Chapter 293 - Vital Clues

Outside the cell, Ibiki and Inoichi watched with a cold hardened gaze as Mizuki screamed for help. A medic nin was checking Mizuki's vitals and quickly informed Ibiki of the prisoner's condition.

The head of the interrogation department frowned as he looked at the scene. 'I never thought such a simple method would have such results.'

Just then he sensed the arrival of the Genin. He turned to the boy and spoke. "His vitals are climbing. Blood pressure, heartbeat… If this goes on for much longer his body won't be able to handle it."

"How can a drop of water cause such a reaction in the human body?" Inoichi, who was standing nearby, asked the boy.

"It's one of the drugs I injected into him. It increases his sensitivity among other things. In normal cases something like this would take hours but I accelerated the process. The body is reacting to what the mind is saying. Right now Mizuki's mind is telling him that he's being burned alive and frozen to death. And his body is reacting in such a way." Daichi had no sympathy for the man screaming for his life. 'I gave him a chance. He should have taken it.'

"But if that's the case, his body won't be able to handle such stress. He'll go into shock and die soon." Ibiki spoke as he turned his attention to the man in the cell.

"He won't. The concoction I injected into him will make sure his heart won't stop beating… But still, it's time to see if he's in the mood to talk." Without saying another word Daichi entered the room and stopped the water flow in the wooden contraption.

Daichi brought his palms atop Mizuki's head and they glowed green. Daichi injected healing chakra and soon the man calmed down but he was breathing hard. He was still blind as the Genin had taken away his sight.

The Genin looked at Mizuki and used Mana puppetry. He implanted a simple thought into the man's mind. 'No more. Just tell them everything. It's not worth it.'

To Mizuki it's as if his mind was making a decision and he immediately agreed.

[Target has accepted the suggestion.]

Daichi took a step back and looked at the blind ninja with a calm gaze. "I'm going to give you one chance. If you don't I'll-"

"I'll talk. I'll talk. Please. No more." The silver haired Chunin didn't want to go through what he just experienced.

Ibiki and Inoichi were not all that surprised that Mizuki gave in. They had been watching him screaming in agony for that last hour. They paid close attention to every word spoken in the room.

Daichi immediately made several chakra strings and connected them to Mizuki's body. "This is your only chance. I'm monitoring your vitals. If you lie to me, you'll experience hell. There will be no second chance."

Hearing that Mizuki struggled in his chair. "Please. No. I'll tell you whatever you want to know." His mind was on the verge of collapsing in on itself. He didn't want to experience the feeling of going insane.

"First Question. When did you meet Orochimaru?"

"I only met him once when I was on a mission before I became an instructor. At that time he saw me kill my teammate. He gave the formula for the curse seal."

"You told Orochimaru about your plan to steal the forbidden scroll and the prisoner release didn't you."

"Yes." Mizuki replied without hesitation. He knew his situation and he didn't want to make it worse.

"How did you send this information to him? If you met Orochimaru only once then that means you must have been in contact with one of his spies right?"

"Yes. Orochimaru has someone at the capital acting as a spy and messenger. His name is Nam. I sent the information to him."

"Give me the description and your contact method."

Mizuki immediately told everything he knew regarding Orochimaru's spy and the two interrogators outside quickly noted it down.

Daichi continued. "Who's idea was it for you to get those Mind shields?"

"It was Orochimaru. A week after I sent the information, Nam made contact and told me that I would need to have my mind protected. He told me about Ko Yamanaka and where to find him."

Daichi's eyes slightly narrowed. 'So this was Orochimaru's plan. But something doesn't add up. If the goal was to protect Mizuki's mind then…'

"When and where did you meet up with Ko Yamanaka?"

"10 days before the graduation exam. In a hut 3 kilometres north west of the Fire capital."

Outside the room, Ibiki looked at the records he had of Mizuki and it noted his travels. "He's telling the truth. Based on this he made a request to go to the Fire capital and returned a few days later." Inoichi nodded and the two men turned their attention back to the interrogation cell.

"What was the plan after you left the village with the scroll?" Daichi asked and the two interrogators outside paid close attention.

"To go to Orochimaru for protection. The forbidden scroll was my way in."

"Tell me the location. Where were you going to meet him?" Daichi asked. This was the main information he wanted to know.

"Nam told me to come to the Valley Of The End. He said he'd be waiting to take us to Orochimaru once he confirmed I had the scroll."

"Do you know where Orochimaru's hideout is?"

"I only know he created the Sound village. In the Land of Rice. I don't know anything more than that. Please, you have to believe. I don't know anything more." Mizuki sounded desperate as he thought that Daichi wouldn't believe him.

Daichi kept a close eye on the man's vitals and sighed. 'Looks like he's not lying.'

"I believe you… Did Orochimaru tell you about any plans to attack Lady Tsunade?" Daichi had little hope of getting any information on this question.

"No. I was told nothing. I don't know anything about the attack on her."

'Of course not. Orochimaru would never tell this idiot anything of such importance. This guy was just a pawn.' Daichi sighed and slightly shook his head.

At that moment the system notification appeared indicating that the quest was completed.

[Quest 'Get Information from Mizuki' Completed.]

.

[Rewards:]

[15000 Exp.]

[Reputation increases with certain Leaf village ninjas.]

