Chapter 39 Water and Fire (End)
Fortress No. 14 of the Kingdom of Rain guards the southern gateway of this country.
Less than twenty kilometers south of this fortress is the country of Rivers, which is separated from the two great powers of fire and wind. Therefore, it has extremely important strategic significance.
Sanshouo no Hanzo couldn't worry about others, so he specially entrusted it to his youngest son, and Sanshouo no Koga personally guarded it.
But he didn't know what his youngest son was doing here. If he had some idea, it wouldn't be surprising——
Why are there always outsiders coming in and out here?
The first wave of people who came here were Uchiha Itachi and the two spies from the root.
They pretended to be rain ninjas and came here to steal an important experimental report, and they were about to succeed. For the two spies, there is only one "self-sacrifice" mission left to solve.
The second wave of people who came here was Uchiha Shisui who discovered Uchiha Flame and many bloody ninja corpses in a laboratory in Amegakure Village.
He came here following Itachi's trail, and also to answer some questions.
The third wave was carrying someone in a dark oilcloth carriage. He had just arrived outside the gate of the fortress.
"Stop."
The rain ninja, who was wearing a bamboo hat and holding a spear in his hand, stretched out his hand and stopped the carriage with only one driver.
Just looking at the style of the carriage, it must have been driven out from here.
"Are you bringing the kids here?"
The gatekeeper, Rain Ninja, came to the coachman's side, looked around and asked, "Why are you the only one?"
His companion walked to the back of the carriage and planned to inspect the "goods" inside.
"Today is really unlucky."
The driver raised his head, revealing a face stained with blood and bruises, and said in a muffled voice: "We met a group of rebels. They stayed behind and asked me to bring the people back first."
If you look carefully, you will find that this is the leader of the settlement that Giyu saved before.
He used to be a member of the Rain Ninjas, so it was quite natural for him to say these words. It was even more natural when he was injured, with a bit of resentment and blame. Anyway, with such an unrecognizable face, the other party could probably mistake him for anyone.
The key is what's behind.
The rain ninja who walked to the back of the car lifted up the oilcloth, and four pairs of lifeless eyes looked at him in unison, startling him so much that he almost jumped up.
But a closer look revealed that these were just four children ranging from six to ten years old. The reason why they had similar eyes was probably because they were all afraid.
Considering what they were about to face, they really should be afraid.
"It's really unlucky..."
Rain Ninja put the oilcloth back angrily and shouted forward: "There are only four brats."
"The number is a bit small, but considering what you've been through, it's pretty good."
The rain ninja in front did not forget to comfort the coachman, and then walked to the gate and said something into the doorway. The huge iron door creaked open.
"Take them to the small door to the south."
"ok."
The coachman responded and continued to drive forward slowly.
There were some rain ninjas in the fortress courtyard, but they had no interest in the carriage. They took one look at it and continued to do their own thing.
"Are you familiar with this place?"
A question came from the carriage, and it was none other than Giyu, one of the "four" children.
Fortress No. 14 was the destination where the previous group of rain ninjas wanted to kidnap the homeless children and bring them there.
This information was not asked by Giyu. He did not have any torture skills, and his social skills were extremely poor. The ones who pried open that Jonin's mouth were the angry vagabonds who nearly lost their lives and children and were oppressed by the rain ninja.
What exactly did those people do to Rain Ninja? Giyu only listened to a short paragraph before he didn't want to continue. Anyway, he got the information he wanted, as well as the help offered by the homeless leader.
According to the Jonin, they kidnapped the child in order to create a second ninja demigod through experiments. As for what kind of experiment, he was not a professional, so he did not know the inside story. He only knew that Rain Ninja had kidnapped many children from surrounding small countries and this country, but as long as they entered this building, very few came out.
Don't mention it first, just the word "experiment" successfully touched Giyu's sensitive vocabulary.
He didn't forget how Shisui explained to him "why Wen's body disappeared".
At least, Giyu felt that the chance of finding Uchiha Flame in this place was much more reliable than looking for the so-called "angel", so he came up with this plan to go deep into the Enemy layer and attack the mastermind.
"I used to work at Fortress No. 7 near the Fire Country."
The leader of the homeless took a deep breath and touched the wound on his face as he replied, "The layout of these castles are all similar, and I am quite familiar with them."
"This is dangerous."
"I know."
The homeless leader said, "But you have helped us, and we have nothing to thank you for. We can only do something for you. I can tell that someone important to you is missing, right?"
Giyu said nothing and quietly extracted chakra.
The other three "children" are all the results of his shadow clone + transformation technique.
Two minutes later, the carriage stopped at the dark south side of the fortress.
The homeless leader held up the Amegakure forehead protector and knocked on the door. The three transformed shadow clones all followed Giyu out of the car in a daze, and stood behind the homeless leader without saying a word, with exactly the same expression.
[Is this transformation technique really useful? 】
Giyu complained secretly in his heart.
"Has today's arrived too?"
The person who opened the door was a bald man, his eyes seemed to be squeezed through the crack of the door, only a little smaller.
Seeing that there were only four children, his flabby face simply dropped, "That's a lot."
