A Unique Interrogation Method

They left the town and walked to a place rarely visited by anyone, where he gently set down five large wooden crates.

Uchiha Yuan guessed that the people inside were probably all from outside the Land of Fire. The broker likely did not have the nerve to sell members of ninja clans from the Land of Fire.

He slowly walked over to the first crate, pulled out the large nails with his bare hands, and removed the planks holding it shut. Only then did he see the unconscious person inside.

"Fair skin, long black hair, unusually delicate features... what clan is this?"

Curiously, he spread the person's legs and took a look, only to discover that they had a dick... Uchiha Yuan fell into thought.

"Fine, the first one is actually from the Yuki Clan. Not bad."

He opened the second crate next. One glance was enough to confirm that this person belonged to the Uzumaki Clan. There was no other reason—their head of red hair was simply too conspicuous.

The third was a chubby kid. He could not tell which clan the child came from. He grabbed the kid by the arm and lifted him up, but found nothing distinctive anywhere on his body.

The fourth was rather unusual. He was not even human, because he had a shark-like face. Uchiha Yuan had only ever seen such a face on Hoshigaki Kisame. Could he be from the Hoshigaki Clan? Was there even such a clan?

It had never been mentioned in the original work, so Uchiha Yuan was not too sure. He continued to open the final crate. It contained a woman, but she too made Uchiha Yuan frown.

"This woman's skin is rather rough. She seems to have lived in an arid region for years. Is she from the Land of Wind?"

In his previous life, Uchiha Yuan had only watched the anime. Aside from the famous clans that had appeared in it, he truly could not identify ninja clans that had barely gotten any screen time.

"The forces behind this human trafficking operation are quite formidable. Their connections are really wild! They actually managed to get people from so many countries, and all of them are from ninja clans."

He suddenly became interested in meeting the people behind this broker. That way, he would not have to rack his brains finding people for his experiments.

"Come out. You've followed me all this way, and you've been quite patient. I've inspected the goods, and you've watched long enough. What do you think?"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several kunai answered Uchiha Yuan from behind.

Smack!

With a flick of his sleeve, he knocked the kunai straight to the ground.

"Since that's the case, then go die!"

Uchiha Yuan expressionlessly raised two fingers. The ground then trembled, followed by several screams.

Without bothering to check whether those people were dead or alive, he stuffed the five people he had bought into a single wooden crate. He did not care about propriety between men and women as he hoisted it up and left.

Since he was carrying "property," Uchiha Yuan did not continue wandering the streets. Without stopping, he quickly returned to the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Given Uchiha Yuan's current strength, no one below Kage-level, or without exceptional sensory abilities, could detect him. The Uchiha Clan Grounds did not yet have a barrier, so he returned home without making a sound.

The five people in the crate seemed to have been drugged with some kind of powerful sedative and had remained unconscious for a long time.

He first locked them in the basement with iron chains, then went to check on Haru.

Haru's room was right next to Uchiha Yuan's. He entered without knocking, but no absurdly suggestive scene took place.

"Still training?"

"Lord Yuan, you're back."

Uchiha Haru let out a breath of turbid air. Though she was around the same age as Madara, wrinkles had already appeared on her face, making her look like a middle-aged woman in her forties.

Seemingly noticing Uchiha Yuan's gaze lingering on her face, she spoke helplessly.

"It can't be helped. Please forgive my unsightly appearance, Lord Yuan."

"It's fine, but you need to arrange your time properly. Training is not something accomplished overnight."

"Yes~"

Uchiha Yuan rubbed his chin and said,

"My experiment will begin soon. I'll leave behind a Shadow Clone Technique to guide you."

"...Yes."

Watching Uchiha Yuan leave after saying that, Uchiha Haru clenched her fist tightly. Yet her frail strength could not even break her skin, leaving only a few nail marks on her palm.

"I'm of no use to Lord Yuan now. I'm just like an ordinary servant, and I can't even..."

Haru's eyes dimmed. She was growing older, while her talent and potential were becoming increasingly meager...

Then, as though she had thought of something, her expression gradually turned resolute. Seemingly having made some kind of decision, she ignored Uchiha Yuan's earlier warning and continued practicing the Breathing Technique.

The basement was only a few square meters wide and was usually used to store miscellaneous items. Now, a large wooden crate sat against the wall, with two furry legs dangling from it.

Uchiha Yuan grabbed the two legs and pulled the person out of the crate. He infused Chakra into the person's body and assessed his condition.

"Still alive, but his stomach is empty. He's been unconscious for quite some time, and some substance has blocked the meridians in his body. No wonder he can't use Chakra."

There were too many blocked meridians. Without outside help, he could not break through them on his own. Moreover, the person helping him would need Chakra quality no lower than that of a Jōnin.

With that in mind, Uchiha Yuan began physically waking him up.

Smack! Smack!

After two hard slaps, the man immediately woke from the pain. He slowly opened his bleary eyes, apparently still dazed.

"Th-this... where is this?"

"This is my home. You were sold, and I'm the buyer."

"What?!"

His flowing red hair whipped sharply, but his empty stomach left him without strength. A brief lack of oxygen made his head spin, and he collapsed back onto the floor.

"You!"

"Stop talking and save your strength. Besides, since you've been sold, you should have the awareness of being merchandise."

Uchiha Yuan left the basement, rummaged through his bedroom for a stack of paper and a pen, then came back down.

"Come on, tell me about yourself."

"Hmph! Give up! I won't tell you anything!"

"Oh? You've got some backbone. But backbone is useless with me. I'm a scientist, you know? The kind of person who likes inventing and creating things. I have many ways to make you talk, but they'll be very painful. Want to try them?"

"Hmph! Kill me or torture me as you please."

So stubborn? Uchiha Yuan slowly lowered the hand holding the paper and pen. Since he was such a tough nut to crack, he could only grant his wish.

He turned around and went back up through the passage. When he returned, he held a pair of scissors.

Snip, snip!

The scraping sound of the scissors made the Uzumaki clansman raise his head in confusion. Seeing the white-haired man looking at him with a teasing expression, he felt uneasy.

"Y-you... what are you going to do?"

"Obviously, torture you. As a man, you should know what matters most to you."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Hehehe, I'm going to use these scissors to cut the thing between your legs into little pieces. Hehehe!"

The Uzumaki clansman's face went deathly pale at once, and he instinctively clamped his legs together.

"You're a demon!"

"Hehehe, this is what happens when you refuse to cooperate! Accept your punishment!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Yuan moved to pry apart his legs. The Uzumaki clansman had been starving for several days and could not use Chakra. Like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, how could he possibly have the strength to resist?

"No! You evil demon! You're a monster! You won't die a good death! You'll go to hell!"

"Hehehehe!"

The snipping sounds of the scissors became exceptionally terrifying in the Uzumaki clansman's ears. His legs had already been forced apart, leaving his helpless second brother exposed. With an evil grin, Uchiha Yuan slowly pressed the scissors against it.

The icy touch against that sensitive spot gave him a sudden jolt!

Thud!

Hm? Uchiha Yuan looked at the body that had gone limp, then raised his head. The Uzumaki clansman had actually fainted from fright.