The Box of Ultimate Bliss was ultimately refined by Uchiha Feiyu into four Primordial Chaos Treasure Boxes.
After completing the refinement, Feiyu left behind a shadow clone to remain in the Grass Village, controlling the Primordial Chaos Treasure Boxes and refining pills for the Grass ninjas full-time.
He was being unusually considerate for a reason.
Only those personally killed by Uchiha Feiyu could manifest within his spiritual space and become sacrifices for the Demonic Inheritance Tome. No exceptions.
On top of that, the Primordial Chaos Treasure Boxes themselves were items only Feiyu could wield. If an ordinary Grass ninja dared to touch one, the result would be simple—every drop of blood and vitality in their body would be drained, leaving behind a shriveled corpse.
By handling things personally, Feiyu could also skim a little "commission" for himself.
At this point, blood vitality pills refined from the treasure boxes were already close to useless for him unless they numbered in the tens of thousands. Chakra pills and soul pills, however, could still be directly absorbed.
So when Grass ninjas worked themselves to the bone capturing enemy shinobi, exchanging them for a single blood pill was more than enough. As for the chakra and soul energy extracted in the process—Feiyu accepted those with a smile.
In truth, if Sunagakure hadn't been one of the Five Great Ninja Villages and far too eye-catching, Feiyu would've introduced these "benefits" to the Sand ninjas immediately.
Now that Grass was acting as the guinea pig, there was no need to expand further.
After all, the total number of ninja in the world wasn't that large. If he developed both Grass and Sand simultaneously, and everyone started growing stronger through constant pill consumption, the entire shinobi world would end up slaughtered into a generational gap. That went completely against Feiyu's philosophy of long-term harvesting.
Grass was perfect.
Two to three thousand ninja were enough to supply a steady stream of pills and sacrifices without threatening the world's "ecological balance." And if things ever got out of hand—if Grass went too far and drew the attention of a joint suppression—Feiyu could always step in under Sand's banner and harvest them in one clean sweep.
However, during a later physical examination, Sand discovered that Uzumaki Kana was already nearly two months pregnant. The jinchūriki plan had no choice but to be shelved for the time being.
Besides, whether it was Kakura or Yahiko—both were already Kage-level shinobi. Becoming jinchūriki wouldn't significantly raise their strength and might even become a burden. It wouldn't meaningfully increase Sunagakure's combat power.
And so, carrying a soul strengthened to nearly twice its former level, three Primordial Chaos Treasure Boxes, and an additional Uzumaki clan "bonus," Uchiha Feiyu left the Land of Grass and returned to Sunagakure.
Sunagakure had recovered somewhat over the years, but it remained closed off within the Land of Wind, focusing on internal development. Its intelligence on the ongoing Great Ninja War was incomplete at best. Feiyu wasn't even sure whether the original Battle of Kannabi Bridge would still occur.
Now that he had an Uzumaki—one who had awakened a bloodline limit, no less—the creation of a jinchūriki naturally took top priority.
If he could devour Uchiha Madara using the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art, Feiyu was confident his physique would undergo another qualitative leap. Awakening the Rinnegan outright wasn't out of the question.
And as for the Outer Path Demonic Statue… Feiyu was extremely interested.
Could the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art swallow that thing too?
Just after returning to Sunagakure, Yahiko, upon learning of Uzumaki Kana's existence, was already preparing to turn her directly into a jinchūriki.
The war between Iwagakure and Konoha was growing fiercer by the day.
After Konoha had successively defeated Sunagakure and Kumogakure, Iwa had originally shown signs of withdrawing. But the defection of both Uchiha Feiyu and Orochimaru gave Iwa a glimpse of opportunity—and they bit down hard.
Under these circumstances, Konoha held no real advantage against Iwa. In terms of ordinary ninja numbers, they were at an absolute disadvantage—this time, there was no scenario where ten thousand Iwa shinobi died surrounding the Third Raikage. Iwa's regular forces outnumbered Konoha's by nearly double.
The Third Hokage was severely injured. Danzō was dead. Tsunade hadn't escaped her psychological trauma.
