Land of Whirlpools, Ascension Island Underground Laboratory.
In the center of the laboratory, ten Root ninja wearing grey combat uniforms lay scattered on the ground, motionless.
Sora sat cross-legged in front of them, his face hidden behind a cold Vermilion Bird mask.
He took out the two scrolls recording sealing technique theories and carefully reviewed them, especially the parts about "Chakra Contract Restraint" and that "Silence" seal character.
'Mastered the theory, next comes the practical application.'
Closing the scrolls, Sora took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the ten "materials" on the ground.
He first selected the Root member with the weakest chakra reaction.
Dragging them to the cleared open space in the center of the lab, Sora formed a single-handed seal and uttered a low command,
"Release!"
The Root ninja's body shuddered, and they slowly regained consciousness.
The moment awareness returned, a feral, vicious glint and absolute resolve flashed in their eyes. Instinctively, they tried to bite down on the poison capsule hidden between their teeth while simultaneously attempting to channel chakra to destroy their own heart.
However.
They discovered in horror that their body seemed bound by invisible chains. Biting the poison capsule was impossible, even moving a finger was beyond them.
Their chakra lay dormant within their chakra pathways, completely unresponsive.
All they could do was stare wide-eyed at the cold, menacing man in the Vermilion Bird mask before them.
"Don't waste your energy."
Sora's voice filtered through the mask. "Since I kept you alive, I naturally made thorough preparations."
Long before bringing these Root members back, he had used a restraint technique based on the principles of the Four Symbols Seal to seal off all their motor functions and chakra, making even suicide impossible.
Without further preamble, Sora extended his right hand, probing chakra into the Root ninja's mouth, lightly touching deep within the base of their tongue.
Hum.
A cold, viscous wave of chakra was instantly triggered.
At the base of the Root ninja's tongue, a complex, sinister black seal character flickered faintly into view, radiating a baleful aura.
It was the "Tongue Eradication Seal"!
'Begin.'
Holding his breath, Sora immersed his full concentration into analyzing this cursed seal.
Following the theory learned from the scrolls and his own understanding of that "Silence" seal character, he attempted to use his own chakra, fine as a needle's tip, to touch and manipulate several key energy nodes within the cursed seal.
He aimed to dismantle its structure without triggering the "self-destruct" command.
However, the "Tongue Eradication Seal," as Danzo's core method of controlling subordinates, was far more complex and insidious than ordinary seals.
Pfft!
Sora's chakra strayed just a hair off, seemingly touching a hidden defense mechanism.
The black seal character flashed brightly!
In the next instant, the Root ninja lying on the ground convulsed violently. Their eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins and bulged outwards, their tongue stiffened and turned purple, frothy blood spilling from their mouth.
In just two or three breaths, their body went rigid, all signs of life gone.
Experiment... failure.
Sora slowly withdrew his finger, a slight frown creasing his brow.
'As expected, it's not that simple... That old bastard Danzo never disappoints when it comes to underhandedness.'
Sora cursed inwardly, casually moving the failed corpse aside as if disposing of a piece of discarded lab equipment.
Then, he dragged over the second "material," a Chunin-level subject.
...
Time slowly passed with each attempt.
The pile of failed corpses in the corner of the lab gradually grew.
One, two, three...
When the eighth Chunin-level Root ninja also died in agony from the seal's backlash, only two remained in the laboratory.
They were the two possessing Jonin-level chakra, the original base commanders with the bird mask and the salamander mask.
They had awakened long ago, bodies firmly restrained, forced to watch as Sora used their subordinates one by one for the cruel cracking experiment.
The look in their eyes beneath their masks gradually shifted from initial coldness and anger to a trace of poorly concealed fear.
This man in the Vermilion Bird mask was terrifyingly calm in his methods, as if he wasn't taking lives but merely making trivial adjustments.
Moreover, his target was unmistakably the "Tongue Eradication Seal" set by Lord Danzo!
What exactly did he want?!
Sora paid no heed to the turmoil in these two men's hearts. His gaze fell upon the bird-masked man.
Eight consecutive failures were not without value.
Each failure gave him a deeper understanding of the "Tongue Eradication Seal's" defense mechanisms.
He kept replaying in his mind the "chain binding the vocal organs" seal character structure from "Ancient Cursed Seal Character Analysis," comparing and correcting it against the actual seal he perceived.
'The key point lies in... that Yin Release chakra circuit simulating the "chain" structure. It is both the restraint and the trigger for self-destruction. It cannot be forcibly severed. It needs to be... deceived, or made to loosen on its own.'
Sora pondered, extending his finger once more.
This time, the chakra condensed at his fingertip was even finer, its nature tinged with a faint trace of life energy, simulated from the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit.
That's right, Sora attempted to use this vitality-filled energy to "soothe" the Yin Release chakra steeped in death and restraint.
His fingertip lightly touched the base of the tongue.
The black seal character surfaced again.
Sora's chakra carefully avoided several obvious trap nodes, cautiously coiling around the core circuit simulating the "chain."
Time seemed to slow down at that moment.
Beads of sweat rolled down Sora's temples, but his focus was more intense than ever before.
The bird-masked man's body tensed, prepared for immediate death.
However.
The expected agony and paralysis did not arrive.
He only felt the long-present, icy yet ever-present sense of restraint at the base of his tongue begin to dissolve and loosen bit by bit, like ice and snow melting under sunlight...
A few seconds later.
Pop!
A sound like a bubble bursting was heard.
The black seal character at the base of the bird-masked man's tongue rapidly dimmed before completely dissipating into nothingness.
That cold, viscous chakra fluctuation vanished entirely.
Experiment... success!
The bird-masked man's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt the change at the base of his tongue.
That cursed seal which had plagued him for years, a constant reminder of his existence as a puppet, was truly gone?
An unprecedented sense of relief, mingled with immense confusion and a sliver of... a liberation he himself was unwilling to admit, instantly flooded his heart.
He opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to say something.
But years of Root training made him forcefully suppress it.
He could only look with an extremely complex gaze at the demonic man in the Vermilion Bird mask who had just freed him from the seal.
Sora slowly withdrew his finger, letting out a long, deep breath.
Success!
But he wasn't blinded by joy.
'One successful case could be a fluke. It needs... verification again.'
Sora's gaze turned to the last person, the salamander-masked man.
With the experience of the last success, his movements this time were more fluid and confident.
Several minutes later.
Accompanied by another faint pop, the "Tongue Eradication Seal" at the base of the salamander-masked man's tongue also completely dissipated.
Success again!
Two consecutive successes dispelled the last trace of uncertainty in Sora's mind.
He had fully mastered the method to crack the "Tongue Eradication Seal"!
With the objective achieved, these two Jonin-level "materials" had lost their value.
Sora stood up straight, his eyes turning cold once more.
Without a word, before the two newly freed Root Jonin, their eyes still clouded with bewilderment and complex emotions, could react, Sora's hands, covered in blue scales, slammed forcefully into their chests.
Crack!
Two nearly simultaneous sounds of bone breaking rang out.
The bodies of the bird-masked and salamander-masked men convulsed violently, the light in their eyes rapidly dimming.
The bird-masked man opened his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately, no words came out.
His body slumped limply to the ground. Before his consciousness plunged into eternal darkness, beneath the grotesque bird-beak mask, the corner of his mouth curled into an extremely faint, almost imperceptible arc.
Finally... liberated from that sunless cage called "Root."
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