"Qingyu, how are you feeling?"
After sending his ninjas in pursuit, Morino Eaton walked over to Qingyu, his eyes flashing with concern.
"I'm... I'm okay..." Qingyu said in a weak, trembling voice.
"I'll take you to the hospital." Eaton reached out, preparing to help Qingyu up.
"No... no need..." Qingyu waved his hand dismissively. He reached up with his right hand and removed his mask, revealing a face so deathly pale and fragile that he looked as if he were holding onto consciousness by a thread.
"Now is not the time to be stubborn!" Eaton's tone was reproving, but beneath it lay a clear sense of admiration for the boy's grit.
"Captain Eaton, I'm truly fine. I was just... startled. This blood... it isn't mine," Qingyu said, shaking his head.
"It's not yours?" Eaton re-examined Qingyu. Aside from being splattered with red, the boy seemed physically intact. "Then what happened in here?"
"Well, it was like this..."
Qingyu began his carefully crafted tale.
"While I was interrogating him, I realized his mouth was sealed tight. He wouldn't say a word. So, I decided to try and scare him with a branding iron."
Qingyu glanced at the iron rod lying on the floor to his right.
"I only meant to frighten him. I didn't even heat it up. But suddenly, he snapped his ropes and lunged at me with a kunai..."
With the poise of an award-winning actor, Qingyu wove his "thrilling" story.
"And then?" Eaton was listening intently, his confusion growing. "How did he end up injured while you walked away unscathed?"
"It was a stroke of luck, really..."
Qingyu stood up slowly, looking as though the effort cost him dearly. He pointed a trembling finger at the chain and pliers on the floor.
"I don't know if it was because the room was too dark, or if he was just too panicked."
"Just as he went to stab me, he tripped over that chain on the floor. He fell face-first, right onto those pliers. It looks like it sliced his face open."
"I was terrified and let out a scream. I think I must have spooked him because he scrambled up and bolted immediately."
"And then you arrived..."
Qingyu's explanation was a bit jumbled, but he had positioned those tools the moment he dropped them to create exactly this "accident" scene. He knew there were holes in the story, but with the prisoner now confirmed as a Sand spy, no one was going to scrutinize the "clumsy rookie" victim too closely.
"That's it?"
Eaton's lip twitched. He had braced himself for a tale of heroic struggle, and instead, he got... a slapstick accident?
"Yes, sir. That's everything." Qingyu nodded.
"Alright then!"
Eaton instinctively raised a hand to clap Qingyu on the shoulder. But just as his palm was about to land, he remembered the boy's frail constitution. He checked the motion, his hand waving awkwardly in the air for a second before he pulled it back.
"Ahem..."
Eaton scratched the back of his head to hide the awkwardness. He looked at Qingyu and said, "Since you're not hurt, I won't hover. I suggest you go to the hospital for a quick checkup anyway, then head home and rest. You did well today."
"Um... I suspect... that man might be a ninja," Qingyu said, biting his lip as if he had been debating whether to share his "intuition."
"There's no need to suspect. He definitely is a ninja, and likely a spy from another village. You've done a great service by flushing him out," Eaton said firmly.
"No, I didn't do much. I failed because I let him escape," Qingyu shook his head repeatedly.
"He won't get away!" Eaton said with absolute confidence.
"It's only thanks to your quick judgment, Captain, that the village is catching another spy. This is all your credit!" Qingyu added, expertly sliding in a bit of flattery.
"Oh?"
Eaton looked deeply at Qingyu, then allowed a small smile to form.
This subordinate... is quite likable! Not only was he not greedy for glory, but he was actively handing the credit over.
To be honest, it worked. As the Captain, having a prisoner escape and nearly kill a subordinate in a "civilian" interrogation zone could have led to a reprimand if handled poorly. But now, thanks to Qingyu's framing, it wasn't a failure—it was a successful sting operation led by Eaton.
Eaton stood up and walked toward the door. He paused for a moment at the threshold.
"Qingyu, go home and rest. As for that leave of absence... I'll see what I can do to push it through."
With that, Eaton vanished into the darkness.
Left alone in the quiet cubicle, Qingyu stretched his neck. Maintaining that "collapsed" posture had made him a bit stiff.
Flattery will get you everywhere, he thought. The ancients were right.
Qingyu had no desire for fame or medals. He wanted to be a "ghost" in the Torture Force. By packaging himself as a lucky victim and Eaton as the brilliant strategist, he ensured his own anonymity while making his boss very happy.
"The path to a vacation is now wide open."
He wiped the blood from his palms and headed back to the dorms.
Meanwhile, in the center of Konoha, a crowd had gathered by the river. People were whispering and pointing, their faces pale with unease.
"Konoha Military Police Force! Make way!"
A group of ninjas wearing the Uchiha crest pushed through the crowd. They looked out over the water and saw a bloated body floating near the bank.
One of the Uchiha officers, a young man in his early twenties, squinted as he studied the corpse.
"Wait... that's Taiichi," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "The man who went missing a few days ago?"