"Your sister is inside of their camp?" Kekkai asked
"Yes." The youth nodded with a deep scowl
"How long do they keep her there, do you think you can manage to get her to eat together?" Kekkai frowned while asking.
This Quest was getting more complicated as time passed, and he had no moment to waste with so many unknowns.
"Not possible ever since coming here three years ago. My sister has been kept in the main camp while I was separated and kept here in the mines. She has some prestige to them because even though we are left alone while meeting, and she can command some of them, she has zero freedom besides the Pit and the Barracks." The youth explained while worriedly looking at Kekkai.
Now that's interesting. I wondered when he called her princess, and that samurai didn't deny his demands, or her request to see him/ Kekkai thought.
"Is there anybody else held captive there?" He asked
"None, just her. They don't allow anyone near since the incident over a year ago when my uncle tried to poison their food supply in an attempt to revolt." The bob-cut woman said.
"What happened when your uncle failed?" He asked
"They killed all the cooks and placed their heads in front of our cells." She hesitated for a moment, shivering before whispering in disgust, "The entire next week they had my uncle's head served to me for rations. I, I had-"
Feeling the utter revulsion and hatred that poured out of her small voice, Kekkai walked forward and stopped her with a solid hand on her shoulder.
"It's ok, I'm going to make sure none of them make it out of here alive!" He declared while comforting her, to which she nodded with gritted teeth and a small thank you before turning and walking back into the crowd in an attempt to hide the tears that streaked down her cheeks.
/These bastards are unsalvageable. Hashiba didn't do them too much justice with his description!/ Kekkai thought
/It's not like you were going to spare any of them in the first place. You damn overachiever!/ Nikita Scoffed
/Even if it wasn't required by the quest, just this example alone is enough reason for me to wipe this scum off the face of the earth!/ Kekkai solemnly affirmed
Turning back to the youth, he asked "Why don't they keep you two together? Skipping the hassle of holding you two in different places and needing to schedule meetings."
"They tried, but because I refused to worship their so-called God, it seemed to upset them. So after beating me, they threw me here to work and only allows me to see her randomly."
Kekkai thought quickly, trying to find a way out of their predicament. The miners just watched him quietly and let him think. After half a minute of thinking he lifted his head and clapped his hands.
"Alright, so here's what we're going to do! The plan will proceed with the previous layout, but instead of me attacking the front gate, I'll be joining you guys and stirring up trouble from within the camp itself. When I do so, I will need to concentrate on fighting the bandits with a high rank as well as that samurai. So when I give the all clear, all the Chakra users will need to break out full force to the outskirts of the battlefield with everyone else." He described his simple plan quickly.
"Didn't you say we were too weak to fight them? What's the difference between this plan and the last one?!" The tall fat man pushed through once again, glaring at Kekkai while scoffing at his plan, "Do you expect us to pour into all those bandits like lambs to the slaughter?"
"No, I don't, that's the reason why I'm taking all of the heavy hitters myself while you guys make a run for it! What? Do you wanna stay and help?" Kekkai scowled at the man who seemed bent on opposing him at every opportunity he could find.
"I, I just think-" the man spluttered when Kekkai offered for him to help fight, but Kekkai has had enough of this troublemaker.
"Fine, you don't like my plan, then a show of hands. Who wants to stay here with this idiot?" Kekkai called
Silence pervaded the crowd as they looked at the man like he was an idiot. Not a single one of them raised their hands, no one is foolish enough to stay in this hell hole(Pun intended) while there was a perfect opportunity to escape.
"And who wants to blow this camp sky-high while we escape with style?" He asked
Instantly every hand rose, even though they showed confusion on their faces at his terminology while doing so.
"Good! So you can stay, alone. Good luck with that!" Kekkai mocked
"You're going to regret this! The Black Demon will tear him apart even before we even get 40 feet away!" The man glowered before turning away and storming through the crowd, his small gang tagged along with him out of the tunnel.
"Okay, now that the fool is gone! Everybody else gets ready to fight! We're going to escape this miserable place!" Kekkai clapped his hands with a smile before motioning to the crowd.
The miners let out a small cheer and hurriedly gathered themselves and their families. It wouldn't be long before they could finally leave this shitty mine! Calming themselves and trying to contain their emotions so that they wouldn't alert the guards when they left, they began to single-file themselves out of the passage.
"Hold on! You, you, and you come here for a moment." Kekkai called out three people from the crowd.
