Chapter 33
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Tatsuya retrieved the suit from his System Space, surprised to find it had taken the form of a sleek, dark badge with an owl insignia, its surface smooth and metallic. "Interesting," he mused, running his fingertips over the badge, intrigued by its compact design.
Pressing around the badge, a click sounded, and like a symbiote, the suit began spreading over his body, fully encasing him within a second. Tatsuya looked down at his now covered form, impressed by the suit's seamless transformation. "Neat trick," he murmured, flexing his limbs to test the range of motion, feeling the lightweight, flexible material enhancing his agility and reflexes.
Activating the Optical and Sound Camouflage, Tatsuya watched as his body seemed to melt into the surroundings, becoming virtually indistinguishable, even the faint sounds of his movements dampened. "Advanced stealth, huh?" he said, a spark of excitement in his eyes, already thinking of the numerous tactical advantages this suit would provide.
The Chakra Masking Layer, Undetectable Chakra Flow, and Absolute Anonymity were all impressive features that would make him a veritable ghost on the battlefield.
Of course, he didn't waste the usage of Absolute Anonymity and Hollow Phase just yet, because abilities like miracles also cost the user a fortune. He couldn't afford wasting them
"Let's go then," Tatsuya mumbled before leaping from the balcony at high speed, his body flickering through the distance as he landed effortlessly, like a swaying feather, simultaneously activating the Chakra Masking ability to ensure no one would notice his presence. Like a specter, he traveled the 10 km to Yami's house in a matter of minutes, undetected by any living soul.
"Let's see what you've got there," Tatsuya mumbled with a smirk as he used his Byakugan to scan the alarms and security measures placed around the house. Thanks to the Chakra Masking Layer, neither the sensors nor thermal detectors could pick up any trace of his presence as he silently slipped past the defenses, making his way towards the two rooms that had blindspotted his Byakugan vision earlier.
Standing before one of the rooms, Tatsuya thought, 'I'm sure some kind of alarm would ring if I tried to enter now, and there's also the danger of someone already being inside.' Though risky, he had an option that he was half-sure could work.
Deciding to take the chance, Tatsuya approached the wall silently and mumbled in his mind, '{HollowPhase}.' Immediately, an empty, weightless feeling took over, his insides pulled gently as if his body had become nothing but hollow space. Without wasting time, he moved directly through the wall, emerging on the other side, and quickly canceled the Hollow Phase, the entire process taking slightly more than half a second.
The risk lay in the fact that activating Hollow Phase temporarily severed his connection to his chakra, rendering him unable to control it, which in turn caused the Chakra Masking and Camouflage abilities to stop working. That's why he had to immediately deactivated Hollow Phase and re-engaged the other abilities.
Thankfully, the two people in the room hadn't noticed his incursion. There Tatsuya saw Yami leaning on the couch and an another person standing by his side, whom he remembered from his mother's file as Murama, Yami's seemingly close and trustworthy servant.
{1 minute later}
Bam!
'Or maybe not,' Tatsuya watched in surprise as Yami kicked Murama with enough force to make a civilian's head pop off, the servant's body trembling from the impact.
He then saw Murama even beg for more, with Yami smiling in contentment at his behavior. 'Kissing ass even in pain? He is clever,' Tatsuya concluded watching as Murama left the room to send a message to Danzo.
'It seems I was correct - Danzo is indeed helping this guy,' Tatsuya realized. 'And more importantly, it's now confirmed that Yami was the one who killed Hayami.'
Looking at Yami leisurely sitting there, Tatsuya considered killing him right then and there, confident that he could do so without leaving a trace, thanks to his new stealth suit's capabilities. But that would be too easy, too merciful for this man.
'It's also best if I first capture and interrogate this Murama guy. He seems to know quite a bit about Yami's dealings. But doing it now would be too hasty - I'll need to make some preparations before I attempt that,' Tatsuya thought.
'Now let's see what you're hiding in your basement, Yami.' Activating the {Hollow Phase} ability again, Tatsuya's body fell directly through the floor, passing through various rooms before reaching the basement. Fortunately, during the Hollow Phase, he could control his body like an immaterial being, directing its phasing simply by thought. Otherwise without this control, his body could have easily been pulled straight into the earth and died of suffocation once the ability deactivated.
Landing in the basement, Tatsuya found it quite dark so he made a small ball of fire appear from his finger to light up the atmosphere. However, before he could advance, a stench so vile it seemed to assault his very soul penetrated his senses, forcing him to use chakra to shield his nose. "What the hell?!" he muttered, bewildered by the dungeon-like state of the basement.
With every step, Tatsuya could feel the damp wetness on his boots. Crouching down, he touched the reddish-brown substance with his finger. "It's blood," he realized, the texture and smell unmistakable. 'Is someone getting tortured here?' he guessed, the stench in the air, blood smeared on the ground, and the terrible atmosphere all giving him the feeling of a torture chamber.
Wasting no more time, Tatsuya dashed to the other room. Opening the door, he entered, but his foot rooted itself to the ground immediately, his body unable to move as he took in the horrifying sight before him. His expression slowly shifted from shock to anger, finally settling on a steely coldness, his hands clenched so hard his fingers turned pale.
This was the first time he had genuinely felt such wrath towards someone since coming into this world, as he was not the type to easily become angry. But what he was currently seeing was not something anyone with a soft heart could bear to witness. It was nothing less than a nightmare.
The room was a veritable chamber of horrors, filled with the broken, tortured bodies of women. Naked, gagged, and shackled, their flesh was criss-crossed with scars, the chains around their ankles and necks cruelly restricting their movement. But the true atrocity lay in the fact that among these victims were even young girls, their innocence stolen in the most vile manner. Some had been maimed, their limbs brutally severed, left to cling to life only by the barest threads. Others simply hung as empty, rotting skeletons in their shackles. The sight of these mutilated, suffering souls made Tatsuya's stomach lurch with revulsion.
It was a sight enough to traumatize the stoutest of hearts, and Tatsuya could feel his bile reaching his mouth at the scene. Quickly calming his roiling emotions, he circulated his chakra to regain control.
"He is much worse than I thought," Tatsuya thought grimly, his eyes scanning the room. Most of the women were of Hyuga bloodline, their swollen, veined eyes a proof to the horrific things they had endured. The few civilians fared little better, their bodies still bearing the marks of unimaginable torment.
As he surveyed the chamber of horrors, Tatsuya suddenly spotted a faint movement - one of the broken figures let out a weak whimper. Rushing to her side, he found a woman in her mid-twenties, her eyes barely open, her body ravaged and bloodied. She looked up at him pleadingly, her cracked lips parting.
"P-please..." she rasped, her voice low and trembling. "K-kill me..."
Tatsuya's brows threaded with rage and his heart sank with pity. He couldn't leave her to this cruel fate, not when she begged for the mercy of a swift end. Gently, he lifted her head, supporting it against the wall. Without a word, in a swift, merciful motion, he struck her neck, ending her suffering.
While doing so, a cold fury burned within Tatsuya's heart. Yami would not escape his vengeance. This monster would pay for his sins, suffering a fate far worse than death.
Looking around, Tatsuya realized that most of the women were already too broken to be saved. Death was a mercy they craved. But he couldn't grant that to all of them - he wanted to at least show them that their revenge was not unfulfilled.
Summoning a shadow clone and equipping it with a medic bag, Tatsuya instructed it to numb the bodies of everyone in the room, reducing their pain as much as possible.
With steely determination, he made his way out, the women's last faint whimpers echoing in his mind. His body vanished like a silent specter in the darkness.
