Chapter 118: Resisting Pressure
In the interrogation room, the light was so dim it was like a corner being eroded by darkness.
All sorts of chilling torture devices hung on the four walls. Iron chains intertwined and hung from the ceiling, and barbed hooks hung in rows on the walls, with dried bloodstains still congealed on their sharp points.
Ibiki Morino's face was drenched in sweat, which ran down his stern features and soaked his collar.
His chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath, as if he had just gone through an intense battle.
His hands rested on his knees, his body slightly bent forward, supporting his exhausted frame.
Then, looking at Uchiha Ren opposite him.
Uchiha Ren's face was alight with an almost manic expression. His eyes were wide, and his gaze revealed a wild fervor and excitement, as if he were in a situation he found immensely enjoyable.
The corners of his mouth curved slightly upwards, revealing a twisted and eerie smile, and he occasionally let out a low chuckle. The laughter echoed through the silent interrogation room, making it exceptionally unsettling.
Immersed in this state, he seemed utterly oblivious to everything around him.
His eyes held only Ibiki Morino and this unique confrontation.
Ibiki Morino hadn't expected to encounter such a stubborn challenge.
All his previous considerations for the Uchiha Clan were cast aside as he turned and picked up a wooden bucket.
Holding the wooden bucket, he introduced, "This is chili water made from the world's hottest peppers. Its spiciness can even corrode bricks and stone—"
"On your leg, the flesh is already torn open," Ibiki Morino threatened. "If I splash this on, what do you think it will feel like?"
"What will it feel like!?"
Uchiha Ren was momentarily stunned, then erupted into a deafening, wild laugh.
His laughter, like a surging tide, instantly shattered the oppressive silence of the interrogation room, reverberating wildly on all sides.
His body trembled violently, his hands tightly clutching his hair as if he wanted to tear his soul from his very shell.
His mouth was agape, his laughter almost a hoarse shriek, and saliva splattered from the corners of his mouth, yet he paid it no mind.
He swayed unstably in place, as if being tugged by an unseen force. "Hahahaaha! Chili water, hahahahahahaha!"
Ibiki Morino felt a pang of discomfort. "The chili water will splash onto your wounds—"
Before he could finish, Uchiha Ren suddenly widened his eyes, fragments of his speech scattering everywhere. "Quick, quick, quick! Drop it in my eyes!"
For Ibiki Morino, a single day felt like ten months.
When he limped out of the interrogation room, utterly exhausted in body and mind, he even considered taking ten days to half a month off to rest.
The mere half of the pain response was already unbearable for Ibiki Morino.
He simply couldn't comprehend how a child barely over ten years old could withstand such torture.
After a full day of interrogation, not only had no information been extracted, but Ibiki himself had caved.
At the end of the corridor, unfamiliar footsteps approached.
Ibiki Morino was a little puzzled.
This place didn't welcome any outsiders. Who was so presumptuous as to disregard the rules?
He quickly stepped forward.
"Danzo-sama."
Ibiki Morino bowed slightly. "Is something the matter?"
"How did the interrogation go?" Danzo asked softly, his eyes narrowed.
"This..." Ibiki Morino felt uncomfortable all over. He wanted to answer, but didn't know what to say.
He couldn't exactly say that he, the head of the Interrogation Department, couldn't handle it anymore and had to step out for some air, could he?
Just then, a crowd of footsteps appeared at the end of the corridor!
Ibiki Morino frowned.
What was going on today? Why did everyone seem to be challenging his authority?
Danzo was one thing, but what came next...
When he saw Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head of the Uchiha Clan, "Fierce Eyes" Fugaku, personally leading a team to retrieve someone, Ibiki was speechless.
Danzo, who already had a strained relationship with Fugaku, slammed his staff against the ground. "Fugaku! Who gave you the right to take someone from the Interrogation Department?!"
Uchiha Fugaku didn't even spare Danzo a glance, directly ordering the purple-haired kunoichi beside him to carry Uchiha Ren away.
After the main force of the Uchiha Clan departed.
A masked Root ninja appeared.
"Danzo-sama, the Hokage-sama has given his approval..."
Danzo closed his eyes and cursed, "Foolish old man."
Uchiha Shrine.
"This is truly outrageous! Konoha actually treats our clan's genius like this!"
"They're absolutely despicable! Hatake Kakashi even said that Uchiha Ren indirectly saved his life, yet Konoha still insists on treating Ren this way. They clearly have no regard for us!"
Several Uchiha elders furiously cursed Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisors. Uchiha Fugaku offered no comment, merely sitting in silent contemplation.
Amidst the crowd, Itachi Uchiha subtly shook his head. At a critical juncture unnoticed by anyone, he left the high-level meeting.
A little later, on the rooftop of the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been enjoying the breeze, turned his head.
An Anbu operative appeared.
"Hokage-sama, the voices of discontent within the Uchiha Clan are growing stronger. Their actions might be brought forward."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply. "Alright, I understand. Continue to investigate and report back."
"Yes."
Uchiha Ren, lying on the bed, struggled to sit up.
He looked at the figure that suddenly appeared by the window and forced a smile.
"I'm sorry," Kakashi sighed. "I made you suffer."
Uchiha Ren actually understood in his heart that the main reason he was tortured like this was because...
He truly had an inexplicable connection with Orochimaru.
He also couldn't explain why Madara hated him so much.
"It's fine, it's enough that I returned alive," Uchiha Ren said with a wry smile, scratching his head.
"After all, I'm a member of the Uchiha Clan. It's perfectly normal for the village not to trust me. It's better to return to the clan compound than to stay outside, right? I'm an Uchiha with a three-tomoe Sharingan. What if people from other villages gouged out my eyes? At the very least, I'd be captured and used for breeding."
Three-tomoe.
Kakashi lowered his head.
As someone who possessed the Sharingan, he understood very well that for a pair of eyes to awaken the three-tomoe, and for that person to leave the village for only a month... one would have to endure an immense amount of pain behind the scenes to reach such a level.
Thinking of this, Kakashi looked at Uchiha Ren. "Rest up for a while. The Ninja Academy's graduation is coming soon. You might have two teammates in the future, but it's not a certainty."
"Alright, Teacher Kakashi. I've been wanting to learn Lightning Release lately, can you teach me?"
Kakashi gave Uchiha Ren a look. "Talk to me once your injuries are healed."
Kakashi came and went without a trace, like Batman; one moment he was there, the next he was gone.
After Kakashi left, the smile vanished from Uchiha Ren's face. He silently swore to himself.
For this suffering, he would definitely repay Konoha's higher-ups twofold!
This shitty village needed a change of leadership!
Should he open the gates and let Orochimaru in?
Or rally Uchiha Fugaku to lead a rebellion?
This was the problem he should truly be considering.
(end of chapter)