Chapter 243 — "Treat Him Well"
"...You've got to be kidding me."
Fugaku felt a surge of white-hot anger erupt the moment he heard the boy's birthplace. The fury ran deeper than anything personal—it was instinctive, ingrained, a bitterness leftover from his former life that no amount of time could wash away.
A second ago, he had been ready to spare this transmigrator.
Maybe even keep him around as someone to talk to—someone from the same world, someone who understood his past life and its culture.
Let him live out a safe life in Konoha.
Eat, sleep, enjoy comfort, and never need to step onto a battlefield.
But after learning that?
All mercy evaporated.
This brat had delivered himself.
An opportunity Fugaku had never been able to take in his previous life—now placed neatly in front of him.
He wouldn't kill him outright.
That would be too easy.
This one needed… proper handling.
A sharp glint passed through Fugaku's eyes, and with a cold smile, he released the Tsukuyomi. A Shadow Clone formed beside him.
"You," Fugaku ordered the clone, pointing at the unconscious Uchiha Yota, "take him to the prison."
The clone nodded and slung the limp boy over its shoulder like a sack of laundry.
---
Konoha Prison — Torture and Interrogation Unit
Morino Ibiki was in the middle of interrogating a nearly-broken enemy spy when a guard shouted:
"Hokage-sama is here!"
Ibiki froze.
He dropped everything—literally—and rushed out of the interrogation chamber.
When Uchiha Fugaku first seized power, Ibiki had been skeptical.
But after witnessing Fugaku obliterate the Hidden Cloud Village by himself, stabilize Konoha, and strengthen the entire military system, his attitude changed completely.
Now?
There wasn't a single shinobi in the village who dared disrespect the Fifth Hokage.
"Hokage-sama!" Ibiki hurried over, tall and scarred, hands awkwardly rubbing together. "If I had known you were coming, I would've cleaned up. It's a bit messy right now."
He gave a strained smile—his scarred face made every expression look fierce, but Ibiki was actually polite and meticulous beneath the intimidating exterior.
Fugaku's Shadow Clone waved casually.
"No need for formalities. I'm only a clone. I'm here to drop someone off—and cut ahead of the line, if that's alright."
He pointed at the unconscious Uchiha Yota.
Ibiki answered instantly.
"No problem at all! Absolutely no problem! I'll take care of it right away!"
A blatant lie.
He had been one step from breaking the spy he was interrogating… but what did that matter?
This man before him destroyed Hidden Cloud alone.
If he wanted to drop someone off, Ibiki would throw open every room in the prison.
Fugaku's expression grew colder.
"Ibiki, I want you to use every method you have on this one. No holding back. I'll send Tsunade over to keep him alive, so there's no need to limit force.
Go all out."
Ibiki blinked, then glanced down at the unconscious teenager.
A kid. Barely grown.
What could a child have done to draw such wrath from the Hokage…?
But Ibiki was a professional.
He didn't ask.
Didn't pry.
He simply nodded, face hardening.
"Understood, Hokage-sama. I won't hold anything back."
"Good," Fugaku said. "Tsunade will heal him whenever he's close to breaking. Three days of intensive interrogation—no problem?"
"No problem," Ibiki answered firmly.
Fugaku gave one last look at Uchiha Yota—eyes filled with cold disgust—and the clone dissolved in a puff of smoke.
---
Back in the Real World
The memories of the Shadow Clone returned, and Fugaku released Tsukuyomi's lingering restraints.
Uchiha Yota gradually regained consciousness.
He opened his eyes—
—and froze.
A bald, heavily scarred man was staring directly into his face.
Every alarm bell in his brain rang at once.
"W–What the hell?! Stay away from me!"
He thrashed instinctively, but his limbs wouldn't move.
He looked down.
He was tied to a chair.
Thick ropes.
Arms and legs immobilized.
Cold dread spread through him.
Wasn't he in Uchiha Fugaku's courtyard?
The last thing he remembered was the guard saying he'd gone to call Fugaku.
And then—
Nothing.
A blank.
Now… he was here?
His eyes darted around the dimly lit room.
Shelves of metal tools.
Iron hooks.
Sharp implements.
Chains.
This was an interrogation chamber.
And the man in front of him—
Black trench coat.
Headscarf.
Two deep scars carved across his face.
Uchiha Yota choked on his own breath.
Morino Ibiki.
The Torture and Interrogation Unit captain.
The man who presided over the Chūnin Exam's infamous first test.
A living nightmare in the Naruto world.
Realization hit him like a hammer.
He was in trouble.
Serious trouble.
The worst possible trouble.
The ordeal was only just beginning.
---