Just when the homeless leader was about to explain, the man looked at his face and waved his hand, "Needless to say, you must have been attacked. I'm used to it. Four is four, it's better than nothing..."
Then, his eyes scanned the faces of the four children one by one.
"Are these children from one family?"
Otherwise, what a look.
All the children nodded at the same time.
The bald man suddenly turned from worry to joy, "That's great, we can do a more detailed control group experiment..."
The homeless leader was speechless.
[Don’t you doubt such an obvious loophole? 】
The bald man leaned down, smiled broadly at the Children and said, "Come with me, I want to do some examinations for you. Those who pass the test can become ninjas and live in the Hidden Rain Village. Doesn't this sound good?"
"What about the unqualified ones?"
Giyu's true body tilted his head.
"Those who are not qualified will stay here as servants, preparing food for Lord Sanshouo no Koga."
The bald man still smiled gently, but Giyu understood the true meaning of "preparing food".
As for the homeless leader, he suddenly felt a cold current rushing from his spine to the top of his head. The faint anger had been covered up by fear, and he just wanted to leave this place quickly.
"Okay, you go, I'll just take them there next."
With that said, the bald man was about to close the door, but was stopped by the homeless leader with the sole of his foot.
"that……"
He faced the suspicious gaze of the bald man and waved his hand to Giyu who gave him a warning look.
"If you succeed in becoming a ninja, you must visit us."
Giyu hesitated for a second or two, then nodded.
Only then did the door close, and the bald man returned to his smile, "Don't worry, just follow me. If you're lucky, you may still meet again."
All the children exchanged glances with each other, but did not speak. They just followed the man, seemingly very obedient.
The two walked through the long corridor inside the fortress, went up to the second floor, and walked all the way to the deepest room. After opening the door, what greeted Giyu's eyes were two rows of hospital beds with pulleys and four doctors-looking men in white coats.
There were seven children of different ages lying on the hospital bed, each of them wearing a ventilator. There was a monitor on the cabinet next to the bed, which showed the children's vital signs, but Giyu couldn't understand it.
The men dressed as doctors all wore gas masks and were walking back and forth between the beds, transcribing the data on them.
In addition, there are fifteen empty beds in this room, but most of them have signs of being laid on and look like they have just been moved out.
While the bald man was talking to the "doctor", Giyu's eyes stopped on one of the children, looking through his skin and bones and observing his respiratory tract.
Then he discovered that what the other party absorbed from the ventilator was not pure oxygen, but also mixed with some kind of thin lavender gas. Those gases had a strong paralysis effect, making the inhaler completely paralyzed and would... It continuously invades its body and internal organs, but within a few seconds, some of these toxins will disappear.
Giyu continued to scan down and found that above the child's left kidney, there was a heart-like sac that was constantly beating, filled with dangerous toxins. The toxins that disappear from the patient's body are eventually absorbed by this capsule.
That organ was not an organ that a human should have. It was inserted through an incision in the side of the abdomen.
[What on earth is this? 】
Giyu glanced at the other children and found that the concentration of toxin injected into each child and the absorption efficiency of the poison sac were different, but they were all in different stages of poisoning, and one of them was already very dangerous.
The poison sac in his body was working overload, beating rapidly, as if it would explode inside the child at any time.
"Do it!"
Giyu couldn't wait any longer. He didn't plan to think about it himself, but asked directly.
He raised his foot and crushed the bald man's calf in front of him. When he fell to the ground, he covered his mouth to prevent him from screaming. The remaining shadow clones also knocked down the people dressed as doctors.
These people were not fighting ninjas, and they caused little trouble to Giyu.
"Water Whip."
This is the new ninjutsu that Giyu learned from the rain ninja today. Five water whips tied the five people tightly, unable to move. At this time, all the clones returned to their original appearance, and separately adjusted the respirators on the children's mouths to normal oxygen, eliminating the input of poisonous gas.
He glanced around and made sure that the toxins in the body of the child who was most in danger had stopped growing, and then he came to the "doctors" with a straight face.
"There are ventilators here, I guess they have similar things in them."
Giyu suppressed his emotions and carefully recalled the words the homeless people used to torture those rain ninjas before, thinking about how to get the answers he wanted from these people.
"If you don't say anything, I will turn those things on to the maximum and put them in your mouths."
The five people all nodded in fear, looking like they were not good at poisoning.
Giyu waved his hand, and part of the water whip was removed from the mouth of one of the "doctors".
The man took a deep breath and said spinelessly: "I'll tell you anything, just ask."
"What did you do to these people? What was in their bodies and in the ventilators?"
"We implanted the poison sacs of Sanshōuo into these experimental subjects. Those ventilators were mixed with diluted toxins of ordinary Sanshōuo..."
The experimenter explained to Giyu: "We are testing the adaptability of these experimental subjects and poison sacs. People with better adaptability have better resistance to toxins, and the more efficient the poison sacs are in absorbing toxins entering their bodies The higher they are, the more successful they will be as experimental subjects."
"..."
Giyu frowned, "What's the point of doing this?"
