Chapter Thirty-Five - A Daughter's Future
"Where in the fuck did shithead go?!"
"Uzumaki-sama went to fight the other bounty hunter," Maya bowed to the furious redhead, a proud smile on her face after finishing what her master commanded.
"Why are you not going out there with him?"
Maya turned to look at Zoya as the woman got into her clothes and grabbed the fingernail daggers that she fought with. "Because his command was to dispose of the body, and a silent demand that I stay here and protect you."
"We don't need to be protected, kinslayer," Tayuya snapped as she stumbled into her clothes.
Maya looked at the ground at the name she was called. She knows that in her past life before being reformed by her master she was not a good person. She and a twin sister was born in Sunagakure a year before the end of the Third Shinobi War to a dying clan that specialised in super-heated chakra nature manipulation - the Scorch Release. Her sister was very talented with her family's nature manipulation into large-scale techniques but she was better with manipulating it with weapons. She was best known for creating a flaming tanto that burned as hot as the sun.
But she killed her sister and their team while on a joint mission to Iwagakure where she defected to the village with a Jonin position. She was cruel person in her previous life and her master tells her that she must work to atone for her wrongs by doing what is right in his name. One thing she knows of her master is that he will never let anyone slander his name or that of his loved ones.
"I believe so as well, but an order by the master must be followed," Maya told the redhead in response before turning to the other redhead that has been silent this entire time. "Are you okay, Karin-sama?"
Karin jumped when she heard her name called and blinked owlishly as she looked around the room. She fidgeted a few more times with her hands before she processed the question and nodded her head. "Ah, yes, I am fine, Maya-san."
Maya stared at the girl for a few more moments, watching her body movements, before bowing again. "As you say, Karin-sama."
Find the box.
Karin winced again as she got out of the bed and into her own clothes, being gently helped by the older redhead even as the girl muttered cursed under her breath about their lover. She had to ignore the dark voice in her head that has been afflicting her ever since being awoken by the bounty hunters.
You must find the box.
Stop, Karin whispered in her head as she clenched her eyes shut. Please stop!
You must find the box. Protect the box. Protect the world.
"What box are you talking about?!"
Karin snapped her eyes open with a glare as she shouted her question, looking around for whoever could be affecting her. What she found, instead, is her co-lovers and their lover's reformed soul. Tayuya looked at her in worry, Zoya with a calculating stare, and Maya just watched blankly. "Ah, uh, I'm sorry for-"
"You mentioned a box," Zoya interrupted Karin before she could make an excuse, "did you not?"
"Y-yeah," Karin confirmed softly before looking at the ground. "I'm hearing a voice talk about a box. I don't know what it's talking about."
Zoya is silent as she seemed to stare into space before looking at Maya. "Protect them. Follow me."
Meanwhile
Naruto watched in satisfaction as his clone cut down the guards within seconds, although he wasn't sure if these guards deserved it or not. While he could feel blatant killing intent coming from them, he wasn't sure if it's because they're trained to handle such situations or not. But maybe there is more going on than he thinks. He knows just from looking at the technology in the first room alone that this facility is wealthily funded by whoever is running it. He can sense so many people on this floor alone, but there are much more unstable and powerful individuals locked on the lower floors.
However, as his clone stood up from his crouched position and faced down the halted guards, he could feel the approach of not one or two but four of these powerful individuals. It was too late before he could warn his distracted clone.
"Power cord."
The clone was suddenly ripped apart as multiple shards of shrapnel bypassed the divine aura that protected him and the original. Naruto was able to catch glimpses of what was being launched at his clone and he could see what looked like the blade of kunai without the handle. They were small, the length of his middle finger, and not that much wider, but the velocity and speed that it launched pierced flesh easily. He had a small thought at the back of his mind as he watched that gave him a small fear of what would happen if this weapon is mass produced.
Even with this fear, he knew that his world would not be free from the bloody progression of technology. That man did warn of the evil in hearts that would always search for easier and more powerful ways to kill.
As the blasts ended in a silent ringing in the halls and the clone dispelled, what to be a weird redhead in a mix of monk clothes and other clothing that would have made him more similar to Jashinists stood with a guitar in his hands. While a monk with a unique weapon such as that is disturbing all on its own, the skull pendant around the man's neck was setting Naruto's senses off immediately.