The only ones still capable of fighting were Jiraiya and his faction.
Yahiko had no concern whatsoever about Uzumaki Kana's loyalty. In her eyes, there was simply no possibility that Kana could escape Feiyu's grasp.
If Feiyu truly devoured Uchiha Madara and added the Outer Path Demonic Statue on top of that, then collecting the Nine Tailed Beasts would be a real option. He could directly transform into Ōtsutsuki Feiyu, go to the moon, devour Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and rule the world outright.
As for jinchūriki matters, Feiyu wasn't particularly concerned.
He stayed briefly in Sunagakure for a few days, enjoyed himself with a number of cauldrons, and then set off for Kannabi Bridge.
This time, Feiyu wasn't heading to the Iwa front to help either Konoha or Iwagakure end the war.
He was going to meet the true幕后黑手 of the shinobi world—the man known as Uchiha Madara.
If not for Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God clearing out troops faster than Feiyu himself, the Konoha front might've collapsed already.
Fortunately, while Minato was decisive and lethal on the battlefield, he was still a notch gentler than Feiyu. If enemies surrendered or fled, Minato wouldn't pursue them.
In the end, under the pressure of the Golden Flash, Ōnoki even issued an order: upon encountering the Golden Flash, Iwa ninja were permitted to abandon their missions immediately.
That alone spoke volumes about Minato's threat level.
As a result, Iwa managed to preserve a considerable portion of its fighting strength.
If it were Feiyu? Forget mission abandonment—he'd kill first and collect the bounty afterward.
Unfortunately, Sunagakure lacked true prodigies. Based on evaluations, only Kakura and Yahiko were suitable jinchūriki candidates. Anyone else would simply die.
Sunagakure's current One-Tail jinchūriki, the old monk Bunpuku, had passed away earlier that year. Before his death, Sand had forcibly sealed Shukaku into a teapot-shaped ninja tool, hoping to eventually create a jinchūriki capable of taking the battlefield.
Fortunately, Feiyu wasn't without options.
Sunagakure might struggle to obtain detailed intelligence on Konoha—but his "cheap teacher" certainly wouldn't.
And besides…
There was something else he needed to discuss with Orochimaru.
Land of Rice Fields.
Sound Village.
Orochimaru's lair.
It had been nearly three years since Orochimaru defected from Konoha.
In those three years, Feiyu had effectively taken over Sunagakure, restoring its vitality and dragging it out of decline.
Orochimaru didn't have Feiyu's absurd advantages, but he was no ordinary man either. His defection had been meticulously planned, and he'd even brought dozens of subordinates with him. As a result, his development was far faster than in the original timeline.
In canon, Orochimaru took five to six years before Sound Village was developed enough to participate in the Chūnin Exams—meaning Sound was founded within ten years of his defection.
This time, with Konoha fully tied down by war, even Jiraiya had no time to hunt him. With less external pressure and preexisting manpower, Sound Village was established in just two years.
Once the village was built, Orochimaru had no interest in development. He used missions purely to amass funds and returned immediately to his research.
In times of war, experimental materials were everywhere.
No need to kidnap anyone—just hang a notice on the black market, and wandering ninja and mercenaries would line up to deliver themselves.
Orochimaru's experiments had a survival rate of one in ten.
But success meant shattering one's limits and skyrocketing in strength.
High risk. High reward.
The shinobi world had never lacked gamblers—especially among the desperate lower classes. Orochimaru's reputation for transformation was well known, and those seeking experiments queued up daily.
So when Uchiha Feiyu arrived at Sound Village, he witnessed an incredibly strange scene.
"These people…"
"…are all lining up to see Orochimaru-sensei?"
Feiyu looked at the group of wandering ninja chatting casually outside Sound Village's entrance, his expression bizarre, as he asked one of Orochimaru's subordinates.
That subordinate had defected alongside Orochimaru and naturally recognized Feiyu, Orochimaru's prized disciple. In fact, Feiyu and Orochimaru had maintained contact throughout the past three years.
