Chapter 20: I'm a Good Person
Heh...
The Third Hokage chuckled. If there had been even the slightest chance that Kimura Yō truly was still Kimura Yō—not someone who had taken over his body—then that possibility was now completely gone.
Li Yao had just admitted it.
What Li Yao didn't know was that chakra temperature wasn't always fixed. It could change if the body experienced a mutation.
For instance, the Third Hokage had seen it firsthand during the Hashirama Cell Project: once the implanted cells began to take over a host, their chakra shifted so drastically that they felt like completely different people.
Just like how Minato sensed Kimura Yō's chakra had changed.
So, until now, the Third couldn't be absolutely certain Kimura Yō had been possessed.
In short—Li Yao was still too young.
Or perhaps this outcome was inevitable.
After all, Li Yao was just someone who had watched a completed anime series. No matter how well he knew Naruto, he couldn't possibly understand how real chakra, jutsu, or interrogation worked in the shinobi world.
With a serious lack of information and driven by his survival instinct, Li Yao spilled the truth.
And with that, he cut off his last chance at life.
Now that it was confirmed he was an enemy, the Third would never let him leave this interrogation room alive.
How long Li Yao had left depended on when he gave up the modified Spirit Transformation Technique.
"You... what you said just now, is it all true?" the Third asked with a slight frown.
Li Yao quickly responded, "Everything I said is true! I'm not an enemy of Konoha! I've never even killed a living creature!"
He did everything he could to appear harmless, trying to prove he wasn't a threat to the village—hoping for a sliver of mercy.
The Third frowned even more. The expression on Li Yao's face was incredibly genuine.
Compared to the clumsy performance from earlier, the way he spoke now—his tone, his eyes, his emotions—everything seemed absolutely real.
He couldn't find a single flaw.
Which meant, this kid was telling the truth.
But that couldn't be!
Possession was real. And Li Yao claiming he wasn't even a ninja? The Third simply couldn't believe it.
How could someone take over another person's body without some kind of advanced ninjutsu?
Even if it wasn't the Spirit Transformation Technique, it had to be something similar.
So he asked, "Are you sure you don't know any jutsu like the Spirit Transformation Technique?"
He didn't care whether it was exactly the Spirit Transformation Technique—any jutsu that could hijack another's body, he needed.
Li Yao's face twisted in despair. "Hokage-sama, I don't even know what that is! I really don't know any ninjutsu!"
"You don't know it? That's impossible," the Third replied automatically. Someone who could perform possession jutsu couldn't possibly not know what the Spirit Transformation Technique was.
But Li Yao truly didn't.
In his original world, Naruto had ended long ago. He'd read a few fanfics here and there, most focusing on Uchiha characters. The Spirit Transformation Technique was barely ever mentioned—he had no memory of it whatsoever.
"Hokage-sama, I really am just a civilian. I don't know why I woke up in someone else's body. Maybe... no, I'm sure I'm a victim too. Maybe someone's experimenting with a secret jutsu and used me... Maybe Kimura Yō isn't even dead—maybe he's—"
Li Yao nearly said that Kimura Yō's soul might've transferred into his body on Earth—but he caught himself. That world was too far away.
Deep down, he instinctively didn't want anyone to know he was a transmigrator.
But that moment of hesitation—was misinterpreted.
The Third didn't know why Li Yao had such wildly inconsistent acting skills. All he knew was this: Li Yao wasn't telling the whole truth.
But it didn't matter anymore.
All he needed was confirmation that Kimura Yō's body had been hijacked.
He never expected the enemy to just hand over the secrets.
"Eat while you can."
The Third said meaningfully, then stood up and left the room.
Li Yao's heart surged with joy.
He thought the Third had forgiven him.
He opened his mouth to thank him—then realized: his hands were still tied. The food was just in front of him on the floor. He couldn't reach it.
That's when he understood:
The Third hadn't believed him. And he wasn't going to let him go.
Sure enough, the door opened again. An ANBU ninja walked in.
Li Yao's heart jumped. He watched the ANBU approach step by step and desperately cried out that he wasn't an enemy of Konoha—that he had been tricked—that he was innocent.
Tears streamed down his face. His legs were trembling with fear. His mind was on the brink of collapse.
He was just an ordinary person raised in a peaceful world. Facing death—it terrified him.
Wait…
He's not here to kill me?
The ANBU walked up to Li Yao, picked up the chopsticks, and held a piece of sushi in front of him.
Li Yao froze mid-sob.
Then joy exploded across his face as he bit into the sushi.
He's not here to kill me!
He's not here to kill me!
Li Yao whispered to himself over and over, eyes wide with emotion. The sushi tasted better than anything he'd ever eaten.
He savored every bite.
Soon, the sushi was gone.
The ANBU silently picked up the empty box and left, never speaking a word. Li Yao dared not say anything either.
A few minutes later, the Third returned—with two more ANBU.
They pushed in a hospital-style rolling bed. On top of it sat a toolbox—or rather, a medical kit.
Wait…
This wasn't a hospital.
He wasn't injured.
So why the bed and the tools?
Li Yao's heart thudded with fear. His gaze grew cold. He realized what was coming.
The Third picked up the toolkit, glanced at Li Yao, and smiled faintly.
"Strap him in."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
The two ANBU approached and unlocked his restraints.
Li Yao's expression twisted in panic.
He finally understood.
The Third was about to start torture.
"Hokage-sama, ask me anything! I'll tell you! I swear I'm not lying! Everything I said is true!"
"Please believe me, Hokage-sama!"
The Third said nothing. The ANBU didn't pause either. One on each side, they lifted Li Yao and placed him on the bed—or rather, the torture table.
His eyes went bloodshot. He screamed, struggling violently.
But with the meal still digesting, his body had no strength.
To the two ANBU, his resistance was laughably weak.
In moments, Li Yao was tied down, wrists, ankles, and waist securely bound.
"Hokage-sama! Ask me anything! Don't torture me—I'll confess to everything! Please, I beg you!"
"Please! I'm not a bad person! I'm a good person!"
He wept, pleading pitifully.
He was just a normal guy who cried at flu shots—he couldn't take this kind of pain.
And he'd already told the truth. Why wouldn't the Third believe him?
He was completely broken. Lying on the table, eyes filled with helpless desperation, he looked to the Hokage for mercy.
But the Third's face showed not a trace of sympathy.
A man who had survived the Warring States Era and the First Great Ninja War had long since grown cold to such cries.
To him, Li Yao was an enemy who had invaded Konoha and stolen a child's body.
And against enemies, there was no such thing as going too far.
(END CHAPTER)