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Chapter 95: Interrogation
"Nice… that's brutal."
Alex stared at Samui, clicking his tongue in amazement.
As expected of a kunoichi—she could actually hide a hidden weapon in a spot that well concealed.
He really hadn't seen that coming. Not at all.
Under normal circumstances, a ninja who fell into enemy hands rarely had a good ending.
For kunoichi, it was usually even worse.
So some villages had deliberately developed special defensive techniques just for their female ninja, up to and including methods that could drag the enemy down with them.
If the enemy thought they had everything under control, got smug and heated, all worked up and eager to get what they wanted to the very end…
The look on that impatient face would change in an instant.
There was a very real surprise—or shock—waiting for him.
He'd get to experience the "ultimate peak of pain and pleasure" in one go…
Konan's lips parted slightly. She was just as stunned by what she'd seen.
It really was the difference between a wild path and formal village training. Without a proper ninja village behind her, Samui had come up with such an explosive move on her own.
Only the major villages had both the technology and the warped "need" to develop tricks this specific.
All "for the good of the village."
Seeing her killing strike fail, a trace of regret flashed through Samui's eyes, but her face stayed cold.
Shame? Humiliation?
What were those?
As a proper shinobi, the first step was to throw away your shame, your morals, and your so-called dignity.
To complete a mission, you had to be ready to use any means necessary.
If you let your emotions get in the way, you weren't just unfit to be "elite"—you didn't even qualify as a decent ninja.
Samui hung in midair, limbs shackled, and stopped struggling.
She stared coolly at the still-shocked Konan and said with open disdain,
"What? Never seen that before?"
"As ninja, any part of our body can become a weapon—or a place to hide a weapon. Since we're both women, you should know exactly how well hidden and unexpected that spot is. Seal the projectile inside, trigger it whenever you need."
"Too bad…"
She sounded genuinely regretful.
"…you're not a man."
If it had been a male opponent, she would have been almost a hundred percent confident. She could have used her mature, seductive figure to lure him in, then, in that instant when he lost control, completed the assassination in one strike.
What a waste…
"So this is what ninja really are like…"
Samui's trick left a deep impression on Konan.
Alex had been right. Bounty hunters and assassins like these ninja really were the root of the world's chaos.
If the world was ever going to know peace, the profession of "ninja" had to be wiped out.
All ninja would have to be brought under her control, their reason for existing and their way of surviving completely rewritten.
Those who refused to change… could only be allowed to die.
Samui tore her gaze away and looked up at the pale ceiling above.
"Go ahead and kill me," she said flatly. "You'll never get any intel about my village from me. I will never betray the village or Lord Raikage. Don't waste your time."
Heh. That remains to be seen…
Wrapped in a cluster of a dozen sheets of white paper, Alex drifted slowly in front of her.
Now came the part everyone "loved" to hear about: the so-called interrogation.
With Dark Medical Ninjutsu letting him manipulate the senses at will, would Samui really be able to resist the raw, involuntary reactions of her own body…?
Alex was genuinely curious—and looking forward to the answer.
In his previous life, he'd read plenty of "training" comics.
In those stories, whether it was a noble, devout saint, a steel-willed female warrior, or a pure-hearted elf, all of them would eventually be driven step by step into utter despair by the enemy's cruel methods.
Alex had always wondered if that kind of thing was actually possible.
Now he finally had the chance to put it to the test, all in the name of science and learning.
He could also use this to truly measure every aspect of Dark Medical Ninjutsu's effects on the human body.
Heh heh heh… worthy of a serious, down-to-earth great scholar like himself.
Samui, who had just resolved herself to giving up resistance, felt a surge of dread in her chest when she saw the papers drift closer.
Thin white threads began to extend from the paper.
Some thick, some thin, some long, some short, all flexing with eerie agility in the air.
Her sense of foreboding only got worse.
Her body reacted on instinct, starting to struggle again.
What… what kind of jutsu is this? It's so strange…
Just looking at it made every hair on her body stand on end and sent shivers racing across her skin.
"You… what are you planning to do… I will never betray Lord Raikage! Give up already!!"
Samui tried to back away on reflex.
But her limbs were chained. She couldn't move at all.
All she could do was watch as those white threads reached toward her.
Panic was visible on her usually composed features now.
At the very end, she couldn't stop herself from yelling,
"Yame—"
Pft.
The last syllable never left her lips. Her words were cut off, completely blocked.
Inside the cell, a merciless interrogation began.
Whatever it took, they would make Samui open her mouth and spit out the Cloud's secrets.
On the floor below, Konan stood to the side.
Her gaze stayed fixed on the "interrogation" above, her heart full of unease and shock.
She had never seen anyone use Dark Medical Ninjutsu like this before.
Samui's pale face turned bright red.
Her reason and will were ground down bit by bit.
———
Hours later.
Konan staggered out of the cell, supporting herself with one hand on the wall. Alex floated beside her, looking genuinely winded.
Inside, Samui was still hanging from the chains.
Her eyes were rolled back, drool at the corner of her mouth. She had completely lost consciousness.
Her skin was flushed red, like a shrimp just pulled from boiling water, bearing the marks of heavy "injury."
Whether it was from overuse of Water Release or something else, the floor beneath her was slick with splashes and puddles.
"Konan, are you okay?" Alex asked, hovering at her side.
"I… I'm fine," Konan said, waving him off.
She took a deep breath and tried to push the images from the cell out of her mind.
But sadly, they seemed to have taken root there, lodged deep in her brain and refusing to leave.
Every time she thought of them, her legs went weak and she could barely stand.
That method of interrogation was too savage. There was no way any ninja could withstand it indefinitely.
Once or twice, even ten times, might still be endurable.
But the same torment dragged out for hundreds of cycles, each one a relentless blend of pain and overstimulation—that was more than enough to shatter Samui's sanity.
Especially when Alex had dialed all her nerves up to ten times their normal sensitivity.
In the end, she had completely lost herself.
Village, Raikage, loyalty—all of it had been thrown aside.
Her voice had gone hoarse from crying and begging, desperately pleading for mercy and a quick end to it all.
Alex had finally granted that wish.
Even then, Samui had proved herself worthy of being called an elite jōnin of the Cloud.
Right at the end, she'd still tried to counterattack with Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique. Fortunately, Konan had dodged in time.
Konan steadied herself and slowly regained her composure.
"Alex, even though Samui agreed to everything just now, I'm guessing she'll deny it all the moment she wakes up," she said. "One round of interrogation isn't enough to make her really talk. We'll probably need to do it a few more times."
Alex nodded in agreement.
[Exactly. With a kunoichi of her caliber, anything she blurts out under extreme duress can't be trusted outright. We'll need to interrogate her several more times to be sure.]
"Alex, since we're done for now, come back to my room with me!"
Konan suddenly grabbed him, then hurried forward.
"I have an extremely urgent matter I need your help with!"