The first year of the Imperial Era, Autumn.
On the third day after the new batch of spells were deployed, the first anomaly report was submitted to the top of Scarlet Eye Tower.
The two captured Land of Lightning infiltration ninjas did not encounter any mental shock in their dreams as expected after being implanted with the new "Cognitive Anchor" spell.
However, the moment the early morning sunlight shone on them through the narrow window of the prison, the mutation broke out without warning.
The shrill screams tore through the dead silence of the dungeon.
It was not a scream of mental breakdown, but a wail of pure and extreme pain originating from the deepest part of the body.
The two of them huddled on the ground almost at the same time, scratching their skin and flesh frantically, with their fingernails curled and dripping with blood, as if there were billions of invisible poisonous insects inside their bodies that were gnawing at their bone marrow.
"Ahhhh--! Come out! Come out!"
"Help... help! It's drilling in my veins!"
The jailer's injection of emergency sedatives was like a mud cow in the sea, with no effect at all.
Their body function indicators are all normal, there are no signs of poisoning, no chakra disorder, and no physical trauma.
But the pain was so real that the peak brain waves captured by the monitoring equipment exceeded the physiological threshold that humans can endure several times.
This strange report, together with the real-time surveillance footage, was immediately transmitted to Uchiha Xuan.
His Eternal Mangekyō reflected the two painful and twisted bodies on the screen. There was no mercy in his eyes, only cold scrutiny and analysis.
"System, analyzing pain patterns."
"Instruction received. Comparing Imperial Biological Information Database... Comparison completed." The system's electronic voice sounded without any ripples. "The target pain nerve response pattern matches the database number 'Soul-073', the secret technique 'Ten-Breath Meridian-Severing Hand' used by the original Sunagakure puppet master 'Ghost Cleaver', with a consistency of 99.7%."
Ghost Cleaver.
This name made Uchiha Xuan's eyes move slightly.
That was one of Chiyo Saori's mentors, and one of the first die-hards he threw into the furnace and "purified" into the base material for the Empire's spells.
"Ten-Breath Meridian-Severing Hand", an extremely cruel punishment method, invades the human body through the special Chakra Threads, and forcibly activates the pain nerves in a certain area of the target to the limit without damaging the organs, lasting for ten breaths.
It is said that the pain is enough to break the spirit of even the most determined ninja.
Uchiha Xuan's mouth curved into a playful arc.
Cognitive Anchor is the dam he uses to block visual and auditory information pollution.
The enemy, however, has learned to abandon these two paths and directly opens up a third front - physiological experience.
They no longer try to make you "see" or "hear" the door, but directly make you "feel" the pain associated with the door.
This is a dimensionality reduction attack that bypasses the defense line of consciousness.
"Order, the distribution of all new talismans is suspended, and those that have been distributed are sealed on the spot." His voice was as cold as iron, "Initiate plan B-3 and transport 'Neural Branding Rack' to the seventh interrogation room. Bring those two samples over."
An hour later, the seventh interrogation room.
On the cold metal torture rack, a Land of Lightning ninja who had been stripped of his clothes was firmly fixed.
This torture rack is the masterpiece of Uchiha Xuan. It combines the empire's most sophisticated medical probe with Puppet Technique's chakra conductive wire, which can be directly connected to the target's spinal nerve tract.
Its only function is to use the illusion guidance of Sharingan to permanently "burn" specific pain memories into the target's cerebral cortex in an irreversible way.
What he wants is not a confession, but the creation of a living "taboo sample".
"Sir, all parameters have been set."
Chiyo Saori was wearing a plain white research uniform and stood in front of the console with an expressionless face.
Her movements were precise and efficient, as if she were debugging an ordinary machine.
She personally calibrated the current frequency of the torture frame and set it to a unique "three short and one long" pulse pattern.
That was the rhythm that Teacher Ghost Cleaver liked to use most when he was admonishing his disciples.
Uchiha Xuan acquiesced in her behavior.
He knew very well that this was a way for her to express her "loyalty" - to torture new enemies in the same way as her enemies.
"Start."
Following his command, Chiyo Saori pressed the start button.
"Ah--!"
The heartbreaking screams sounded again, sharper and more desperate than before in the dungeon.
The muscles all over the ninja's body tensed instantly, veins popped out under his skin like earthworms, and his eyeballs were bloodshot and protruding.
Each "three short and one long" pulse of the current allowed him to experience the complete process of "Ten-Breath Meridian-Severing Hand".
Pain cannot be disguised by language.
However, just when the scream reached the seventh time and the tone became hoarse due to the torn vocal cords, Uchiha Xuan suddenly raised his hand. "Stop."
Chiyo Saori immediately cut off the current.
The only sound left in the room was the heavy breathing of Genin, like a broken bellows.
Uchiha Xuan did not look at the ninja who was on the verge of collapse. His eyes were fixed on a vital sign monitoring screen on the side.
He pointed at the data stream in the corner of the screen, with a cold smile in his voice, "Saori, look at his nystagmus frequency."
Chiyo Saori cast his gaze over.
In the picture, although the ninja was unconscious, his pupils were shrinking and expanding in a very regular and undetectable manner following the aftermath of the severe pain.
It was not an involuntary spasm.