"Damn, even doing this on my smoke break," the monk sighed as he moved his guitar to the side to look at the blonde intruder. "The fuck, man."
Naruto was unsure how to respond to such a statement as he almost felt he was talking to Shikamaru for a split second. "I'm sorry? Who are you?"
"The name is Azuma Genkaku, Ultra Ninshu Monk," the man replied with a relaxed smile.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at this point, recognizing the term of Ninshu, and settled into a more prepared stance as he paid attention to the arrival of three more unique individuals. Two of them were males while one was a young girl. "My name is Prince Naruto Uzumaki of Uzushio. I am appointed as the investigator for the Hozuki Castle prison that you are underneath. Because of this, I have decided that your facility will be investigated as well. However, your guards approached with hostility and were met with extreme recourse."
"This is private property, and all that jazz," the man said before aiming his guitar again. "And you're trespassing."
Naruto knew with that weapon that erecting a barrier would not work so he side-stepped into one of the rooms just as the projectiles started flying. He only had a moment to hear the thundering of heavy footsteps and he dashed to the right to avoid the largest mass of man he had ever seen come bursting through the wall. While the man continued on into the next wall, he had to duck under the attack of that weird thin man whose fingers extended further than a normal human should ever possess. He slashed Khahrahk into the chest of the man, easily cutting two-thirds through the man's thin chest, and watched him fall to the ground with blood and gore spilling onto the floor.
As the man drew his last breath with a deranged smile on his face, his life was caught into the sword and played into Naruto's mind like a slideshow. This man was a psychotic murderer from Earth Country who kidnapped countless women and scalped their heads and faces. He used their skin and hair to make clothes that he would wear in his home up until he was captured by shinobi. It was there that all of the bodies and clothes were found and he was sent to a local prison where he was found by Tsunenaga Tamaki to join the group called Undertakers.
The Undertakers, a group that enforces the order in this facility, is led by these individuals but specifically by Azuma Genkaku. The man he just killed is Shinagawa Dokoku, the assistant leader of Squad Two, while the large man that had ran by is the squad leader named Mozuri Gazuchi. There is a young girl who is the leader of Squad Three named Hibana Daida. They all utilise weapons or abilities that are specifically meant to handle the prisoners known as Deadmen.
"-zzZt- Prison Break on levels three and four. Undertakers needed."
Suddenly, an explosion shook the entire room and Naruto wondered just how bad the situation could be but it seems that the Deadmen had found his intrusion to be the perfect opportunity to escape. But it is likely that any escape would be through restricted checkpoints and he doubted that the entirety of the Undertakers came to handle him. He would have to capture the Deadmen as they may be as dangerous as their captors so it will be unwise to let a single one of them escape.
We either kill those in our way or capture them.
Let's handle this quickly, then.
Hozuki Castle surface
"Where are we going?!"
Zoya ignored Tayuya's shout as she quickly looked down each ends of the corridor they entered and found not a single guard around. There was no activity even with the ruckus made by Naruto killing the two missing-nin. "Something is wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"Where are the guards?"
At Zoya's question, the other three looked around and they too noticed the unsettling silence of the otherwise busy prison. It could also be that the Zombie Duo had been able to silently kill the outmatched guards but with the lack of blood and bodies that is also improbable. It is also not part of their tactics to kill anyone silently. The moment they found their target, there is nothing stopping them from killing anyone and everyone in their way.
Zoya, however, knew of what is likely happening and her stomach dropped at the implications. "That old fucking bastard."
"Mind filling us in, Zoya?" Karin asked softly even as the voice began getting louder.
The Box! The Box! The Box!
Zoya glanced at the afflicted girl and her eyes softened partially before she reached over and carefully rubbed the young girl's head. "Okay. What you two don't know about this castle is that it is also the location where a Divine Object, known as the Box of Eternal Bliss, was sealed away back in the times of the Sage. The Hozuki were the royal family of the Kingdom of Flowers and this was their capital and they abused the Box's infinite power."
She now looked at Karin with a soft frown. "It is not public knowledge but there is a specific bloodline of cursed beings who have the power to control the box. You hearing this voice about the Box means you are of this descent. The voice wants you to release and use the Box."
No! Protect the Box! Protect the world!
