Although security within Hōzuki Castle was extremely strict, Ning Feng was completely unaffected by the Heavenly Prison seal.
Powerful as the technique was, it no longer had any effect on him.
He left behind a shadow clone in his cell, pretending to be asleep.
Patrolling guards constantly made their rounds, checking whether each prisoner remained in their cell.
Meanwhile, the real Ning Feng had already slipped out.
On his bunk, the shadow clone slept soundly.
"This place has a rather simple layout."
After carefully sensing the chakra distribution throughout Hōzuki Castle, Ning Feng discovered that it was remarkably uniform.
Most of the buildings were constructed in the same style as well.
Anyone unfamiliar with the castle would easily become lost.
Ning Feng concealed his presence until he nearly blended into the darkness itself.
At the same time, he activated his Sharingan.
In an environment this dim, searching every corner manually would take an absurd amount of time.
"This is another cell…"
After passing through yet another building, Ning Feng clicked his tongue in irritation.
He was certain that the administrators of Hōzuki Castle were conducting research on the Box of Paradise during the night.
After all, legend claimed that the Sage of Six Paths' treasure could grant any wish once opened.
If they succeeded, they could theoretically make the Land of Grass dominate the entire ninja world.
At present, they were still in the research stage.
They had likely already discovered that the Box of Paradise required chakra-rich shinobi to be fed into it.
Each time a ninja with abundant chakra was sacrificed, the mouths on the box opened a little wider.
"Still... logically speaking, the chakra fluctuations should be enormous. Unless Mui and the others have hidden it somehow."
Ning Feng frowned as he stood atop a beam and carefully sensed every corner of Hōzuki Castle.
Searching room by room was simply too slow.
He couldn't afford to waste that much time.
If Madara learned that he had come to the Land of Grass and launched an attack...
Then the fall of the Land of Rain would be inevitable.
Every moment he spent here carried enormous risk.
"Damn it..."
After expanding his senses, Ning Feng found only a few notable chakra signatures throughout the entire castle.
Most were like the sealed prisoners—completely devoid of detectable chakra.
There was, however, one possibility.
Ning Feng lowered his gaze toward the ground beneath the castle.
If Mui had placed the research facility underground...
Then his inability to detect strong chakra fluctuations would make perfect sense.
Deep underground, chakra signatures were naturally harder to perceive.
A few simple chakra-insulating barriers would be enough to conceal the powerful chakra emanating from the Box of Paradise.
At this realization, Ning Feng's expression shifted slightly.
Could it really be underground?
He jumped down from the beam and landed on the ground.
Until now, he hadn't investigated beneath the surface.
The moment he focused on the earth below, he immediately discovered several clues.
Only after standing directly on the ground did he detect faint chakra fluctuations coming from beneath.
"Could this be it?"
A hint of excitement appeared on his face.
Looks like I found it.
As expected, it's underground.
Still, hiding the Box of Paradise below ground was a clever decision.
At night, any chakra fluctuations would already be weakened by the barriers.
And the few sensory ninja capable of detecting chakra all belonged to Hōzuki Castle itself.
The prisoners, meanwhile, had been sealed by Heavenly Prison and had effectively lost their chakra perception abilities.
Someone like Ning Feng was an exception that simply should not exist.
What Kage-level—or beyond Kage-level—ninja would ever be sent to this remote prison island?
Only Ning Feng would think of infiltrating under such an identity.
Had he arrived openly as the Rain Shadow, Mui would likely have stalled for time, suspended all research on the Box of Paradise, and played diplomatic games with him.
Unfortunately for Mui, time was exactly what Ning Feng could not afford to waste.
The longer he delayed, the more impact it would have on the larger war.
With that in mind, he focused on the source of the chakra fluctuations.
On the surface, there appeared to be nothing unusual there.
Gathering chakra into his hand, he performed an Earth Release technique and slipped underground.
Thanks to his Sharingan, even without following the proper route, he easily avoided numerous alarm mechanisms and descended directly to the deepest level.
This was the hidden facility where the ninjas of Hōzuki Castle conducted their research on the Box of Paradise.
Upon arriving, Ning Feng first observed carefully from outside.
Several masked ninjas dressed in black robes stood gathered around a gigantic box.
The object resembled a demonic cube with enormous mouths on all four sides.
It was as tall as a tailed beast.
Simply gazing upon it from afar was enough to fill ordinary shinobi with fear.
"So this is the Box of Paradise?"
Ning Feng further suppressed his chakra fluctuations.
Even specialized sensory ninja would have struggled to detect him.
The people here certainly weren't famous for chakra sensing.
He did not immediately move to seize the box.
What he wanted was the creature inside—Satori.
He needed answers.
If he took the box now, he would still have to figure out how to open it himself.
"Do I really have to wait for them to open it?"
The thought gave him a headache.
Mui had spent years scheming before finally luring Naruto Uzumaki—a jinchūriki with enormous chakra reserves—into his trap.
Waiting that long was out of the question.
It would honestly be easier to feed the box chakra himself.
When the box had drained Naruto's chakra, it had only managed to siphon off part of Kurama's power.
Ning Feng, however, possessed not just his own chakra, but the chakra of eight tailed beasts.
That should be more than enough to satisfy the Box of Paradise.
"Should I just charge in right now?"
After considering the matter repeatedly, Ning Feng decided against acting tonight.
The Land of Grass ninjas had already been researching this thing for years.
Yet they had only made limited progress.
Tomorrow...
He would give them a little push.
With that decision made, Ning Feng silently retreated from the underground facility.
As he left, he casually erased every trace of his presence.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Mui stopped speaking in the middle of a discussion before the Box of Paradise.
Raising his thin, withered hand, he signaled everyone to stop talking.
He placed a finger against his lips, silently telling the others not to make a sound.
Then, little by little, he began moving toward the spot where Ning Feng had been hiding moments earlier.
For an instant just now...
He had sensed something unusual.
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