93. The Scorching Prison of Plantains

The city lord, Muro, looked at the towering man before him, a shark-faced stranger with a countenance unlike any other. In truth, he had noticed this man long ago.

"Who are you? Your name does not seem to be among today’s batch of prisoners," he asked.

"My lord, I am Kisame Hoshigaki, a major criminal of the Hidden Mist. I arrived early," Kisame said simply.

Muro took out the registry and checked it. As expected, Kisame Hoshigaki had originally been scheduled to arrive at the fortress only half a month later.

"So you came here on your own, without escort from any Hidden Mist ninja, and even arrived half a month early to begin your sentence. Why would you do such a thing?"

When he learned Kisame’s circumstances, Muro was genuinely surprised.

Since taking control of the fortress, this was the first time he had encountered such an unusual prisoner.

"I have come to atone, my lord. Only within this prison can my conscience find peace, and only here can I achieve my own redemption."

Kisame’s gaze dimmed, as though he truly felt remorse and self-reproach for the crimes he had committed.

"Ah, if only every prisoner were so self-aware."

Hearing this, Muro’s expression softened somewhat, and he began to regard Kisame in a new light. But the next instant, he stepped forward and struck Kisame in the chest with a palm blow, sending him staggering back.

Kisame retreated several steps and dropped to one knee. When he lifted his clothing, a sealing pattern was indeed visible across his upper body.

Muro walked over and looked down at him.

"No matter who the prisoner is, I, as the lord of this fortress, treat all alike. Trying to curry favor with me is useless."

"Yes, my lord."

Kisame bowed his head and answered, clutching his chest in apparent agony.

In truth, he felt no pain at all.

Just as he had expected, Muro’s fire-release prison had sealed his chakra, but not completely.

That was because the technique was designed for humans. It sealed the body's tenketsu and meridians, preventing chakra from gathering and flowing.

But Kisame was, in fact, a being neither fully human nor fully beast.

His body, altered long ago by cheats and all kinds of ninja tools, had already become radically different from that of an ordinary person.

The fire-release prison did suppress the chakra within him to some extent, making it difficult for him to use ninjutsu freely, especially large-scale water-release techniques.

However, more than half of the abilities he had acquired after devouring the sword-ninja tools remained unaffected and could still be used as normal.

The blunt blade skullcap, the blood-drinking fangs, the sewing-needle index finger, the explosive left arm, and the shark-tail lightning whip.

Even under the fire-release prison, Kisame retained more than sixty percent of his strength, which was more than enough.

Moreover, as its name suggested, the fire-release prison was a fire-based sealing art, and its weakness was water.

If Kisame ever found himself in real danger, he could simply force chakra to gather, create a water-release technique, and nullify the seal.

In other words, Muro’s seal on Kisame was, for all practical purposes, no seal at all. It relied entirely on Kisame’s own restraint.

In truth, Kisame had initially considered the most direct approach: once inside the fortress, he would act at once and seize control of the prison.

With his strength, it was possible.

But the risk was too great.

If, in the process, he could not control every guard and prisoner, then even if a single person escaped and spread the word to the great nations and the hidden villages, the plan would be exposed.

And as Kisame knew, Muro was a ruthless, cold-blooded ambitious man, with support from the higher ranks of the Grass Hidden Village behind him.

In order to open the Box of Bliss and restore the former glory of the Grass Hidden Village, Muro would even sacrifice his own son. Once he learned of Kisame’s true purpose, he would surely spare no cost to protect the secret of the Box of Bliss.

The fortress was neither small nor vast. Finding the hidden Box of Bliss in a short time would not be easy.

At that thought, Kisame felt a trace of regret.

If only he had found a way to bring along Gengetsu Hozuki as well and have him serve his sentence here.

Gengetsu Hozuki’s water-body would have been utterly immune to the fire-release prison, and his slime-like form could have infiltrated the prison without a sound to scout out intelligence everywhere.

He would have been of considerable help.

Far away in the Hidden Mist, Gengetsu Hozuki suddenly shivered at that very moment.

There was a third reason Kisame had not acted immediately.

The Box of Bliss was a Six Paths-level ninja tool. If Kisame wished to devour it, he would need to spend a great deal of time and effort to have any hope of doing so without mishap.

Otherwise, should it turn on him and reduce him to nourishment for "Wugou," then his life would end there and then.

From the beginning, devouring the Box of Bliss had been a mad and perilous undertaking.

For Kisame, both physically and mentally, he had to be fully prepared.

Given these three considerations, Kisame decided to enter the prison first as a prisoner and lie low for the time being. Once he had a clear understanding of the fortress and confirmed the Box of Bliss’s location, he would act when the chance presented itself.

Haste makes waste. Proceeding slowly and steadily was the wiser course.

"Take them to the prison."

On the open ground, after planting the fire-release prison seal on every prisoner, Muro ordered the guards.

"Move it!"

Several guards immediately raised their batons and barked at them, escorting Kisame and the others toward the cells.

Before entering the prison, there was a search. The prisoners had to strip naked while the guards thoroughly inspected every inch of their bodies and handed over anything suspicious hidden on them.

Anything of value they carried would be confiscated on the spot, and if dangerous items were found, they would receive a vicious beating besides.

"Good grief, that’s enormous..."

One guard looked Kisame’s muscles over from head to toe, his gaze finally settling on the other man’s private parts.

He clicked his tongue in amazement.

This shark of a man, covered in muscle, clearly liked men. After all, what normal person would train his body to such an absurd degree? Such excessive bodybuilding could only be for attracting his own sex at a glance.

One could only wonder which unfortunate prisoners would suffer for it.

The guard sighed to himself, then urged Kisame to hurry up and get dressed. There was no need to keep showing off those muscles.

If he looked any longer, he would become so ashamed of himself he might never sleep again.

They passed through a dim corridor.

At last they reached the cell block.

"Now that you’re here, don’t even think about escaping. Once you get used to it, you’ll find this place isn’t so bad, after all. Come on, the veterans are waiting to welcome you."

As the guard spoke, he opened the gate and led Kisame and the others inside.

"New arrivals?"

The group’s arrival immediately caused an uproar inside the cells. Many prisoners thrust their hands through the bars, wearing lewd, mocking grins as they whistled at the newcomers in the corridor.

"Well, well, this batch looks pretty good. A few of you have such fair, tender skin. Later on, let me give you a proper loving welcome."

A bald brute sneered with a feral grin, his gaze roaming brazenly over the newcomers.

The other prisoners joined in, and the atmosphere gradually turned heated and restless.

In a prison where the overwhelming majority were men, after long periods of suppression, the inmates often ended up like this when they sought release.

Faced with such a culture, the newcomers were, without exception, terrified. One and all they trembled, following carefully behind the guards and not daring to approach the cells lining either side of the corridor.

Kisame was trembling too, but not from fear—his whole body quivered with excitement.

After entering the prison, he discovered that the air here was thick with chaos, darkness, and the stench of blood, all following the oldest law in nature:

The strong prey on the weak.

These sensations awakened the primal savagery of a male beast within Kisame, stirring him to exhilaration.

Thus, he studied the surrounding prisoners with great interest, and in the end even offered a pleased smile.

As though every one of them were his prey.