Chapter 62 – Purgatory
In the afternoon I was brought by Anko to one of the deepest floors in Konoha's prison, usually reserved for the most heinous of criminals…There I got to meet one of my possible future fathers-in-law…
“So he’s the one Anko?”
“Yes, he-”
“No, I want to hear it from him”
“Yami Yuumo, Konoha Genin.”
The man approaches my frame and gives me the classic father stare-down from up close, trying to judge my worth.
I don’t back away from eye contact and stare back at the blonde man’s green eyes.
“ino's blue eyes are prettier”
Inoichi Yamanaka, the current head of the Yamanaka clan and alsoIno’s father, smiles, finally easing down the pressure.
“Inoichi Yamanaka, wish I could say she got them from me or her mother but she bullied the heavens for them.”
“Truly, she must have met a god before being born and asked for them”
“But kid...You think I wouldn’t realise Ino arrived in Konoha the day before she showed up home?”
“She’s and adult, free to make her own choices.”
Inoichi’s face sours but he lets up.
“I understand it the mission was an exception but do try to let her have time to bond with her team.“There is also the matter that you’ve been seen a bit too close to that Haruno girl…”
Inoichi also stares down at Anko while saying this. But Anko acts unbothered and simple keeps to her smile.
Understanding he was overstepping and we were going to offer answers Inoichi was reasonable enough to back out and we get to the main point we were here for.
“So Anko tells me you’ve been able to use an accurate lightning release to control people. She wants you to practice on some inmates and thinks you might be able to extract memories as well.”
I had suggested as much to Anko, from learning the parts of the brain that govern movement to the part that governs memory isn’t that great of a stretch.
Especially since I got some form of mental aptitude from Ino, besides the telepathy I’ve been able to more intuitively analyze animal brains using chakra.
“Yes, I might be able to turn it into a Hijutsu (hidden technique), but the lightning control requirements and knowledge necessary would make it vastly unusable. As far as I know, only I meet the requirements in Konoha but there might be a couple in Kumogakura who meet the control but good luck getting a kumo blockhead to learn.”
“That would be an interesting ability. If you get it to work it could prove valuable in extracting information in cases where our conventional jutsu has been countered but don’t think that’s enough to earn you a spot in the Yamanaka clan.”
“I’ll be founding my own clan in the future, so don't worry about it”
It is the only clear way to remain fair to every girl. I refuse to be bound by the Yamanaka, Hyuga or any other power I get connected with.
“Why does every genius have to be so infuriating… like a Nara except you’re trying to be an arrogant playboy instead of a lazy wastrel.”
“That’s a pretty high compliment.”
“Yeah, since Ino refuses to listen to her parent's advice, at least try not to die again, now let’s get down to business.”
Inoichi says sarcastically.
As the head of Konoha’s Intelligence Department, he probably looked up my information when he found out Ino stayed a night with me, if not earlier when she was leaving with us on a mission.
Inoichi brought us to a dark room, in the middle of said windowless room a man could be seen sitting and bound to a chair with his eyes covered and mouth muffled.
Inoichi puts his hand on the shoulder of the man.The man with an average build, looking to be in his thirties doesn't react.
“Meet Mr.A, your first test subject.”
“And what did Mr.A do to deserve sitting on this chair?”
“You can find out yourself later, all you need to know for now is that he’s an enemy of Konoha.“For now just mess around gently, and see what you can find”
I head closer to the men.
There are apprehensions… unlike before when I was messing around with just frogs or snakes, an actual human mind is different, more complex and relatable.
During my genjutsu training with Anko, I killed around 10 snakes and a couple of frogs.I can’t currently guarantee the safety of the subject in front of me.
I had fewer concerns when we had to kill those bandits in our first mission than I have now but I can’t tell why, maybe it’s probably because Mr.A here is currently defenseless and I’ve not proven his crimes.
In the end, killing a man or messing with his brain comes down to the same. The strong exerting their power over the weak and doing what I have to do to protect myself and the girls.
Although not obvious, what I do here will matter in the future, being able to collect intelligence directly from an enemy's brain has priceless tactical value. It's the main reason the Yamanaka clan is valued so highly and their Hijutsu tightly guarded
I put both my hands on Mr. A’s head and close my eyes in concentration.The sense I got from Ino lets me sort of map his brain, he’s currently sleeping and dreaming something, but it’s not what I’m looking for at this moment.
I look into the hippocampus, one of the deepest parts of the brain and where memories are stored.It’s occasionally firing as his dream accesses random pieces, but I’m not sure where to go from here.
“I can see his brain accessing memories but I don’t know how to read the signals.”
“Hmm, it’s similar to our techniques, once you identify the flow of memories you need to read it with your own brain.”
I open my eyes.
“That’s insane!”
“Ohh I see the problem, hmmm… "In our case we merely use chakra to copy the chakra around the brain, so even though it’s not completely without risk, reading that chakra we place around our brain is still safer than using lightning transformation inside your own brain…”
“I definitely would welcome more experience before messing around in my brain.”
“Sounds reasonable, in that case, I have a better idea for practice first.”