บท 55: Prisoners, Bleak Ending and War
_________ POV Narration_________
The three of them walked for a good few more minutes, reaching the entrance that Ken had created rather quickly.
A decided to carry B away from there, he also needed to call on some teams that were on standby, to come in and clean the place. So that was when they parted ways.
But the Raikage still walked alongside Ken.
They walked through the clearing that B had created, and into the other side of it. There was another corridor there, just as long as the last.
It was blocked off at some point though, as B's Tailed Beast Ball didn't have an infinite range.
"Can you feel any more people alive ahead?" The Raikage asked as he turned on his Lighting Release Chakra Mode and started digging into the collapsed cave, swiftly opening up a path for them to continue going down.
"There are... Plenty of cultists left as well, but no one really worth mentioning.
A few dozen cultists are bunched up at the end of the blockage, they seem to be trying to dig themselves out."
The Raikage just nodded as he started breaking the rocks in front of him.
The Blind Swordsman let him do his work, not bothering to help or interfere. Instead, he just let his chakra recover and took out his long blade, preparing to cut up a few cultists.
They had only explored half of the cave after all. The other half was less defended though, as they chose the side where they assumed the leader would be.
After all, the immortals were bound to have been kept near the leader, only sent forward to deal with the intruders.
On the other side of the hideout, there were the dungeons. Holding cells and the like. At least that was what Ken could feel.
He didn't feel Akira's chakra signature anywhere. But he did feel something similar, which did manage to give him some hope.
'Might have to get closer if I want to get a better feel for it.'
Thankfully, he wouldn't have to wait long in order to do that.
The Raikage dug through the stone blockade with ease in his lighting form, coming out the other side with one last heavy punch, which rapidly propelled the debris out towards the awaiting cultists.
The rocks were like shrapnel from a grenade, they shredded apart the nearest unlucky cultists, while the rest were lucky enough to take cover behind them.
The Raikage stepped out of the passage with a raised eyebrow and a bored look in his eyes. The cultists seemed to take a step back at the sight of him.
Then they all took out their weapons and charged.
In all fairness. Ken had to admit that even the regular cultists they had run into were all skilled in both Kenjutsu and Weapon Techniques.
If Ken was to scale them up against Shinobi, then they'd only lose to some of the higher level Chunin.
Of course, that didn't account for Jutsus, which the cultists clearly seemed to lack.
They were just regular people trained up to fight for one reason or another... Likely to defend the sanctuary.
Unfortunately for them. Chunin-level fighting skills didn't mean anything in front of someone like the Raikage. Which was, at least in Ken's opinion, why the cult leader had fled.
The Blind Assassin barely got to step out of the tunnel that the Raikage had created before the few dozen cultists that had been hanging around were killed or incapacitated.
'This man's speed really is unmatched...' Ken couldn't help but wonder... Would he be able to win against the Raikage in a fight? Things were looking quite unlikely currently...
"Hmph... So many dregs down here." The Raikage flicked his wrist and threw away the last copse that was still impaled on his thick hand.
"Not that it makes a difference..." Ken said as he walked over the corpses with little care. He didn't feel like he lost out on any fun either, as he was focusing on getting closer and closer to that familiar signature.
"How many are there left?" The Raikage asked as he also stepped over a few corpses and followed Ken further inside the corridors.
"Not that many left moving around... Barely 20, frantically trying to hide in different places and rooms."
The Raikage just huffed when hearing that, deciding to not even bother hunting them down.
'I'll just warn the teams sent here to take them out.'
Ken also didn't seem to be going after them, as he walked deeper and deeper into the dark corridors.
At that point, the Raikage could barely see a few meters in front of him, as the dim light coming from his body wasn't exactly enough to light up an entire, few hundred meter-long, corridor.
He was keeping up with Ken though, using his back as a guide.
That kept on for at least a few more minutes before Ken came to a stop and his head turned to one of the rooms to the side.
"... It's here."
The closer Ken had gotten, the more he could feel it. Akira's aura, his stench... More specifically, the stench of his blood.
It was a bit concerning, but Ken could tell that the man was alive... At least somewhat alive.
He wasn't alone either... There were two people with him, both seemed to be cowering in the corners of the room.
Without any hesitation, he anchored one of his legs into the ground and kicked the door heavily, causing it to swing open and hit the wall as the locks on it broke without any protest.
"..." Ken walked forward into the darkness, he heard a startled yelp from inside the room.
The two men that had been cowering had acted instantly, charging at the door with their weapons drawn.
But they didn't even get within a meter of Ken before they were sliced in half by Ken's long blade. A swing was all it took, as the Blind Swordsman just ignored them and walked closer to his subordinate.
The Raikage looked inside as well, stepping in as his body provided some light for the small holding cell...
