Yūji found himself in a strange place, he was not in his cell next to that boy, he was tied up with chains, these tightened around his body, for some strange reason he felt very tired, so tired that he wanted to close his eyes again and not wake up for days
' possibly it is spiritual fatigue, I do not know how long I have been fighting with Sukuna in our soul ' thought the boy with a sigh, when he noticed more his surroundings, he realized that he was on top of a... stretcher? It is a gloomy space, books, things similar to test tubes, it seems...
" a laboratory, or maybe a medicinal place " he murmured to himself, it seems like an underground room, since everything that should be walls does not exist, his heavy eyelids scanning.
There is no person in that place who could confirm his doubts, he pressed his lips wanting to get up, but he did not manage, when he tried to make an effort, his arms trembled.
' this spiritual fatigue has left me weak, I am not injured, but it is as if I were debilitated, and Sukuna... I do not think he can answer me right now ' thought Yūji trying to find something to help him get out of that place, although in front of him he saw something strange.
It is as if it were a face, a very strange face, metallic.
But he became enraged at the moment he heard echoing noises, he had to close his eyes, but that only served to heighten his auditory senses, there is no point in panicking, he has to analyze something feeling for some strange reason that he was against time.
The steps echoed more and more, they were quiet, discreet, he heard something fluttering, it is the same noise that fabric makes. Now... he does not even have to make a grimace at this moment.
" it has not woken up for two days, is that even normal? "
" it does not really matter, on the contrary, it is better for us that he stays asleep and does not wake up... he has a lot of chakra, it will serve to feed the box "
" I have a strange premonition, finally our dear Kusagakure will shine again in the ninja world, all those damned who despised us will know the power of our village "
He heard multiple voices, some deep, others high, it is strange, very strange, but he remained motionless in his room.
" shall we start then? I suppose this boy will do the easiest work, it is possible that with his immersed chakra he can bring us to the point where the box can open, that an Uzumaki has arrived here was a blessing, for that is the only thing that that terrible extinct clan is good for "
He heard a different voice again, almost raising his eyebrows ' Uzumaki? Extinct clan? ... I, do I have a clan? '
Despite his questions, he wanted to keep all his doubts, not feeling that they would remove his chain
" Mui, proceed now "
Then that man with whom he fought before was there, he will be a problem, he is strong, and Sukuna does not seem to have woken up, he feels it internally.
The dark-haired man now looked at those who wore a mask, animal heads and long robes, Mui with his dead eyes looked at the boy who was tied on the stretcher on which multiple people had died there. The man's appearance now had some bandages crossing his neck and part of his face, trying to hide the decay, for some strange reason, that area no longer hurt however the infection did not go away.
He had been planning this for a while, it is not surprising that people disappear in Hōzuki Castle, this boy will be just another one, it matters little if he was a boy or not, all is for the resurgence of Kusagakure, everyone will know the greatness of their village, a small smile appeared on his face as he thought of it.
Yes, this is fine.
" I will proceed with this, anyway, stay alert, the boy may wake up, do not underestimate him... after all, he was the one who did this to me " spoke Mui with undeniable coldness, seeing how those masked men laughed slightly
" that was your fault, Mui, you should not have toyed with him, you should have immobilized him from the first moment " spoke the one with the ram's mask, Mui does not know what expressions those men have, but he only tightened his mouth.
He will do whatever is necessary, he turned his gaze back to the boy, making a few seals to place his palm on the boy's chest.
During all that time, Mui had been slowly draining the boy's chakra, so slow and torturous but he did not realize it, that for some strange reason, the boy's chakra is very different from that of other prisoners, it feels more turbulent and dangerous, but it fits him so well.
He sighed to place his hand on the boy's chest " liberation " uttering those words, the purple tattoo retracted to the palm of his hand, again leaving that white and pale chest of the boy.
Yūji could not avoid a grimace, that seal hurt terribly, it was terrible ' he, I feel a burning where those marks were ' he thought, that at the moment of ceasing to feel the pain, he firmly believed that he would feel his chakra and his cursed energy.
But despite feeling it, it is very light, very faint, his body had gotten used to no longer having anything to feel his chakra and his CE was strange, but not impossible.
Anything that is cursed energy or chakra he will take, his closed eyes visualized its inner form.
That at the moment of seeing just a tiny swirling hint of cursed energy with a bit of chakra, he opened his eyes roughly surprising Mui.
But his surprise did not last long as Yūji did not give him time to react, such a strong blow was delivered to the man that his chest, when struck, exhaled saliva and a bit of blood, sending him flying to the other end of that underground cave. Hitting a wall of the cave made the entire room shake and could almost cause a collapse, all the things that were there shook violently, some even exploded due to the gratifying force of the boy, debris falling from the stone ceiling.
" ¡Mui! " shouted one of the masked ones since it is supposed that the guardian has to carry out the procedure, the four masked men surrounded the boy, throwing themselves directly at him, but Yūji had seen them, his pupils moving quickly as he captured their movements.
' okay, I now have stable CE ' he thought as he made a strong leap destroying the stretcher he was on, the attack from those masked men did not affect him and at that moment the red-haired boy shattered the chains that bound him by brute force, charged with CE in his arms.