The system instantly converts that frequency into a data model and compares it with the intelligence database.
After three seconds, the results are displayed.
The rhythm of that pupil contraction perfectly matches the ancient breathing rhythm recorded in <Gate-Opening Rite>, which is used to activate spiritual resonance!
"Interesting." Uchiha Xuan's smile grew wider, "They use pain as a code book."
Pain is no longer a punishment, but a signal.
Every scream, every convulsion, every contraction of the pupils is sending the coordinates of the "door" to some unknown existence.
They are using Uchiha Xuan's torture to perform a sacred prayer.
"Reversely connect all pain feedback signals to 'Myriad Phenomena Devouring System'," Uchiha Xuan's order followed. "Analyze, classify, model, and establish 'Bitter Chant Database'. I want to know how many people in the empire can resonate with this 'painful prayer'."
"Yes." Chiyo Saori turned around silently and returned to the console.
Her fingers danced rapidly on the virtual keyboard, and new commands were constructed one after another.
When setting the classification labels of the database, her fingertips paused for a moment.
Then, she quietly classified all the specific pain patterns recognized by the system as "Ghost Cleaver·Ten-Breath Meridian-Severing Hand" into a folder called "Invalid Background Noise" and set it as the lowest processing priority.
This tiny move was faithfully recorded by the system's background log.
On the high throne, Uchiha Xuan glanced at the fleeting system prompts from the corner of his eyes, but chose to ignore them.
He wanted to see how far this chess piece, honed by his own hands, could go in this game of chess.
That night, Uchiha Xuan stayed alone on top of Scarlet Eye Tower.
He took out a new type of spell from the storage box that had just been produced and had not yet been activated.
He wanted to experience for himself how this so-called "Cognitive Anchor" was cleverly used by the enemy.
He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his bronze arms.
This Warring States Era Uchiha Clan ancestor's body is extremely powerful and has almost never suffered any damage.
He gently placed the cold charm on his forearm.
The moment the talisman came into contact with his skin, a sharp pain without warning, as if crossing the torrent of time and space, slammed into his nerve center!
It was not the torture of "Ten-Breath Meridian-Severing Hand", but an older and more humiliating pain - rough hemp rope whipping on the back, each blow was accompanied by a burning sensation, accompanied by the stern reprimands of the elders of the clan...
"As Uchiha Clan, how can I associate with the remnants of the Senju Clan!"
"This is the price you pay for betraying the family!"
Uchiha Xuan's pupils suddenly shrank!
This is not his memory!
This is the humiliating memory of the original owner of this body - the long-gone Warring States ancestor named "Uchiha Xuan" who was whipped by the family elders when he was a child!
He stretched out his hand suddenly and tore off the talisman!
The spell has become hot, like a soldering iron.
And on the skin of his arm, a clear, burnt black mark had already formed.
The shape of the brand was clearly that of a door frame with only half of its outline drawn.
[Warning: Memory backlash detected.] The system's alarm sounded in my mind, [The source of the contamination has been confirmed: the remaining consciousness of the host body.]
Uchiha Xuan looked at the brand on his arm, was silent for a moment, and then let out a low sneer.
The enemy is not only taking advantage of the soul he burned, but has even begun to awaken the dead soul sleeping in his body.
He pressed the communicator.
"Chiyo Saori, come to me."
A few minutes later, Chiyo Saori's figure appeared at the door.
When she saw the mark on Uchiha Xuan's arm, her eyes flickered slightly, but she still stood quietly with her head bowed, waiting for orders.
Uchiha Xuan picked up a specially made palm-sized torture rack controller from the table and threw it to her.
"Starting from tomorrow, all Dream Tribunal judges, including you, must accept 'Neural Branding' every morning to verify their loyalty." His voice was without any warmth, "Everyone's pain data will be imported into 'Bitter Chant Database'."
Chiyo Saori stretched out his hand to catch the cold controller, a slight tremor came from his fingertips.
She held the controller tightly in her palm and asked in a low voice, "... Including me?"
"Especially you." Uchiha Xuan's gaze was like a knife, piercing her heart.
She was silent for a few seconds, then bowed deeply, her voice as calm as water. "As you command."
She turned around and left, her back as straight as an unsheathed sword.
And in the secret compartment of her dormitory, the piece of charred wood that carried the last memories of her and her teachers had been quietly replaced at some point.
Instead, there was a small piece of talisman residue with residual warmth.
On top of the debris, a totem composed of countless tiny cracks was slowly taking shape in the darkness.
It already has a door frame and a lintel. At this moment, the fourth and final touch - the closed door panel - is complete.
Scarlet Eye Tower Top, Uchiha Xuan stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the steel empire he had built by himself.
Memory backlash, painful codes, internal betrayal... all the clues were like threads, intertwined in his mind.
He suddenly realized that he had been paying attention to the "ashes" produced after being burned, but had never really looked at the "fuel" itself that was thrown into the furnace.
Is the essence of incineration purification or screening?
Did these souls, who came one after another and conveyed the information of the "door" in various ways, have some common characteristics that he had never noticed before they were "purified" by him?
He needs answers.
And the answer is buried in the most primitive and bloody files at the beginning of the establishment of the empire.