He kicked one of the half corpses that landed near the entrance, uncaringly. He then grabbed his nose in disgust, scowling slightly as he did so.
The stench was revolting, even to the Raikage. But the sight was what truly startled the large man...
Chained to a wall was the body of a young man, his eyes gouged out, his organs spilling out onto the floor, and his body was filled with cuts and gashes.
Now, it wasn't like the Raikage wasn't accustomed to torture and the like.
But the sight in front of him didn't resemble any torture methods he knew. It seemed more like everything was done to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible...
The most impressive thing? Somehow, the man was still alive... Alive and breathing?
The Raikage's eyes widened as he then noticed something strange... The chained man's wounds seemed to start steaming up and closing by themselves.
His organs seemed to be retracting into his body, and his eyes seemed to be growing themselves back.
As the man's eyes healed, he finally managed to make out who had come into the room...
"... Leader?..."
Akira asked as he slowly blinked. His empty eyes seemed to instantly regain some of their life when seeing Ken's masked figure.
"... Yep. Looks like you've had it rough..." Ken tapped the man on the shoulder as he then proceeded to speak out in a reassuring tone.
"You can rest now, I'll handle things from here." The Blind Assassins' words and voice seemed to have a calming effect on the bound man.
His previously bleak eyes had an inkling of life left in them. But the Raikage could also observe the tiredness in them.
The exhaustion... It was unlikely that the chained man was allowed any sleep during his stay with the cult.
But now... Now he felt safe. Safe enough to allow his newly regenerated eyes to slowly close themselves as he finally fell asleep for the first time in a few days...
"..." The Raikage stared at the scene with wide eyes. He had done so ever since he had seen how rapidly the man's wounds had healed...
Judging by the speed, it was likely that the men that were with him in the cell had inflicted the wounds recently.
'Could it be... The cult managed to make the first successful immortal... Before being burnt to the ground?'
The large man was half a mind away from trying to take the bound man to his Cloud Village, to run a few tests of his own on him...
But he decided against it in the end... 'If I can convince Ken to join me, I will also have access to him later... I must be patient for now.'
The chains that held Akira on the wall were instantly cut, as Ken's hands moved at speeds that only the Raikage could follow.
Akira's unconscious body didn't get to hit the ground though, as Ken caught him just as quickly as he had cut the chains.
The Blind Swordsman then slung Akira over his shoulder unceremoniously. He was a bit too small to carry Akira in a more comfortable way, unfortunately.
The Raikage saw that and coughed a few times into his hand before extending his large hand to Ken.
The Blind Assassin felt that hand and seemed to ponder on it for a few seconds before he handed Akira to the Raikage.
The Raikage acted quickly, he put the tortured man on his back and tied him there with a few bandages.
Ken just nodded, and the two of them continued making their way through the dungeons.
The Raikage insisted on freeing whoever they found, as they were all residents of the Land of Lightning.
Ken helped him without any complaints. Most of the prisoners were either dying or in a much better condition than Akira.
The prisoners that were fine were either waiting in line to become experiments, or waiting to be tortured.
The ones that were dying were not fortunate enough... They had faced a similar treatment to that one Akira had received, but they were unfortunately not immortal... They were just left there to die slowly.
The ones in a good condition were directed to the entrance. After they left, the ones that were too injured to survive were spared the suffering right there.
The Raikage did it himself, not wanting to burden an outsider with his failures.
Ken just sighed as he felt the Raikage quickly kill the suffering prisoners. He did it swiftly, finally giving them the rest they deserved.
The day concluded with Ken and the Raikage leaving the cave system and assisting the civilians in climbing out.
A few squads also came in to help, and the Jonin went in to clear out any remaining Cultists and capture whoever they could for interrogation.
Ken didn't hang around them for much longer. The Raikage helped tie Akira to Ken's back at some point, so he was preparing to make his way back to his base.
The Raikage saw him leaving, but didn't bother stopping him. He had already been paid in full, so he was free to go as soon as the cave had been cleared out and secured.
In the end, the mission had a rather bleak ending, but the Raikage still saw it as successful, to prevent the parasite that was the Cult of Jashin from ruining any more lives in the Land of Lightning.
And that was only possible thanks to Ken.
The Cult did turn out to be MUCH bigger than any of them had expected. But they were at least able to take it down thanks to him.
'No amount of money would be enough for the information he provided... At the very least my people can rest easy for now...
I'll try to keep the peace going for a bit longer. Give my people some well-deserved rest... But I can't postpone our plans for long.'
The Raikage could only sigh.
Peace was nothing more than a pipe dream at the end of the day. If he didn't start a war, then someone else was going to.
And it was always better to not be on the receiving end whenever war started...
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Hope you liked the chapter! Sorry for yesterday, didn't get to write much.
Also, yep, immortal subordinate GET
more on that later ;)
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