"Yes, Lord Feiyu. And it's thanks to you and Lord Orochimaru scaring Konoha out of its wits. Although we're officially listed as missing-nin, there's never been any bounty placed on us. That's why no one dares interfere—even with a village established here."
"Otherwise, no matter how famous Lord Orochimaru is, so many wandering ninja wouldn't dare come openly."
Feiyu nodded with a complicated expression.
This so-called "defection" meant going straight onto the operating table.
Succeed—and gain power, join Sound, embrace a bright future.
Fail—and become a number in Orochimaru's experiment log.
And yet, one willing, one accepting. No one could criticize it.
Feiyu could only conclude that this world's people were utterly extreme—treating their own lives as disposable.
When he entered Orochimaru's underground laboratory, he saw a large number of very familiar instruments. Stroking his chin, something suddenly occurred to him.
"Hm? These are Root's devices, aren't they? Did you go back to Root after that, sensei?"
"Well…" the subordinate hesitated.
"Root's experimental bases were known only to Root ninja and the Hokage. When you and Lord Orochimaru left Konoha, Root had already been wiped out, and the Hokage—Sarutobi Hiruzen—was gravely injured."
"Later, Lord Orochimaru realized this and took advantage of Konoha's slow reaction to secretly infiltrate the Root base and relocate all the equipment."
So they really were Root's.
Feiyu almost wanted to shout a full-blown '666'.
This was peak Sand-style looting. Danzō probably couldn't rest in peace even in death.
…Oh right. I killed Danzō myself. Never mind.
Walking to the deepest laboratory, the doors opened—and Orochimaru stepped out with a smile.
"It's been a long time, Feiyu. What brings you here today?"
"The Vampire Technique you gave me earlier—I've finished modifying it. The scroll's on my desk; you can take it anytime."
"As for the modified Spirit Transformation Technique you wanted… I still haven't made much progress. It'll take more time."
Orochimaru looked radiant and full of ambition.
The techniques he mentioned were all ones Feiyu had given him over the years for modification.
The Vampire Technique was adapted from the western fantasy spell Vampiric Touch. As for soul-based ninjutsu, Feiyu had once wanted Orochimaru to modify the Spirit Transformation Technique, allowing captured souls from Spirit Binding Command to use it—essentially unleashing a Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.
"The Vampire Technique is enough. You can forget the rest."
Feiyu waved his hand.
He had already abandoned the idea of using other people's souls for Spirit Transformation.
Now that he possessed the Soul Refinement Art, once a soul's techniques were fully extracted, it could be directly refined into pure soul energy and absorbed. There was no need to keep the soul intact anymore.
Spirit Binding Command did have a method of consuming souls, but it was closer to eating them raw. The suffering and struggle of the soul were clearly visible, which was why Feiyu had never consumed human souls that way.
Soul refinement was different.
It drained the soul's energy while preserving a trace of true spirit. What was absorbed was only pure soul energy—no screams, no agony, no psychological discomfort.
Hearing this, Orochimaru froze slightly, tension creeping into his expression.
"Not needed…? Then our agreed-upon compensation…"
Orochimaru's rapid rise over the past three years wasn't just due to Konoha being distracted or his own subordinates—it was also because Feiyu had supplied him with vast funding.
Sand's mining teams had expanded to eight members. Combined with Wood Release–based environmental modifications and a Wind Daimyō under control constantly sending money, Sunagakure's finances were overflowing.
A portion of that surplus had been invested into Orochimaru.
No matter how ambitious or insane he was, once funding entered the conversation, Orochimaru couldn't help but lose his composure—especially when speaking to his own disciple.
"Relax. The funding will continue."
Feiyu smiled faintly.
"But in exchange, Orochimaru-sensei, I want your research data on the Curse Mark."
Orochimaru's Curse Mark could be considered a degraded form of Sage Mode—yet it was still a technology capable of breaking a ninja's limits.
Its mortality rate was high.
But compared to Sage Mode? It was merciful.
Sage Mode wasn't just lethal—it had requirements so absurd that most ninja didn't even qualify to try.
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto