If they were unwilling, so be it.
However, seeing their miserable state, they would most likely agree to let him search for experts within their clan.
"Then I'll be blunt," Gisei stated. "I've taken a liking to your Kekkei Genkai, and I want to select experts from your clan to serve me."
Ryoki and En Oyashiro looked at each other and fell silent.
That's a strange reaction, Gisei thought, then pressed on. "Don't you agree? Life here isn't exactly pleasant, is it?"
It wasn't just "not pleasant"; this place was a veritable Valley of Hell.
After a moment, Ryoki spoke. "You and the Uchiha outside both belong to Konoha. We cannot trust you."
"That's simple." Gisei snapped his fingers. "In a little while, I'll go and kill all the Uchiha outside. Will you be able to trust me then?"
En asked, puzzled, "Why would you do that? Aren't you from the same village?"
Gisei felt a headache coming on. "That question is troublesome to explain. It involves a lot of things. In short, while I'm technically a Konoha ninja now, I don't plan on being one in the future."
Ryoki said thoughtfully, "Even if you kill all those Uchiha, we can't leave. The moment Uchiha reinforcements arrive, our clan will be annihilated."
"Are you that afraid of the Uchiha? I heard your Ketsuryūgan can rival their Sharingan. Are the rumors false?"
Ryoki smiled bitterly. "Rumors are mostly exaggerations. When it comes to dōjutsu, the Sharingan is a natural counter to our Ketsuryūgan."
"So you're saying your dōjutsu is countered by the Sharingan?"
"That's right."
The moment he heard that, Gisei's interest in the Ketsuryūgan vanished.
"In that case, my apologies."
Lightning erupted from his body, and he shot past them like a thunderbolt. The two didn't even have time to react before they were struck down, collapsing to the ground.
Seeing the looks of pure disbelief on their faces, Gisei said with a grin, "The news of my arrival here cannot be leaked. Next, I will destroy your clan."
He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Now, let me think... what method should I use? Framing it as a natural disaster seems like a good idea."
En gasped out, "Wait! We agree to your request!"
"Too late," Gisei said coldly. "The weak have no value."
Lightning flickered across his body as he prepared to finish them off. Despair washed over the faces of Ryoki and En. With their dōjutsu rendered useless, they had no way to fight back.
Just as he prepared to deliver the final blow, a voice cut through his thoughts—Shiro's.
"Wait. You can train them as intelligence personnel. Genjutsu is very effective for gathering intelligence, you know."
Shiro's voice of reason continued, "Control these two, then take their entire clan with you. Using them as the backbone to form an intelligence network will be twice as effective with half the effort."
Gisei paused, the killing intent gradually receding. Shiro was right. As intelligence personnel, even if the Ketsuryūgan was no match for the Sharingan, it was still far stronger than what ordinary ninjas without a Kekkei Genkai could offer.
Thinking of this, Gisei directly used a curse mark to control the two of them.
"I've changed my mind," he announced. "I'm going to pack up your entire clan and take you with me. And to be clear, you don't have a choice in the matter."
Seeing Gisei retract his killing intent, Ryoki breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Aren't you afraid of the Uchiha?"
Gisei sneered. "So what if they're the Uchiha? Sooner or later, I'll wipe out their clan anyway."
"Alright, enough nonsense. You have this afternoon to gather your clansmen. I will take you away tonight."
After saying that, Gisei left.
Once Ryoki and En managed to get up, they sighed in unison.
"Father, are we really going to do as he says?" En asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"The weak have no right to choose, En."
"But... I don't think he seems like a good person."
"Silly child," Ryoki replied, patting his son's head. "There's no such thing as good or bad people. It is a simple truth of the world that the strong dominate the weak."
Seeing his son remain silent, Ryoki added, "Besides, following him might not be a bad thing. At the very least, he is incredibly strong. If the Uchiha give us trouble in the future, he will be the one to take care of it."
En remembered the blindingly fast flash of lightning from before, and his expression finally improved.
A little after eight in the evening, Gisei, having changed his appearance, reappeared in the Chinoike village.
Ryoki and En had already gathered their clansmen. They were stunned for a moment upon seeing the transformed Gisei but said nothing.
Gisei didn't say much either, instead sizing up the assembled clan.
They were a sorry sight—dressed in rags, emaciated with sunken eyes, looking more like ghosts than people. Yet, all of them stared at him with faces full of raw excitement. Ryoki had clearly told them that someone was coming to take them away from the Valley of Hell, and they had every reason to be thrilled.
After living in this godforsaken place for so many years, they could finally leave.
It was just that Gisei's expression was not very pleasant. The long period of confinement had drained the bodies of the Chinoike clansmen. Even if these people became ninjas, they probably wouldn't achieve much.
Seeing his expression shift, Ryoki quickly asked, "Is there a problem?"
Gisei sighed. "You all... well, since I've already said it, I'll just treat it as doing a good deed."
He summoned his ninja butterflies. "Next, I will use a space-time jutsu to take you away. As the clan head, you go first to maintain order."
Space-time jutsu?
Ryoki's face remained calm, but inside, he was shocked by the sheer scope of Gisei's abilities. Soon, he disappeared from the Valley of Hell.
Next were the other members of the Chinoike clan. Five minutes later, everyone except for En, who was left for last, had been transported to the Butterfly Habitat Valley.
Gisei did a rough count; there were only about forty people.
Glancing at En, Gisei asked, "Do you want to see how this place is destroyed?"
En gave a bitter smile. "Are you planning to show me your power?"
Gisei grinned. "Fireworks are always better with an audience."
En didn't say anything more. Gisei took hold of him and flew high into the sky. This was the first time Gisei had flown with someone else, but he didn't find it very strenuous. He guessed En probably weighed less than a hundred pounds.
Flying to a height of tens of thousands of meters, Gisei began a summoning jutsu to call forth a massive stone. As soon as the rock, a hundred meters in diameter, was summoned, it began its descent.
Standing on the descending boulder with En, Gisei began to add Fire and Wind Release nature transformations to it. He wasn't just aiming to raze the Valley of Hell to the ground; he was going to wipe out the Uchiha guards outside as well.
This way, no one would ever know what happened here. With no clues left behind, it would have to be ruled a natural disaster. In the future, as long as the Chinoike clan acted carefully, no one would be able to trace them. And even if they were discovered, it wouldn't cause too much of a stir.