At that moment, the woman's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her dark brown eyes slowly opened.
At first, her gaze was unfocused and filled with terror, her pupils shrinking sharply. Her body instinctively tried to curl up and retreat, but due to her weakness, she could only let out faint whimpers.
She saw the unfamiliar people gathered around her, saw the traces of battle left on the deck, and saw Kiyohara and his group watching her.
"Ah—!"
She let out a short gasp, suddenly clutching her head with both hands, her fingers digging into her hair as her body began to tremble violently.
"Calm down."
Kiyohara spoke.
"Why did you attack this ship?"
The woman trembled for quite a while before slowly loosening her grip.
She looked at Kiyohara, then at Tsunade and the others, as if taking some time to confirm that she had not fallen back into those nightmare-like hands again.
"I… my name is Yujojo,"
Yujojo spoke softly.
"I am… from a small fishing village called Coral Settlement near the Land of the Sea."
She spoke in a halting manner, explaining her background.
The general idea was that one day, while she was gathering seafood by the shore, she suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck, and then lost consciousness. When she woke up again, she was already in a dark place, her whole body aching. There was a voice, cold and sticky, ordering her to capture living creatures and bring them back—
Rin could not bear to listen any longer and spoke up, "Kiyohara-kun, she… she really seems to have been forced."
Kiyohara observed Yujojo carefully.
He would not believe someone's story just because they were a woman.
As for the truth, he intended to judge it himself.
A red glint flashed in his eyes as he directly used a genjutsu on Yujojo.
Her gaze became hollow and dim.
Then Kiyohara began to interrogate her.
The answers he obtained were mostly the same as what she had said, but he also gained more information.
That was, Yujojo had vaguely seen a white-haired man wearing a beige robe.
Moreover, that man had red eyes, and was accompanied by several subordinates with numbers marked on their faces.
This piece of intelligence made Kiyohara think of someone.
That person was Hiruko.
Hiruko was essentially the same type of person as Orochimaru, but unlike Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan and his method of achieving immortality by switching bodies, Hiruko studied the five elements. By fusing five mutually compatible bloodline limits, he aimed to create a cycle within his body, thus becoming an "immortal shinobi."
However, Kiyohara could not confirm it yet. Yujojo did not know much, so further investigation would be needed later.
After the Sharingan in Kiyohara's eyes slowly returned to their normal black color, Yujojo also woke up from the genjutsu.
"You're lucky. You didn't lie, but to avoid any accidents, we need an extra layer of insurance."
Kiyohara extended his hand and pressed it onto Yujojo's shoulder.
Black markings began to spread outward from her shoulder.
"This is a restraining curse seal. I will place it on you. It won't harm you, and it won't affect your normal activities or chakra recovery under usual circumstances.
But if you try to actively mobilize a large amount of chakra, or if the foreign curse seal inside your body shows violent fluctuations, it will activate, temporarily sealing your chakra pathways and rendering you unable to move."
Yujojo knew she had no choice and nodded.
Before long, a simple black choker-like pattern appeared around her neck, then sank beneath her skin.
Tsunade watched Kiyohara's actions but said nothing.
This was indeed the best choice.
The world of shinobi was full of uncertainties.
Even if Yujojo did nothing, if the person behind the scenes continued to manipulate her, it would be extremely dangerous.
So sealing her chakra was equivalent to avoiding such risks.
"Alright."
Kiyohara withdrew his hand.
"Shizune, bring her some water and food, and clean clothes."
"Yes!"
Shizune immediately took action.
Tsunade could not help but nod, a trace of approval flashing in her eyes.
Such decisive methods, if left to Shizune, would probably have dragged on.
"Our mission target is a large sea monster."
Kiyohara turned to Tsunade and the others and analyzed.
"But these fish-men, or rather modified humans, although troublesome for ordinary people, are not large enough in size or strength to qualify. The 'dark place' Yujojo mentioned and the order to capture living creatures suggest there may be a base behind all this.
It might be a facility conducting these modification experiments. That place could be where the real large sea monster we are looking for is located, and possibly the source of these incidents."
"You think we should go directly to find this base?"
Tsunade asked.
"The base is somewhere in the vast ocean. Blind searching would be too inefficient."
