Gokumonjo was a prison built by the Grass Village under commission from various countries, specifically to detain criminal ninja. It was a hell for countless villains and rogue ninja.
Even Sasuke Uchiha would later fall there, swinging a pickaxe in hard labor and getting smashed in the face by guards. Of course, Gokumonjo was also where the "Box of Ultimate Bliss" was located.
At the same time, in the Land of Moon, inside the camp of the Konoha forces.
"Do we need ground forces to cooperate?"
Inside the tent, several members of the Konoha Jonin were present, gathered for a combat meeting. After hearing Yunchuan Hyuga's plan, everyone fell into thought, and Jiraiya's eyes flickered.
He was considering the feasibility of this operation. If it could really be carried out, it would definitely deal a heavy blow to Kumogakure.
As the core of the entire operation, Yunchuan Hyuga would undoubtedly become the greatest contributor. After thinking for a long time, Jiraiya looked up at Yunchuan Hyuga in front of him and asked, "For that Ninjutsu you mentioned, how confident are you?"
"Eighty percent," Yunchuan Hyuga said frankly. "As long as the ground forces cooperate."
"Eighty percent..." Jiraiya pressed his lips together, his heart pounding. An eighty percent chance was more than enough for them to take the risk.
However, he did not rush to give an answer. Instead, he looked at Yunchuan Hyuga and Kakashi Hatake and said, "I have already sent the information about that Underground Palace and what happened there back to the old man."
"This mission of yours was completed extremely well. The text on the stone tablet is still being deciphered, and more people will be sent to explore the Underground Palace later."
"That ninja tool called 'Wanli Flying Hatred', since it was obtained by Yunchuan, will be left for you to use as you see fit."
"As for that broken sword, we still cannot see what is special about it, and the thing you brought back, Kakashi Hatake..."
He paused here and looked at the black box placed in front of them. Dense characters were carved on its surface, and under the lamplight it showed a dark gold sheen that left no doubt about its value.
"The writing on this box is the same ancient script as the one on the stone tablet," Jiraiya said in a low voice. "Several of the words here have already been deciphered."
Objects that carried this kind of script, whether ancient books or relics, always bore heavy history, marked by fate and extinction. Jiraiya looked at the ancient characters on the box and slowly spoke the words, sounding like both prophecy and curse.
"Any blood of gods must end by the sword."
As soon as he finished speaking, a heartbeat sound came from inside the box, causing everyone's pupils to shrink. Listening carefully, they could even make out that there were seven distinct heartbeats.
"This..." Kakashi Hatake swallowed hard, staring at the black box. What on earth had he brought back from the Underground Palace?
Why was there a heartbeat sound?
Jiraiya raised his hand and pressed the mechanism at the center of the black box. A series of complex mechanical clicks sounded as it opened.
With a series of clacks, the box unfolded to both sides, and dark light reflected from within. Seven blades of different shapes, covered in intricate patterns, appeared before everyone's eyes.
These seven weapons were stored in the same box, buried underground for thousands of years, yet at the moment they emerged, they still shone with cold light. Their exaggerated yet restrained sharpness hinted that beneath their crafted beauty, they were lethal weapons of slaughter.
Most importantly, "Are they alive?"
One of the Konoha Jonin members murmured in a daze. Yes, the feeling these seven blades gave them was that they were alive.
The seven differently shaped blades lay quietly in the box, but everyone present could clearly feel as if they were being watched by something. Or rather, they were being examined, their bodies and even the depths of their souls.
"You are thinking correctly," Jiraiya said softly as his gaze swept over them. "I know it sounds unbelievable, but these seven blades are indeed alive."
"They are called the Seven Deadly Sins."
"Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust."
Jiraiya pointed to each blade one by one. Greed, ring pommel saber. Pride, eight sided sword. Wrath, tachi. Envy, wakizashi. Sloth, broad greatsword. Gluttony, horse cutting blade. Lust, short dagger.
It was the first time many of them had seen the shapes of some of these weapons. Ninja tools in the Ninja World were strange by nature, so this alone did not surprise them.
What truly shocked them was Jiraiya's next sentence.
"Try it," Jiraiya said in a deep voice. "Draw them."
"Only those who gain their recognition are qualified to wield them."
"Pull them out."
"Only those who gain their recognition are qualified to own and use them."
Inside the tent, the air seemed to slow after Jiraiya said this, each breath turning heavy. Someone spoke with a dry voice and asked if that meant the weapons chose their owners rather than the other way around. Jiraiya replied that this was correct, explaining that they had souls and were alive in a sense.
He added that every word spoken and every action taken might already be under their watch. Jiraiya nodded and could not help but sigh that he could not imagine how powerful the smith who forged the seven blades must have been. As those words fell, many people felt their bodies stiffen as if unseen eyes were measuring them.
Granting life to cold weapons went beyond understanding, and no master smith in the Ninja World could compare to such skill. Even the former Kusanagi Sword already stood at the peak of Ninja Tool craftsmanship, so weapons with souls had to be even more terrifying. Thinking of this, the faint sense of seven heartbeats pressed on everyone's nerves, and their own hearts began to race.
A system notice chimed, stating that the lies were judged as false glory and empty fame, causing emotional fluctuations in Jiraiya, Kakashi Hatake, Yunchuan Hyuga, and others, reaching a level of longing and granting 3000 Reality Points. The display showed Remaining Reality Points at 10235. Yunchuan Hyuga watched calmly, not surprised to see his name appear.
This was exactly the effect he wanted. What began as seven weapons embedded with Ninjutsu and Chakra had later been enhanced again at the cost of points. The choice was not easy, but he needed the owners of this set of Seven Deadly Sins to spread the name of the so called Yunshiki Otsutsuki.
As his lies increased, the daily gain in points grew, and he understood the need for the continued growth of Akatsuki. The seven blades could not fade into obscurity or end up like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, becoming little more than background figures later on. Because of this, Yunchuan Hyuga decided to run an experiment.
Growth. He wanted to give the seven blades the ability to grow stronger under certain conditions. From the souls he had collected, he chose seven special ones and sealed them into the blades, letting them choose their owners based on their own nature, much like how Root operated.