Interrogation

"What..., these Fire Temple ninja monks still aren't saying anything?"

Outside a large building at the western edge of the Uchiha Clan compound, where prisoners were held, Uchiha Nobuhide, the Chunin in charge of interrogating them, frowned at his subordinate and asked.

"Yes!"

"These Fire Temple ninja monks are tight-lipped, and they're even refusing to eat in protest!"

"If we don't torture them, I doubt we'll get anything out of them!"

"Should we try Illusionary Torture?"

His subordinate carefully watched Uchiha Nobuhide's expression before suggesting what seemed like a workable solution.

Hearing this, Uchiha Nobuhide felt a headache coming on.

Didn't he know about torture and interrogation? He was the captain in charge of guarding the prisoners, after all.

And those Fire Temple ninja monks—now they were all so unyielding. They should've refused to surrender and fought to the death for their temple!

The thought only made Uchiha Nobuhide angrier.

"Sigh..."

The problem was, the clan head had instructed him to obtain the training method for the Fire Temple's secret technique, "Talent of the Immortal Clan," from these ninja monks.

There was no need to guess. The clan head's eldest son, Young Master Shin, must have wanted to learn the method.

After all, Young Master Shin had come by several times to ask about the Fire Temple ninja monks after they were captured.

They could always beat the truth out of someone...

But Young Master Shin wanted to learn "Talent of the Immortal Clan." What if these Fire Temple ninja monks misspoke or left out a word under torture?

If that caused Young Master Shin to suffer an accident while training in "Talent of the Immortal Clan," who would be held responsible?

Besides, Lord Uchiha Tajima had privately said more than once that Young Master Shin had the makings of a clan head. Who knew? Perhaps one day he would lead the Uchiha Clan to dominate the Land of Fire...

For someone so important to the Uchiha Clan, both now and in the future, shouldn't they be careful?

Uchiha Nobuhide didn't want his own carelessness to turn him into a sinner in the eyes of the Uchiha Clan, earning him the scorn of his fellow clansmen.

So nothing could happen to these Fire Temple ninja monks.

With that in mind, Uchiha Nobuhide quickly asked his subordinate, "Have you sealed the Chakra of all the Fire Temple ninja monks?"

"Heh, don't worry, Lord Nobuhide. We're not just sitting around doing nothing."

"We've not only sealed the Chakra of every one of those Fire Temple ninja monks, we've also put a poison in their drinking water that weakens them."

"Good, good. That's a relief."

Uchiha Nobuhide relaxed a little at his subordinate's reply.

"What is it? You still have something to say?"

Uchiha Nobuhide noticed that his subordinate now looked as if he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to.

"Heh, Lord Nobuhide, there's just one thing I can't figure out..."

"If these Fire Temple ninja monks are refusing to eat in protest, why are they still drinking the water we give them?"

"If they're refusing food, wouldn't refusing water too make them die even faster?"

What kind of bizarre question was that?

He wasn't a Fire Temple ninja monk. How was he supposed to know what those bald fellows were thinking?

His subordinate gazed at him expectantly.

Uchiha Nobuhide thought for a moment. "Maybe those Fire Temple masters think drinking some of our water doesn't count as giving in!"

"What, you still have a question?"

Seeing his subordinate still hadn't left, Uchiha Nobuhide glared at him.

"Lord Nobuhide, I'm going now. Heh."

The subordinate gave a sheepish grin and hurried back to his post.

Uchiha Nobuhide leaned against the wall outside the building, folded his arms, and lazily basked in the winter sun.

"I wonder how Father's handling the interrogation of the Fire Temple ninja monks."

"Have they gotten the training method for Talent of the Immortal Clan yet?"

Uchiha Shin couldn't stop thinking about the secret technique, "Talent of the Immortal Clan." He no longer felt like training at all.

"Forget it. I'll go see for myself."

With that, Uchiha Shin waved to Uchiha Hana, who was still training hard nearby.

When she saw Lord Shin calling her over, Uchiha Hana quickly put down her training and ran to him.

"Lord Shin, what do you need?"

"Hana, I have something to take care of. I'll leave Madara and Izuna's training to you."

Uchiha Shin smiled as he gave Uchiha Hana his instructions.

"Leave it to me!"

Uchiha Hana flashed him a bright smile and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Good. I'll be off, then."

After leaving the training ground, Uchiha Shin first went home, took a bath, and changed clothes. Then he greeted his mother, Uchiha Aoi, who was at home, before heading straight for the place where the Fire Temple ninja monks were being held.

"Brother Nobuhide."

"Enjoying the sun?"

"Heh."

As he reached the entrance, Uchiha Shin greeted Uchiha Nobuhide with a grin.

"Young Master Shin, what brings you here?"

When Uchiha Nobuhide saw Uchiha Shin, he quickly dropped his lazy demeanor and transformed back into a loyal Uchiha warrior.

It was like watching a complete transformation.

"Uh..."

"Brother Nobuhide, what are you doing?"

Uchiha Shin wasn't used to Uchiha Nobuhide's sudden change.

Besides, so what if he'd been slacking off? Uchiha Shin wasn't going to report him. Why put on such an act?

As soon as he saw Uchiha Shin, Uchiha Nobuhide perked up.

No matter what Uchiha Shin thought, Uchiha Nobuhide had been caught slacking. That was a fact no one could change.

So he still had to put on the proper show. That was how Uchiha Nobuhide had managed to become the captain guarding the prisoners despite being only an ordinary Chunin.

So, even before Uchiha Shin could ask, Uchiha Nobuhide launched into a thorough report on the situation with the Fire Temple ninja monks.

They were unyielding, refusing to eat in protest?

They couldn't torture them if they wanted to obtain a complete version of "Talent of the Immortal Clan."

And the clan head wasn't ready to fall out with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, so they couldn't use Illusionary Torture on the Fire Temple ninja monks.

What if a few of them ended up brain-dead? Then the clan head would be in a difficult position.

And so on...

Heh.

After hearing Uchiha Nobuhide's explanation, Uchiha Shin understood everything.

This guy had managed to become the captain guarding the prisoners despite being an ordinary Chunin. He clearly knew how to play the game.

All that talk was just an exaggeration of the difficulties, meant to excuse his own lack of ability.

Then he'd ask his superior for more authority, and if something went wrong, he'd blame the superior: You approved everything, after all!

Uchiha Shin had seen far too many people like this in the workplace in his previous life.

But there was no denying it: people like that often thrived in the workplace.

Wasn't this world strange?

Heh.

"Brother Nobuhide, could I go in and see Master Yamashita of the Fire Temple?"

Uchiha Shin understood the complaints hidden in Uchiha Nobuhide's words perfectly well, but he still smiled and played along.

"Young Master Shin, don't worry..."

"The Chakra of all the Fire Temple ninja monks has been sealed."

"And we've put a poison in the drinking water they get every day that weakens them."

"They're completely safe."

"I'll open the door for you right away."

With a smile, Uchiha Nobuhide led Uchiha Shin to the room where Master Yamashita of the Fire Temple was being held alone. He opened the door and ushered Uchiha Shin inside.