Kiyohara shook his head and looked toward the gradually becoming clearer lush outline on the distant horizon.
"Yujojo mentioned a voice. That is likely some form of remote manipulation or suggestion through a technique or medium. To support experiments of this scale and precision, a relatively stable, hidden, and resource-rich environment is needed.
There are many islands in the Land of the Sea, but not many large ones that meet these conditions. I suggest we first head to the nearest and largest island, Summoning Island."
Tsunade thought for a moment and then agreed.
"Alright. Captain Shimahui, adjust course. Target Summoning Island. Full speed ahead!"
"Understood!"
Captain Shimahui responded loudly. The wheel turned, the sails adjusted, and the Seagull cut through the waves, heading toward the lush island.
At the same time, deep within the Land of the Sea, beneath an island hidden behind massive reefs and dense mangroves—
This was not a natural cave, but a base carved out through large-scale excavation.
At its deepest point lay a laboratory. Cylindrical cultivation tanks filled with pale green nutrient fluid were neatly arranged, each containing suspended creatures of various shapes, half-human, half-beast, or completely twisted forms. Some were still twitching unconsciously.
Inside, several people stood.
One of them wore a white lab coat, had a thin build and light green hair. He was the scientist Amachi.
He was frowning at a report on cellular activity.
Another person stood much taller than him.
He wore a white robe, his white hair tied into a ponytail.
It was none other than Hiruko.
"Hiruko, the fish-men haven't returned today."
Amachi pushed up his glasses, his tone uneasy.
"According to usual patterns, they should have been back an hour ago."
"Did something unexpected happen?"
Hiruko frowned slightly.
"Most likely. Probably encountered some passing shinobi."
Amachi nodded.
Although there were not many shinobi in the Land of the Sea, it was still possible that the fish-men had accidentally targeted one.
"Were they local shinobi, or from other countries?"
Hiruko stroked his chin.
After thinking for a moment, he looked in a certain direction.
There stood a woman.
Her figure was extremely seductive, dressed in a tight red-purple latex-like bodysuit that left most of her waist exposed.
Her long brown hair was styled into luxurious spiral curls cascading down her back.
On her left cheek were two horizontal streaks of face paint.
"Ni."
Hiruko said calmly.
"The fish-men ran into trouble. There is a chance the enemy might trace it back to the island. If they are shinobi, capture them alive if possible. They might make excellent experimental material."
"Yes, Lord Hiruko."
The woman with the codename Ni raised her head, revealing her mesmerizing purple eyes.
She stood up and in an instant disappeared into the shadows of the corridor leading out of the laboratory.
"I hope nothing goes wrong."
Amachi shook his head.
He had been secretly cooperating with Hiruko.
If Lord Orochimaru were to find out, there might be consequences.
...
By evening, the Seagull approached Summoning Island.
The closer they got, the more they could feel the island's strangeness.
The vegetation was unusually dense and towering, many trees having bizarre shapes. Their leaves were vividly colored, and the air was filled with a complex mixture of floral fragrance, decaying foliage, and a faint beastly scent.
Even from a distance, they could already hear a variety of beastly roars and bird cries echoing through the forest, rising and falling in different pitches, and some of those sounds even carried obvious fluctuations of chakra.
"Summoning Island truly lives up to its reputation."
Kurenai could sense numerous chakra signatures scattered throughout the island, some of them seeming to hold fixed territorial awareness, as if each occupied its own domain.
"Everyone, stay alert,"
Tsunade ordered.
"Captain Shimahui, steer the ship away from the shore and anchor at a safe distance."
"Understood, Lady Tsunade!"
A small boat was lowered, and Kiyohara, Tsunade, Shizune, Kurenai, and Rin, along with Yujojo who had just regained a bit of strength and was still bound by Kiyohara's curse mark, disembarked onto the soft and damp sand at the edge of the island.
When Yujojo stepped onto land, her body visibly relaxed a little, yet her eyes remained filled with fear and unease as she stayed close to Shizune.
"There's an enemy."
Kiyohara looked toward a certain direction.
"In the bushes to the left, there's an ambush by summoned beasts."
He spoke in a low voice, his hand already resting on the hilt of his blade.
