The damp, humid air of Intel and Communications HQ clung to me like an old memory. This place wasn't meant for nostalgia—its walls housed secrets, extracted and refined into weapons to keep Kirigakure ahead. And yet, every time I set foot inside, I was pulled back to my first days as the Fourth Mizukage.
Memories of the Kaguya attack, the interrogations that followed, the blood staining these very floors. Nostalgia was the wrong word. There was nothing sentimental about reliving those days.
My brows knitted together, an impatient scowl scratched along my features— I didn't want to be here any longer than I needed to and though I could leave, have had Eiko report to my office, or to whatever clone was convenient—but some things I had to do myself and besides, I wasn't alone. Lady Megumi and Lord Funato sat on either side of me, tension crackling between them. The bombing at the docks had turned them into a bickering old duo, throwing accusations like kunai. I had no patience for their games
Another attack, in the tenuous peace Kirigakure was soaking in, anyone of our enemies could be responsible and sadly, I was hoping it was just another escalated incident of clan rivalry and jealousy.
"You don't seem to appreciate how much trouble you're in, Yuuta." Eiko's voice was smooth, coaxing. He leaned forward, his demon mask casting long shadows over the young shinobi shackled before him. "You could be executed for less. But I'm a friend of the Mizukage, and he's a merciful man. Tell me the truth—who hired you?"
Yuuta's breath hitched. This wasn't the first time the brown-haired Genin had been asked this question, but it was the first time he was promised leniency in any capacity and it reflected in how his breath hitched, his eyes scattered across the room, darting on and away from Eiko as if considering the validity of his claims.
A radio sat in front of me, bulkier than the standard earpieces, allowing me to speak across the sealed off HQ through specific dials. I gave him permission to name drop me and judging by how Yuuta squirmed under Eiko's suddenly warm and welcoming smile, I'd bet he was considering telling the truth sooner than later.
I walked up to the one-way glass that split the room, eyes pinned on yet another Genin at the centre of what could trigger yet another clan disciplinary action on my part.
"This isn't an offer without an expiration date," Eiko continued. "We have ample evidence against you. Ao himself subdued you before you could do more damage. And to your own village, no less. Have you thought about what happens if you don't talk?"
Yuuta shifted, his eyes darted around a bit before locking onto Eiko as he muttered, "You'll be forced to torture it out of me." He balled his fists as he said this, the young shinobi breathing desperate, "Go ahead, my truth will not change."
I looked over at Lady Megumi at that, she looked just half ready to jump in the interrogation room herself and give Yuuta a piece of her mind.
"And what is that truth?" Eiko prodded.
"The Hozuki paid me."
"To do what?"
"To bomb the dock."
"And?"
Yuuta's face scrunched in frustration, "And nothing, job done, I'm just waiting for them to bail me out now like they promised." He scoffed, folding his arms with a huff.
Eiko laughed, dark and knowing. "You don't believe that." Yuuta flinched. Eiko leaned in. "We already know everything about you. And your family."
The single word had all of Yuuta's stubborn contenance dissolve into dread, one Eiko took a great pleasure in savouring with a mad cackle, "The Mizukage himself is already aware, Yuuta, even if the Hozuki were behind this attack like you say, there's is not one of them that can save you now. You are merely an accomplice in their…hypothetical betrayal. And your family?"
Yuuta jerked forward, fist raised, but before he could strike, his body collapsed. The seals in the room held him down like a marionette with cut strings.
"I warned you about that, Yuuta." Eiko grabbed the Genin's head, forcing him to meet his masked gaze. "I control everything about you in this room. If you want the torture to start, all you have to do is lie again."
Not for the first time I flipped through Yuuta's file. A seven-year Genin, no clan affiliations, scraping by on infrequent mission pay while caring for his retired father, wife, and two daughters. Debt-ridden. A prime target for manipulation.
His wife we knew was civilian all through, a market woman that made a living selling fish sticks, pies and more such snacks to pedestrians. Between his infrequent Genin pay and her slow business, caregiving three dependents wasn't exactly an easy job. The loans were easy to come by then.
We had already arrested the loan sharks. It was from them we learned his family had vanished. Smart man—he had at least done that much right before digging his own grave.
At the moment, no one, not even I&C knew where his family was but that was why we had Hunter-nin— his infirm father, housewife and rowdy girls would be childsplay to find and that alone terrified him.
"Contrary to what you believe, Yuuta," Eiko mused, "the torture doesn't have to start or end with you." He tilted his head, considering. "Your father is frail. Hardly clinging to life. It wouldn't take much to… ease his passing."
The young Genin groaned, rendered immobile by the seals in the room Eiko grabbed his head like a basketball, shoving it back and forth as he spoke in emphasis, "Now, since you've been particularly stubborn I'll tell you just how far I can go with my authority. As lead researcher and investigator, I can force the truth, whatever version of it aligns with the facts, out of anyone presenting a threat or being used to threaten our great village, Kirigakure.