"This, of course, is to replicate the miracle of Sanshouo no Hanzo-sama."
The experimenter showed an expression like "You are so awesome, why don't you understand anything?"
"If these experimental subjects can successfully adapt to the poison sacs and toxins of ordinary Sanshōuos, then we can try to implant them with the same Black Sanshōuo poison sacs as Hanzo-sama. In this way, if the experimental subjects can survive, Amegakure will have a second Hanzo-sama."
His expression gradually changed from fear to pride.
"So you see, we are not doing any boring bad things. If the Kingdom of Rain has two ninja demigods at the same time, We don't have to be at the mercy of great nations."
Giyu was not in the mood to discuss with him how to make the Kingdom of Rain strong, but asked:
"Just these kids?"
"That's all you need to survive. Not everyone can adapt to the venom sac of the Sanshōuo."
An ominous premonition flashed through Giyu's heart, "How many people died?"
"If you're willing to take the risk, it's Experimental Sample No. 113."
The experimenter's eyes sparkled, and the professional discussion made fear get further and further away from him. Instead, he ignored the weird looks of others and started discussing with Giyu.
"You are so powerful at such a young age, you may be able to adapt to the poison better than these ordinary children."
Giyu closed his eyes sadly.
Since leaving Konoha Village, everything he has seen and heard has made him increasingly uncomfortable.
For example, the person in front of him said such twisted words, but he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with him at all. Instead, he was proud of his work results. As long as he is not a person but a demon, Giyu can feel at ease and discard his words as "demon talk".
But he just wasn't.
This means that in this huge world, there are many people just like him, who regard their immature lives as bargaining chips in exchange for knowledge and power, and they still take it for granted.
"Are any of your experimenters from other countries?"
He thought of Uchiha Flame and Wen.
Although their ages clearly didn't match those on the hospital bed, Giyu had to give it a try.
"There are some from the Kingdom of Wind, the Kingdom of Rivers, and the Kingdom of Grass, and the Kingdom of Rain has the most. Most of them are orphans, and they will be killed sooner or later outside anyway, wasting their lives worthlessly. At least here we have The diluted Sanshōuo toxin can allow them to die painlessly from paralysis, and at the same time, they can contribute to this country."
The experimenter stated more and more excitedly, "And once the experiment is successful, they will have the opportunity to become the strongest ninja in the world..."
"Is there anyone from the Fire Nation?"
Giyu interrupted him.
"No." The experimenter was quite certain.
They don't dare to take the risk of being discovered by the ninjas of the Great
Nations (Wind Country:?).
[It seems I can’t find it here...]
Giyu pondered for a while, feeling a little disappointed and a little happy. At least their carcasses weren't used to feed the Sanshōuo.
At this moment, his complex mood far exceeded the range of words he could express.
At this time, a girl on the hospital bed suddenly coughed. Giyu hurriedly walked over. After scanning her eyes, he found that the remaining Sanshōuo toxin in her body had been completely absorbed! The poison sac in her body did not beat at any abnormal speed.
"She has gotten rid of the paralysis effect of the toxin?"
The experimenter exclaimed in surprise, and those who didn't know thought he was the girl's family.
"It's only been a few hours. She, she is the one we are looking for, the most perfect experimental sample!"
Giyu felt a little disgusted in his heart, so the shadow clone controlled the water whip to seal his mouth, while the main body carefully removed the girl's oxygen mask. Then, his lightless eyes shrank slightly, and he suddenly froze in place.
[This is the one with the old lady selling tea at the entrance of Amegakure Village the day before yesterday? 】
"Ajisai."
He called out the girl's name.
But Giyu just frowned as if feeling something, and had no tendency to wake up.
[So, that old woman has...]
Thinking of the smiling old woman, the lazy donkey and his granddaughter together, the poor but warm scene made Giyu feel pain in his blood vessels as if strong acid was flowing through them.
But just as he was in a trance in front of Ajisai's hospital bed, an accident happened.
Among the four experimenters, the one who had been the least active secretly untied the water whip and ran towards the alarm button on the wall in the center of the ward.
Without even raising his head, Giyu immediately formed a water blade at his fingertips and launched it cleanly, directly penetrating the experimenter's vest.
Different from the previous manslaughter, this is the first time that Giyu takes the initiative to extinguish the fire of human life.
Even before his mind gave the order.
But something weird happened.
This person was still one step away from the alarm button, but the piercing alarm still sounded, making people extremely anxious.
"what happened?"
Giyu raised his head warily, not understanding what was happening.
But immediately, there was a frightening rumbling sound above his head, as if something heavy fell on the ceiling, dust fell like heavy snow, and even the lights were half extinguished.
"It's the upper level! It's the alarm from the upper level!"
The guy who talked the most twisted and moved, and the shadow clone moved the water whip away from his mouth, "There is an intruder up there!"
"What's up here?"
Giyu asked.
"It's Sanshouo no Koga-sama's office. All our experimental data is there!"
The experimenter looked more regretful than losing his own child, "Let me go, I want to go up and have a look! If the experimental data is lost, all our efforts during this period will be in vain!"