Karin winced and squeezed her eyes shut as she gripped her ears. Tayuya held the girl and turned to look at Zoya with a serious glare. "Then why are we looking for it? That's clearly what you want to do with dragging us deeper into the prison!"
"Because Warden Mui is also trying to open and control the Box."
Everyone but Karin turned and prepared for a fight when they heard the new voice and what they found is a dark-skinned woman with white hair. She wore a tan and dark kusagakure kunoichi uniform and a green bandana over her head.
"Calm down," she raised her hands at their defensive postures. "I am also here to stop the release of the cursed Box."
"How can we trust you," Tayuya questioned harshly and the white-haired girl eased her hands down to her side.
"Kusagakure is split between two factions; the Seed, who wishes to restore their superweapon and conquer the world, and the Petals, who wish to keep the weapon sealed and instead work on being a neutral territory. My name is Ryuzetsu and I am an Anbu of the latter faction but Mui is an inner circle member of the other."
"So he wants to awaken the Box to empower his party?"
Ryuzetsu shook her head at Zoya's question. "According to my last report from my officers, he has been ignoring the calls of other circle members. We do not know what his intentions with the Box are but it cannot be good."
"How do you know all of this," Karin asked quietly without moving from her position, keeping her eyes shut as she kept willing away the voice.
Ryuzetsu is silent as she stared at the girl before she answered after a few moments. "Muku, Mui's son, is my childhood friend. When he was not found and likely dead, I had always blamed Mui and assumed he was at fault. I could never find the proof needed and by the time I had the clearance to investigate what happened, it was already so many years later that there was nothing to look for. But I had overheard that there were shinobi guards being taken to a secret area underground for a secret briefing."
The group's eyes narrowed at that and they connected the dots just as Ryuzetsu continued.
"He is using their power as sacrifices to force open the Box. That is why you," she looked at Karin now, "are hearing the voice. It is a siren's call for you to control the Divine Object."
"What am I supposed to do," Karin cried out with enough force that even the voice stopped speaking. Her face is hot with tears running down her cheeks. "I don't want this! I am a medic-nin! I do not want power! I don't want any of this!"
"It is your birthright."
You are born for this.
Even as Ryuzetsu had spoken to her, the ethereal voice spoke softer with an unnatural love and care that she almost thought it was someone else. Its feeling was almost… motherly.
You must do this. For the sake of the world, and for the sake of your newfound family. You have the power to protect them.
With Naruto
Naruto stared down the hole he created by punching the super monk as hard as he could. Behind him, all of the facility guards were killed as well as the other two squad captains. With their souls came their life and he understood how dark and twisted not only the world is but these people really are.
Mozuri Gazuchi was a baby abandoned by his mother in a forest and it was there that he was found and raised by bears. Because of this, his mind is more animal than human and it was more of just feelings and memories rather than any kind of intelligent thought. He was a cannibal and before he was caught he had killed and eaten twenty-three civilians and fifteen shinobi. Weird as well was his ability to absorb chakra through consumption, which he could only use to strengthen and empower his physical attributes.
Hibana Daida was raised in what she thought was a "normal" childhood; her father was absent, never there, and her mother was an abusive hellish woman. The child was raised thinking that the beatings she suffered were meant to make her a good girl. Her mind twisted this to a justifiable punishment to the point that she had tortured and killed a classmate after he had flipped her skirt. It was her mother who had found her with the mutilated body and when the woman gave the first strike to "teach" the child something had snapped. The cops found her with her mother's corpse repeating the same thing over. I'm a good girl, mama, now you are too.
"Such a deranged world," Naruto told himself as he dropped down the hole.
Sin is rampant and it creates monsters. In another world, you would have been one too with the village's treatment.
It was true. Naruto knew that without the intervention of Kurama and both Ginrei and Retsu, he would have snapped and become worse than Gaara. With the negativity attached to Kurama's power, he would have been a berserker that would kill indiscriminately. He was lucky, but that only hurt him more as these people were not and they became monsters.
They will repent for their actions. Their sentence will fit the crime.
Kurama said nothing as Naruto resolved to make sure they earned their peaceful afterlife. No more hate. No more pain. They will earn their happiness. He is their redeeming light, their guiding hand to lead them.
"Ahahaha."
