Bloodstains and You, Brat

If Yuhara knew Earth Release, given the level of surveillance he was under here, he might actually be able to pull off a prison break. But having Earth-natured chakra in his body didn't mean he could use Earth Release.

Unfortunately, this half-baked ninja couldn't use a single technique right now.

That said, after this period of study, Yuhara had gained a much deeper understanding of his own "Magnetic Release."

Unlike the Magnetic Release in this world, which could only (or at least was only accustomed to) control a single type of metal, Yuhara's "Magnetic Release" worked on all metals. And he could do quite a lot with it, including but not limited to changing a metal's shape, hardness, toughness, temperature, easily making it vibrate, levitate, or move in various states... So this was a more conceptual, more macroscopic, broader sense of "Magnetic Release."

Let's just say "Sword Flight" wasn't a dream anymore, which was genuinely moving. And since this "Secret Technique" with its unclear principles was far more powerful than Yuhara had initially imagined, he'd privately given it a very fitting name—"Mendeleev's Lament."

It was impressive, sure, but the problem was "scale." Imagine if Yuhara were a ninja with an astonishing amount of chakra—even if he couldn't use any ninjutsu, he could still become a powerhouse with just this secret technique. But unfortunately, according to Orochimaru, his chakra level was only that of an average chunin.

Now that brought up another issue... As he thought this, Yuhara raised his arm.

Theoretically, he was already a "cyborg" now. The problem lay in the extent and results of his modification.

Yuhara had undergone Jugo's Sage Body factor "Assimilation Experiment," a process that had been a narrow brush with death. But this clearly wasn't the actual Cursed Seal experiment—it was a necessary prerequisite for it. So in the end, aside from feeling a bit more energetic, his biggest gain was simply being able to sense Nature Energy.

Or maybe Yuhara should think more practically: not dying on the spot was the real biggest gain.

No matter how positive Yuhara's mindset was, it couldn't change the fact that he was extremely passive on a practical level. But that passivity wasn't entirely a bad thing... Soon, he wouldn't have to worry about escaping or not.

Lying flat might be waiting for death, but sometimes it was the smoother path to survival.

The telltale change came one day when Yuhara's cellmate—the child who had always been locked in the iron cage—was taken away.

Then, Yuhara heard some noises from behind one of the walls.

The innermost wall of the cell had a row of palm-wide ventilation holes, and behind those holes was the "arena" where Yuhara had fought that ninja before. Through these holes, he could just see what was happening below... The child who had been taken away appeared there.

So now it was that kid's turn to fight?

But when Yuhara saw the child's opponent, he couldn't help but freeze... It was the female ninja Hotaru, who had disappeared for a few days.

On one side was a child; on the other, a support-type female ninja. They were forced into a life-or-death battle. What a crazy world this was... Yuhara could only watch; he had no power to stop anything.

Good and evil, conscience—none of it mattered. People in that situation had only two choices: kill or be killed. That was it. In fact, even Yuhara, who had held back in his earlier fight and asked about his opponent's fate afterward, had never thought about what that person might have faced since... When you couldn't even take care of yourself, how could you spare the attention to care about or sympathize with others?

Just like the dozens or even hundreds of times this had played out before, the battle began.

As the fight started, Yuhara understood the child's identity.

The kid formed hand seals, and the barren, flat ground of the arena became uneven. Then something sprouted and grew, twisting like living snakes as it lashed toward Hotaru...

It was Wood Release.

Just as the child had said, he was Orochimaru's test subject, with no name or other identity. Maybe now he had a code name called "Kou," and it would be a long time before he was known as "Tenzo" or "Yamato."

"Kou" was a Wood Style Ninja transplanted with the First Hokage's power. By comparison, the female ninja Hotaru wasn't even a combat-type ninja, so...

The blood staining the twisted, growing wooden branches was a particularly vivid red.

Someone wanted to live, and someone died because of it.

And so the battle ended.

Yuhara turned around, sliding his back down the wall until he was sitting, then closed his eyes.

Such an uneven fight couldn't possibly have been for any experiment, nor to test the test subject's strength.

Hotaru was doomed to die.

But wasn't she Orochimaru's subordinate? Why would Orochimaru kill her?

Yuhara instantly thought of the note hidden on his person. There had to be some connection, but now wasn't the time to read it.

After the battle, "Kou" didn't return to the cell. Instead, he simply disappeared.

Several days passed, and Yuhara finally noticed something abnormal: aside from the imprisoned criminals or test subjects, this dungeon seemed to have been cleared out.

Had Orochimaru abandoned this place?

"Freedom" came so suddenly that Yuhara nearly starved to death.

If this place was now unmanned, then Yuhara could finally put his escape plan into action. The iron cell door wasn't a problem for him; the only issue was Orochimaru. And now Orochimaru had left this lair.

But just as Yuhara was about to make his move, clear footsteps came from the corridor outside again. This time, the footsteps were more chaotic, meaning there was more than one person.

Then someone opened the cell door and came before Yuhara. It was a man in his late twenties, and more notable than his appearance was the Konoha Headband on his forehead.

Yuhara realized the problem: control of this dungeon had likely been transferred from Orochimaru to the official Konoha authorities.

"Yuhara? Please come with me." The man gave a friendly smile first, then spoke.

Since he could call Yuhara by name so directly, it meant Konoha's acquisition of this dungeon probably wasn't through a surprise raid or seizure, but a peaceful handover.

"Yes."

This also explained why "Kou" hadn't come back.

"A successful case of Hashirama Cell transplantation"—that kind of identity was very valuable. Compared to that, what was Yuhara, a guy who'd survived some bizarre experiment, but a piece of trash?

As Yuhara left the cell door, he saw many Konoha Ninja conducting identity screenings on the people imprisoned in the dungeon.

So what fate awaited him next?

What was Konoha's attitude toward people like him?

Everything was unknown.