After hearing this, Giyu was slightly surprised. Although he didn't know who the invaders were, he seemed to be able to take advantage of this opportunity and take these children out safe and sound.
[Whoever it is, thank you in advance...]
"Take off their oxygen masks!"
Giyu picked up the Ajisai and called to the three shadow clones: "Take two of them each, let's rush out from here!"
After saying that, he took one step towards the door of the ward, intending to leave this place.
If you are lucky, you might be able to catch up with the homeless leader who has left this fortress.
But God did not fulfill people's wishes, and sudden changes occurred.
There was a sudden loud explosion on the ceiling, as clearly audible as an explosion in Giyu's ears!
He raised his head, his face no longer paralyzed, but his eyes widened to the limit. The side of the ceiling near the exit was actually breaking bit by bit!
Immediately afterwards, the moment the second explosion sounded at the same location, he turned back and shouted to the shadow clone: "Get back!"
"Click——"
The smoke and dust went first, and one end of the ceiling seemed to be unable to withstand some kind of heavy pressure and fell down directly!
Giyu's dynamic vision could be seen clearly, the end near the door first, the end behind the inside.
Run inside, there is still hope.
At this moment, Giyu didn't care about throwing the poisoned children.
He and the shadow clone retreated to the wall directly opposite the exit. While roughly placing all the children on the ground, they shouted: "Get ready!"
Finally, the ceiling on the inner side was unable to support itself and collapsed with a loud bang. The three clones only bought Giyu a moment of time before exploding and disappearing due to excessive pressure.
Giyu was desperate and almost violently switched the Water Breathing to the Flame Breathing with special strength. He used his shoulders and back to resist this unreasonable disaster, but he was still pressed to the ground by the weight of the mountain and knelt down on the spot.
His eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
This is a war fortress. What separates the layers are complete and thick stones.
At this moment, the floor, ceiling, and Giyu formed a lying triangle with an extremely acute angle.
If the ceiling is compared to a person doing push-ups, then Giyu is now that person's arm. After the terrifying weight is added, all the ideas in his mind turn into meaningless puzzle pieces and paint, which cannot be formed at all.
For a whole minute, Giyu couldn't hear anything due to tinnitus. Apart from the weight on his shoulders, he couldn't feel anything except pain. He could only breathe repeatedly and continuously create chakra to send to his shoulders and support the weight.
After a long time, the black cloud in front of his eyes gradually dissipated, and he could still see the still heaving bodies of the seven children in front of him. As for the experimenters in the middle of the room, they should have been killed.
[If no one else comes to remove this thing, we will all die here. 】
Giyu was pinned down and couldn't move at all.
He can create a shadow clone or a water clone to exert some force, but his chakra is currently the only guarantee to maintain this narrow safe space. Unless the power of the clone can be determined to lift this ceiling, he will only hasten everyone's death.
If the shadow clone uses ninjutsu or sword skills to break the ceiling on top of him, it must be ensured that no fragments will fall on these children and kill them. Otherwise, if Giyu survives alone, he will only suffer more than death.
[Are you waiting for the rain ninja to come? 】
Giyu's vision gradually blurred, and he felt his shoulders sink a millimeter.
Suddenly, a terrible thought that grew out of despair came to me.
[Since the Water Breathing is running unbalanced, it will turn me into an ice sculpture jellyfish, then if I run the Flame Breathing unbalanced...]
[Can you completely turn yourself into a lava stone statue that is strong enough? 】
【This way you can keep going. 】
[At least these children are important "experimental subjects" to Rain Ninja, and they will be saved...]
But this idea also gradually closed as Giyu's eyes closed and fell into darkness.
[But even then, what is the fate waiting for them. 】
[It turns out that my thoughts are out of control...]
This small space, which should be the last hope, suddenly fell into a terrifying stillness, and Giyu's breathing gradually became weaker, because more and more blood was quietly drained from his body, and it had flowed into a stream.
It wasn't until an unknown amount of time passed that a voice suddenly sounded in his heart, as if it was gently shaking his shoulders.
This sound reminds people of the sun, which makes people feel uplifting and warm, just like the bowl of mushroom tea that Giyu didn't drink, gradually filling his heart and stomach.
[What one person cannot accomplish, two people can achieve incredible things together. 】
Giyu opened his eyes and his breathing rhythm gradually returned to normal.
[It’s time for me to come out, Giyu! 】
[Let me work with you to give these children a bright future! So that one day they can become a Hashira of support for others. 】
"Speaking so loudly in other people's hearts..."
The corners of Giyu's mouth curved slightly, but tears flowed down his cheeks together with the blood on his head, staining his clothes red.
Chakra flowed on its own under his control, replacing the seals, and a shadow clone suddenly appeared. He half-kneed and took out the hair of Uzumaki Naruto from the lining of Giyu's clothes.
The shadow clone dipped in the blood flowing out of Giyu's knee, and his hands simultaneously emitted bursts of brilliant red light. He stamped onto the narrow ground and called out loudly for the first time the name that could bring people the fire of hope.
"Summon!"
"Flame Hashira , Rengoku Kyojuro!"