Naruto looked to the right, following the crimson trail of blood to a wall where Azuma now sat against with a blunt in his hand.
"You're a different kind of monster. Not like me or the Deadmen." The homicidal monk said with a bloody grin. "What are you?"
Naruto turned to the man and crouched down, far enough to protect himself from a sudden lunge or anything. "I am the monster that people like you fear. I deliver torment and punishment to those deserving so that they may repent their cruelty and earn their right to go to the afterlife."
"Hah," Azuma scoffed and closed his eyes. "The Pure Lands are a sham. There is no afterlife for people like us."
Naruto watched as the man chuckle and lay his head back against the wall. "There is understanding in death. Your life is not what defines you but the way you go out. What does your death say about you?"
However, as soon as Naruto asked the question, Azuma's breathing had stopped and his arm that held his bleeding side slid to the ground. The blonde man is quiet as he looked at the redhead and he felt sadness for the man. He unsheathed Khahrahk and stabbed the man's chest, entombing his soul into the sword with the thousands of others.
Naruto turned away from the body and made his way further into the facility and after a few turns, he opened the door to find a large destroyed cafeteria. The dead bodies of Undertaker soldiers littered the floor but in the back, with a few intact tables, a large group was huddled and treating injuries. Among them is a girl with dark skin and short white hair, appearing eerily similar to a prisoner up top with similar skin and hair colours.
"Greetings Deadmen," Naruto called as he knew each of them from the memories of the Undertakers. Each was nicknamed after a type of avian animal as they were used in some gladiatorial sport similar to the Uzumaki national pastime.
"My name is Prince Naruto Uzumaki, and so long as you remain cooperative I will be your saviour from this wretched place. You have nothing to fear so long as you remain…" He caught the fist from the girl with white hair, Karako Koshio; nickname Game Fowl. "Friendly."
Naruto grabbed the woman's arm and threw her into one destroyed tables, bouncing her over the counter and into the kitchen of the cafeteria. He wiped his hands a few times, channeling enough chakra to create twenty clones, and turned to the one he knew as the leader. "Now as I was saying, I am the inspector for the shinobi prison above your facility. You are Nagi Kengamine, otherwise known as Owl, correct?"
The man stared back in front of his group protectively even as Karako vaulted over the kitchen counter. "You know a lot about us for someone who has just arrived at the facility."
Naruto gave a bright, beaming smile in an attempt to disarm the group on edge. "I have a unique ability that can take the knowledge of people I, ahem, dispatch from life. I believe it was your guards, the Undertakers, that I have the knowledge from."
"You killed the Undertakers alone?!"
"How?!"
"Lies!"
"Calm down," Naruto stressed the command with a subtle release of immense pressure. "I killed the Undertakers and took your overseers and warden as suspects for my investigation. Your participation and help will be seen in a good light for my report and what will happen when I am done with this place."
"To my knowledge, all of you have been kidnapped or written off as dead or missing. You have no use to the world at large, and I may be the only one who is capable of containing your unique abilities." Naruto glanced through the group but noticed one from his stolen knowledge was not in attendance. "Where is the albino? Shiro, I think her name was."
"Her?" Nagi asked and paused as he thought of what to answer. "When we heard your fight in the upper floors, we started our attempt to break out. The girl you mentioned disappeared sometime during then."
Naruto nodded his head and felt a spike of power in a deeper area of the facility. "In that case, all of you are to be taken by my clones to the surface and to a place under my protection. Please understand that if anyone fights back and I grow tired of keeping you alive, I will end you the same way I did with the Undertakers."
There were few arguments from anyone as none of them wanted to experience the type of powers this man had to be able to defeat the Undertakers, even Nagi was unsure of what to think of the man that presented himself as their saviour. However, there was a man still going around the facility that would pick a fight with anybody. "I must warn you before you go, one of our fellow Deadmen will be around and may try to pick a fight with you. We call him Crow in this facility, but his real name is Kiyomasa Senji."
Now that name rang a bell in one of his memories, specifically from the little girl. Kiyomasa was a samurai officer for Rice before Orochimaru turned it into his own personal playground, and his final operation was the abuse of not only Hibana by her mother but also other children with similar parents. It did not end well and he ended up getting injured during a raid on an orphanage, and he was written off as missing when Tsunenaga kidnapped the man to be experimented on for these new powers. He has been aggressive and particularly skilled with his Deadmen abilities.
