Chapter 34
—
"Damn! this mothefucker. Hope he gets tortured in hell."Murama cursed under his breath, caressing his swollen, aching chin gently. It seemed he would need to see a medic, at least a few of his teeth were now missing.
"Ugh, at least a few cracks," he spat, wincing in pain as he noticed one of his teeth had come out with the saliva. "How long do I have to cater to that psycho's demands?" he lamented, a few tears leaking from his eyes.
But quickly, Murama shook his head, pushing aside the urge to cry. "No need for that now. Let's just send the message to Danzo and get the work done before I invite another kick from that monster."
Performing a series of hand seals, Murama bit his fingers and slammed his palm on the ground. {Summoning Jutsu!}
A puff of smoke cleared, revealing a small, cute white rat with two brown patches on its ears. The rodent squeaked happily as Murama gently scratched its ear.
"Hey there, little guy. Been a while," Murama said, smiling fondly at the creature. After a few moments of playful interaction, he sobered up, pulling out a letter from his pocket.
"Alright, listen up. I need you to take this to the one-eyed guy with the patches, you know the one. But remember, run away as soon as you've delivered it - don't stick around that place, understand?" Murama said.
The rat seemed to comprehend his words, immediately sucking the letter into its mouth, despite it being too large. With a final squeak, the rodent burrowed into the ground and disappeared.
Murama watched it go, but suddenly a chill ran down his spine, the coldest he had ever experienced. Before he could react, the world around him went dark, and all he could see were two piercing violet eyes staring at him intently.
- x - X - x -
Suu lay in her bed, relishing the lingering comfort of her recent experience. Though more than a couple of hours had passed since he had left, she found herself already craving his touch once more.
It seems she had underestimated the comfort she would feel after having an itch of more than a decade scratched, that now she started craving it even more.
"Sigh, pull yourself together, Suu," she murmured, reminding herself that she was an adult who should not indulge in such wanton desires. Shaking her head, she rose from the bed and stretched her limbs, feeling slightly fatigued from the morning's exertions.
Suu paused, contemplating what to do with the leftover cake. Her logical mind said it would be best to throw it away, as it was imbued with Tatsuya's chakra. But another part of her felt reluctant to simply throw it.
"Throwing it away would be disrespectful," she decided, moving to the freezer and carefully storing the cake.
After finishing her ramen, Suu suddenly heard a sudden knock at the door, raising her brow in surprise. It was already dark outside, and she didn't expect any visitors at this hour.
Approaching the door, Suu opened it and was pleasantly surprised to find Tatsuya standing on her doorstep. A flicker of anticipation stirred within her, thinking he might have come to ask more from her but she quickly tamped it down, sensing the unusual calm and coldness in his demeanor.
"Tatsuya? What happened? Is everything alright?" she asked, her brow furrowed with concern.
"Suu-san, I need your help with something. It's unofficial, and it involves your expertise in the mind," he said, his tone measured and serious.
Hearing his words, Suu was surprised for moment before quickly understanding the meaning behind his words.
As asking a Yamanaka, to help with the mind, was basically asking they either needed councelling for someone's mental state or mind search someone and from the expression she was reading from him, it seems the help he needed from her was of the latter kind.
"You want me to search someone's mind?" she asked, frowning slightly. Such an act was very illegal to do without the proper authorization from Hokage.
"Yes," Tatsuya replied simply.
"But to whom?" she asked, as first she atleast needed to know the details before deciding to help him.
Tatsuya paused for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh. "I'll tell you the details if you promise to help."
Suu's brow furrowed as she contemplated his request. The risks were substantial, because if this information ever reached the wrong ears, the consequences could be severe, even for the Yamanaka clan head but the trust Tatsuya was placing in her was also not something she could easily dismiss.
At last, she decided to go with her heart and made her decision.
'As long as nobody knows, it'll not be a problem'
"Alright, Tatsuya. I'll help you, and I'll keep it a secret. Now, tell me, whose mind do you want me to search?"
A small, grim smile tugged at Tatsuya's lips as he uttered the name. "It's…"
- x - X - x -
{Right After Kidnapping Murama.}
Tatsuya looked at the unconscious Murama with cold, resolute eyes. He couldn't afford to wait any longer - not after witnessing the horrors in Yami's twisted basement.
Summoning a shadow clone, he said to it, "Go follow that rat and try to get the general location of Danzo's hideout. But remember to keep your distance - don't get too close and risk being detected."
"Understood. I'll be careful," the clone replied, before activating its Byakugan to look underground and track the rat's position and movements before flickering away in pursuit.
Watching his clone go, the real Tatsuya slung the limp form of Murama over his shoulder before also flickering into the distance.
He had originally planned to wait and gather more intel before kidnapping him, but after seeing the brutalized women in Yami's basement, his patience had shattered. And knowing what could have happened to Hayami, he found it hard to control his rage.
Those poor souls had already endured enough, and Tatsuya couldn't bear the thought of them suffering further while he delayed.
Reaching his house, he directly entered discreetly through a window before going to his mother's room.
"Brother! You returned! Where were you? I heard what Hinata said-" Hanabi who was in living room tried to ask when she finally saw him.
"Not now, Hanabi. This is not the time," he said calmly, silencing her immediately.
Hanabi quickly shut up, seeing his expression and also noticing the unconscious man on his shoulder. Rather than asking unnecessary questions and disturbing him, she left him alone and went back to her room. She knew now was not the time to show bratty behavior.
Entering his mother's room, Tatsuya saw Hitomi reading through some scrolls. She quickly stopped once she noticed him and her eyes went wide when she saw the person he was carrying.
"Is that Yami's servant? Why did you bring him here?" Hitomi asked, coming to his side as he placed Murama in a seat.
"To interrogate," Tatsuya answered.
Hitomi frowned at his response. "It is too reckless to kidnap him directly by yourself, Tatsuya. You should have discussed it with me first, I would have sent someone else to do it."
As Tatsuya spoke, Hitomi's expression began to grow increasingly dark with each word. Her eyes widened in shock, and even her face momentarily paled when she heard about the condition of the basement.
By the end of his explanation, all that remained on Hitomi's face was a cold, emotionless rage. The veins around her eyes were bulging as her Byakugan activated automatically. Hitomi suddenly slammed her hand down, crushing the table beside her. The wooden surface splintered under the force of her grip, and her chakra began to emanate from her body, creating a palpable pressure in the room.
"Hayami," she mumbled under her breath before looking at Tatsuya.
"You did good, son," she said, her voice cold and resolute as she fixed her icy gaze upon the unconscious Murama.
Hitomi's typically elegant demeanor had been long replaced by an aura of cold fury. As the matriarch of the Hyuga clan, it was her duty to protect her family and clan, and she now felt she had failed massively at that when she couldn't even protect them from their own elders, how will she ever do it against their enemies, and if not for her son's actions today, she didn't even want to think, how long this would have continued.
She had known corruption was present within her clan, but never did she think the elders would be capable of such atrocities, even against their own clansmen.
'How long have they been doing this?' she thought grimly.
Seeing her expression, Tatsuya sighed and reached out, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. His expression softened as he met her eyes. "It's not your fault, Mom," he said.
Hitomi paused for a moment as Tatsuya's words sank in. She met his gaze, her expression softening slightly.
"...Don't worry, son. I won't drown in self-pity now. I have more pressing matters to attend to," she said, her voice resolute as her eyes turned to Murama who had started to wake up from his.