"Although Kusagakure might appear reunited on the surface, its political power is divided into two factions, called the Fruit Faction and the Flower Faction.
The flower faction is in favor of cooperating with other nations in the Fourth Shinobi War, but the fruit faction is against the cooperation and is scheming to activate the secret superweapon of Kusagakure to conquer the world after the war."
Ryūzetsu reveals the plans of the Kusagakure's higher-ups to Sasuke.
"Do you have any proof to prove your words? If your statement is false, then it might lead to political strife between different nations." Sasuke asks him.
Ryūzetsu turns silent for a while as Sasuke awaits his response.
"Alright, to prove my sincerity and statement; I will reveal the objective of my mission. However, this isn't the perfect time and opportunity for such talks."
Sasuke turns towards the entrance of the hall.
A group of guards walks towards them.
"Bandanna!"
They shout in Ryūzetsu's direction. Ryūzetsu raises his hand in surrender.
"It's time for your cleaning duty." The guards open the gate of the cell and let him out. Ryūzetsu throws a meaningful glance at Sasuke and leaves.
The guard turns towards Sasuke.
"He is the new guy who just arrived! The deputy warden demanded his presence."
One of the guards unlocks Sasuke's cell.
"Get out and follow us!"
Sasuke silently follows them. After several turns and corners, the group arrives in front of a giant hall. Sasuke narrows his eyes as he stares at the giant letters for 'Punishment Hall'.
The guards push him in and stand outside the hall.
Sasuke enters the hall and glances at the surroundings. A fat man in green clothes and orange glasses is sitting in front of a desk. He glares at Sasuke.
"So, you are the new guy, huh? I heard you were quite 'friendly' to my subordinates. I am Tosuke Naobushi, the deputy warden of this place."
Tosuke picks up an iron baton from the table.
"For taking such good care of my people, I have to return the favor, didn't I?"
Sasuke glares at him and mutters.
"Are you sure about that?"
Hehe…
Two guards with batons appear behind Sasuke.
Bang…
They slam the iron baton on Sasuke's back and kick his legs, forcing him onto the floor. Tosuke walks toward Sasuke and lifts his face with his hands.
"Even a ferocious lion will turn into a scaredy cat at this place. You are just a newborn pup who doesn't know what fear means. Today, I will inscribe the word fear in your mind."
Bang…
Tosuke smashes the iron baton on Sasuke's head.
Argh…
Sasuke grunts in pain and falls to the floor. Tosuke licks the blood from his baton and rams it in Sasuke's guts.
Bleurgh…
Sasuke spits out blood and saliva.
"This is it! This is the feeling I want from my prisoners. Haha…" He cackles and continues to bash Sasuke with his baton.
A few seconds later,
"Ugh… that's enough for the day. I want to take some rest. Also, before you leave, make sure to wipe everything. I don't want this place to become dirty." Tosuke wipes his bloody hands with a handkerchief and tosses it into the bin.
The guards clean the floor and drag Sasuke out. They toss him into the prison and leaves.
"I will take my leave; I have other matters to attend to!" One of the guards waves his hand and leaves. The other guard glances at Sasuke's unconscious body and leaves the area.
"Looks like the shinobi alliance sent someone incompetent for the task." Ryūzetsu scoffs and closes his eyes to rest.
In another corner of the prison, the guard that left early morphs into Sasuke. Sasuke cracks his bones and adjusts his body and facial muscles.
"This body transformation technique is harder compared to the normal transformation technique. The only advantage is that it doesn't use much chakra and is quite hard to detect. Also…"
Sasuke glances at the celestial fire seal on his chest.
"It's quite hard to release chakra outside my body with this seal. I can break it anytime, but instincts tell me to keep it on me for some time." Sasuke covers his chest and recalls the earlier incident.
After the guards took him to the punishment hall and Tosuke trash-talked him, he used his Sharingan to cast a Genjutsu on everyone present in the punishment hall. Later, he used the body transformation technique to morph his body into one of the guards and used his special transformation technique on the guard to give him his looks. So, the person who took all the beating for Sasuke was one of the guards.
'With this, I have a perfect alibi!' Sasuke hides his presence and swiftly flickers across the corridors of the castle.
Outside the castle, the sun sets on the horizon and dusk shroud the island.
"Exercise period is over. Prisoners will quietly return to their cells for the roll call. I repeat the exercise period is over. Prisoners will quietly return to…"
One of the guards announces the curfew and every prisoner returns to their cell. Some of the prisoners pass past Sasuke's cell and glance at his body.
"Huh! Another cocky fellow got sent to the Punishment Hall." They chuckle among themselves.
The guards glance at Sasuke's stiff body and shake their heads. They list his entry and move to another cell.
'Did I make a mistake?' Ryūzetsu suspiciously stares at Sasuke's body.
Soon, night arrives in the Hozuki castle. After a roll call for all prisoners and guards, the gates of the castle close shut.
Mui silently stands on top of the bell tower of the prison and glances at the guards of the castle.
"It's about time, Maroi!"
A fairly tall, dark-skinned man with short front brown hair and a ponytail with large hairs at the back walks out of a dark corner. He has gray eyes and a beard.
"That new guy is definitely a spy! Should I bring him for the…"
"No! It's still too soon to get rid of me. If he dies on the first day in the castle, then it might lead to some suspicion. Let him take it easy for at least a week." Mui shakes his head.
"Alright, as you wish!" Maroi nods and disappears into the dark.
In another dark corner of the room, Sasuke silently eavesdrops on the conversation. He has camouflaged his body using one of Izuna's signature techniques, that the latter taught to them for infiltration tasks.
'Hmm… what are they planning to do?'
Sasuke quietly follows Mui as the latter leaves the bell tower. Mui walks deeper into the castle and takes numerous turns here and there before arriving in front of his office.
Mui enters his office and glances left and right to ensure no one is present. A sudden gust of air greets him. Mui turns around and notices the open window. He closes the window and walks in front of a shelf. Mui pulls a book at an odd angle to activate the lever.
Creak…
One of the shelves rotates slightly to reveal a hidden passage. Mui enters the passage and pulls a lever on the other side of the passage to close the secret door.
Sasuke swiftly enters the passage through the slight gap. His movement creates a sudden gust of wind.
Hmm…
Mui turns around and glances at the entrance of the secret passage. After sensing that no one is present in the area, he descends down the dark area with a lantern he picked up from one of the racks.
He walks for another ten minutes and finally arrives in front of a room with a giant iron gate. Mui takes out a bronze key from his pocket and inserts it into the keyhole.
Clang…
He opens the door and enters the room.
Bang…
The door shuts close after his entry. Sasuke manages to slip into the room by hiding in Mui's shadow. Sasuke glances at his surroundings in the new room.
This room is similar to a laboratory with various boiling test tubes and flasks with different colors of solutions. Powerful electric current surges through a giant device with multiple capacitors implanted on top of it. Numerous electric wires jut out of the giant device and connect to multiple straps on the bed. A series of hoses are connected to various fluids on the surroundings container on one end and several giant syringes on the other end.
The entire room is enclosed with no window anywhere.
Knock… knock…
Someone knocks on the ceiling of the room. Mui pulls a lever and activates a mechanism to reveal a slight opening in the ceiling.
A black-cloaked figure jumps down from the ceiling.
"It's so stuffy in this outfit!" He places an unconscious body on the bed and removes his cloak to reveal his face. Sasuke recognizes the latter as Maroi from earlier.