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However, before infiltrating, he had one last thing to take care of.
Taking a step forward, he approached the Root ninja who was trapped in a genjutsu. Seimei raised his hand, forming seals, and cast the *Chakra Absorption Technique.*
"Such valuable resources shouldn't go to waste," he murmured.
Pressing his palm to the Root ninja's chest, a surge of chakra flowed from the ninja's body into Seimei's own chakra network, followed by the ninja's mental and physical energy.
Up until the very end, this Root ninja remained trapped within the illusion, never awakening.
This clearly demonstrated the overwhelming power of the genjutsu enhanced by the Mangekyou Sharingan.
Placing his body alongside another fallen Root ninja, Seimei performed another set of seals, casting *Fire Style: Incineration Technique!*
*Whoosh!*
A blaze ignited on their bodies. With Seimei supplying more chakra, the flames grew, consuming the two corpses entirely.
A sea breeze swept through, scattering their ashes around.
With that, their last traces disappeared from the world, ensuring no one could use their remains to discover any clues.
Refocusing, Seimei proceeded toward a location in the forest based on his memorized intelligence.
He soon arrived behind a low mountain where a small, inconspicuous opening served as an entry to the underground base on Ghost Island.
Besides this entrance, the base had another underwater passage, but that path was difficult and time-consuming, so Seimei ignored it.
Looking at the entrance, Seimei pondered for a moment before forming seals to cast the *Shadow Clone Technique.*
*Poof!*
With a puff of chakra smoke, a clone appeared beside him.
Exchanging a glance, they both nodded.
Then, both used *Transformation Technique*—Seimei took on the appearance of the Root ninja he had extracted memories from, code-named Aka, while his clone transformed into another individual, code-named Jinshu.
After confirming their disguises, they entered the cave, one after the other.
Initially, the cave was narrow, but as they advanced, it widened, and the path sloped downward.
Though Seimei had seen these details through Aka's memories, walking the path in reality felt both familiar and foreign.
Staying alert, Seimei and his shadow clone pressed forward.
Finally, after a few minutes, they came to a cliff with a dark river flowing at its base.
Without hesitation, Seimei motioned to his clone, gathering chakra at his feet and walking down the cliff.
Following the underground river, they entered a cavern with a sizable pool. The base's entrance lay within this pool.
Seimei wasted no time and, along with his clone, dove into the water, quickly locating a passageway leading into the base.
"Who's there?"
As soon as they entered, two figures emerged, holding kunai and demanding an answer.
Seimei looked over to see the two figures in ragged clothing, their exposed skin covered with fish-like scales.
"*Experiment subjects, huh,*" Seimei muttered, recognizing their identities from Aka's memories.
"Number Seven, Number Eight, why are you here?" Seimei asked them.
Both figures froze. Seeing Seimei and his clone's transformed faces, they quickly replied, "Lord Jinshu! Lord Aka! Master Hayato sent us to check on you, as you hadn't returned."
"Hayato…"
Seimei immediately recalled that the person currently in charge of the base was Kimura Hayato, a researcher affiliated with Root.
Aka's memories revealed that Hayato was fanatically loyal to Danzo and a man obsessed with his work.
Presently, the experiments in this base were being carried out under his supervision, guided by Orochimaru's instructions.
As for Tenchi, he was only fifteen or sixteen and had yet to reach the level to command the base. It would only be when Orochimaru abandoned the base that Tenchi would take full control.
But none of this concerned Seimei.
His current objective was to capture Hayato and gain control of the entire base.
With that thought, he addressed the two former test subjects who now served as guards. "The threat has been dealt with. All clear."
"Yes, Lord Aka!" they replied, instantly obeying.
Nodding, Seimei then coldly asked, "Where is Kimura Hayato?"
"He is in Lab Three, my lord," they replied, their voices trembling when mentioning the area.
Seimei understood why—Lab Three was the adult fusion lab, the same place where these two had undergone transformation.
There were also three other labs: Lab One, for embryo fusion, Lab Two, for infant fusion, and Lab Four, for non-human fusion.
Having witnessed so much brutality during nearly three years of war, Seimei thought he had become hardened. Yet, recalling some of the experimental scenes, he felt a hint of discomfort.
"These mad scientists all deserve to perish," he muttered.
"Pardon, Lord Jinshu?" The two guards hadn't heard him clearly and asked with confusion.
"Oh, it's nothing."
He waved them off, saying, "All right, you're dismissed."
"Yes, Lord Jinshu!" They turned to leave.
As they did, a sudden pain struck the back of their necks, and they collapsed into unconsciousness.
Looking down at the easily subdued guards, Seimei shook his head. "Without systematic training, they can't wield even a fraction of their power."
Based on his assessment, the chakra levels of these two matched the average for chunin-level ninja.
Ordinarily, they should be quite capable.
Yet, any chunin from one of the five major villages would easily defeat them.
The reason was simple—strength alone, without skill, is ineffective.
Unless underwater, where they could make use of their amphibious advantages, they could only manage to defeat some genin-level foes.
Kimura Hayato likely assigned them to guard duty simply as a way of using waste.
Still, the two were dedicated; since becoming guards, they not only performed their duties diligently but also acted as Hayato's lackeys, occasionally capturing new test subjects.
They had gone from victims to perpetrators.
Because of this, Seimei felt no remorse toward them.
*(End of chapter)*