If Yuhara knew Earth Style, then given the level of surveillance he was currently under, he might genuinely have been able to carry out an escape plan. However, possessing Earth-nature Chakra did not mean he could use Earth Style.
Unfortunately, this half-baked ninja did not even know a single technique.
However, after this period of research, Yuhara had gained a deeper understanding of his "Magnet Release."
Unlike the Magnet Release of this world, which could generally only—or at least was only accustomed to—controlling a single type of metal, Yuhara's "Magnet Release" worked on all metals. Moreover, he could do quite a lot with it, including, but not limited to, altering metal's shape, hardness, toughness, and temperature, as well as easily making it vibrate, levitate, or move in various ways... Thus, this was a "Magnet Release" that better fit the concept in a more macroscopic and broader sense.
All he could say was that "Sword Flight" was not a dream. It was genuinely moving. And since this mysterious "Secret Technique" was far more powerful than Yuhara had previously imagined, he had privately given it a very fitting name—"Mendeleev's Lament."
It was certainly powerful, but the problem lay in its "scale." Suppose Yuhara had been a ninja with an astonishing amount of Chakra. Even if he knew no ninjutsu at all, he could still become a powerhouse with this Secret Technique alone. Unfortunately, according to Orochimaru, his Chakra level was merely that of an ordinary Chunin.
That brought them to another issue... As he thought this over, Yuhara raised his arm.
In theory, he could now be considered a "Cyborg." The question was how extensive the modifications were and what results they had produced.
Yuhara had undergone Jugo's Sage Body factor "Assimilation Experiment." The process had been a brush with death, but this clearly had not been the actual Cursed Seal Experiment. It had merely been a necessary prerequisite for it. In the end, aside from feeling somewhat more energetic, his greatest gain was that he could sense Nature Energy.
Or perhaps Yuhara should have been more realistic: not being killed on the spot was his greatest gain.
No matter how positive Yuhara remained in his thoughts, it could not change the fact that he was exceptionally passive in reality. Yet this passivity was not entirely a bad thing... Soon, he would no longer need to worry about whether or not to escape.
Lying flat might mean waiting for death, but sometimes it actually made surviving easier.
The most obvious change came one day, when Yuhara's cellmate—the child who had always been imprisoned in an iron cage—was taken away.
Afterward, Yuhara heard some commotion behind one of the walls.
At the innermost wall of the cell was a row of ventilation holes, each about a palm's width. Behind them lay the "arena" where Yuhara had once fought a ninja. Through those holes, he could just see what was happening below... The child who had been taken away had appeared there.
Was it the child's turn to fight now?
But when Yuhara saw the child's opponent, he could not help freezing... It was the female ninja Hotaru, who had disappeared for several days.
One side was a child, while the other was a female ninja who was clearly a support-type. The two sides were forced into a life-or-death battle. All he could say was that this was truly a crazy world... In such circumstances, Yuhara could only watch. He was powerless to stop anything from happening.
There was no room to consider morality or conscience. Anyone in that arena had only two choices: kill or be killed. That was all. In truth, even Yuhara, despite holding back during the previous battle and asking about his opponent's fate afterward, had never thought about what might have happened to that person since then... When one could barely take care of oneself, who had the energy to care about or sympathize with others?
Just like the situation that had played out dozens or even hundreds of times here, the battle began.
The moment the battle started, Yuhara understood the child's identity.
As the child formed hand seals, the desolate, flat floor of the arena became uneven. Then something sprouted and branched out, twisting toward Hotaru like a flexible serpent and attempting to strangle her...
It was Wood Style.
Just as the child had said, he was Orochimaru's Test Subject, with no name or other identity. Perhaps he now had the code name "Kou," while being called "Tenzo" or "Yamato" was something that would happen far in the future.
"Kou" was a Wood Style Ninja who had been implanted with the First Hokage's power. By comparison, the female ninja Hotaru was not even a combat-oriented ninja, so...
The blood scattered across the twisted, growing branches appeared exceptionally bright red.
Someone wanted to live, and someone died because of it.
And so the battle ended.
Yuhara turned around, slid down along the wall, and slowly settled into a sitting position before closing his eyes.
Such an unequal battle could not possibly have been for some kind of experiment, nor could it have been meant to verify the strength of the Test Subject.
Hotaru was destined to die.
But wasn't she one of Orochimaru's subordinates? Why would Orochimaru kill her?
Yuhara immediately thought of the slip of paper hidden on his person. There should have been some connection between them, but now was not the time to read it.
After the battle ended, "Kou" did not return to his cell. Instead, he disappeared altogether.
Several days passed before Yuhara finally noticed something strange: aside from the prisoners or Test Subjects being held there, the dungeon seemed to have been emptied.
Had Orochimaru abandoned this place?
"Freedom" had come so suddenly that Yuhara nearly starved to death.
If the place was now unattended, Yuhara could finally carry out his escape plan. The iron cell door was not a problem for him. The only issue had been Orochimaru, and now Orochimaru had left this lair.
However, just as Yuhara was preparing to act, clear footsteps sounded again in the corridor outside. This time, the footsteps were somewhat disorderly, indicating that more than one person was outside.
Someone then opened the cell door and came before Yuhara. It was a man in his late twenties. More noteworthy than his appearance was the Konoha Headband on his head.
Yuhara realized what was going on. The controller of this dungeon had most likely changed from Orochimaru to the official forces of Konoha.
"Yuhara? Please come with me." The man first gave him a kindly smile before speaking.
Since he could call Yuhara by name so directly, it meant that Konoha had most likely not obtained this dungeon through a surprise raid and seizure, but through a peaceful handover.
"Yes."
Yuhara now understood why "Kou" had not returned earlier.
As a "successful case in the Hashirama Cells transplantation experiment," Kou's identity was extremely valuable. Compared with that, what did a survivor of some inexplicable experiment like Yuhara amount to? Nothing but a rotten sweet potato or bad egg.
When Yuhara left his cell, he found quite a few Konoha Ninjas conducting identity checks on the people imprisoned in the dungeon.
So what fate awaited him next?
What attitude would Konoha have toward people like them?
Everything was unknown.
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