"Duly noted. Now sit tight while my clones transport you to your new holding area."
With Karin
"Are you sure it's around here?"
Ryuzetsu nodded her head as she sprinted around a corner, the group of girls following closely behind her. "Hozuki castle was built as a labyrinth long before it was remodeled as a prison. Historically, this was the seat of power for the old empire and as such it has many areas in and outside of the castle walls that can be reached from various paths in case of an attack. The Box of Ultimate Bliss is kept in a hidden vault."
Ryuzetsu stopped suddenly, the girls halting as well, and they all swallowed thickly as a sudden pressure seemed to be pushing down on them. To Karin and Tayuya, it reminded them a lot of the time Naruto gained his divine powers on their trip to Snow. However this time the power was corrupted, not so much divine as it was tainted by whatever.
"W-what manner of monster could exert this force," Ryuzetsu muttered to herself with a trembling voice. "Is the horrors in the Box finally opened? Did he do it?"
"No, this is Naruto-sama," Maya answered the group with a resolute nod. "Naruto-sama is not happy with what he found below and has reset his self-imposed limits without fully releasing his divine powers."
"Where is he exactly," Ryuzetsu asked as evenly as she could but she would not lie and say she was not put off by this Prince's abilities and extraordinary power.
When she first met him, she assumed him to just be like any other lord and just do what is needed for appearances before leaving. But in the last forty-eight hours he not only stuck his nose into the business of the prison guards, but the business of the Warden and any officer that may be tied to the running of the Castle. He showed that his appearance here as per the vote of the largest village backers was not just superficial and easily swayed but that he will act professionally and meticulously in his investigation. The fact that he took the words of the prisoners equal to that of the guards, especially when concerning the guards, showed that he valued human life over his or other's statuses.
"Prince-sama is in the secret underground facility clearing out any hostiles and capturing others for investigation." Maya answered swiftly as she knew exactly what was going on with her master through their connection. "He should almost be finished, it would do well for us to clear out and apprehend the Lord Warden before something happens."
"I agree," Zoya nodded her head in agreement. "Let us do this and be done with this prison. I would rather not see what kind of monsters can be unleashed from the Box."
Everyone nodded in response and Ryuzetsu continued her guide into the secret lab.
As they drew down one more level and through many lit torches, they could hear gasping and begging from many different voices.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Mui-sama, please, have mercy!"
Sounds of impact could be heard and even more wails of mercy, but what set the girls on edge was the subtle growling being heard. It was inhuman, not even sounding like any animal they have heard before, and the demonic whispers that flowed through the underground halls set the hairs on their neck on end.
However, Karin felt her heart hammering against her chest even as she lost feeling in her body. She kept running purely from momentum but she knew that the moment they had to stop she would collapse onto the floor. The motherly whispers were getting worse as well, begging the same thing over and over.
Protect the Box. Protect the world. Protect your family.
With Naruto
Naruto stared down at the pale girl he just fought; Shiro. She has pale skin and white hair with pink eyes, almost eerily similar to Kimi Kaguya, and he had a feeling that this girl had to be related to the nearly extinct bloodthirsty clan. What concerned him the most about her was her dual personality that caught him by surprise. She was a sweet and excitable girl at first, excited to see him as a 'new friend' and share sweets, but then she seemed to freeze up the next moment. Her eyes turned cold and she used some type of Deadman ability to nearly take off his head.
Naruto turned to the one last person in this room with a glare on his face. The man is sitting in a mobile wheelchair and looks innocent and no danger to the world but Naruto can feel that the man was anything but. It was, after all, him who played that little tune that caused the pale girl to change personalities.
"That was quite unfortunate," Hagire commented lightly without looking away from the girl's body. "I wonder what got into her."
"Don't play games with me, old man," Naruto told the man as he summoned two souls to take the girl to the surface and keep watch over her. "Keep watch over her, Jirobo, Kidomaru."
The two men bowed emotionlessly, being the few souls to develop a personality after their Punishment, and left with the young girl to carry out their master's order.
"I used to know many Uzumaki in my youth," the elderly man commented as he watched the girl go. "There was even an Uzumaki man in the prison run by Mui-san. Of course, that wasn't for long either and his daughter also went missing."