Chapter 39 Water and Fire (End)
Fortress No. 14 of the Kingdom of Rain guards the southern gateway of this country.
Less than twenty kilometers south of this fortress is the country of Rivers, which is separated from the two great powers of fire and wind. Therefore, it has extremely important strategic significance.
Sanshouo no Hanzo couldn't worry about others, so he specially entrusted it to his youngest son, and Sanshouo no Koga personally guarded it.
But he didn't know what his youngest son was doing here. If he had some idea, it wouldn't be surprising——
Why are there always outsiders coming in and out here?
The first wave of people who came here were Uchiha Itachi and the two spies from the root.
They pretended to be rain ninjas and came here to steal an important experimental report, and they were about to succeed. For the two spies, there is only one "self-sacrifice" mission left to solve.
The second wave of people who came here was Uchiha Shisui who discovered Uchiha Flame and many bloody ninja corpses in a laboratory in Amegakure Village.
He came here following Itachi's trail, and also to answer some questions.
The third wave was carrying someone in a dark oilcloth carriage. He had just arrived outside the gate of the fortress.
"Stop."
The rain ninja, who was wearing a bamboo hat and holding a spear in his hand, stretched out his hand and stopped the carriage with only one driver.
Just looking at the style of the carriage, it must have been driven out from here.
"Are you bringing the kids here?"
The gatekeeper, Rain Ninja, came to the coachman's side, looked around and asked, "Why are you the only one?"
His companion walked to the back of the carriage and planned to inspect the "goods" inside.
"Today is really unlucky."
The driver raised his head, revealing a face stained with blood and bruises, and said in a muffled voice: "We met a group of rebels. They stayed behind and asked me to bring the people back first."
If you look carefully, you will find that this is the leader of the settlement that Giyu saved before.
He used to be a member of the Rain Ninjas, so it was quite natural for him to say these words. It was even more natural when he was injured, with a bit of resentment and blame. Anyway, with such an unrecognizable face, the other party could probably mistake him for anyone.
The key is what's behind.
The rain ninja who walked to the back of the car lifted up the oilcloth, and four pairs of lifeless eyes looked at him in unison, startling him so much that he almost jumped up.
But a closer look revealed that these were just four children ranging from six to ten years old. The reason why they had similar eyes was probably because they were all afraid.
Considering what they were about to face, they really should be afraid.
"It's really unlucky..."
Rain Ninja put the oilcloth back angrily and shouted forward: "There are only four brats."
"The number is a bit small, but considering what you've been through, it's pretty good."
The rain ninja in front did not forget to comfort the coachman, and then walked to the gate and said something into the doorway. The huge iron door creaked open.
"Take them to the small door to the south."
"ok."
The coachman responded and continued to drive forward slowly.
There were some rain ninjas in the fortress courtyard, but they had no interest in the carriage. They took one look at it and continued to do their own thing.
"Are you familiar with this place?"
A question came from the carriage, and it was none other than Giyu, one of the "four" children.
Fortress No. 14 was the destination where the previous group of rain ninjas wanted to kidnap the homeless children and bring them there.
This information was not asked by Giyu. He did not have any torture skills, and his social skills were extremely poor. The ones who pried open that Jonin's mouth were the angry vagabonds who nearly lost their lives and children and were oppressed by the rain ninja.
What exactly did those people do to Rain Ninja? Giyu only listened to a short paragraph before he didn't want to continue. Anyway, he got the information he wanted, as well as the help offered by the homeless leader.
According to the Jonin, they kidnapped the child in order to create a second ninja demigod through experiments. As for what kind of experiment, he was not a professional, so he did not know the inside story. He only knew that Rain Ninja had kidnapped many children from surrounding small countries and this country, but as long as they entered this building, very few came out.
Don't mention it first, just the word "experiment" successfully touched Giyu's sensitive vocabulary.
He didn't forget how Shisui explained to him "why Wen's body disappeared".
At least, Giyu felt that the chance of finding Uchiha Flame in this place was much more reliable than looking for the so-called "angel", so he came up with this plan to go deep into the Enemy layer and attack the mastermind.
"I used to work at Fortress No. 7 near the Fire Country."
The leader of the homeless took a deep breath and touched the wound on his face as he replied, "The layout of these castles are all similar, and I am quite familiar with them."
"This is dangerous."
"I know."
The homeless leader said, "But you have helped us, and we have nothing to thank you for. We can only do something for you. I can tell that someone important to you is missing, right?"
Giyu said nothing and quietly extracted chakra.
The other three "children" are all the results of his shadow clone + transformation technique.
Two minutes later, the carriage stopped at the dark south side of the fortress.
The homeless leader held up the Amegakure forehead protector and knocked on the door. The three transformed shadow clones all followed Giyu out of the car in a daze, and stood behind the homeless leader without saying a word, with exactly the same expression.
[Is this transformation technique really useful? 】
Giyu complained secretly in his heart.
"Has today's arrived too?"
The person who opened the door was a bald man, his eyes seemed to be squeezed through the crack of the door, only a little smaller.
Seeing that there were only four children, his flabby face simply dropped, "That's a lot."
