Chapter 7: The Weight of the Truth
The detention level of Uzushiogakure was not a dungeon of cold iron; it was a labyrinth of stone reinforced with ancient, humming sealing arrays. In the center of the primary interrogation room, the Mist scout leader sat strapped to a chair, his chakra suppressed by Rimon's newly designed Chakra-Suppression Handcuffs.
Rimon and Ashina stood on the other side of a reinforced glass partition.
"His name is Kaji," Ashina said, his voice low and gravelly. "A veteran scout commander of the Hidden Mist. His mind is trained to resist traditional sensory probes, Rimon-chan. Our telepaths would have to tear his brain apart just to get a name."
Rimon looked at the Mist ninja. The man was staring at the glass with a look of pure defiance, a predator waiting for his chance to bite.
"We don't need to tear anything, Old Man," Rimon said, pulling a small, glowing jade-colored seal from his pocket. "Memories aren't just thoughts. They are electrical signals stored in the brain. If we can 'tune' a seal to his neural frequency, we can read his memories like a book."
Ashina looked at the seal, then at the boy. "Science again? You make the world seem so... mechanical."
"It is mechanical, Old Man. We just usually call the mechanics 'Jutsu'."
The Joint Effort
They entered the room together. Kaji spat on the floor as they approached. "Uzumaki trash. You think catching a few scouts changes anything? The sea is turning black with our ships. You're already dead."
Ashina didn't flinch. He walked up to Kaji and placed a heavy, firm hand on the man's shoulder. It wasn't an attack; it was a stabilizer. "Kaji of the Mist, you speak of 'ships' as if we haven't survived the ocean's wrath for centuries. But today, we aren't using the ocean. We're using the truth."
"Now, Rimon," Ashina commanded softly.
Rimon stepped forward. He didn't use a scary voice or a torture tool. He simply placed the jade seal on Kaji's forehead.
[System Note: Expenditure - 300 SP for 'Neural-Chakra Interface']
[Observation Haki: Focused Search]
"Old Man, I need you to channel a steady, low-frequency pulse of chakra into the seal," Rimon directed. "Don't overwhelm him. Just... keep the signal steady. Your control is the anchor."
Ashina nodded, his hand glowing with a calm, blue Uzumaki light. He provided the raw power and the steady control that only an eighty-year-old master could maintain. Rimon provided the "Science."
The Vision of the Fall
As the chakra flowed, a projection appeared in the air above them—a flickering, ghostly image drawn directly from Kaji's subconscious.
They saw the Mizukage's office. But more importantly, they saw the representatives.
* A man in the robes of the Hidden Cloud.
* A stone-faced envoy from the Hidden Rock.
* And a shadow in the corner—a man with bandages over half his face. Danzo.
The image shifted to a map of Uzushiogakure. There were red lines marking the arrival of the Three-Nation Alliance.
"We strike when the moon is hidden," Kaji's memory echoed. "The Cloud will provide the lightning strikes to disable their barriers. The Rock will provide the land-siege. The Mist will take the coast. And Konoha... Konoha will simply 'not hear' the screams."
Ashina's grip on Kaji's shoulder tightened so hard the stone floor beneath them cracked. His face was pale, his eyes filled with a grief that surpassed anger. "They all signed it. Even our 'brothers' in the Leaf."
The Resolution
Rimon pulled the seal away, and Kaji slumped forward, unconscious but alive. Rimon looked at Ashina. The old man looked like he had aged another ten years in minutes.
"They aren't just coming to kill us, Old Man," Rimon said, his voice cold and flat. "They're coming to erase us. This isn't a war. It's an execution."
Ashina looked at Rimon, his eyes searching the boy's obsidian gaze. "What do we do? We have the 'Eyes' now, thanks to your seals. We have the 'Science.' But against three nations... and a betrayal from the fourth... we are but one island."
Rimon reached into his pocket and felt the small, cold coin that served as the Red Line Distress Signal.
"We prepare the Kinetic Barrier," Rimon said, his voice taking on a weight that made Ashina stand taller. "We train the kids. We build the fort. And Old Man... we stop being 'Kind' Uzumakis."
Rimon walked toward the door. "Tell the clan everything. No secrets. Let them feel the betrayal. Because when the alliance arrives, they aren't going to find a village. They're going to find a slaughterhouse."
> [Quest: The Shadow Unveiled – SUCCESS]
> [Global Reward: Clan Resilience +50% (The 'Fury of the Betrayed' Buff)]
> [Current SP: 4,700]
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