Naruto's eyes hardened and he unsheathed Khahrahk from his scabbard. "So you are the reason that Karin-chan was born and held in the prison for most of her life?"
The man did not answer and it seemed that he aged in his chair before looking up into the Uzumaki Prince's eyes. "You don't know anything."
Naruto's aura seemed to not affect the man and he asked tensely, "what do you mean?"
"Has your cousin told you of her life before becoming a kunoichi of Kusagakure?" Hagire leaned back in his chair and used the joystick to manoeuvre the wheelchair towards a water cooler. "Has she told you any of her memories while living in the prison? Or… in here?"
Naruto watched the old man grab a cold bottle of water and start drinking. "She does not remember a lot, and I do not force her to relive her trauma."
"That is understandable, given the caring man you make yourself to be," the man answered as he grabbed another bottle and turned around to look at the young ruler.
"What do you know?"
"There is no reason to lie to you or keep you away from the truth. Even if I do try to deceive you and you do kill me, you would learn everything I know anyways," the man chuckled to himself as he situated himself into a more comfortable position. "In this facility, we work closely with something we call the Progenitor's Blood. It is a blood that is infused with chakra from the earliest known holder of chakra, whether it is the source or not we still do not know the answer. Shiro is someone we have grown to call the Wretched Egg and she is the mother of the Deadmen here as she is the source of their power and abilities. She is unique as she is able to transfer blood abilities to some individuals, whom we keep for further experimentation."
"Deadmen are the only ones to survive the process of overlapping the Progenitor's DNA, which we extract from the Wretched Egg, onto theirs. This allows for manipulative blood abilities similar to chakra elementals but they use their own vitality as the source of power. As you can tell, such use is limited to the user himself as any blood loss cannot be manipulated after a while."
"So you experiment on prisoners as a means to find a way to spread this ability into a personal army?" Naruto growled out his question as the loss of life must be catastrophic. "What does Karin have to do with this? Does she also have this Progenitor's Blood?"
"No, just Shiro," Haguire answered with a shake of his head and only the deeper intakes of breath let the blonde know the man was affected by his aura pressure. "Karin-chan's father was an Uzushio survivor who came to Grass to hide and I found him while researching the special properties of various clan blood prior to Shiro's birth. His blood was later used to stabilise the process of manipulating Deadmen with Shiro's Progenitor Blood. Karin's mother, however, is a woman unique in her own way but was more of Mui's pet project than mine. She was the only one who could control the Box of Eternal Bliss."
Naruto's attention now snapped to the man at the mention of the Divine Object. "The same Box famed to have almost allowed Kusa's ancestral nation to conquer the world if not for the intervention of the Sage of Six Paths?" The man nodded. "Why was she able to do that? Was it a bloodline?"
"Not that we could really find out but I do not believe so," Hagire admitted his inability to find out for sure. "Karin as a baby also showed an attunement to the Box like her mother and was looked after much closer by Mui. However, when Mui's son went missing, my plans ended up changing when he suspected Karin's mother as the reason. Mui ended up killing both of Karin's parents in the aftermath and it left me with an infant with nowhere near the amount of Uzumaki blood needed to continue my Deadmen experiments and no deductive consciousness to control the Box.
"So you got rid of her? No," Naruto dismissed the idea as soon as he said it and his narrowed gaze watched the man closely. He didn't feel any lies from him so far but that did not necessarily ease his mind. "You didn't get rid of her, so you either hid her or lost her."
"I was not equipped to raise another child," Hagire answered slowly. "Shiro was already a young child of seven, I could not handle the care of a three-year-old while maintaining the research within this facility. So I sent her to live in the prison as the child of one of the inmates, and Mui largely ignored her after the death of her parents and the disappearance of his son. He had no reason to care, especially if she lived or died as she was not a recorded inmate within the walls. But he did send her to Kusagakure when his fellow politicians within that Seeds group asked for a holder of a Kekkei Genkai."
"Unsurprising," Naruto said to himself as the story kinda played out in the way Karin described when she was open enough to remember the prison. "So you needed Karin to control the Box for you?"