"The timing…your family left the village just after the Kumo spies had been discovered and terminated on Midoriwara about two months ago. That means…they must've warned you, a Kumo-nin like them, of their failure and in turn, you prepared."
Yuuta's eyes screamed. Eiko waved a handseal and the man gasped for breath, panting heavily as he blurted out in panic, "I'm not a Cloud shinobi! Please! I have served Kirigakure loyally for all—"
"Ahh, so you're just a traitor then? A spy. No wonder your family got out, I'd have to wonder how they could afford to even cross the street, much less cross countries with the amount of debt you owe."
Tears streamed down Yuuta's cheeks. He sobbed, head held up in Eiko's painful grip, "Please, leave my family alone…"
"And what of the fathers, brothers and sisters your attack killed today? Should their families leave you alone too? Their destroyer!?" Eiko slammed his head against the steel table so it bounced and bled out from the gash, "Speak the truth!"
Blood and tears dripped, Yuuta groaned, sniffling, he muttered, almost whispering, "It was Kozui…they paid me to bomb the Hozuki's shipments. Said they…"
Lady Megumi scoffed, her lip lifted in a sneer, "Even I know these are more lies."
I exhaled, sick of the back and forth I pressed the radio button. "Eiko, you have my go. Get the truth out of him. No matter what."
The Demon masked Fuuinjutsu expert chuckled sinisterly and heaved Yuuta out of his seat, "With pleasure, Mizukage-sama."
Yuuta screamed, "No! That's the truth- no, I- please! Stop, stop!"
Yuuta screamed as he was dragged into the next room. The real interrogation room. Where this would hopefully end with a confession and a description of the Kumo agent that turned him. I&C would retrieve his family from wherever they are hiding, motivate them enough to have full confessions all around that will hopefully lead to any lingering Kumo agent.
Setting the radio down, I turned and met my councillors disturbed gazes with one of annoyance, "Kumogakure is escalating."
Lady Megumi nodded grimly, "And they've chosen a ripe scapegoat, that clanless will never speak the truth unless his teeth are pulled with it."
Lord Funato tapped his cane against the stone floor. "Until his family is at the guillotine, he'll keep lying for the Cloud."
Shaking my head I leaned against a wall and sighed, "There's no need for that. Even if he did confess that he got turned, we don't have irrefutable proof that it was the Cloud."
"But it was." Lady Megumi insisted, "They've been skulking in our land for years and the moment we retaliate they double down and try to blow us up thinking we're the same divided clans. This is the strategy of none other than the Raikage."
Lord Funato picked at a grinded hole in the ground with his cane, his eyes far away as he grunted more and more dirt out of it, "We should have called them out the moment we caught their spies on Midoriwara. Taken their heads and declared war."
I rolled my eyes at the warmonger but I couldn't dismiss his thoughts entirely. I'd already taken the village to war, albeit a lower-stakes one than what he was suggesting, but if I'd gone ahead to declare openly that Kumo's interference in our affairs would be met with purifying chaos then...
"They have no proof we're the ones behind their sunken ships either, if not they would've said as much. But I think you're right, Lord Funato, it's about time Kirigakure takes an unflinching stand against her enemies."
"What? I thought you said—!" Lady Megumi began stuttering.
"I said we prepare for war, Megumi and for the most part, we are. Slow but surely. But there's only going to be a war if we can provide a reason for it, I'd rather not end up between Iwa and Kumo just because." I exhaled, running a hand through my hair. "For now, we send a message. We won't be bullied."
Lady Megumi nodded, "If they managed to turn that boy then they surely have spies within the village, uprooting and burning them should be our priority, especially if you are going to toe the line of war, Yagura-sama."
"Not just those within, those abroad too." Lord Funato added, his wrinkles furrowed into each other as he spoke, "Send out a squadron of Hunter-nin to seek and eliminate their assets wherever they are in the Elemental Nations, that should send a message."
"One of pure aggression, yes, but then again…" I let out what felt like my hundredth sigh and massaged my temples, "These are valid ideas and ANBU should already be working on counter-intelligence alongside I&C but right now, someone needs to take responsibility for that bombing."
My councillors exchanged confounded glances before gaping up at me.
I smiled down at them, "This is what violent clan rivalry gets you. Bear the burden, Kumo's time will come." The two aged councillors sneered at each other before bowing their heads in acquiescence to their punishment. I nodded, satisfied. "Until then, I don't want a whisper of Kumogakure's possible involvement reaching the public. As far as anyone is concerned, this was simply your two clans being stubborn. As always."
"Oh and handle the bereaved compensation. Make sure it's generous. The loss they've suffered is real, and I won't have them turning their grievances into a weapon against the village. Understood?"
""Yes, Mizukage-sama.""