The accommodation prepared for them is more like a slightly larger metal cage than a guest room.
There was no decoration on the cold walls, only a few exposed pipes extending along the corners, and occasionally there was the dull echo of water passing by. There was nothing else in the room except a hard bed and a metal table. There were not even windows, only a lamp hanging in the center of the ceiling, emitting a pale and ruthless light.
After a numb-looking Amegakure ninja led them here, he lowered his head and prepared to leave. There was unconcealable exhaustion and fear in his eyes, as if he would be swallowed up by the oppressive air if he stayed for one more second.
"Thank you." Orochimaru said hoarsely, with a hint of amusement in his golden snake eyes. He glanced at his disciple and said meaningfully, "It seems that Mr. Hanzō still doesn't completely trust us."
"Maybe Lord Hanzō is just too sad." Senju Chen raised his face and responded in an innocent tone.
Orochimaru laughed lowly, said nothing more, and walked straight into one of the rooms. For him, the purpose of tonight had been exceeded, and the rest was just to watch a good show.
After watching Orochimaru's door close, Senju Chen turned his head and called out to the Amegakure attendant who was about to leave.
"Brother, please wait a moment."
The attendant paused for a moment and turned back, with a questioning and wary look on his face.
"It's... so stuffy here." Senju Chen wrinkled his little nose, with childish disgust on his face, "Can you take me for a walk? I don't want to stay in the house, I feel like I can't breathe."
The attendant's brows furrowed even more tightly. In this highly guarded time, bringing a Konoha kid around the mansion? He hasn't lived enough yet.
"Sorry, these are extraordinary times. For your safety, please stay in the room." He refused harshly.
"But my teacher said that Lord Hanzō is a great ninja who protects Land of Rain. I want to see more of what the village he protects looks like." Senju Chen's eyes were bright, full of admiration and yearning for the strong, "Just for a little while, okay?"
These words were both a compliment and a clever way of putting himself in the position of "an admirer who came here to meet you". The attendant looked at that innocent little face, and the words of rejection came to his lips, but he couldn't say them out. After all, this was a guest that Lord Hanzō personally received.
He hesitated for a moment, but finally lost under Senju Chen's expectant eyes.
"... Okay, but only around here and not running around."
"Thank you, big brother" Senju Chen nodded happily.
The two of them walked one behind the other in the cold metal corridor. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty passage and seemed particularly clear.
"Big brother..." Senju Chen said unintentionally, his voice carrying a hint of timidity in the quiet environment, "He is Lord Hanzō's son. What kind of person is he...?"
The attendant's body stiffened for a moment, and then he sighed and responded in a low voice, "Young Master is a very good person. He treats others with generosity and grace. He is also very kind to our servants..."
"Has the murderer been found?" Senju Chen interrupted him, raised his head, and looked straight at him with clear eyes.
The attendant's lips moved a few times, and finally he lowered his head dejectedly, his voice filled with a sense of powerlessness. "Lord Hanzō has already interrogated everyone who had contact with the young master during that time... and nothing was found."
'As expected.'Senju Chen sneered in his heart.
What kind of person is Hanzo of the Salamander? Suspicious, ruthless, and never trusts anyone easily. But he has an almost paranoid confidence in the system he has established with his own hands and the subordinates he has chosen. He believes in his own majesty and his own interrogation methods. He may use torture or use drugs to extract confessions, but these methods are completely useless against a well-trained and determined true mole.
He only believes in the "evidence" he sees with his own eyes.
Senju Chen After all, he watched a lot of movies and TV series in his previous life. He speculated that it was possible that the poison was not caused by outsiders at all, but by internal spies, because the poisoning was most convenient for people around him.
"Brother," Senju Chen also stopped. The innocence and curiosity on his small face had faded away at some point, replaced by a calmness that was extremely inappropriate for his age, "Can I meet those people?"
"No!" The attendant immediately refused without thinking, his voice changing tone, "This is absolutely not possible! This is too dangerous! And... they have all been interrogated by Lord Hanzō personally. What can you do if you run away as a child? This is our Amegakure's internal affairs!"
He was really afraid of the kid in front of him, and he didn't want to take a trip into this muddy water. Behind this incident, there was a huge conspiracy that could cause a bloody storm in the entire Shinobi World. He, a small attendant, would be shattered into pieces if he got even a little bit of it.
Senju Chen no longer used that childish tone. His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable penetrating power.
"Lord Hanzō is now blinded by sadness and anger. If he can't find the murderer, he may vent his anger on us Konoha, or Sunagakure, Iwagakure. Then, it will be war."
The attendant's face instantly turned pale.
"The teacher and I came here to help him, and also for Konoha." Senju Chen took a small step forward.
He spoke slowly and uttered the last sentence, which was like a heavy hammer that completely shattered the opponent's psychological defense.
"Do you think, if I told Lord Hanzō that there was an opportunity to find the real murderer, but he missed it because of your obstruction... what would he think? What would he do to you?"
Buzz--!
The attendant's mind went blank, leaving only fear growing crazily.
Cold sweat slid down his forehead.
Mud, whose naughty child is this? Can you take it away quickly? I really can't afford to take care of you...
It took him a long time to squeeze out a few words through his teeth, his voice dry and hoarse.
"... I... I will take you there. You are an outsider after all. I hope you don't... don't..."
"Thank you, big brother." After looking at the other party saying "no" for a long time, without saying the following words, Senju Chen interrupted the other party directly.
The attendant sighed, turned around tremblingly, and led the way. After the conversation just now, his back was completely soaked with cold sweat.
Senju Chen followed him, but the corners of his mouth curved in a way that no one noticed.