"Wha… what?"
Upon hearing this, Samui widened her eyes, still a little unable to process it.
"As long as you personally kill one comrade, I can let you and your other comrade leave."
"What are you saying?"
After receiving Aoba's confirmation, both Mabui and Yugito showed shocked expressions.
"Of course, you can also take this kunai and attack me. But if you fail, then the three of you, will all have to die," Aoba narrowed his eyes, a kind smile on his face.
"You want me to kill my comrade with my own hands?", Samui had never expected that Aoba would actually make such a demand.
But—
'Mabui, Yugito…'
"Samui, kill me. Mabui's importance to the village far exceeds mine. The village can't lose her!", Upon hearing Aoba's condition, the simple-minded Yugito immediately made her choice.
"No! Samui, kill me instead. Yugito is the Two-Tails jinchuriki of the village. As long as she can return to Kumogakure, even if I die in Konoha, it's worth it," Hearing Yugito's words, Mabui also feared Samui would make the wrong choice and temporarily overlooked the loopholes in Aoba's words.
However, her words did allow Samui's chaotic mind to calm down a bit.
Why would Aoba want to release them?
"Not going to act? Are you worried I won't keep my word?", Aoba looked at Samui and asked with a smile.
"Huu—", Samui took a deep breath, suppressing her distracting thoughts, and looked at Aoba, "What is your real goal?"
"Goal? What goal?", Aoba feigned confusion and asked.
Samui stared coldly at him, "Your purpose in making me kill my comrade!"
Aoba's mouth curled slightly, teasingly, "There's no particular purpose. I'm just curious, even though the Fourth Raikage has already abandoned you all, what would happen if you returned to the village after killing your comrade."
"That's all."
———
"This brat! He really knows how to play the villain," Tsunade, who had been watching Aoba through the crystal ball all along, couldn't help but curse under her breath.
———
"Never thought that the dignified Hokage's disciple would be such a vile person?", Samui responded to Aoba coldly.
But in her heart, she was still thinking, 'It always feels like he has some other intention. After all, based on the investigation, Hokage's disciple doesn't seem like this kind of person.'
Aoba neither confirmed nor denied, continuing to tempt her, "Isn't this choice simple? You just need to kill one of them, and then you and the other can return to Kumogakure."
"...", Samui fell silent again. She had a feeling that something was off in Aoba's words.
Moreover…
"What if I kill one of them and you go back on your word and don't release us?"
"That's a good question."
Aoba nodded in full agreement, "Although your distrust is reasonable, right now, you don't have the right to doubt, only the right to choose to kill one of them."
He felt that unless he pushed her, Samui probably wouldn't make a move.
"What do you mean?", Samui was taken aback.
Behind Aoba, several chains appeared, instantly wrapping around Yugito.
"Ah?"
Yugito cried out in panic, her whole body suspended upside down.
"What are you doing?", Both Samui and Mabui shouted at the same time.
Aoba walked up to Yugito and cut open the clothes on her abdomen, revealing smooth, fair skin on her lower belly.
"You… you pe*vert! What do you want to do to me?", Yugito shouted in panic, her entire body twisting and turning, the chains clanking in the empty cell.
Even if they didn't know Aoba's character was this vile, they knew he was really l*wd.
If he weren't l*wd, how could he have so many girlfriends?
"Relax, I'm not going to do anything," Aoba formed hand signs with both hands, then pressed his right palm onto Yugito's abdomen.
A black circular seal pattern, similar to a sealing technique, appeared there.
"What's that?", The moment the seal was undone, Yugito suddenly felt a powerful spiritual force rush into her mind.
And once that spiritual force entered her consciousness, she immediately lost consciousness.
In her belly, it felt like something was trying to burst out.
"What did you do to Yugito?"
Samui and Mabui tried to rush over to check on Yugito's condition, but Aoba used the Adamantine Sealing Chains to restrain them as well.
"I merely removed a part of the internal sealing within her."
Aoba smiled faintly, looking at Samui, "Now you have five minutes. If you don't make a decision within five minutes, the Two-Tails will leave her body."
"I believe you should know what happens to a jinchuriki when they lose their tailed beast, right?"
"Wha… what?", Samui widened her eyes.
'Only five minutes. After five minutes, Yugito…'
She didn't know if Aoba had the guts to go through with it, but Yugito had said before that the Two-Tails was no match for him.
Time was tight, leaving Samui with no room to think about Aoba's true intentions. Looking at Yugito's continuously swelling belly, she could barely breathe.
"Samui, this is all for the village. You should make the right choice!", Mabui spoke up again. Seeing Yugito's distended belly, she also felt extreme urgency.
If Kumogakure lost her as a secretary, the village might be in chaos for a while, but if they lost the Two-Tails…
"Mabui, I…", Samui ultimately still pointed the kunai at Mabui.
Her face was filled with pain and inner struggle.
"It's okay, Samui. What you're doing, is the right choice," Mabui looked into Samui's eyes with relief.
"I…", Although the Two-Tails was indeed more important than Mabui, Mabui was her best friend.
The two were comrades from the same graduating class, once the closest of war partners, until Mabui became the Raikage's secretary and they drifted apart.
Rationality and emotion clashed inside Samui's mind. No matter what, she couldn't bring herself to act.
"Not going to move? Then just wait for the tailed beast inside Yugito to come out. But if that happens, I won't let any of you go, okay?", Aoba smiled sweetly.
"I got it!", Samui finally gripped the kunai tightly.
She aimed it at Mabui's neck.
Then closed her eyes.
"Aoba, all you want is for me to kill one of Kumogakure's ninja and let the others leave, right?"
"Of course, I always keep my word!", Aoba noticed the wordplay in her phrasing but didn't care, smiling like a little fox.
"Then I…"
"Killing myself also counts as killing a Kumogakure ninja, right?", Samui suddenly pulled back the kunai, then swiftly slashed it toward her own neck.
"Samui!", Mabui cried out in panic.
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