Just when the homeless leader was about to explain, the man looked at his face and waved his hand, "Needless to say, you must have been attacked. I'm used to it. Four is four, it's better than nothing..."
Then, his eyes scanned the faces of the four children one by one.
"Are these children from one family?"
Otherwise, what a look.
All the children nodded at the same time.
The bald man suddenly turned from worry to joy, "That's great, we can do a more detailed control group experiment..."
The homeless leader was speechless.
[Don’t you doubt such an obvious loophole? 】
The bald man leaned down, smiled broadly at the Children and said, "Come with me, I want to do some examinations for you. Those who pass the test can become ninjas and live in the Hidden Rain Village. Doesn't this sound good?"
"What about the unqualified ones?"
Giyu's true body tilted his head.
"Those who are not qualified will stay here as servants, preparing food for Lord Sanshouo no Koga."
The bald man still smiled gently, but Giyu understood the true meaning of "preparing food".
As for the homeless leader, he suddenly felt a cold current rushing from his spine to the top of his head. The faint anger had been covered up by fear, and he just wanted to leave this place quickly.
"Okay, you go, I'll just take them there next."
With that said, the bald man was about to close the door, but was stopped by the homeless leader with the sole of his foot.
"that……"
He faced the suspicious gaze of the bald man and waved his hand to Giyu who gave him a warning look.
"If you succeed in becoming a ninja, you must visit us."
Giyu hesitated for a second or two, then nodded.
Only then did the door close, and the bald man returned to his smile, "Don't worry, just follow me. If you're lucky, you may still meet again."
All the children exchanged glances with each other, but did not speak. They just followed the man, seemingly very obedient.
The two walked through the long corridor inside the fortress, went up to the second floor, and walked all the way to the deepest room. After opening the door, what greeted Giyu's eyes were two rows of hospital beds with pulleys and four doctors-looking men in white coats.
There were seven children of different ages lying on the hospital bed, each of them wearing a ventilator. There was a monitor on the cabinet next to the bed, which showed the children's vital signs, but Giyu couldn't understand it.
The men dressed as doctors all wore gas masks and were walking back and forth between the beds, transcribing the data on them.
In addition, there are fifteen empty beds in this room, but most of them have signs of being laid on and look like they have just been moved out.
While the bald man was talking to the "doctor", Giyu's eyes stopped on one of the children, looking through his skin and bones and observing his respiratory tract.
Then he discovered that what the other party absorbed from the ventilator was not pure oxygen, but also mixed with some kind of thin lavender gas. Those gases had a strong paralysis effect, making the inhaler completely paralyzed and would... It continuously invades its body and internal organs, but within a few seconds, some of these toxins will disappear.
Giyu continued to scan down and found that above the child's left kidney, there was a heart-like sac that was constantly beating, filled with dangerous toxins. The toxins that disappear from the patient's body are eventually absorbed by this capsule.
That organ was not an organ that a human should have. It was inserted through an incision in the side of the abdomen.
[What on earth is this? 】
Giyu glanced at the other children and found that the concentration of toxin injected into each child and the absorption efficiency of the poison sac were different, but they were all in different stages of poisoning, and one of them was already very dangerous.
The poison sac in his body was working overload, beating rapidly, as if it would explode inside the child at any time.
"Do it!"
Giyu couldn't wait any longer. He didn't plan to think about it himself, but asked directly.
He raised his foot and crushed the bald man's calf in front of him. When he fell to the ground, he covered his mouth to prevent him from screaming. The remaining shadow clones also knocked down the people dressed as doctors.
These people were not fighting ninjas, and they caused little trouble to Giyu.
"Water Whip."
This is the new ninjutsu that Giyu learned from the rain ninja today. Five water whips tied the five people tightly, unable to move. At this time, all the clones returned to their original appearance, and separately adjusted the respirators on the children's mouths to normal oxygen, eliminating the input of poisonous gas.
He glanced around and made sure that the toxins in the body of the child who was most in danger had stopped growing, and then he came to the "doctors" with a straight face.
"There are ventilators here, I guess they have similar things in them."
Giyu suppressed his emotions and carefully recalled the words the homeless people used to torture those rain ninjas before, thinking about how to get the answers he wanted from these people.
"If you don't say anything, I will turn those things on to the maximum and put them in your mouths."
The five people all nodded in fear, looking like they were not good at poisoning.
Giyu waved his hand, and part of the water whip was removed from the mouth of one of the "doctors".
The man took a deep breath and said spinelessly: "I'll tell you anything, just ask."
"What did you do to these people? What was in their bodies and in the ventilators?"
"We implanted the poison sacs of Sanshōuo into these experimental subjects. Those ventilators were mixed with diluted toxins of ordinary Sanshōuo..."
The experimenter explained to Giyu: "We are testing the adaptability of these experimental subjects and poison sacs. People with better adaptability have better resistance to toxins, and the more efficient the poison sacs are in absorbing toxins entering their bodies The higher they are, the more successful they will be as experimental subjects."
"..."
Giyu frowned, "What's the point of doing this?"
