Chapter 30: Probing Memories, Life Saving Outburst
Sarutobi Hiruzen led Uchiha Tonan out of the interrogation room. They came back to Yamanaka Takuya, and Hiruzen said, “Let Tonan watch from the side while you look into her memories. I have other commitments at the moment, so I’ll leave now.”
“Understood. Thank you, Hokage-sama.”
Hiruzen patted Tonan’s shoulder and sighed as he left.
After seeing Hiruzen off, Takuya glanced at Tonan, and said, “Let’s go.”
Tonan nodded and followed him deeper into the Torture and Interrogation Department. They arrived outside the interrogation room, and two guarding shinobi bowed.
“Takuya-sama.”
Takuya nodded and said, “Take this guy in to observe. Notify me if anything happens.”
“Yes.”
Tonan walked in and saw a whole range of medical equipment and several unknown drugs all over the interrogation room. In the middle was an iron bed with an electric light bulb hanging above. A blindfolded Uchiha Mina was lying atop. Metal rings restrained her hands, feet, and neck.
Her breathing was calm and even like she was deep asleep. Two Yamanaka shinobi, who were in charge of the memory investigation, were in the midst of preparations. One of them, called Yamanaka Hayakawa, was sorting through papers, while the other, Yamanaka Ryochi, was drawing a blue liquid into a syringe.
“Sit there and don’t speak. Don’t move around either,” Hayakawa said, pointing to a chair at the side without looking up.
Tonan silently sat down.
“Is the sedative ready? She’s young, so don’t overdo it,” Hayakawa reminded Ryochi after sorting the papers.
Ryochi nodded silently. He arrived at Mina’s side, and inserted the syringe into her veins, pushing the drug in.
“I’m going to start,” Ryochi said, and closed his eyes and pressed both hands between Mina’s brow, beginning the memory probe.
Mina’s body suddenly jolted as if she was struck by electricity and began to shudder. Whimpering sounds came from her mouth as if she was undergoing unbearable torture.
Indifferent towards all this, Ryochi began to describe what he saw.
“I see it. The date is October 6th.”
Hayakawa, who sat beside Tonan, quickly began writing in a notebook.
“She got up, fed the cat, and made breakfast…”
“Then, she was daydreaming in the yard…”
Tonan watched with a pained look, but his heart jumped.
Sure enough, long-duration genjutsu came with its flaws.
“How long was she daydreaming for?”
“Past noon now.”
“During the afternoon, she packed up her things and left.”
Tonan kept up his anguished expression, but he was constantly planning in his head.
Judging by the chakra fluctuation of the probing ninja, he must be a chunin. The other was about the same level as well.
“If I cast genjutsu on both of them… No. It’s too risky. I’ll just keep watching for now.”
“She arrived at the arena and met with a person called Uchiha Tonan.”
“She was sparring with me last evening,” Tonan suddenly interjected.
Hayakawa’s face cooled and he warned, “Be quiet!”
“Sorry.” Tonan lowered his head, but a cold glint flashed past his eyes.
“She was distracted, her mind was constantly wandering off during the training, and she went home just after an hour. She saw her kitten was dead. Next to its body was a note. It said…”
Hayakawa nodded as he recorded the information. The memory they saw matched up with the evidence so far. It was a solid case.
“She arrived at the waterfall and hid in the grass. There, she saw Tonan with another girl. “That girl, Hyuga Chiryo, was professing her love to Tonan.”
“Tonan turned her down and left. Then, she came out and cut off the girl’s head, burning it using a Great Fireball.”
On the iron bed, Mina’s body began convulsing as if she were having a seizure, foaming at her mouth.
“Enough! She can’t take it, don’t torture her anymore!”
Tonan shouted, which interrupted Ryochi’s jutsu. Next to him, Hayakawa turned to the tear-streaked Tonan and coldly said, “Tonan, is it? Do you know the consequences of obstructing an interrogation? If you repeat this, I’ll have to ask you to leave. I must perform my duties as an interrogator.”
After rebuking him, he turned to Ryochi and said, “Continue. Look at her memories from the previous day as well.”
“No! kill me, kill me!” Mina wailed. Due to the interruption, she regained her ability to speak.
Ryochi paid no attention to her pleas. Such scenes were too commonplace here. As long as he continued the jutsu, all the distracting noise would cease. He immediately placed both hands back in between her brows.
When he heard Hayakawa’s instruction to search the memories from the day before, Tonan’s mind turned, and the tomoe in his eyes began to spin.
He took out his kunai and turned into a dark shadow, leaping towards Mina.
“You little brat, I’ve put up with you long enough!”
The two Yamanaka shinobi reacted quickly. They had been wary of Tonan’s mood swings for a while now. Both approached him at once and attacked to subdue him.
Bash
Bash
Ryochi punched Tonan’s stomach and Hayakawa kicked his back. Tonan coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.
“Mina…” His eyes slackened as he raised a hand towards her with difficulty.
“This person might be important. We won’t get into any trouble, will we?” Ryochi frowned.
“He’s obstructing official work. We’re in the right if word gets to Hokage-sama.” Hayakawa grabbed Tonan by the hair and dragged him outside.
The interrogation room’s door was opened and the two shinobi watching outside looked at Hayakawa with shock. “Hayakawa, what are you doing? Put Ryochi down immediately!”
Hayakawa was stunned at those words, and asked in confusion, “What are you talking about?”
Then, he looked down.
“This is… Ryochi! Where has that little brat gone?”
The one that Hayakawa was dragging out was not Tonan, but his fellow interrogator. What was even scarier was that Ryochi still had a thoughtful expression on his face like he was wondering about Tonan’s background.
Hayakawa quickly put Ryochi down and the three looked at each other before turning back in unison.
“Oh no!”
In the torture room, the lamp above continued to illuminate the iron bed at the center. Tonan emerged from the shadows, his face pale and three tomoe spinning in his eyes.
One hand gently stroked Mina’s hair, as he aimed a kunai at her heart with the other.
“Tonan…” Mina murmured. The genjutsu was beginning to lose its effect on her mind and she recovered some of her memories.
Fragmented images began coming back to her, and it all eventually settled on the scene where Tonan used his genjutsu on her.
At this moment, Mina understood everything. At once, she struggled with all her might. But the metal rings didn’t budge. She couldn’t move.
Seeing her resistance, a sad look appeared on Tonan’s face and he said in a hoarse voice, “It’s fine now, Mina. The pain will end soon.”
His words were to soothe but the voice Mina heard was just like the whispers of a devil from hell.
She pleaded in a voice full of fear, “Help me!”
