Yamanaka Prison

"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."

The crisp, delicate sound of dripping water startled the unconscious boy awake, and at the same time, a rather familiar girl's voice echoed in his mind.

"You're finally awake..."

Chiba was startled and then looked around at his surroundings.

The surrounding area was rather dark. He was sitting on an uneven rocky ground, and the walls around him were also made of rock. He seemed to realize something, and suddenly looked around, finally seeing a series of thick iron pillars that trapped him between three walls.

As he expected, he ended up in prison.

"By the way, where's Mira?" he couldn't help but ask.

"They were taken to another place, which appeared to be a laboratory where Demon Factors were injected..." Feiyin said.

Chiba immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"You don't seem worried at all," Feiyin said, somewhat surprised.

"It's alright. Even if they inject Mira with Demon Factor, her magic will Take Over it."

Chiba stood up and found that his hands and feet were locked in iron shackles. He then mobilized all his Chakra, covering his body in a layer of lava, and finally melted the iron shackles into a pool of molten iron.

As expected, these shackles used to bind mages were completely useless against him.

"Can we leave now?" Chiba asked.

"The patrol team usually passes by here every half hour. It's been about twenty minutes since the last patrol, so they should be here soon. But since you've already melted the shackles, you might as well leave now."

"My luck is a bit bad."

After making a comment, Chiba stopped talking and grabbed the iron railing with both hands. Then, with a forceful pull, he bent the iron post and walked out sideways.

"Which way?" Chiba looked at the circular, encircling prison and had no choice but to ask the Feiyin inside him.

This guy figured he'd explored most of the prison's layout while he was unconscious, so it would be safest for her to lead the way.

"To the right, then down the slope," she instructed.

Chiba followed her directions and was about to go down the slope when he heard footsteps coming from below.

However, he did not panic. He simply leaped up and landed on the top of the rock above, his limbs clinging tightly to the rock, giving him a Spider-Man -like appearance.

Before long, two armored guards carrying long spears came into Chiba's view. They were chatting and laughing all the way, completely unaware that danger was already looming over them.

Chiba glanced down at the slope below and, finding no one else, leaped down, rapidly gathering Chakra in his hands.

Rasengan!

"Bang! Bang!"

Two muffled thuds sounded in their chests. Chiba felt his hands were only slightly blocked before they passed through their bodies without any resistance. The Rasengan raged inside them, shredding their internal organs.

Pulling out his bloodied arm, Chiba frowned. Had he overestimated the defensive capabilities of their armor or underestimated the power of the Rasengan? How could it be so easy to pull out like tofu?

"It's a pity you're wearing so much armor. You could have infiltrated the area if you had worn it," Feiyin said with some regret.

"Have you forgotten that I have the Transformation Technique?" Chiba ignored the two patrolmen's corpses and strode downwards. The prison door he was in had been melted down, and the prisoners had escaped. Even if he disposed of the two corpses, the next patrol would discover he had broken out. Unless he possessed Steel Release.

"Then why don't you become a patrolman? That would make it easier to move around."

"Are you stupid? There are two people in one team, and I can only transform into one. Besides, I'm going downhill, while this patrol is obviously going uphill. What if we encounter other teams?" Chiba complained.

"Hmm... it seems so..." She didn't seem to notice anything wrong.

Chiba quickly followed the ramp to the next level. This time he was lucky; he didn't see any patrol teams, but he did see many prisoners locked up in jail on this level.

These prisoners could be ordinary people used for research, or they could be mages captured and injected with Demon Factors.

"He's a person... he's an outsider..."

"Not a patrolman..."

"Help me... help me get out!"

"Please let us out! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

The prisoners in each cell seemed to have seen a savior, and they dragged their battered bodies to the iron bars, their eyes shining, shouting wildly.

The news spread like wildfire, eventually causing a stir throughout the entire prison.

"Holy crap! Are these guys idiots?!" Chiba was stunned and cursed angrily, clearly not expecting these prisoners to do such a thing.

However, it's understandable. In such a desperate situation, seeing outsiders is like seeing a lifeline. How could these people who have suffered so much possibly remain calm?

"What are they doing up there?! Why is it so noisy?"

"Report, Captain! It appears there's been an intruder!"

"What?! Quick! All patrols, prepare for battle! Assemble and head to the fifth floor. Also, notify the officers: someone has infiltrated!"

Hearing these words faintly from below, Chiba's heart sank. In a flash, he made a decision.

Shadow Clone Technique!

He created more than ten clones, each of which leaped away and went to the gate of each prison to melt the gate with his Lava Release, and then melted away the shackles of the prisoners.

Now that we've been exposed, let these people cause a ruckus!

"Haha! I'm finally out!"

"Run! The patrol is coming soon! Run downhill!"

"Hurry! Hurry!"

The prisoners were overjoyed and ran down the stairs in a chaotic frenzy, like madmen.

Chiba watched with a sigh, when suddenly, on a whim, he ordered his Shadow Clone to run up to the next floor and release the prisoners again.

Since he'd already been exposed, he didn't mind making the situation even more chaotic, and ideally, he could free all the prisoners he saw along the way.

Well, that counts as doing a good deed...

Taking advantage of the chaos, Chiba ran down to the fourth floor and found a group of patrolling soldiers. However, the fourth floor was already full of prisoners, and the patrolling soldiers were busy dealing with them and didn't notice Chiba at all.

According to Feiyin's instructions, there is a secret passage in a corner of the fourth floor, which leads directly to the laboratory.

"How do I open the door?" Chiba asked quickly, standing in front of a wall.

Feiyin looked blankly at her. "I don't know. I'm just a radar, not a master key."

Chiba was a little confused, but he made a quick decision, immediately conjuring Rasengan with both hands and slamming it against the wall.

"Boom!"

The stone wall collapsed with a crash, revealing that the door was actually just very well hidden and didn't offer much defense.

He strode in, and soon arrived at an extremely spacious area, which must have been the so-called laboratory.

However, he was stunned.