Perhaps the Kaguya Clan had fought so wildly this time that many of the bodies collected afterward couldn't be kept intact.
Most had been hastily pieced together, and some might not even have belonged to the same person.
"Confirm pawn."
[Current Pawn Points: 9525]
Looking at the suddenly empty morgue, then at his sizable haul of points, he felt all the planning and risks had been worth it.
Just as Namikaze Yoru was preparing to quit while he was ahead, his sharp hearing picked up clear footsteps at the end of the corridor, coming toward his room.
"Tsk. What a pain."
Yoru furrowed his brow and scanned the room. With nowhere to hide, he flashed up to the ceiling and hung upside down in the shadows like a bat, holding his breath.
"Creak—"
As the door opened, a middle-aged man in a Medical Ninja uniform and a mask walked in.
He kept muttering under his breath, "Seriously, they're rushing me to analyze the Kaguya Clan's corpse cells already? Those lunatics won't even let me rest after they're dead..."
His words abruptly cut off.
The empty morgue came into view, and he froze in place. Uncertain, he rubbed his eyes.
"What the...?"
In the instant he lost focus in shock, a shadow swooped down.
Yoru clamped both hands around the man's neck. With overwhelming force, he twisted sharply.
"Crack."
There was a sharp snap. The man had no chance to fight back before he collapsed limply, shock and confusion still in his eyes.
Yoru quickly caught him to keep his fall from making enough noise to attract attention.
He deftly changed into the man's uniform, put on the mask with a hint of distaste, and used the Transformation Technique to mimic his build and appearance.
"Looks like I've found an unexpected bonus."
Turning over the identity access card he'd taken from the man, along with a confidential document requesting the Extraction of Kaguya cell samples and their delivery to "A-1 Laboratory," Yoru began to make new plans.
A-1 Laboratory. It sounded extremely high-tech. There seemed to be other secrets here, too.
Now that he'd taken the man's identity, he should be able to move around this area without much trouble, as long as he was careful.
Imitating the Medical Ninja's gait, he kept his head down and calmly pushed open the morgue door, then headed farther inside.
Thanks to the access card on his chest, he passed through without hindrance. The people inside were all in a hurry; at most, they nodded to him as he passed.
The deeper he went, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. A strange energy even seemed to hang in the air.
At last, he stopped in front of a metal door engraved with complex sealing symbols. The label on it clearly read "A-1."
A masked ninja stood guard outside. Yoru showed him the access card and handed over the document to be checked before he was allowed inside.
The metal doors slowly slid apart, revealing what lay beyond.
Yoru's pupils contracted sharply, but he forced himself to keep his emotions in check.
It wasn't an ordinary laboratory behind the door. Instead, it was a much larger space that combined a prison with a research facility.
They were clearly conducting human experiments. Rows of transparent cylindrical containers filled with pale green nutrient fluid stood in neat lines. Inside were people of uncertain life or death, their bodies connected to countless tubes.
Most had the Uzumaki Clan's distinctive bright red hair, though some had already turned grayish white.
The Uzumaki Clan!
Beside the cylindrical containers were countless research instruments and scrolls and documents recording experimental data, along with several... disemboweled bodies whose faces were unrecognizable.
Before he could take a closer look, a ninja dressed like a researcher poked his head out from behind a pile of instruments. Seeing Yoru disguised as a Medical Ninja, he asked:
"Aoki? Did you bring the Kaguya cell samples?"
Yoru reacted quickly. In a low, muffled voice, he replied:
"Something went wrong. The bodies are all gone. The higher-ups sent me to tell you to increase security."
"What?! How is that possible?"
The researcher was horrified. In his shock, he didn't even notice that Yoru's voice sounded a little strange.
While the researcher was still reeling, Yoru strode over and made a show of handing him the document. Using it as cover, he drove a Bone Spike cleanly through the man's chest.
Before the man could cry out, Yoru clamped a hand over his mouth and nose. Before long, blood had stained the floor.
This was a secret facility of Kirigakure, after all. Yoru didn't dare waste time; he had no idea when his cover might be blown.
He quickly scanned the room. Apart from the lifeless bodies, most of the Uzumaki Clan members submerged in the containers were barely breathing, but their vitality remained astonishingly strong. They had clearly endured inhuman torment.
"Pawn."
[Scan complete. The following items can be pawned:] [Ping! Uzumaki Clan members (living)*5... Estimated value: 100 points each] [Ping! Uzumaki Clan members' bodies (incomplete)*11... Estimated value: 50 points each]
As for the mutilated bodies, perhaps because too much time had passed or too much of their bloodline had been Extracted, the system no longer recognized them.
"Confirm pawn."
Having finished that, he turned his gaze to the heaps of scrolls and documents in the center of the laboratory.
Without hesitation, he pawned all of them. The system classified the materials as Secret Technique Scrolls.
[Ping! Three-Tails Chakra Research Report*1... Estimated value: 100] [Ping! Three-Tails Jinchuriki*3... Estimated value: 50 each] [Ping! Bloodline Fusion Failure Record*12... Estimated value: 0]
"Confirm pawn."
[Current Pawn Points: 11155]
In just a few seconds, the entire A-1 Laboratory had been almost completely stripped bare. Only rows of empty containers and a glaring pool of blood on the floor remained.
He hadn't expected to stumble upon such a windfall. Mist Village had been using the Uzumaki Clan's Seal Technique and bloodline to research how to create a Perfect Jinchuriki.
These bloody experiments must have cost many lives. By that measure, the researcher had gotten what he deserved.
Just as Yoru was about to check for anything he might have missed—and perhaps see if he could find any trace of the Three-Tails—the entire laboratory suddenly began flashing. Alarms blared, and the doors slammed shut.
"Oh? Looks like Mist Village has finally caught on."
Yoru spoke calmly, unruffled. With Space Ninjutsu and all his preparations, he was confident no one could stop him if he decided to escape.
Just as he thought this, the floor suddenly began to shake beneath his feet, as if something were about to erupt.
A flicker of confusion rose in Yoru's mind. Was Mist Village trying to use the same trick—hiding in plain sight?
Then a violent, cold chakra presence unlike that of any ordinary ninja descended without warning.
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