Chapter 26: Half a Year Later
As expected by the Third Hokage, the following half year unfolded just as he had predicted.
After experiencing the "stimulus" of torturous pain, the Third did not stop. He somehow found a certain potion and made Li Yao drink it.
Then, Li Yao felt an itch that came from the depths of his soul.
At first, the itch didn't seem too intense.
But the moment he reached out to scratch it in an attempt to relieve the itch, it only grew worse—unceasingly so.
Moreover, this kind of itch from the inside out couldn't be relieved through scratching.
Scratching the skin only made it itchier, more unbearable.
Don't be fooled—itchiness might not seem as sharp to the senses as pain.
But in reality, an intense itch can stimulate the senses just as cruelly, making life worse than death.
Li Yao never imagined that itching could torment someone to the point of unconsciousness.
Driven mad by the sensation, he ignored life or death and plunged both hands hard into his chest, trying to rip it open and clutch at his heart to stop the itch. He couldn't take it anymore and passed out.
Even at this point, the Third did not let him go.
The psychological torment that followed made Li Yao feel even more miserable than death.
The Third Hokage placed a rat, covered in sharp bristling fur, into a jar. Then, he forced the jar's opening into Li Yao's mouth and used a small Fire Style jutsu to scare the panicked rat into burrowing down Li Yao's pitch-black throat.
That night, Li Yao watched, wide-eyed, as the rat crawled into his throat. The strange sensation, combined with overwhelming fear, made him pass out again.
After that came snakes drawn into burrows, centipedes crawling into ears...
Whatever was perverse, whatever could break Li Yao's mind— the Third used it.
Li Yao's mental state deteriorated by the day.
Finally, on this night, six months later—
The Third had just started dinner at home when he suddenly received word from Bao: Li Yao had been unconscious for ten days and no matter what they did, he wouldn't wake up.
"He finally broke down!"
The moment the Third heard this report, he instinctively thought so and, face filled with irrepressible excitement, rushed back to the interrogation room with Bao.
"No one is allowed in without my order."
Opening the door to the interrogation room, the Third gave this instruction to Bao and the others, then entered the room alone, visibly thrilled.
Inside the interrogation room, Li Yao lay quietly on a stretcher, which also doubled as a hospital bed. A needle was inserted into his hand, connected to a hanging IV bottle filled with nutrient fluid.
Six months of torment hadn't just broken his spirit—his body had deteriorated even more severely. Now, he could only survive through nutrient fluids.
At this moment, Li Yao looked like a man in his forties or fifties.
His skin had lost its smoothness, appearing thick and rough, as if it had endured decades of wear.
Looking closely, a few strands of gray hair could be seen scattered at the head of the bed.
This wasn't like Kakashi's natural silver-white hair, but rather the aging of hair caused by entering the senescent stage of life.
The six months of torment had primarily targeted the physical body.
Human cells can only divide a limited number of times.
The Third kept destroying Li Yao's body, then using Medical Ninjutsu to force rapid regeneration, massively consuming his body's cell lifespan.
That's why in just six months, his body had entered a state of aging.
This alone demonstrated the horrific and brutal torment Li Yao had endured over the past half year.
"Genjutsu—Technique of Darkness!"
The Third approached Li Yao's bedside and immediately cast a genjutsu on him.
Whether or not Li Yao's spirit was truly broken would be evident by whether the genjutsu worked.
"Hm?"
"What's going on?"
Suddenly, the Third looked around in shock.
Black.
An unfathomable black.
Nothing but the color black—no other color existed.
"This guy... actually reflected my Technique of Darkness?!"
The Third was stunned and confused. Wasn't this guy supposed to have a broken spirit and no longer able to control his chakra?
Why was it that not only was his consciousness still tightly fused with his chakra, but it had actually grown stronger?
And he actually managed to reflect the genjutsu back at him!
This left the Third truly shaken. He was the Third Hokage—one of the top shinobi of the ninja world. Who could reflect a genjutsu and make him, the caster, fall into it?
Even the Uchiha clan's three-tomoe or Mangekyō Sharingan couldn't easily reflect his genjutsu like this.
Yet here was someone he had tortured for half a year, someone who was supposedly mentally broken—doing exactly that. How could the Third not be shocked?
"Release!"
The Third quickly formed a hand seal, breaking the reflected Technique of Darkness.
The darkness dispersed. Regaining his vision, the Third looked at the unconscious Li Yao on the hospital bed with deep apprehension in his eyes.
This person must not be allowed to live!
To reflect the Technique of Darkness so easily meant this man had an extremely high talent in genjutsu. And coupled with his innate immunity to all chakra invasions, there might be no one in this world—aside from the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan experts—who could withstand his genjutsu.
The Third admitted to himself that even he couldn't withstand it.
And if he couldn't, that meant encountering Li Yao at full strength could result in instant death.
Such powerful genjutsu-type shinobi were completely unreasonable.
Especially in one-on-one situations—almost certain death.
Someone like this could not be allowed to leave alive.
However... what if he could obtain the secret to this man's abilities?
At that thought, a fiery light of desire flashed in the Third's eyes.
The same power that made him wary also ignited his craving.
But... looking at Li Yao, who no longer broke down under any form of spiritual torture—and might even have grown stronger—the Third felt a wave of helplessness.
Over the past six months, he had exhausted every means of spiritual torment.
None worked anymore, and now he had no idea how to crack Li Yao's mental will.
"Keep torturing him?"
The Third frowned and pondered, then shook his head.
"Useless."
"If I continue, he'll die."
Although Li Yao's body only appeared to have entered aging, it was in far worse shape than it looked.
Even now, when Ran used Medical Ninjutsu to treat his injuries, the time required was growing longer.
Sometimes, it took half a day of continuous Mystical Palm Technique just to heal a wound the size of a willow Yuzu .
Clearly, Li Yao's body was already on the verge of total collapse.
If they continued with physical torture to inflict more injuries, his body might suddenly lose all vitality. No matter how they used Medical Ninjutsu, the wounds would no longer heal—and he'd just die.
The Third didn't plan to let Li Yao live forever—but neither did he want him dead just yet.
"How's his body?"
The Third called Ran in. He wanted to know Li Yao's physical condition, and why he still hadn't awakened—why his spirit not only hadn't collapsed, but might have even grown stronger?
Ran, who had been treating Li Yao throughout the six months, was very familiar with his condition.
Ran explained, "Hokage-sama, he's likely entered a vegetative state. His mental will has completely abandoned the physical body and entered silence."
His mental will has abandoned the physical body... then does that mean they could now probe the memories in his mind?
The Third's eyes lit up—this might just be possible. He immediately had Bao outside go notify Yamanaka Kaiyu to come.
(END CHAPTER)
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