"Just when I thought you were understanding," Hagire sighed roughly and in annoyance. "Karin's mother was the Key! Karin is the Key! With every locked box, there is a matching key! But Karin was not just the key to the Box but also the key to the Branch of Sin's skills! Blood that would be needed to complete Shiro into the Mother of Sin! Many experiments have shown that without Uzumaki blood, the Progenitor's Blood is incomplete. Fragmented like shards of glass."
Naruto was starting to understand who this Progenitor was. It's a flawed version of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's blood and that was why his clan's blood may be needed to stabilise it. How Shiro came to be in possession of this blood was confusing though. "How did you come into possession of Shiro? Is she your granddaughter?"
Hagire stared at the man and sat forward in his chair, breathing heavily. "Shiro was found by the corpse of her mother with her umbilical cord still attached. Her mother likely died alone during childbirth and she would have died too if not for me. But they did not look the same! Shiro had pink eyes and pale skin, later growing white hair. Her mother had dull brown eyes, black hair, and olive skin. Her father was not around but someone would not lose everything from the other half of their genetics! Can you explain that?"
Naruto admitted that he could not, but that only left a bigger mystery. Just as he was about to answer further a feeling of dread shot up his spine and he felt it coming from the surface. "We will continue this further later," he said before shooting off while a clone stayed behind with Hagire.
Meanwhile
Karin groaned as she felt her head splitting in two from the migraine she got when she passed out. "Why is it me who gets the shittiest day."
"Woe is to those born of gods."
Karin snapped her head up at the sound of a woman's voice and could only stare at who stood before her. However, something deep inside her gut and heart seemed to scream at her that who she was staring at is her mother. Her lips quivered and she felt tears brim at the corner of her eyes. "Mama."
The woman sighed with a small sad smile. "My baby. It's been hard not being able to talk to you like this."
Karin rushed to her mother, embracing the woman with choked sobs. "Mama!"
"Shhh," the woman hushed softly as she rocked side to side while running her hands through her daughter's hair. "It's okay, baby. I'm here."
"How?"
"When the Box was threatened, I had used it's power to speak with you. My voice only came in repeating phrases with few instances of me speaking directly to you. But now with my Box unsealed, I can communicate with you physically." The woman softly cupped her daughter's cheeks. "Karin, my daughter, you must understand everything if you are to take the role that is your birthright. To understand, I must start from the beginning."
Karin nodded her head, still crying and shaking while holding onto her mother's hands.
"I was not and am not a mortal. I walked the world for thousands of years after helping the Princess seal my Box and destroy my second husband's kingdom. You see, when I was a goddess that walked Terra, I was known as the witch Pandora and my Box was known throughout as a miracle object. It could heal the sick, cure disease, enrich the soil of dead land, and bring life to nature. But with the power of life I also had the control of death and in the Kingdom of Flowers I gained the attention of the Prince."
"He tricked me into believing he loved me and wished to help the world. But when we married and he became King, he used a binding ritual in our marriage ceremony that would bind me to his will. In this act, he used me and my Box to expand his kingdom to conquer the world. In doing so, he gained the attention of the rest of the world - specifically, the Uzumaki clan."
Karin's eyes widened at that and she gaped at the fond smile on her mother's face. "You fought the Uzumaki clan?"
"No," Pandora shook her head while the smile never left. "It was not just anyone who came when knowledge of the Kingdom of Flower's expansion spread across the continent. It was the Princess, Kokomi Uzumaki, that came to handle the growing threat. Unlike other mortals I have seen who would kill anyone if it meant getting rid of the issue, she was smart and calculated every move up until my release from the binding ritual. She saved me and killed the royal family, decreeing their continued existence as a threat to the balance of the world. She sealed my Box away at my request, using a seal that fed off of it's inherent divine energies to keep it powered so that only an extreme amount of power - like an Uzumaki - could release it."
"Then, how did you get caught and trapped in the prison," Karin asked with anxiety. "You could have escaped-"
"When my Divine Object was sealed, I also gave up my divinity to live as an immortal human," Pandora smiled at her daughter softly. "I do not regret it as being trapped here has given me a husband, your father, who taught me how to love again and from that union I gained you. But with the death of my human body I am not able to come back for many millennia."
Karin started crying again as her question for her mother to come back to Terra was answered with the last statement. "Damn it."