The moment his words fell, the bushes on the left suddenly exploded apart.
Several gray shadows lunged out at high speed. They were seven creatures resembling wolves, yet several times larger than ordinary wild wolves.
Their fur was a rock-like gray-brown color, their fangs protruding as saliva dripped from their mouths. The most peculiar feature was their backs, where along their spines grew a row of sharp bone spikes.
"They're spine wolves, a common pack-hunting summon on Summoning Island. Their back spikes can be launched, be careful!"
Yujojo cried out in alarm, seemingly familiar with the island's creatures.
"Awooo!"
The leading wolf, noticeably more robust than the others, raised its head and howled. The spikes on its back trembled violently, and in the next instant, dozens of sharp bone spikes the length of a finger shot out like bullets toward the group.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Rin reacted swiftly. After forming hand seals, she slammed her hands onto the ground.
A thick wall of water surged up in front of them. The bone spikes struck the water wall with repeated thuds, their speed dropping sharply before they finally fell weakly to the ground.
The other spine wolves launched simultaneous volleys of bone spikes from the flanks and rear.
"Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique!"
Kurenai's eyes flickered with a red glow as invisible Yin Release chakra spread outward.
The spine wolves rushing toward her and Shizune suddenly stiffened, confusion flashing in their eyes. The positions of their targets appeared to shift subtly, causing their bone spike attacks to miss entirely.
Taking advantage of this, Shizune flicked her hands repeatedly, sending poisoned senbon raining down upon the wolves affected by the genjutsu.
However, a series of crisp clinking sounds rang out as most of the senbon were deflected by the wolves' tough fur and muscles. Only a few struck softer areas such as the eyes and nose, causing them to howl in pain and retreat.
"What strong defenses!"
Shizune clicked her tongue.
The moment Rin's water wall dissipated, Kiyohara dashed forward directly, targeting the alpha wolf that had issued the command.
The alpha seemed to sense the threat. The spikes on its back began charging again, and at the same time it opened its bloodied maw, chakra gathering in its throat as it prepared to unleash some kind of ninjutsu.
But Kiyohara was faster.
He did not draw his blade. Instead, while sprinting, he formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"
Several scorching fireballs burst from his mouth.
The alpha wolf was forced to interrupt its technique, dodging left and right in a panic while releasing wind blades to disperse the fireballs.
In the instant its attention was drawn away by the attack, Kiyohara had already appeared behind its flank.
In the next moment, his shinobi blade was unsheathed, slashing toward the alpha.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Blade!"
The blade, wrapped in blinding lightning, pierced forward at a speed almost impossible to track, accurately penetrating the alpha wolf's heart.
The violent lightning chakra instantly destroyed its life force.
The alpha let out a mournful howl and collapsed to the ground.
With their leader slain, the remaining spine wolves fell into disarray, their offensive slowing noticeably.
However, just as everyone thought they could quickly eliminate the remaining enemies, a sharp whistle sounded from deep within the forest.
Immediately afterward, a powerful chakra presence rapidly approached.
A red-purple figure leapt high out from the forest and landed lightly on a thick horizontal branch of a giant tree.
It was Ni, sent by Hiruko.
From above, she looked down at the group on the beach, her purple eyes sweeping over Kiyohara, Tsunade, and especially lingering on Kiyohara's Sharingan.
A strange, enchanting smile curved her lips.
"A Sharingan… Lord Hiruko will be very pleased."
She spoke slowly.
She raised her right hand, holding a black whip made of some unknown material, covered in barbs.
With a sharp flick, the whip cracked loudly in the air.
Behind her, a monster suddenly appeared.
The creature was several meters in size, shaped like a lion and covered in short fur, yet on its back it bore a massive dark brown tortoise shell.
Its lion head was ferocious, exhaling scorching breath, its four claws razor-sharp, and its tail was a snake covered in scales.
Ni swung her whip, pointing at Kiyohara and the others.
"Tear them apart!"
The remaining spine wolves, as if encouraged, once again charged forward fearlessly.
At the same time, with the sharp crack of the whip, the strange summon with the tortoise shell, lion head, and snake tail let out a low roar, digging its claws into the ground before surging forward.
