Morning light pierced the dense shade of the Forest of Death, yet it could not reach the depths of Root's Snake Nest base.
The air was stagnant with the lingering stench of formaldehyde and blood, like some decayed, forgotten past silently fermenting in the darkness. The torches on the walls flickered weakly, stretching human shadows into twisted shapes like lurking monsters silently watching from the stone walls.
Neji's white robes were the only bright color amid this filth—and the coldest blade.
He stood at the center of the base, his long silver-white hair glinting coldly in the dim light. His hawk-sharp eyes swept over the Root shinobi kneeling before him, his gaze calm and profound.
Rows of former Root shinobi had been stripped of their masks and weapons. Like insects shed of their shells, they knelt silently on the icy ground. Their breaths were faint and restrained, as though even breathing had become a luxury.
The Tongue Curse Eradication seal lay dormant beneath their tongues like invisible venomous snakes, strangling their thoughts and words.
"Begin."
Yamanaka Haiichi nodded solemnly, beads of sweat forming on his brow. He took a deep breath and formed hand seals, his spiritual power extending like invisible tendrils and piercing the foreheads of the kneeling prisoners one by one.
"Mind Body Switch Technique: Memory Retrieval."
The examined shinobi's body convulsed violently, his eyes rolling back to reveal the whites. Fragments of memory were forcibly extracted and rifled through—Danzo's secret orders, dark experiments, comrades' screams... Bloody, twisted scenes flashed through Yamanaka Haiichi's mind. His face grew paler by the second, and the veins at his temples throbbed faintly as though he were bearing some invisible pressure.
"This one, codenamed 'Grey Falcon,' took part in a live Uchiha Clan Sharingan extraction."
"This one, 'Earth Spider,' was a Kusagakure