Naruto's complete disregard earned a cold snort from Mui, who clenched his fist.
The crimson markings covering Naruto's body flared with light.
And then... nothing.
Naruto felt a slight tension, like his chakra was being bound. He flexed, a simple, dismissive ripple of muscle, and the markings vanished without a trace.
'What?' Mui's brow furrowed. His technique had been broken.
'Fire Release: Heavenly Prison Jutsu...' It was his signature technique, a fusion of ninjutsu and fuinjutsu that could instantly seal an opponent's chakra. Without their chakra, a ninja was just a commoner with slightly better reflexes. Mui had been confident it could restrain even a jinchuriki, with their immense reserves.
Yet, this invincible jutsu had been broken. And broken so effortlessly he hadn't even registered the failure.
'Definitely not a taijutsu specialist,' Mui thought, his eyes on Naruto as he assessed the situation. First, Taijutsu specialists usually had more prominent, denser muscles than regular ninja. From his outline alone, Naruto didn't fit that description. More importantly, it should have been impossible for someone caught in his Heavenly Prison Curse Marks to escape using only physical strength.
Based on that, Mui immediately ruled out Taijutsu.
'Shouldn't be a Genjutsu user either.' Genjutsu specialists rarely engaged opponents head-on. The Uchiha Clan were practically the only exception in the entire world.
'Third... able to instantly break my jutsu...'
'Looks like an Expert in ninjutsu, probably skilled in sealing jutsu as well.' That was Mui's best guess.
"So, how does this thing work?" Naruto patted the smiling face carved into one side of the Box of Ultimate Bliss, the wood making a dull *thud*. He remembered it was supposed to absorb chakra.
Naruto's casual action made Mui's eye twitch. That box, the sole hope of bringing back his son. Mui's composure finally snapped. Even as he began weaving signs for another jutsu, he let out a low, warning growl.
"Stay away from my Box of Ultimate Bliss!"
"Good point," Naruto said, clapping the dust from his hands. "But it's mine now."
By the time he finished speaking, Mui's ninjutsu was complete.
'Fire Release: Grand Heavenly Prison Jutsu!'
Several thicker, brighter chains of flame shot out toward Naruto. The Grand Heavenly Prison Jutsu was the enhanced version of the 'Heavenly Prison Jutsu, Mui's most prized technique. Many strong ninja's had met their end on the spot against this jutsu. It was Mui's strongest seal.
'There's no escaping this time. Just offer up your chakra obediently.'
Naruto didn't even flinch, allowing the fiery chains to wrap around him until he was bound tight as a mummy.
'What do you think of that one, Kurama? Pretty cool looking.' Strength aside, the jutsu had a definite chuunibyou flair..
Kurama cracked open an eyelid, his expression pure disdain. 'Hmph. You're impressed by that garbage? It's a pale imitation of Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains.'
He figured Naruto wanted to learn it, but with Naruto's talent for such things, it was a lost cause.
'Fine,' Naruto thought back. 'I'll teach it to Sasuke, then. He loves flashy stuff like this the most.'
Before a sliver of triumph could form in Mui's face, he watched in utter disbelief as Naruto simply forced his right arm free. Then, with a casual air, he swatted at his own body.
A shockwave of air erupted. The flame chains shattered into a countless fragments of light and vanished. It was as easy as snuffing out a candle.
"Too bad," Naruto said, spreading his hands. "That sort of thing doesn't work on me. Go on. Show me what else you've got."
To ignore the Heavenly Prison Jutsu was one thing. A few powerful ninja might manage it. But to swat away the 'Grand' Heavenly Prison Jutsu with a single hand? That wasn't just absurd, it was impossible.
'Where did he come from? How did he do that?'
If like Naruto had swatted Mui...
"What is it that you want?" Mui's final trump card had been useless. His tone softened, the aggression draining away in the face of such overwhelming power. They hadn't truly fought, but after two failed attempts, he knew Naruto was in another league entirely.
Indeed, no matter where you went, no matter the world, as long as your fist was big and hard enough, people tended to become quite reasonable.
"This box," Naruto said, pointing first to the box, then to himself. "It's going to be mine."
Mui stared at him, silent for a long moment. "...Alright."
'He agreed?' Naruto's eyes narrowed behind his mask, a fox-like smile playing on his lips. 'Interesting.' Honestly, if their roles were reversed, he'd never trust someone who appeared out of nowhere like this.
"But I have one condition," Mui said, his gaze fixed on Naruto, clearly hoping he wouldn't refuse.
Seeing no objection, he pressed on. "Help me open it. Just once. If you can do that, the box is yours."
'Just to see you again,' Mui thought, his resolve hardening. 'Even one more time is enough.'
Six years ago, he had sacrificed his son, Muku, in a failed attempt to open the box. Now, he would use its power to bring him back. For that, he would make a deal with this mysterious man, a man whose origins, appearance, strength, and motives were all a complete unknown.
Naruto could see it all. He saw the other deals Mui had made with others, the Kusa-nin who craved the box's power only to become fuel for it themselves. Mui was drowning in his grief, but collecting chakra this way was agonizingly slow. At his current pace, it would take years, and he couldn't wait that long. He would have made a deal with a devil to see his son again.
Humans were strange creatures. They never valued what they had until it was gone, a feeling that curdled into guilt and self-blame over time. Even a man as cold as Mui wasn't immune.
Naruto thought for a moment. While he could simply take the box by force, he also wanted to see the strength of the monster Satori that it produced. He needed to gauge if it was sufficient for the task he was planning.
He'd thought of an idea wishing for the Box to recite pi, which supposedly locked it in an infinite loop, making it impossible to open. But Naruto felt that was just a waste of a treasure.
To waste something this useful, rumored to be from era of the Sage of Six Paths... as for using it as a one-time mass destruction weapon, it could play a role, but it was limited. 'Maybe it was created for purpose of opposing Otsutsuki?' The Box of Ultimate Bliss, or rather, Satori, definitely shouldn't be squandered like that. It had a far greater use for Naruto.
Since their goals aligned, both wanting to open the box, Naruto nodded to Mui.
"Okay."
Just like that, with a simple back-and-forth, ownership of the treasure that had been passed down through generations in Kusagakure was settled. The two had reached a temporary agreement, and the tense atmosphere gradually eased.
Their cooperation was strictly verbal, of course. Mui didn't trust Naruto, but if Naruto could help him open the box and see his son, then giving the box away was a small price to pay. In terms of perspective, Mui was far more pragmatic than certain individuals in the Konoha who used people up and then discarded them.
"So what does it take to open it?" Naruto asked.
"Chakra," Mui answered. "A vast amount of it." He paused. "At least the level of a tailed beast."
Naruto grinned. "Alright."
--**--**
Narrator:
Will Mui realize that his "Ultimate Heavenly Fire Prison Chains Deluxe Plus™" are basically Dollar Store versions of Naruto's training restrictions?
Did Naruto just legally adopt an ancient, world-ending artifact like a stray puppy?
Can the Box of Ultimate Bliss actually grant wishes, or is it just a chakra-powered haunted loot crate?
Find out next time on Seal-Breaker's Anonymous: "Hi, I'm Naruto... and I have a problem with opening cursed boxes."
===============
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