Chapter 196: Captive
In a subterranean cavern somewhere within the Land of Grass, a young woman, her body wrapped in bandages, lay on a stone slab.
It was clear from her condition that she had suffered some kind of severe trauma.
Beside her bed, two strange, white, humanoid figures observed her, murmuring to one another.
Suddenly, her body twitched. Her eyes shot open.
"Ugh... what happened to me?" Uchiha Nagisa stared at the stone ceiling above. She tried to sit up, but a searing pain erupted from every part of her body, forcing her back down.
As her consciousness cleared, the moments before she blacked out flashed through her mind.
"Release her, and I will allow you to leave safely," the Second Elder's voice was ice as he faced the enemy. Behind him, dozens of Uchiha shinobi fanned out, completely surrounding them.
"Grandfather..." Uchiha Nagisa, now fully awake, bit her lip and looked hopefully toward the man who had come to rescue her.
"Don't be afraid, Nagisa. Grandfather is here to save you," the Second Elder said, his gaze softening for a moment to comfort his terrified granddaughter before turning back to the enemy leader.
"Heh heh, what a touching family reunion," the Iwa ninja known as Tōshi sneered. "But we went to great lengths to lure you here. If you were in my position, would you just walk away, old man?"
"If that's your choice... then you won't be leaving at all."
The moment the Second Elder finished speaking, Tōshi found that all his comrades had vanished. The world seemed to shrink until he was the only one left.
A genjutsu, he thought. As expected of an Uchiha elder who survived the Warring States Period. To cast a genjutsu of this level at his age is impressive, but...
The Hashirama cells within his body instantly flooded his system with chakra, shattering the illusion. He raised a short blade just in time to block the Second Elder's strike. "It's still not quite enough, old man," he said, looking at the shock on the elder's face.
"Your era is over. It's time for you to take your final bow." With that, he kicked the Second Elder away. At his signal, the Iwa ninja behind him clashed with the Uchiha.
Worried for Nagisa's safety, the Uchiha, including the Second Elder, couldn't risk going all-out against Tōshi. The tide of the battle slowly began to turn in Iwa's favor.
Amidst the chaos, Nagisa, still bound on the ground, saw her captors' attention shift. She began to subtly move, trying to work her way out of the ropes.
Adjusting her position, she grit her teeth and threw her entire body weight onto her right hand, deliberately breaking the bones in her own wrist with a sickening crack.
"Ngh..." Sweat beaded on her forehead. Fighting through the blinding pain, she pulled her now-mangled hand free from the ropes and shakily began to untie the rest of the knots.
The moment the Second Elder launched another attack on Tōshi, Nagisa sprang up from the ground, her water whip lashing out to ensnare their foe.
"She got free? Can't let my guard down for a second," Tōshi remarked, completely unfazed by the pincer attack. He sidestepped the whip from behind and, coating his fist in a thick layer of rock, threw a punch at the charging elder.
"Earth Release: Stone Fist Technique!"
The sheer, overwhelming force was too much for the aged Second Elder to handle. Though his granddaughter was within arm's reach, he was sent flying.
"You dare strike my grandfather? I'll kill you!" Nagisa screamed, her grief and rage boiling over. She lunged at Tōshi without a second thought.
With his focus now entirely on her, she flicked her left wrist. The water whip snaked through the air in an impossible arc and wrapped tightly around Tōshi's body.
Her tactic had worked. Nagisa yanked on the whip, intending to hold him in place for her clansmen to deliver the final blow.
Unfortunately, the power gap between Nagisa and Tōshi was simply too vast. With a mere flex of his muscles, Tōshi reversed the pull, and the girl was violently dragged toward him.
An explosion of chakra snapped the water whip. Tōshi's right hand shot out, clamping around Nagisa's throat as he spun her around to use her as a human shield.
"Damn you!" the Second Elder cursed. Seeing his granddaughter in the enemy's grasp once more, he was forced to divert his sword at the last second.
Seeing the elder hesitate, a cruel grin spread across Tōshi's face. He reached out with his free left hand and seized Nagisa's broken wrist, squeezing hard.
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream tore from her lungs, accompanied by Tōshi's deranged, maniacal laughter.
"Stop it!!!" The Second Elder trembled with fury, hearing the pure agony in his granddaughter's cry.
"What's wrong? Does it hurt to watch?" Tōshi's eyes glinted with malice as he nodded toward the elder's sword, silently ordering him to drop it.
When the elder hesitated, Tōshi squeezed again. The screams intensified.
"Stop... please..." Tears welled in the Second Elder's cloudy eyes. He glanced at his granddaughter's pain-wracked face, and his hand went limp. The longsword clattered to the ground.
Instantly, Iwa ninja appeared behind him, restraining him.
Seeing their leader captured, the other Uchiha, afraid for both him and Nagisa, had no choice but to surrender.
"Please... don't hurt her," the Second Elder begged, looking at Tōshi and uttering a plea he had never spoken in his entire life.
"Take them all back to camp," Tōshi commanded, ignoring the old man's words. He watched as his men rounded up the Uchiha, then turned his gaze to the twitching girl in his grasp.
"Our objective has been achieved. You're of no use to me now."
With that, he flung her through the air. An earthen dragon erupted from the ground in front of him.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
The dragon struck Nagisa in mid-air, the powerful impact slamming her body into the nearby river.
"NO!!!"
The memory ended there. Lying on the slab, Uchiha Nagisa had no idea what happened next, but she knew her grandfather and her clansmen were now prisoners. She didn't know their captors' ultimate goal, but it could be nothing good.
Ignoring the agony wracking her body, she struggled desperately to rise.
"Grandfather... I have to save you."
But it was no use. Her body, ravaged by the Earth Dragon Bullet, refused to obey. Overwhelmed by panic and fear, she fell back into unconsciousness.
Watching the scene unfold, Tobi spoke in a tone of admiration. "This little girl has a strong will, wouldn't you agree..."
"...Madara."
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