"I know you want me to come back but you do not need me anymore. You found a family worth living for, and a handsome strong husband to protect. You will carry on my legacy and make me even more proud than I already am." Pandora kissed her daughter's forehead even as her own tears stained her cheeks. "The Box is yours. Use it responsibly and protect the world. It will answer to the name I wished to give you; Anesidora."
Karin felt the world around her explode even as the feeling of her mother's embrace never left her, and as she opened her reddened eyes with tears streaming down her cheeks, she stared at the Box- her Box that hovered behind the Lord Warden.
"I will bring back my son with the power of the Box!" Mui shouted as a tattoo Karin could understand as the Seal of Binding formed on the man's hand. "Then, I will march of the great shinobi nations and bring peace to the world!"
"Shit! He is losing himself to the power of the Box!" Zoya unleashed her latent chakra through her finger weapons.
"We must stop him here!" Ryuzetsu shouted back as she prepared to cast a jutsu.
"No one will stop me!"
Karin began walking forward, purple chakra swirling around her even as she summoned the famed Uzumaki Chakra Chains from her back, and she faced off against the man. "You are not worthy to use the Box! It will only bring you a cursed life!"
"Who are you to stop me?" Mui shoved his hand out and the Box began to open. "I will unleash the power of the Box of Eternal Bliss on this prison!"
"The Box does not belong to you! It belongs to me and my mother before me, who you killed in cold blood!" Karin brought her hands out as if reaching for the Box and she called out through the wind. "Answer to me! My name is Anesidora and I command you to hear my call!"
The Box rose higher into the air and began to glow purple, leaking out a dark miasma from it's opening. Everyone watched as a bony hand reached out of the top and grasped the side. Then two large black wings thrust out and followed by an eyeless torso with a large humanlike mouth.
Karin somehow knew the name and life of this creature, almost as if the information has been given to her, and she called out once more. "Satori, servant of the Box, the Crow Demoness! Bow to your new Mistress!"
The large monster flapped its wings before landing in front of Karin in a kneeling position while knocking Mui off his feet. "I answer Mistress Anesidora's call."
Karin walked up to the Demoness and ran her hand along the furred arms. "Thank you, Satori."
Hello, all you beautiful people. I survive and still live. I have had a lot going on so hadnt done a whole lot in the time needed and it was just finished recently. Things got rough deciding what to word and how and making sure the interactions went well but with so much going on at one time it left many scene breaks. Either way, I hope everyone liked the conclusion we got.
College starts again and this will be my last year so the next chapter may not show up in as much of time as this one. Either way, it will be posted when its done and its ready to satisfy all of you.
777torn777: Everybody needs that ride or die homie that takes it over the edge lmao
PraetorXyn: Not-so-Zombie duo ;)
Primarx: Thank you for reading
Beastyd22: I hope this chapter was worth the wait lol
TigrezzTail: Yeah, especially since Hidan is one of Lilith's fanatics Naruto had no reason to let either of them live.
Guest1: Zoya's parents are Tsunade and Jiraiya. It was explained in either chapters 27 or 28.
Guest 2: Shiro is Shiro from Deadman Wonderland anime as is much of what is going on here
UzumakiRamen: Thank you! Hope you like it!
Guest3: Yes ages are up, at this point everyone is at least 18 (vs the canonical 15-16)
Shinigami209: I like that as most I've heard were memes (like Teuchi being Tobi or an Akatsuki agent) but that would have been really interesting and it would explain how he survives the ENTIRE series lmao
dbtiger63: Blood Prison ends and Aizen is busy in Sky with the last preparations of assimilating them into Uzushio. He will be seen much more once we start working in Gaal.
Unnatural Reader: I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope this is a great close for the arc :)
kasicair: Can't win everyone
Plasma Dragon 312: Yeah I can understand and it would have been better but please understand that most of these chapters are done when I am suffering from insomnia and I'm trying to worry about making it comprehensible. Some things may seem rushed or even inaccurate and I apologise. As for sleeping together, I think anyone who drinks a lot can say that there is a certain amount of shots we take before we say "I'd hit that" its not like the slept together and then started dating from there. As for smut, I wouldnt necessarily call that smut but idk lol
hellsingsage: That kinda happens when you make an AU story
HyperA2019: You didnt have to wait nearly as long as everyone else lmao