He would have liked to escape, but his beloved friend was still trapped by Mui, his eyes sharpened to see where the dark-haired man was embedded, at a very slow pace he felt that his chakra and CE that had been sealed were returning to his body
' if I have these reserves I do not think I can hold out a moment against five people, I just have to take Suiren and escape from here ' Yūji launched himself directly at Mui who had barely stabilized, the man licked his lower lip that was stained with blood, the only thing he could dodge was a red stain that approached him dangerously.
But again, a distortion similar to an extended wind attack in his direction almost made him fall to the ground, the underground place where they had the box of wishes could collapse from the attacks.
Disassemble was launched by Yūji, taking care not to use maximum power, he did not have Sukuna's ability but he could at least use his technique decently, he did not want to end up buried underneath with all these people.
Mui narrowed his eyes " it seems I am getting old, my perception did not catch that you were awake " he whispered softly, using several hand seals to make his celestial fire sword jutsu appear again.
Yūji saw that behind Mui there were four masked people, most of them wearing ram heads and black robes with red.
The boy tightened his mouth clenching his fists, his assembled arms appeared, the pure red like blood shielding his small arms made the masked ones surprised.
" to think that the Uzumaki clan might have had a prodigy, what a pity " sounded the guttural voice of the goat, but Yūji did not let his guard down.
He did not even answer them, he no longer acted impulsively, he was plotting a plan on how to evade them, he knows that he must be careful of Mui in case he places the celestial prison seal on him again, but, the others? He has no information about them or jutsus, being the first time he sees them is a very big disadvantage.
' I will have to be evading and not let them touch me, it is more dangerous for me, my reserves fill so slowly... damn ' thought the frustrated boy.
Mui simply narrowed his eyebrows, throwing himself directly at the boy, the fire sword danced with the abrupt movement he made, it was a hard and precise movement that Yūji had to deflect directly with his armored arms, in doing so he did not care, he felt no pain, his face now no longer fixed much on the man's face, his main concern is Suiren, he wanted to feel his cursed energy in a part of the man, but he got nothing.
He could not feel it.
His mouth trembled, having to separate from Mui since those four approached his direction " ¡where did you hide Suiren!? " he shouted at the man, his teeth clenching his mouth, Mui was confused knowing that the boy was speaking, although he remembered that he carried something similar to an invocation with him.
" uhm, do you care that much? " he whispered with that dead tone, Mui looked to his sides seeing how those from the opposing faction remained still, it seems that they were trying to persuade.
His gaze returned to the boy, his hand went into his robe to take something out, it is small, Yūji opened his eyes upon noticing it.
" here is your invocation, I had to reinforce the seal, it is too persistent and there have been moments when it almost managed to escape, but with me here, it will not be able to " spoke the man calmly, the boy could only breathe a bit more agitatedly.
Yūji only straightened up again, he must not lose his calm, that man is only provoking him ' damn it! fill up faster! ' he thought as he felt his reserves rising too slowly, if this continued it would be impossible to fight, he can only maintain his technique for a short time, not to mention how much chakra he can use.
His pupil became smaller when he finally saw movement from those three people ' they are very fast, faster than Mui! ' thought the boy, before these guys did not react like that with him, possibly they had underestimated him, at least that is his own thought when they launched their attack.
Yūji had to catch some fists from one of those masked people, throwing him against another who had tried to land a collateral kick, to the third who was behind him he gave a jump and with a blow of his leg directly to his head he slammed him to the ground causing smoke to start coming out everywhere from that small explosion he made, finally he launched Disassemble splitting him vertically.
They all exploded in smoke ' damn! ' he cursed mentally again, as soon as his leg touched the ground, those guys were again in front of him, Yūji in an enhanced attack of Disassemble spent the CE that he had barely recovered, those guys had their hands extended in his direction pointing at him with the index finger.
" ¡G-Gha! " a small cry came out of his mouth, something was oppressing him harshly, his body felt asphyxiated, he could not move, not even mobilize either of his two energies " damn them! " shouted the furious boy, if only he were well, why were his two energies not returning? What was wrong with his body?
" just for this time I will accept the fact of why you ended up injured, Mui, this little brat is very slippery " spoke the one with a somewhat effeminate voice.
Mui approached now without the active jutsu of the fire sword, they have to hurry because he has noticed that the hands of the masked ones began to tremble, it seems that they were struggling to contain that red-haired boy, seeing the furious face of the boy
" you were unlucky, but if you manage to fill the box, you could survive in a way " while he made a few seals that when doing the jutsu, he moved his hands quickly to specific points, causing Yūji to lose consciousness again.
The five placed the boy among the debris " that brat has strength, if you had taken too long the retention jutsu would have been useless, he was the first person who could have managed to break it "
" but he did not "
And that downcast frown returned, Mui looked at the men " this time I will not need you to let me, I need you to be using that jutsu when I extract his chakra, try to contain him, I just want to say that as long as he does not move his hands it will be fine "
The masked ones no longer responded sarcastically, they just nodded, barely moving their heads, Mui sighed deeply to place both palms on part of the boy's belly and chest.
What was the underground area to extract the chakra from people, just because of this boy it ended up reduced to debris, incredibly.
All is for opening the box of total bliss.
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[ A bit of filler but contextual, the reason why Yūji could not use his CE and his Chakra is because his soul is solidifying Sukuna's consciousness, his body is not in tune with his soul, in the next chapters we will be finishing the Hōzuki Castle arc ]