"This, of course, is to replicate the miracle of Sanshouo no Hanzo-sama."
The experimenter showed an expression like "You are so awesome, why don't you understand anything?"
"If these experimental subjects can successfully adapt to the poison sacs and toxins of ordinary Sanshōuos, then we can try to implant them with the same Black Sanshōuo poison sacs as Hanzo-sama. In this way, if the experimental subjects can survive, Amegakure will have a second Hanzo-sama."
His expression gradually changed from fear to pride.
"So you see, we are not doing any boring bad things. If the Kingdom of Rain has two ninja demigods at the same time, We don't have to be at the mercy of great nations."
Giyu was not in the mood to discuss with him how to make the Kingdom of Rain strong, but asked:
"Just these kids?"
"That's all you need to survive. Not everyone can adapt to the venom sac of the Sanshōuo."
An ominous premonition flashed through Giyu's heart, "How many people died?"
"If you're willing to take the risk, it's Experimental Sample No. 113."
The experimenter's eyes sparkled, and the professional discussion made fear get further and further away from him. Instead, he ignored the weird looks of others and started discussing with Giyu.
"You are so powerful at such a young age, you may be able to adapt to the poison better than these ordinary children."
Giyu closed his eyes sadly.
Since leaving Konoha Village, everything he has seen and heard has made him increasingly uncomfortable.
For example, the person in front of him said such twisted words, but he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with him at all. Instead, he was proud of his work results. As long as he is not a person but a demon, Giyu can feel at ease and discard his words as "demon talk".
But he just wasn't.
This means that in this huge world, there are many people just like him, who regard their immature lives as bargaining chips in exchange for knowledge and power, and they still take it for granted.
"Are any of your experimenters from other countries?"
He thought of Uchiha Flame and Wen.
Although their ages clearly didn't match those on the hospital bed, Giyu had to give it a try.
"There are some from the Kingdom of Wind, the Kingdom of Rivers, and the Kingdom of Grass, and the Kingdom of Rain has the most. Most of them are orphans, and they will be killed sooner or later outside anyway, wasting their lives worthlessly. At least here we have The diluted Sanshōuo toxin can allow them to die painlessly from paralysis, and at the same time, they can contribute to this country."
The experimenter stated more and more excitedly, "And once the experiment is successful, they will have the opportunity to become the strongest ninja in the world..."
"Is there anyone from the Fire Nation?"
Giyu interrupted him.
"No." The experimenter was quite certain.
They don't dare to take the risk of being discovered by the ninjas of the Great
Nations (Wind Country:?).
[It seems I can’t find it here...]
Giyu pondered for a while, feeling a little disappointed and a little happy. At least their carcasses weren't used to feed the Sanshōuo.
At this moment, his complex mood far exceeded the range of words he could express.
At this time, a girl on the hospital bed suddenly coughed. Giyu hurriedly walked over. After scanning her eyes, he found that the remaining Sanshōuo toxin in her body had been completely absorbed! The poison sac in her body did not beat at any abnormal speed.
"She has gotten rid of the paralysis effect of the toxin?"
The experimenter exclaimed in surprise, and those who didn't know thought he was the girl's family.
"It's only been a few hours. She, she is the one we are looking for, the most perfect experimental sample!"
Giyu felt a little disgusted in his heart, so the shadow clone controlled the water whip to seal his mouth, while the main body carefully removed the girl's oxygen mask. Then, his lightless eyes shrank slightly, and he suddenly froze in place.
[This is the one with the old lady selling tea at the entrance of Amegakure Village the day before yesterday? 】
"Ajisai."
He called out the girl's name.
But Giyu just frowned as if feeling something, and had no tendency to wake up.
[So, that old woman has...]
Thinking of the smiling old woman, the lazy donkey and his granddaughter together, the poor but warm scene made Giyu feel pain in his blood vessels as if strong acid was flowing through them.
But just as he was in a trance in front of Ajisai's hospital bed, an accident happened.
Among the four experimenters, the one who had been the least active secretly untied the water whip and ran towards the alarm button on the wall in the center of the ward.
Without even raising his head, Giyu immediately formed a water blade at his fingertips and launched it cleanly, directly penetrating the experimenter's vest.
Different from the previous manslaughter, this is the first time that Giyu takes the initiative to extinguish the fire of human life.
Even before his mind gave the order.
But something weird happened.
This person was still one step away from the alarm button, but the piercing alarm still sounded, making people extremely anxious.
"what happened?"
Giyu raised his head warily, not understanding what was happening.
But immediately, there was a frightening rumbling sound above his head, as if something heavy fell on the ceiling, dust fell like heavy snow, and even the lights were half extinguished.
"It's the upper level! It's the alarm from the upper level!"
The guy who talked the most twisted and moved, and the shadow clone moved the water whip away from his mouth, "There is an intruder up there!"
"What's up here?"
Giyu asked.
"It's Sanshouo no Koga-sama's office. All our experimental data is there!"
The experimenter looked more regretful than losing his own child, "Let me go, I want to go up and have a look! If the experimental data is lost, all our efforts during this period will be in vain!"
