Chapter 21: Breakdown, Pain, and Unconsciousness
"You two—out. Stand guard outside. No one is allowed in without my order."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
The Third Hokage didn't want anyone else to know about the Spirit Transformation Technique—not even his direct ANBU.
After the two ANBU left, the Third approached the bed and finally opened the so-called "medical kit."
Li Yao turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of its contents. His eyes instantly flooded with bloodshot lines, and a fear unlike anything he had ever known consumed him entirely.
"Did you know? Ninja have extremely high pain tolerance."
"If this were your original body, these little tools would be nothing more than a tickle to you."
As the Third spoke, he picked up a long, slender needle, glanced at Li Yao's trembling body, and smiled. "But it's fortunate—you just possessed this body. It hasn't experienced combat, and its tolerance to pain is very low. You're going to feel everything."
"No... no no... please, no."
Li Yao clenched his fists on instinct, his head shaking as he struggled to lean away. His bloodshot eyes widened in terror, locked onto the needle in the Third's hand.
Even though the Third hadn't moved yet, Li Yao's brain was already imagining every possible horrific use for the needle.
He could feel sharp phantom pains in his fingertips just from imagining it.
"Hokage-sama, I'll talk! I'll say everything! Just don't torture me, I'll confess everything, I swear!"
"Please... I beg you…"
Li Yao was like a lamb about to be slaughtered, eyes filled with tearful desperation, begging the Third for mercy again and again.
"Very convincing acting."
"But useless."
Even though the Third couldn't detect the slightest trace of performance from Li Yao—those involuntary bodily reactions were nearly impossible to fake—
He still wouldn't believe a word.
In this world of ninjutsu and hidden techniques, there existed memory-sealing jutsu—methods that turned even the spy into an unknowing pawn. No tells, no deception, because even the spy didn't know the truth.
Who could say for certain that Li Yao hadn't had his own memories sealed?
Especially if his chakra couldn't be invaded.
The Third had only one choice: cause enough pain to trigger Li Yao's primal survival instincts, forcing him to break through any memory seals in his mind. After that, the Memory Probing Technique could be used.
Until memory-unsealing jutsu were fully developed, this was the standard method in the shinobi world—and a proven one.
That's why these torture tools existed in the ANBU's arsenal in the first place.
"I'm not acting! I swear I'm not acting!" Li Yao sobbed, tears streaming.
Unmoved, the Third smiled and said, "Only real pain can make you remember everything."
With ease, he pried open Li Yao's clenched fist, grabbed his thumb, and gently tapped the tip of the long, thin needle against it.
Li Yao's entire body shook violently, the bed beneath him rattling like a machine gun firing at full speed.
His left arm quivered most violently, but under the Third's grip, his thumb remained still—while also being the most sensitive part of his body.
"I… you… damn you, I already told you it's true! Why won't you believe me?!"
"You damn dirty monkey, Sarutobi bastard, you son of a—!"
Li Yao completely lost control.
He cursed the Third Hokage at the top of his lungs in perfect Mandarin, his fear erupting into rage.
Maybe it was the outburst combined with language the Third didn't understand, but for a moment, the Hokage was stunned.
He frowned, looking at Li Yao, not understanding a word he was saying.
But he could tell from Li Yao's face and hateful eyes—
Whatever it was, it wasn't polite.
Still, the Third chuckled and didn't mind.
He had broken him.
This breakdown was what he wanted. Emotional and physical collapse could trigger the body's instinct to protect itself—and with that, break open any memory seals.
"Now experience true pain."
The Third slowly inserted the long needle into the seam under Li Yao's thumbnail.
Hssss…
Li Yao, who had just been screaming insults, instantly fell silent.
A pain he couldn't even begin to describe shot from that one tiny point through his entire body.
He gasped sharply, body stiffening.
In that moment, the pain overwhelmed every other sensation. Fear, anger—gone.
Seconds later—
"Aaaahhh!"
A scream tore through the interrogation room, loud enough to shake the walls.
Outside, Baku's team flinched. Even with their high pain tolerance—capable of removing their own eyes without blinking—this scream chilled them to the bone.
Inside, the Third Hokage didn't stop.
He continued pressing the long needle slowly, powerfully, deeper into the nailbed.
It was only then that Li Yao's body reacted violently to the pain.
He writhed even harder than before, thrashing, jerking, twisting, and screaming all at once.
Strapped down tight, he looked like a suffocating fish thrown onto land—madly flailing but unable to escape.
His mind was blank. The pain erased all thought.
To someone who screamed at hospital injections, this pain was off the charts.
If most people felt it at level one, Li Yao was experiencing it at level ten.
With his psychological fear of pain, that jumped to level fifteen.
Most adults would've been left sobbing with burst veins. Li Yao was enduring something even worse.
His thoughts collapsed.
His entire body bulged with blue veins, like a man a hundred years old.
The sheer number of blood vessels revealed just how much agony he was in.
And before the Third could finish driving the needle all the way in—
Li Yao passed out.
The Third didn't remove the needle.
Instead, he formed hand seals again.
"Genjutsu – Bringer-of-Darkness."
He performed the illusion jutsu once more, trying to use Li Yao's unconscious state to slip in the genjutsu chakra.
But seconds later, he lowered his hands with a deep frown.
"Still no effect?"
As expected, even in a coma from pain, Li Yao's fused consciousness and chakra continued to instinctively reject the Third's genjutsu.
It didn't work.
"This one has incredible mental resistance," the Third concluded.
He removed the needle, wiped off the blood, and returned it to the box.
Looking at Li Yao—who even in unconsciousness still had visible veins bulging across his skin—the Hokage turned and left.
He didn't continue the torture.
Li Yao had already gone a full day and night without food. Pain at this level would only trigger a protective blackout. That defeated the purpose.
Worse—if the torture was too intense, Li Yao could die before the Hokage got what he needed.
Tomorrow night, then.
Outside the room, the Third instructed Baku's team to feed Li Yao well and care for him.
He needed him lively and healthy by tomorrow.
Only a strong, energized body can feel the sharpest pain.
Only that can break the seal hiding the secret of the perfect Spirit Transformation Technique.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997