The atmosphere in the village of Land of Hot Water was heavy with the scent of blood. Killer Bee's gaze lingered on Sayami's arm. Even though she had used her abilities to stave off blood loss, the angry, jagged marks she had carved into her own flesh remained... a testament to her burning resentment toward the Yellow Flash and grief over Yushiro's state.
Bee's usually rhymes and rhythm swang back in form, "Now that the crew is all in one place, We're leaving this trail at a steady pace! No more waiting, no more delay, Back to Kumo, we're on our way!," he stated, "Important business we gotta attend, The Chinoike clan's moving 'round the bend! Hop on my back, don't you be slow, To the Village of Clouds is where we go, yeah! Let's meet everyone as we go."
With a fluid motion of hand seals, Bee manifested five ink clones which looked just like his silhouette but they were pitch black. Each sprouted powerful, obsidian wings. He didn't take any chances with their safety; ink clones took hold of Darui, Samui, Mabui, Yushiro, and Sayami. While Darui and Yushiro were cradled securely within the thick, protective grip of the clones' ink tentacles, the others were held firmly against the clones' backs.
They took to the sky. Unlike Bee's previous frantic, supersonic arrival from the Land of Frost, this journey was slow. He navigated the aerial currents with a newfound grace, dampening the G-force and turbulence. He knew the wounded could not withstand the strain of high-speed travel. They glided towards Kumogakure like a fleet of weary warriors returning home.
~~
Within the jagged peaks of Kumogakure, the air was just as tense. En Oyashiro and Pakura, guided by Yugito Nii, finally reached the heart of the village. As they approached the Raikage's office, the sharp, crystalline sound of glass shattering echoed through the corridor.
Usually, such a sound would be followed by the thunderous roar of Lord Ay's voice... a shout of frustration or a slammed fist. Instead, there was a deafening, eerie silence.
The trio burst into the room, their hands instinctively moving toward their weapons. They didn't find Lord Ay. Instead, they found a strange, silver fish head -like creature in the center of the room. Its back was turned to them, its scales shimmering with an unnatural metallic sheen. Without acknowledging their presence as its back was turned to them, the creature snatched a scroll from the floor. In a sudden poof of white smoke, it vanished, leaving the curious and suspicious trio. They stood in the empty office, waiting for their leader who was nowhere to be found.
~~
In the Konoha's torture and interrogation wing, the atmosphere was suffocating. Ibiki Morino stepped back, his hands stained and his expression grim. He performed a quick hand seal, releasing his summoning technique.
Kaien's consciousness flickered back to his body, but there was nothing behind his eyes. They were vacant as if he lost everything in the world. His body slumped forward, held upright only by the leather restraints cinched around his chest and arms. A thin trail of drool and mucus trailed past his nose and lips, dripping onto his lap.
"I have tortured him for 6 hours," Ibiki reported, his voice raspy. "I tore his hands and legs from his body, twisted his head, and broke his body in half. And healed him back and repeated it few dozens of time. I pushed him to the absolute brink, but I had to stop. Any further he will suffer permanent damage which I didn't want to risk as there would be nothing left to salvage."
Ibiki wiped his brow, glancing at the broken boy. "From what I could extract, he confirmed he was the mastermind of the last war who killed previous Hokage and Kushina's capture. Also, he was on a mission to form allegiance with Chinoike clan who could apparently control blood. He deliberately placed himself behind layers of Genjutsu barriers to protect his secrets. But the interrogation triggered a massive neurological collapse. He started seizing, and the mental damage was too much. I don't know if he'll ever speak again."
Tsunade stepped forward, her brow furrowed in a mixture of professional focus and mounting anger that the peace treaty might fail because of the state of this boy. She placed a hand on Kaien's forehead, her palm glowing with a soft, green light. She closed her eyes, sensing the internal wreckage.
"The damage is extensive," she muttered, more to herself than the others. "The Broca's area is hemorrhaging, and the Hippocampus and Amygdala... the centers for speech and memory... are nearly fried. I can try to bridge the neural pathways, but the trauma is deep. We can't continue to torture him any longer."
Hokage Danzo stood in the shadows, as his eyes narrowed. He was less concerned with the boy's suffering and more irritated by the lack of actionable intel. A vegetative hostage was a useless asset. I don't want to risk it anymore, Danzo thought. I will just have pakura see to it... it is good it have a back up plan.
"Tsunade," Danzo said aloud with authority. "I agree with your decision. Set aside the Suna's poison antidote experiments for now. Your sole directive is to stabilize this boy and recover his mind. You have thirty-six hours."
Tsunade bristled at the deadline. "If you had listened to me, we wouldn't be standing over a vegetable boy," she snapped. "But fine. I understand that bringing back that kid to normal state, which I am very confident about, is important for Konoha and its peace."
She looked toward the door. "Inoichi, get Minato. We need to move the boy to the hospital immediately. I can't do the necessary reconstructive surgery here."
Inoichi Yamanaka nodded and stepped out, finding Minato Namikaze waiting in the hall, his face etched with worry. Within moments, in a flicker of yellow, he, Tsunade, and the shattered shell of Kaien vanished, reappearing in the sterile, quiet halls of the Konoha Hospital.
As the surgical lights hummed to life, Tsunade began the grueling task of trying to piece together Kaien's mind that had been torn apart. The fate of the peace treaty now rested on Tsunade's hands.
~~
A/N: We are very close to end of the 2nd arc... I have tightened up the knots of En oyashiro, Yugito and Pakura's return. Team Crow's mission has also ended and are returning back to Kumo with Bee. Chinoike clan and Renga are also preparing to leave to settle at the west side of Kumo as civilians.
Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0