[Increased chances of successfully completing the quest - 'Rescue Tsunade Senju']

Daichi looked at the notification and slightly frowned. 'How strange. I didn't get much information from him and yet… The system deems that I completed the information. Increased chances of rescuing Tsunade huh... So that means there is a vital clue in the information I got from him… Then I should stop wasting time with him and let Ibiki take over… But before that…'

Daichi looked at the man and spoke in a clan tone. "I have one more question. Think very carefully before you answer. Lie and you'll go back to that hell and you'll never come back."

Daichi's tone sent shivers up Mizuki's spine.

"Do you regret what you did to Naruto?"

Mizuki opened his mouth and was about to speak but stopped himself. He was quiet for a few moments and then replied in a small tone. "I only regret getting caught."

Daichi looked at the man and stopped using his chakra strings. He turned around and walked out of the room. The Genin looked at the two Jonins without showing any emotion. "He's all yours. I'll report to the Hokage what I've learned."

Ibiki and Inoichi glanced at each other for a second and then looked at the boy. They nodded and the head of the Interrogation department spoke. "Thank you for your help. I hope we can rescue Lady Tsunade in time."

"Me too." Daichi nodded and left. Quickly making his way to the Hokage tower.

As he walked closer to the tower, he analyzed every word Mizuki said to him. 'There must be a clue in there somewhere. Otherwise the system wouldn't reward me. This clue determines my next move.'

Daichi's mind went through every answer Mizuki said to him. 'I already know about Orochimaru and Mizuki's first meeting. So that's not it. The next important clue is Orochimaru's spy Nam. But since Mizuki didn't show up at The Final Valley, Nam should know by now that the plan failed and Mizuki is either dead or captured. So even with Mizuki's mind protection there is a chance that Nam wouldn't be at the capital. There is a good chance that he wouldn't take such a risk. Then that means the only clue is Ko Yamanaka. I need to get to him. I need to start with the hut. Where Mizuki last met him. It must be the clue.'

Daichi came to the conclusion and soon made his way up the steps of the Hokage tower.

—-

Hokage Office.

Hiruzen listened to the information Daichi was able to find out and nodded.

"There is something that I don't understand though…" Daichi spoke and Hiruzen looked at the boy.

"If Orochimaru wanted to make sure that information about him wouldn't leak then there should have been some other contingency besides the barriers." Daichi had learned a great deal about seal jutsu and sealing jutsu used on the mind. 'If he wanted absolute secrecy then he should have added something like Danzo's curse seal. Where his body would become paralyzed if he shared information with the enemy. But there were only mind barriers.'

Daichi looked at the Hokage and explained his doubt. "Why didn't that Yamanaka implement such precautions when he set up the barriers in Mizuki's mind?"

Hiruzen looked at the boy and let out a small breath of air. After a few seconds of contemplation Hiruzen decided to tell the boy certain secret information.

"Because Ko Yamanaka is a spy my Anbu cultivated inside Orochimaru."

Daichi was surprised to hear that.

"A year ago I had my Anbu investigate Orochimaru. During your mission at the capital where you healed the 3rd Minister's nephew, you learned information about a rogue Yamanaka who placed barriers inside the enemy."

Daichi recalled that information. 'Junichiro had powerful mind defenses.'

"That was Ko Yamanaka. He began to work for Orochimaru many months ago. My agent found him and instead of killing him decided to turn him to spy on Orochimaru. Since Ko was the one who placed the barriers in Mizuki's mind, he must have known about Mizuki's plans and figured out the chances of it succeeding were slim. He had to make sure the barriers were strong in the event Orochimaru checked but he deliberately didn't add more extreme measures."

Daichi looked at the Hokage and immediately found his next path. "So then this Ko must have more information on Orochimaru. His base of operations and much more."

"Yes I believe so." The Hokage agreed with that assessment.

"Lord Hokage. Has he sent any more information about Orochimaru?" Daichi asked the old leader.

"Orochimaru is very careful. So Ko hasn't been able to communicate much... But he did sent one piece of intelligence a few days ago. I already have a team looking into it."

The Hokage said nothing more and Daichi nodded. 'I need to start somewhere. That meeting place where Mizuki and Ko met is a good start.'

"Lord Hokage. Please grant me permission to go to the capital and investigate the information I have. I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Daichi wanted to use Mana puppetry on the kage to let him go but then decided it was too dangerous. 'This guy is not like the others. I can't make reckless choices.'

Hiruzen looked at the boy silently and weighed his options. 'He did get information from Mizuki. And from what Kakashi has told me, he is strong enough to protect himself.'

After several seconds of internal debate Hiruzen made a decision. "Very well. Pack your gear and be at the gates in 20 minutes. I'll have two members join you."

"Thank you Lord Hokage." Daichi nodded and left.

The Genin returned home and immediately got his ninja gear. He soon made his way to the village gates and waited. 'I hope whoever he sends is strong enough. This might be a tough mission.'

Daichi waited for a few minutes before he felt two familiar chakra signatures coming his way. He turned around and saw the two Jonins smiling at him.

"Hey kid."

Daichi gave a small smile and nodded. "Genma sensei. Anko sensei. Are you here for me?"

Anko smiled as she looked at the boy. "Yup. You'll be joining us on this mission."

"Come on. I'll explain our objectives on the way." Genma said and the three documented their departure at the village gate and quickly left.