Chapter 86:
"It's safe, isn't it?"
Jill, now on the other side of the decontamination corridor, turned around to look at Sasuke.
"If I were you, I'd stay cautious," Sasuke said as he walked past her.
Level Two danger labs weren't nearly as hazardous as Level One. They hadn't encountered any zombies along the way, and Sasuke suspected that it was because the zombies in this facility had all died inside the decontamination passage.
On either side of the corridor were glass windows, and behind the glass were countless cultivation pods.
"This can't be real!"
Jill, visibly shaken, rushed forward, staring at the sleeping version of herself inside one of the pods.
All of the pods housed clones—of Jill.
"Looks like Umbrella's done something pretty serious to you," Sasuke remarked as he stepped forward. He had only ever seen cloning technology like this from Orochimaru. What puzzled him was why Umbrella would go to the trouble of cloning Jill.
As that thought crossed his mind, Sasuke turned his head slightly to observe the obviously distressed Jill, but he couldn't see anything particularly special about her.
"Sasuke, look at this," Karin said.
With a keystroke from her, a video began playing on the large monitor before them. It showed confusing classifications of different zombie virus strains, including their names and characteristics, but most importantly, it explained why Jill had been cloned.
Jill was the only person who, after fusing with the zombie virus, could still retain human consciousness.
"I fused with the zombie virus..." Jill muttered to herself. Suigetsu cautiously stepped away from her, now visibly wary.
"Idiot, didn't I just say that? Jill's the only one who's fused with the zombie virus and still kept her human mind," Karin said.
"Sasuke, one of the pods has been opened," Jūgo walked over and reported.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Karin said as she stared at the open pod.
"Same here," Jill agreed.
Just then, the lab lights suddenly came back on.
"The lab's... powering back up?!" Jill raised her submachine gun, alert.
All of the functional monitors lit up to reveal a figure—Jill.
"Hello, outsiders," said a long-haired Jill identical to the short-haired one standing with them.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked calmly.
"As you can see, I'm a clone of Jill. Or rather, the short-haired Jill standing beside you is also a clone. Everyone in this city is a clone. This entire place is nothing more than one of Umbrella's testing grounds," the long-haired Jill replied.
"Clones implanted with fake memories are made to live here, then Umbrella releases bio-viruses to infect them. How benevolent of them—not using real people for their experiments, but clones instead," she said with bitter sarcasm.
"What are you trying to do?" Sasuke pressed.
"...It's about time," she said cryptically, ignoring Sasuke's question. Her image vanished from the screens, and at that moment, the entire building began to shake.
"Level Three virus detected. Evacuate. Evacuate."
Red alarms started flashing all around them, heightening the sense of dread.
A green figure suddenly appeared in front of the group. It was a creature Sasuke was very familiar with—a Hulk-like green giant. But it wasn't just any green giant—there was a white snake coiled on its shoulder.
The green giant let out a roar and charged at them. Jūgo stepped forward, activating his Cursed Seal form, catching the giant's swinging fists with both hands.
"Hang in there, Jūgo!" Suigetsu shouted as he moved to flank the giant. "Water Gun: Dual Barrel!"
Mimicking the shape of handguns with his fingers, he fired two water bullets at the giant's head. But they did nothing—only enraging the creature further.
With another furious roar, the green giant grabbed Jūgo and hurled him aside. The white snake on its shoulder launched a barrage of Rasengans.
"Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi!"
Sasuke jumped in front, transforming Amaterasu's black flames into a shield to block the incoming Rasengans.
"Retreat!"
With the green giant closing in fast, Sasuke had no choice but to issue the retreat command. The narrow confines made it impossible to use large-scale jutsu without risking the collapse of the building, potentially burying the entire team alive.
They rushed back to the decontamination corridor, where the traps reactivated—laser grids flickered into place one after another.
"Hurry up, Jill!"
Suigetsu kept an eye on the approaching green giant while liquefying his body, shouting at Jill, who was trying to input the password.
"It's no use! The password's been changed!" Jill shouted, slamming her fist into the wall in frustration after several failed attempts.
"What now, Sasuke?" Karin turned to him.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
Sasuke stepped up to a nearby wall and blasted a hole through it with a burst of lightning chakra.
"Everyone, go!"
Suigetsu jumped down first. At Sasuke's signal, Jūgo and Karin followed one after another.
"It's too high... I'm not some enhanced freak like you guys..." Jill muttered, but before she could finish, Sasuke scooped her up with one arm and leapt down, using the Kusanagi sword jammed into the wall to slow their descent.
"What now...?"
Suigetsu looked at Sasuke, who had just landed with Jill, but before he could finish his sentence, the green giant came crashing down right after them, sending up a massive cloud of dust as it landed.
Sasuke tossed Jill to Karin.
"Scatter!"
After a few clashes, Sasuke had realized that conventional jutsu were useless against the green giant's tough hide. Continuing to use them would just waste chakra. The only real option was sealing techniques.
Sasuke tilted his head back, revealing the Rinnegan previously hidden beneath his hair. "Planetary Devastation!"
He thrust out his right hand, and a black sphere launched into the sky, pulling in massive chunks of earth with the green giant at the center. Eventually, the rocks encased the monster, forming a floating boulder in the air.
Although it looked like Sasuke had subdued the green giant with ease, the repeated use of ocular powers had drained him significantly.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Karin asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Sasuke replied, waving a hand.
He used the last of his ocular power to open a space-time portal leading back to the surface.
"We'll return for now. But Jill, you have to stay here."
Though he wanted to take her with them, the risk was too great—Jill could be a virus carrier. That concern kept Sasuke from acting rashly.
Gazing at the city before him, ravaged by a bioweapon outbreak, Sasuke knew one thing for sure—he would never allow such a virus to reach the surface.
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