Perhaps the Kaguya clan had fought too frantically this time; many of the retrieved corpses were in pieces.
Most were hastily stitched back together, and some parts didn't even necessarily belong to the same person.
"Confirm pawn."
> [Current Pawn Points: 9525]
Looking at the suddenly empty morgue and his massive point total, Night felt that all the plotting and risk-taking had been worth it.
Just as he was preparing to quit while he was ahead, his sharp senses caught the clear sound of footsteps approaching from the end of the hallway, heading straight for his room.
"Tsk. Trouble."
Night frowned slightly. Scanning the room, he saw nowhere to hide. With a flicker of movement, he hung upside down like a bat in the shadowed corner of the ceiling, holding his breath.
Creeeak.
The door was pushed open. A middle-aged man wearing a medical ninja uniform and a mask walked in.
He was muttering complaints under his breath. "Honestly... rushing me for Kaguya cell analysis so soon. These lunatics won't even let me rest after they're dead..."
His words cut off abruptly.
His eyes swept the room. The completely empty morgue froze him in place. He rubbed his eyes, unsure of what he was seeing.
"Uh... what the...?"
In the split second he was stunned by shock, a black shadow swooped down.
Night's hands clamped around the man's neck like iron pincers. With overwhelming force that the medic couldn't resist, he twisted sharply.
Crack.
A crisp sound. Before the man even had a chance to struggle, he went limp, his eyes still wide with lingering shock and confusion.
Night quickly caught the falling body to prevent a loud thud.
He efficiently changed into the medic's uniform, putting on the mask with a slight grimace of distaste. Simultaneously, he used the Transformation Jutsu to mimic the man's build and appearance.
"Looks like there's a bonus harvest."
Toying with the ID keycard he found on the body, along with a classified document requesting the extraction of Kaguya cell samples for "Lab A-1," Night formed a new plan.
Lab A-1. The name sounded incredibly high-end. It seemed there were other secrets hidden here.
Now that he had assumed this identity, as long as he was cautious, moving around this area shouldn't be difficult.
Mimicking the medical ninja's posture, Night lowered his head and calmly pushed open the morgue door, walking deeper into the facility.
Thanks to the ID card on his chest, his path was unobstructed. The staff he passed were all in a hurry, offering at most a curt nod.
The deeper he went, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. There was even a strange energy fluctuation permeating the air.
Finally, he stopped in front of a massive metal door engraved with complex seals. The label on the door read "A-1."
A masked ninja guarded the entrance. After showing his ID card and handing over the document for inspection, Night was allowed inside.
As the heavy metal doors slowly slid open, the scene behind them was revealed.
In that instant, Night's pupils constricted violently, though he forcibly suppressed any outward reaction.
Behind the door wasn't a standard laboratory. It was a vast space, a disturbing hybrid of a prison and a research facility.
It was clearly a site for human experimentation. Rows of transparent cylindrical tanks filled with pale green nutrient fluid lined the room. Inside the tanks were people—unconscious, life-or-death status unknown—connected to countless tubes.
Most of them had distinctive fiery red hair, though some had faded to gray-white.
The Uzumaki clan!
Beside these tanks were piles of research instruments, scrolls recording experimental data, and several... dissected corpses whose faces were unrecognizable.
Before he could investigate further, a ninja dressed as a researcher poked his head out from behind a stack of equipment. Seeing the "medical ninja," he asked:
"Aoki? Did you bring the Kaguya cell samples?"
Night reacted instantly. In a muffled, lowered voice, he replied:
"There's been a situation. The bodies are gone. Use instructed me to notify you to raise the alert."
"What?! How is that possible?"
The researcher turned pale with shock. In his panic, he didn't even notice the oddity in "Aoki's" voice.
Seizing the moment of distraction, Night stepped forward quickly, pretending to hand over the document. Under the cover of the paper, a bone spike punched cleanly through the researcher's chest.
Before the man could scream, Night clamped a hand over his mouth and nose. Blood soon stained the floor.
This was a top-secret Mist facility; Night dared not delay. He had no idea when his cover might be blown.
He quickly scanned the room. Aside from the lifeless corpses, the Uzumaki clan members in the tanks had faint pulses. Their vitality was tenaciously holding on despite the inhuman torture they had clearly endured.
"Pawn."
> [Scan complete. Discovering pawnable items:]
> [Ding! Uzumaki Clan Member (Living) x5... Valuation: 100 Points/Person]
> [Ding! Uzumaki Clan Member Corpse (Incomplete) x11... Valuation: 50 Points/Body]
As for the dissected remains, likely due to the passage of time or excessive bloodline extraction, the System refused to acknowledge them.
"Confirm pawn."
With that done, he turned his gaze to the center of the lab. Mountains of scrolls and data.
He pawned them all without hesitation. The System classified these documents as secret technique scrolls.
> [Ding! Three-Tails Chakra Research Report x1... Valuation: 100]
> [Ding! Three-Tails Jinchuriki Candidate Data x3... Valuation: 50/set]
> [Ding! Bloodline Fusion Failure Records x12... Valuation: 0]
"Confirm pawn."
> [Current Pawn Points: 11155]
In mere seconds, Lab A-1 was swept clean, leaving only rows of empty tanks and a puddle of glaring red blood on the floor.
It was an unexpected harvest. The Mist was using Uzumaki sealing techniques and bloodlines to research how to create a perfect Jinchuriki.
These bloody experiments must have cost many lives. In that light, the researcher deserved his death.
Just as Night was checking for anything he missed—perhaps even traces of the Three-Tails itself—the entire lab suddenly began to flash red. Blaring alarms erupted, and the lab doors locked down instantly.
"Oh? Looks like the Mist finally realized something's wrong."
Night spoke calmly. He wasn't panicked. With Space-Time Ninjutsu and ample preparation, if he wanted to leave, he was confident no one could stop him.
Just as he thought this confidently, the floor beneath his feet began to shake violently, as if something was about to erupt.
Night felt a flicker of confusion. Is the Mist playing the 'safest place is right under your nose' card too?
Suddenly, a violent, cold chakra—distinctly different from any ninja's—descended upon the room.