Chapter 124: Of Course Ninja Cards Come with Ninja Spirits
"Telling the truth will earn you leniency. Resisting will only make it worse. You still have time to speak." Ibiki stared at Shojoji, whose hands and feet were shackled in heavy iron chains.
"You're Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Sai, right? Judging by your presence here, the intel I have must be pretty valuable to you. Makes sense, I suppose. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. is quite the terrifying organization."
His words were tough, but Shojoji's expression betrayed lingering fear. At this point, getting captured by Konoha might not have been the worst thing to happen to him.
No matter how dire his current situation, it was still better than losing his life.
"You sure have a slick tongue."
The creaking of the door was followed by Sasuke walking in.
"Sasuke? When did you get back?" Sai asked upon seeing him.
"Just now." Sasuke gave a brief reply. As soon as he got Naruto's message, he had rushed back without delay—this was, after all, the first time they'd managed to capture someone with ties to S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Y-You're…" Shojoji's eyes widened. "Uchiha Sasuke!"
"Shojoji, is it?" Sasuke stepped forward, towering over him. "Looks like you know who I am. Makes sense, considering how long you've been in the underworld. Knowing me would be expected. In that case, this'll be easier."
"W-What are you going to do to me—?"
Sasuke grabbed a handful of Shojoji's hair with his only remaining hand, forcing him to look up and meet his gaze.
No amount of torture could rival the effectiveness of a genjutsu cast by the Uchiha's Sharingan.
When it came to tormenting people, the Sharingan had its own special efficiency.
"Wait, wait! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" Shojoji begged like an old dog, trembling. "Just—don't let me go!"
Sasuke glanced back at Sai, and only when he saw Sai give a slight nod did he agree. "Fine."
Shojoji drooped his head, his rolls of fat trembling slightly. "I don't know that much about S.H.I.E.L.D. They were the ones who approached me first, wanting to collaborate—but in reality, they were just using me as a pawn. Naturally, I refused. But then, the guy they sent to negotiate—Gray Wolf…"
At the mention of Gray Wolf, Shojoji visibly shuddered.
Sasuke frowned. "What did Gray Wolf do?"
Gray Wolf… That was Orochimaru's alias. Orochimaru was Gray Wolf.
"Gray Wolf easily took down most of my bandit group, then injected them with some kind of green serum."
"You said… serum?" Sasuke's expression turned serious.
"Yeah. Gray Wolf seemed to be testing something. But the end result was a disaster. My men screamed in agony, clutching their throats, their eyes bulging like they were going to pop. Then their bodies started to rot away, and they died with not a single patch of intact flesh left."
"And what about the ability beasts? What's their deal?" Sasuke was already starting to piece things together. This was likely an experiment involving the latest zombie virus developed by the Umbrella Organization.
But in truth, this virus wasn't Umbrella's creation—it was one of Orochimaru's own twisted experiments.
Leave it to Orochimaru, the man who single-handedly raised the average tech level of the entire shinobi world.
Though this time had ended in failure, the experience had clearly advanced his research.
"The ability beasts? They were monsters brought in by Gray Wolf too. I don't know the details. S.H.I.E.L.D. basically forced them on us. Their goal was to use the beasts to draw out the Light and Shadow Stone." At this point, Shojoji looked up at Sasuke. "That's all I know. I really don't know anything else."
Aside from confirming that S.H.I.E.L.D. was testing a new bioweapon, the rest of the intel was basically useless.
Hokage's Office
"Sasuke, you're back. So? Were you able to get anything useful?"
Seeing Sasuke in front of him, Naruto immediately set aside the work in his hands to ask.
"Yeah. Just one piece of useful intel—S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to be experimenting with a new type of bio-serum." Ever since leaving the Umbrella Organization's underground base, Suigetsu and Karin had been plagued by nightmares of zombies.
"A zombie virus, huh…" Naruto grimaced. The topic gave him a headache too. "Granny Tsunade and Kabuto have hit a bottleneck in their research into the virus."
"Naruto, I'm planning to go back to the Umbrella Organization's underground base."
"Taking Team Taka with you?"
"No." Sasuke shook his head. "This time, I'm going alone. As for Team Taka, they'll stay in the village to bolster our defenses."
Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Can't deny the village's fighting strength has dropped lately."
Thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s constant schemes, Konoha had to send out ninjas not just to protect the village, but also to guard the feudal lords. On top of that, the new generation of shinobi hadn't matured yet. Their manpower was indeed running thin.
Still, compared to other villages, Konoha was managing fairly well. Word had it the feudal lords of the Land of Earth and Land of Wind had moved their offices into the ninja villages. As for the Land of Lightning, their lord was under the personal protection of Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. The Land of Water's feudal lord, however, remained calm and unbothered.
Well, it made sense. With both the Kara Organization and the Hulk as his protectors, he had nothing to fear.
"Naruto—" The Jar Merchant pushed open the door and walked in. "Oh, Sasuke's here too."
"Jar Merchant? What brings you here?"
"Eh? You forgot already, Naruto? We agreed to open a store, remember? I even prepaid a year's salary and hired some folks to set up a company."
"Oh, right." Naruto finally remembered. "How's your Hydra Group coming along?"
"Do you even need to ask? It's been done for ages."
"But are you sure it's okay to go public like this? I thought Hydra's whole MO was to stay hidden and low-key."
"Hey, Hydra members don't work for free. We need money to pay salaries. And we need operating funds for our actions too," said the Jar Merchant. "Actually, since you're both here—why don't you come to Hydra Group's opening ceremony?"
"I'll pass," Sasuke began to decline.
"This time, the items we're selling can let people see their departed loved ones."
"Departed… loved ones?" Sasuke murmured. For him, that would mean either his recently resurfaced older brother Itachi—or their parents.
"Is that true?" Naruto was visibly excited.
After all, while Sasuke had at least seen Uchiha Itachi again, Naruto hadn't even been told by his parents, Minato and Kushina, that they were alive. And really, who would believe a sponge and a starfish were their reincarnated parents?
"Of course it's true," the Jar Merchant nodded.
Just as Monster Cards came with monster spirits, Ninja Cards naturally come with ninja spirits.