Ryosuke remembered that orange.
It was the one Sasuke had given to Rei on the boat to eat. The girl couldn't bear to eat it and even drew a smiling face on it with a pen, keeping it as a treasured gift.
Back then, Sasuke had even scoffed, saying she was childish.
He didn't expect that Rei still kept it...
Sasuke's eyes turned red, he drew his kunai and strode over, mustering all his strength, and slashed down hard at the cage's chain.
Clang!
A crisp impact sound echoed.
Waking up the many captives in the cage.
Normally, when people are woken up from sleep, they would more or less complain a bit. But in this room, Ryosuke couldn't hear even the slightest sound.
Everyone was like their voices had been cut off, crouching down, lowering their heads, eyes tightly shut or staring at their toes, like trained animals.
Ryosuke couldn't imagine what kind of inhuman torture could make people become like this.
"Sasuke... Onii-chan..."
Rei raised her head, her young face full of confusion.
She couldn't believe her own eyes.
The scene before her, Rei had imagined it countless times. So much so that when it really happened, she thought it was an illusion.
Star Platinum.
Ryosuke summoned his Stand.
Star Platinum violently tore open the cage. Ryosuke reached in and carried Rei out of the cage.
Very light, light like a feather.
After rescuing Rei, Ryosuke thought the others locked in the cages would cry out loudly, beg to be rescued too.
Yet, silence.
Not a single pair of eyes dared to look their way.
They were afraid.
Afraid of the punishment if they escaped.
Only inside the cage could they feel a bit of false security.
Ryosuke asked the Rei in his arms, "Where's your mom?"
Rei raised her hand, trembling, and pointed in one direction.
"Mom... was taken away by them..."
Aerosmith rose into the air. In the direction Rei pointed, it scouted a room with six or seven people gathered inside.
Women in the Naruto world give birth at an earlier age. Rei's mother was only around twenty-six or twenty-seven, combining a maiden's liveliness and a young woman's gentleness. Her looks and figure were outstanding.
She was taken away by a group of men, what they'd do... it was obvious.
Ryosuke carried Rei to the room, handed her to Sasuke, and instructed, "Cover her eyes."
Sasuke did as told.
Ryosuke grabbed the doorknob and very naturally opened the door.
Inside were six men. Rei's mother was lying on top of an office desk.
Not a thread on her body.
Her scalp was bare, covered in blood scabs. It looked like her hair had been yanked out in clumps, causing large-scale skin tearing and bleeding.
A short man was lying on top of her. Drip by drip, fresh blood flowed from her lower body.
Her wide eyes stared blankly at the ceiling... Pupils dilated. No focus.
Rei's mother was dead.
Hearing the door open, the six men inside turned their gazes over. Seeing Ryosuke's unfamiliar face, the man on top of Rei's mother pulled up his pants.
"Who are you?! Who let you in?!"
Ryosuke didn't answer his question, and said to Sasuke, "Wait outside for a while. I'll handle this soon."
His tone was calm, stepping into the room.
He closed the door, then locked it.
"Hey! Kid!"
The six men drew the kunai and ninja swords from their waists.
They were Kirigakure ninjas, responsible for assisting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in managing the meat factory. Tonight was just like any other, they were just finding some fun to spice up their dull lives.
A man with a goatee stroked his beard and said viciously, "Kid, I don't care who you are, you've seen things you shouldn't have. Surrender now, and I might still spare you—"
Bang!
The goatee man's head exploded like a balloon.
His bare neck sprayed blood upward, splattering against the ceiling, then dripping back down.
The remaining five froze on the spot, minds blank.
'What just happened?'
As their thoughts flickered, another bang, a tall, thin man flew into the air out of nowhere, his chest caved in, spewing internal organs and blood from his mouth. Before he even hit the ground, he was dead.
Another one down.
"Bastard!"
A bald ninja raised his blade and charged.
ORA!
Star Platinum's third punch smashed directly onto the attacking blade, breaking it instantly. The shattered edge bounced back, slicing through the bald ninja's throat.
Another ninja leapt onto the roof, trying to sneak attack from behind.
Ryosuke grabbed his arm with one hand. Ripple Breathing activated. Under immense strength, he swung the man around and slammed him into the ground.
Crack!
The sound of a spine breaking.
No more movement. Screams echoed in the room, but soon they weakened.
Ryosuke walked to the last short man.
He collapsed to the ground, completely without the courage to fight. Seeing Ryosuke step by step approaching, he immediately dropped into a deep kneeling posture,
"Sir! We're just following orders... please, spare me... I swear I'll defect from Kirigakure, never return... please..."
He kowtowed over and over, his forehead bleeding.
The short man was the weakest among the six, which is why he was the "last one." When Ryosuke entered, he had been violating a corpse.
Ryosuke looked down at him and spoke the first sentence he had since entering the room, "When it was your turn, was she still alive?"
"She..."
The short man was speechless.
He didn't know which answer would let him live, and which would lead to death.
Blood dripped from his forehead as he chose to tell the truth, "I... I don't remember. I took 'merchandise', from the Land of Waves... really pure. My head wasn't clear..."
"I see."
Ryosuke nodded slightly, reached out a finger, and tapped the man's forehead.
Ripple power passed through his fingertip. The wound on the short man's forehead quickly healed. He showed a relieved smile.
But very soon, he felt a burning heat.
His brain was boiling.
"Aaaah!!"
The short man screamed. From his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears flowed a sticky, steaming liquid of red and yellow.
Thud!
His body collapsed.
Just one door away, Sasuke heard the screams and impacts inside, silently waiting outside.
He believed Ryosuke was invincible. That belief came from victory after crushing victory.
The tightly closed door opened again, a strong bloody smell wafting out.
Ryosuke, standing at the door, blocked the two children's line of sight. In his arms was the corpse of Rei's mother, her naked body covered with a curtain, only her pale, bloodless face exposed.
Rei wept in sorrow, echoing through the meat factory.
Sasuke held her shoulders.
The Fourth Mizukage's money-making method was human trafficking.
Men were sold for labor. Women, used as breeding machines.
Children, those with talent were selected to be trained from childhood as ninja and assassins.
Humans, always a harder currency than gold.
Sasuke stared blankly at the people in the cages.
Rei had been saved, but her mother was dead.
Sasuke's heart burned with fire. If they just left like this, he'd die of frustration. But if they didn't leave, then what?
Report it to the authorities?
This matter was orchestrated by Kirigakure's top brass. Reporting it would be the same as walking into a trap.
No way up, no way down. The feeling of being trapped surrounded Sasuke.
The last time he felt this emotion was during the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke saw his parents murdered by Itachi. Uchiha Itachi walked toward him with a cruel smile.
How was it resolved back then?
A hand landed on Sasuke's head.
'That's right.'
Sasuke remembered.
At his most helpless and despairing moment, it was Ryosuke who appeared and pulled him out from the abyss of fear.
"What should we do?" Sasuke asked.
He already guessed the answer.
"Break open the cages. Smash this hellhole."
Sasuke asked, "What if they're too afraid to come out?"
Ryosuke said, "Then we only save those who still have the courage."
Sasuke asked again, "What if the Seven Ninja Swordsmen come?"
"If they really do come..."
Ryosuke looked down at the woman's tragic, pale face in his arms and softly said, "Then kill them all."
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