Its size was nearly twice that of the spine wolves, and the ground trembled faintly under its charge.
Shizune flicked her hands rapidly, sending dozens of poison-soaked senbon toward the monster's eyes, nose, and joints.
Clink, clink, clink.
Most of the senbon struck the shell or thick hide and bounced off. A few barely pierced into the flesh of its legs, but it was like stabbing into oiled leather, sinking only half an inch before stopping.
The monster merely shook its head, its momentum completely unaffected, its crimson lion eyes locked onto Kiyohara at the front.
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"
Kurenai cast another genjutsu.
However, the tortoise-lion summon only paused slightly, resisting most of the illusion's effects.
Looking up, Kurenai realized that Ni was assisting the creature in dispelling the genjutsu.
Seeing that neither Kurenai nor Rin could stop the monster, Kiyohara tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade.
A pitch-black sheen spread from the hilt to the tip as Steel Release chakra coated the blade evenly, granting it hardness and toughness beyond ordinary metal.
Immediately afterward, fine blue-white arcs of lightning sprang from his wrist, crackling as they wrapped around the entire sword.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Blade."
With a flash of blade light, Kiyohara cut straight through.
He felt there was no need to use any other techniques, because whether it was Ni or this summoned beast, both were too weak.
Ni's pupils shrank sharply.
She saw that Kiyohara's blade sliced into the shell as if there were no resistance at all, a shell that even explosive tags could hardly damage.
A crack split open across the shell, and thick dark green fluid splattered out.
"Roar!!!"
The tortoise-lion summon let out a painful scream, its snake tail lashing wildly against the ground as its lion mouth gaped open.
Then its massive body crashed to the ground, twitching twice before falling still.
The enchanting smile on Ni's face froze completely, replaced by disbelief and shock.
With just one move from Kiyohara, her summon had been killed instantly.
"You—"
Her grip on the whip tightened until her knuckles turned white.
Ni bit her lower lip and lashed out with her whip.
"Secret Technique: Chaotic Serpent Bite!"
The whip suddenly split into more than a dozen afterimages, indistinguishable between real and fake.
Unfortunately, under the vision of the Sharingan, all of it appeared unbearably slow.
Kiyohara merely raised his blade casually in a diagonal slash.
Clang!
Lightning chakra conducted through the blade into the whip, and Ni felt her arm go numb, nearly losing her grip.
Before she could change tactics, Kiyohara had already stepped forward, his left hand reaching out to her neck and grabbing her directly.
Against opponents like them, Kiyohara felt no pressure at all.
But upon seeing Ni's face, he confirmed his earlier suspicion.
There was no mistake, this woman was also one of Hiruko's subordinates.
As Ni tried to struggle, she found black curse markings already crawling over her body.
Even if she wanted to move, she simply could not.
The only part she could still move was her mouth.
So she bit down toward the root of her tongue, where a poison sac was hidden between her teeth.
Once it ruptured, she would die.
However, Kiyohara immediately used the Sharingan to cast the Binding Illusion. Her movements froze instantly, her gaze becoming vacant, her jaw muscles relaxing.
Kiyohara stepped forward, dislocated her jaw, removed the poison sac, and then began interrogating her with genjutsu.
After a short while, he withdrew his hand, and Ni collapsed limply to the ground.
"I got the information."
Kiyohara turned and looked at Tsunade and the others as they approached.
"The one behind all this is Hiruko."
Tsunade frowned deeply.
"Hiruko? Is it someone with the same name? Why would he be here?"
She was puzzled.
And if this was truly Hiruko's subordinate, why would they attack them?
"No idea whether it's just a namesake, but it might have something to do with Yujojo."
Kiyohara glanced at Yujojo.
His meaning was obvious, Hiruko was conducting human experiments.
Tsunade fell silent for a moment.
That possibility was not impossible.
It was just that she found it hard to believe that Hiruko would be involved in something like this.
"Let's rest for a bit first."
Tsunade shook her head.
She had already prepared a birthday gift for Kiyohara and had intended to give it to him in advance.
She had not expected to run into such trouble instead.
If the person behind this was not merely someone with the same name but truly Hiruko himself, then the situation would be serious.
Such actions would directly classify him as a missing nin.
(End of Chapter)