After hearing this, Giyu was slightly surprised. Although he didn't know who the invaders were, he seemed to be able to take advantage of this opportunity and take these children out safe and sound.
[Whoever it is, thank you in advance...]
"Take off their oxygen masks!"
Giyu picked up the Ajisai and called to the three shadow clones: "Take two of them each, let's rush out from here!"
After saying that, he took one step towards the door of the ward, intending to leave this place.
If you are lucky, you might be able to catch up with the homeless leader who has left this fortress.
But God did not fulfill people's wishes, and sudden changes occurred.
There was a sudden loud explosion on the ceiling, as clearly audible as an explosion in Giyu's ears!
He raised his head, his face no longer paralyzed, but his eyes widened to the limit. The side of the ceiling near the exit was actually breaking bit by bit!
Immediately afterwards, the moment the second explosion sounded at the same location, he turned back and shouted to the shadow clone: "Get back!"
"Click——"
The smoke and dust went first, and one end of the ceiling seemed to be unable to withstand some kind of heavy pressure and fell down directly!
Giyu's dynamic vision could be seen clearly, the end near the door first, the end behind the inside.
Run inside, there is still hope.
At this moment, Giyu didn't care about throwing the poisoned children.
He and the shadow clone retreated to the wall directly opposite the exit. While roughly placing all the children on the ground, they shouted: "Get ready!"
Finally, the ceiling on the inner side was unable to support itself and collapsed with a loud bang. The three clones only bought Giyu a moment of time before exploding and disappearing due to excessive pressure.
Giyu was desperate and almost violently switched the Water Breathing to the Flame Breathing with special strength. He used his shoulders and back to resist this unreasonable disaster, but he was still pressed to the ground by the weight of the mountain and knelt down on the spot.
His eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
This is a war fortress. What separates the layers are complete and thick stones.
At this moment, the floor, ceiling, and Giyu formed a lying triangle with an extremely acute angle.
If the ceiling is compared to a person doing push-ups, then Giyu is now that person's arm. After the terrifying weight is added, all the ideas in his mind turn into meaningless puzzle pieces and paint, which cannot be formed at all.
For a whole minute, Giyu couldn't hear anything due to tinnitus. Apart from the weight on his shoulders, he couldn't feel anything except pain. He could only breathe repeatedly and continuously create chakra to send to his shoulders and support the weight.
After a long time, the black cloud in front of his eyes gradually dissipated, and he could still see the still heaving bodies of the seven children in front of him. As for the experimenters in the middle of the room, they should have been killed.
[If no one else comes to remove this thing, we will all die here. 】
Giyu was pinned down and couldn't move at all.
He can create a shadow clone or a water clone to exert some force, but his chakra is currently the only guarantee to maintain this narrow safe space. Unless the power of the clone can be determined to lift this ceiling, he will only hasten everyone's death.
If the shadow clone uses ninjutsu or sword skills to break the ceiling on top of him, it must be ensured that no fragments will fall on these children and kill them. Otherwise, if Giyu survives alone, he will only suffer more than death.
[Are you waiting for the rain ninja to come? 】
Giyu's vision gradually blurred, and he felt his shoulders sink a millimeter.
Suddenly, a terrible thought that grew out of despair came to me.
[Since the Water Breathing is running unbalanced, it will turn me into an ice sculpture jellyfish, then if I run the Flame Breathing unbalanced...]
[Can you completely turn yourself into a lava stone statue that is strong enough? 】
【This way you can keep going. 】
[At least these children are important "experimental subjects" to Rain Ninja, and they will be saved...]
But this idea also gradually closed as Giyu's eyes closed and fell into darkness.
[But even then, what is the fate waiting for them. 】
[It turns out that my thoughts are out of control...]
This small space, which should be the last hope, suddenly fell into a terrifying stillness, and Giyu's breathing gradually became weaker, because more and more blood was quietly drained from his body, and it had flowed into a stream.
It wasn't until an unknown amount of time passed that a voice suddenly sounded in his heart, as if it was gently shaking his shoulders.
This sound reminds people of the sun, which makes people feel uplifting and warm, just like the bowl of mushroom tea that Giyu didn't drink, gradually filling his heart and stomach.
[What one person cannot accomplish, two people can achieve incredible things together. 】
Giyu opened his eyes and his breathing rhythm gradually returned to normal.
[It’s time for me to come out, Giyu! 】
[Let me work with you to give these children a bright future! So that one day they can become a Hashira of support for others. 】
"Speaking so loudly in other people's hearts..."
The corners of Giyu's mouth curved slightly, but tears flowed down his cheeks together with the blood on his head, staining his clothes red.
Chakra flowed on its own under his control, replacing the seals, and a shadow clone suddenly appeared. He half-kneed and took out the hair of Uzumaki Naruto from the lining of Giyu's clothes.
The shadow clone dipped in the blood flowing out of Giyu's knee, and his hands simultaneously emitted bursts of brilliant red light. He stamped onto the narrow ground and called out loudly for the first time the name that could bring people the fire of hope.
"Summon!"
"Flame Hashira , Rengoku Kyojuro!"
