
Even the dreaded Impure World Reincarnation, known as one of the most horrifying forbidden techniques, could not bring back any ninja sealed by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
Heiyan turned around and looked at this Shinigami.
Whenever the Shinigami appeared, it remained silent, aloof and emotionless, ruthlessly harvesting souls with its blade.
To the Shinigami, humans were nothing — just pawns fighting pointlessly among themselves, while it quietly reaped the rewards of their conflict.
Yet, this human who summoned it today seemed somewhat different.
"Hello, Shinigami."
"Let me make one thing clear," Heiyan sized up the Shinigami, nodded at him briefly, then cut straight to the point. "I'm the one who summoned you from the Yokai Realm. But I don't acknowledge that unequal contract of yours. At most, I'll give you a small travel stipend."
As his words hung in the air.
A glint of cold light flashed through the Shinigami's eyes. Without speaking, he silently removed the long sword held in his mouth, preparing to attack this arrogant human and reap his soul.
However, Heiyan interrupted him with just one sentence.
"For your own safety, don't even think about attacking me."
Saying this, Heiyan slowly floated upward until his gaze reached the same level as the Shinigami's. At the same time, an aura comparable to the Six Paths Tier surged out unrestrainedly from his body like a tsunami.
The Shinigami hesitated mid-motion, then quietly placed the sword back in his mouth as if nothing had happened.
Reaping the soul of someone at the Six Paths Tier was beyond his capabilities—it wasn't part of his job description.
Take the Sage of Six Paths for example; although he had long since passed away, his soul remained completely free. Even now, traces of his chakra continued to drift about in some form, silently monitoring all that happened in the world of shinobi.
"Don't get tense or misunderstand me. I mean no harm—I only want to discuss a business deal with you."
Seeing the Shinigami calm down, Heiyan spoke again.
Then, he retrieved the Sealing Gourd, uncorked it, and released the soul of Satori.
Hmm?
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