The muscular man, the sharp-eyed girl, and the Bob-cut woman left the cow and came forward to Kekkai with curious looks on their faces.
Glancing at the youth who stayed behind quietly, he pulled them to the side and began to whisper to them solemnly.
Whatever he said to the surprised them because their face soon contorted in fear and panicked but Kekkai raised his hands and gestured for them to calm down.
Taking off three bangles from his sleeve he handed one to each of them while explaining something. After a confused look, the three nodded with determined looks before slipping the bangles up their arms and left to join the rest.
Turning back to the boy, Kekkai looked at him with a deep gaze before he walked over to him.
"Alright, now tell me the real reason why your sister is kept here," Kekkai demanded
"I don't know what you're talking about, what real reason?" The youth turned his head as he asked back anxiously
"There is no way in hell that these guys will keep you around for nothing, especially with a person like you who looks like trouble no matter how you put it. If they wanted your sister to obey them, they didn't need to go through so many troubles! They could have simply killed, tortured, or even brainwashed the both of you easily. So what do they want?" Kekkai pressed with a bit of impatience in his tone, he didn't have time to play word games with this kid, the sooner he found the reason this cult gave such favorable treatment to this brother and sister the better.
"I still don't know what you're talking about, look we should get going, the guards will be trying to escort me soon and we need to get ready to run for your plan to work." dismissed the youth quietly as he tried to pivot around Kekkai to join the other miners in the tunnel.
Only he didn't make it far, because a gloved hand suddenly grabbed him from the back and slammed him back into the hard rock wall with tremendous force.
While he was unsteady and grunting in pain from the sudden impact, Kekkai grabbed him tightly by his shoulders and pressed him against the wall.
Lifting him till he was at eye level with Kekkai, he glared at the youth before growling, "Even more reason for you to give me the information I need! If Im is not satisfied with your answer in thirty seconds I'm just going to leave you and your sister here! Tell me, Who are you?! And what do they want from the two of you?!"
With gritted teeth in pain, the youth paled as he shrunk at Kekkai's glare, he raised his hands to his sides and confessed, "Tsuyoshi, I'm Tsuyoshi Tentori! We were tracked down by them three years ago and brought here because of our clan's special bloodline technique!"
"What Technique?!" Kekkai demanded
"I don't know!" Tsuyoshi exclaimed, "Only my sister knows about it, and she refused to tell me what it was!"
"What about your parents, or elders? If you come from a clan they should be the ones to describe it to you. Why would only your sister know?" Kekkai scoffed at the clueless youth, but still lowered Tsuyoshi as he asked.
"My sister said that our clan went extinct a long time ago, only a few of us were left and my mother and father died soon after I was born. It was just me and Naomi. When the Black Samurai tracked us down and brought us here, he found that only my sister knew how to use our clan's abilities so he kept her in the Barracks but threw me here into the mines." Tsuyoshi whispered slowly with a lowered head.
Kekkai's gaze softened a little when he heard about the sibling's background, he did sympathize with their situation, and although he didn't know what exactly happened before they came here, he could guess that it was pretty rough. Although their present captivity didn't make it any easier.
"Okay, I'm sorry that I roughed you up there, but I had to know if you were keeping anything hidden that would compromise my escape plan. I just want to get everyone out safe and sound without any surprises." Kekkai apologized while patting off the dust from Tsuyoshi's back and shoulders, only to receive a coughing fit in response.
"It's ok, your going out of your way and putting yourself in danger to rescue us. I would have done the same if I was in your place." Tsuyoshi admitted considerately while straightening himself up after he finished coughing.
"Oh? You would huh? You might wanna put on a few more pounds before your scrawny little body can handle all this!" Kekkai chided while flexing his biceps through his cloak.
"Hehe, you might be right!" Tsuyoshi grinned sheepishly while glancing down at his malnourished body and back at Kekkai's solid frame.
"Alright lets go!" Kekkai patted Tsuyoshi's back before making his way down the tunnel," There's one more person that I need to speak to before we can make our escape and I've only got 45 more minutes to spare!"
"Who?" Tsuyoshi asked while jogging to his side.
"Who else? The only person who's close enough to actually know what these bastards are doing here without me needing to torture them for information is the one you actually have a meeting with. Your sister Naomi!" Kekkai replied deeply with a side look at his Quest Description, which one of the hidden agendas glowing lightly.