After Gai finished his seafloor exploration, I promptly reminded him that if the seal had broken, he would have died, not from drowning, but because the seal would likely malfunction or collapse due to pressure.
This would lead to the air suction function rapidly emptying the lungs of anyone unfortunate enough to be using it at that moment.
Not a pleasant way to go, if you ask me. I'd rather have my lungs full of air and safely inside my body, rather than coughing them out in a shriveled state.
Sufficiently terrified, Gai had the presence of mind to promise not to do it again. I suppose one can hope.
His test was still useful for me, though. The seal showed minimal wear even after being subjected to high pressure at approximately fifty meters below the water's surface.
"I don't think you should go much deeper. To be completely honest, even fifty meters feels near the limit," I informed them. "The sealing formula should hold for around three hours under such pressure, but any longer than that, I can't guarantee its functionality... or your safety." I said, tossing the mask back to Gai while fixing him with a serious look.
"So that's the plan? We just go in through the front door and wreck shit?" Anko asked, sounding almost giddy at the idea.
"It seems like the best plan, Anko-san," Gai nodded.
"And with some luck, it will force the person in charge to recall all those experiments to defend the base," I added. "If they can be controlled or ordered, that is," I said, frowning as I recalled the sheer number of signatures I sensed earlier.
"That would make the odds two hundred against four, though," Kurenai cautioned, unsure about fighting so many enemies.
"I know. But the more enemies I face, the stronger I become," I replied with a devious smirk. "I will simply absorb their chakra. But that means you'll have to hold back the strong ones, including the swordsman." I explained.
"Do you think we can hold him back, Anko?" Kurenai asked, deferring to her superior knowledge of the enemy.
"Two of us? It depends on how well he responds to your Genjutsu," Anko pondered aloud.
"You only need to hold him back until I'm finished with the rest. That won't take long if they group up for me," I added. "Worst case scenario, you still have Gai to back you up."
"We will have to feign an attack if that's the case," Gai suggested, and I nodded in agreement.
Feigning an attack would likely force them to recall a good portion of the experiments, if they could.
Paradoxically, an attack would be much easier with all the experiments present. While numbers can be beaten, fighting an enemy from both the front and back is always a challenge, no matter how wide the skill gap is.
"Alternatively, I could summon more cats to deal with the scattered experiments. Granted, most of my summons aren't fighters, but those who are can certainly take down an average Chunin," I offered, quite sure that Zangetsu would enjoy the fight.
"We will target the leaders first. Hunting down the stragglers can wait," Gai decided after a moment of thought.
I nodded; he was in command, and his plan seemed sound. Hopefully, the feint would work as intended.
We made our way back to one of the larger fishing towns in search of a place to establish our temporary base of operations.
As far as we knew, there were no ongoing attacks on land, at least not at that moment, so we felt relatively safe staying there. We also took this opportunity to track down and eliminate a few of the experiments that were loitering nearby.
Once I saw them, I quickly understood why they were scattered in the wilderness, instead of trying to go back to their previous homes.
Their bodies bore a distinctly fish-like appearance, with scales and fins protruding from their discolored skin. These traits were more pronounced in some than others, but noticeable in all we encountered.
Unfortunately, they were either incapable of speech or completely under the control of the faulty seal placed on them. The most mutated among them were incapable of breathing air, relying solely on the gills on their necks for respiration.
Even a cursory examination of the seals on their bodies revealed a lot.
Whatever the original intent of the seal was, it clearly took over their bodies completely. What was supposed to be a temporary enhancement had become painfully permanent with continuous use.
Even when the seal was not fully active, it left behind scales and fins, as if it had corrupted the very soul, not just the body.
This type of seal reeked of Orochimaru, and Anko agreed, even drawing comparisons to her own curse seal.
Unfortunately, we couldn't glean more detailed information about the seal's functions or its full capabilities from the failed experiments we encountered, but we did gain a good idea of what to expect.
"Substantial physical enhancement and likely access to water nature chakra..." I murmured under my breath as I tried to draw a copy of one of the faulty seals on a scroll to document it better.
The issue wasn't that the seal made no sense; rather, it was the mutation that was confusing.
I was clearly missing some important part of the seal, possibly a hidden component. Either I had overlooked it, or it had disappeared as the seal failed.
The function of the seal would have to wait until we raided the lab or managed to capture a specimen that was still aware of itself.
Fortune seemed to smile upon us as Kurenai returned from her patrol, carrying a young girl around my age, slumped over her shoulder.
The girl had the same purple hair as Anko, though hers was longer, reaching her shoulders. She was bandaged; her left hand and ear were completely covered, and she was bleeding from her head, likely due to blunt trauma.
Before Kurenai even finished explaining how she found the girl injured on the beach, Anko had already marched toward her. She sensed the seal on the girl the moment she was carried into the room, even before I had noticed it.
Her curse mark was clearly reacting to these versions of the seal. She had mentioned a slight discomfort during our hunts, but she had never said anything about an ability to sense them like this.
I decided not to question it; I was actually relieved to have a reliable way of detecting them outside of my sensing ability.
I got up from my papers and turned my attention to the scene.
Kurenai did not seem pleased with Anko, who roughly snatched the girl from her and ripped the bandage off to uncover the fish-like scales on the girl's arm.
Many thoughts flashed through my mind at that moment, the least comforting being the idea of having a living subject to observe. I quickly banished that thought, deciding to first assess what we were dealing with.
"She's just a kid, Anko!" I snapped back to reality to Kurenai defending the unconscious girl.
"And already mutated. Tell me, Kurenai... how did the other mutated people end up?" Anko shot back. "Killing her now feels rather merciful to me," she added, her gaze fixed on a small seal on the back of the girl's shoulder.
"But she was conscious and didn't attack me when I found her," Kurenai countered, refusing to relent.
I decided it was time to intervene and break this standoff.
Gai looked lost, unable to decide which side to support.
They both had valid points. If the seal had truly taken over her, killing her would be an act of mercy.
"For now, let's see if restraining the curse seal works as intended," I suggested, breaking the tension. "There's little to no risk of harm to her, and if it works, we might actually get some answers." I continued, finally receiving a slow nod from a reluctant Anko. Kurenai, meanwhile, looked relieved.
I unfurled a large scroll and drew a seal matrix that filled the table-sized parchment completely.
"Place her in the middle of the scroll. I need to connect the central seal to her," I instructed, prompting Anko to position the sleeping girl as I directed.
"I'll hold her... I know this seal, and it's not pleasant when activated," Anko said quietly, securing her grip on the girl.
I nodded and continued drawing lines of seals that covered nearly all of the girl's back.
Eventually, the formula was ready. I flashed through a series of hand seals and infused chakra around the curse seal.
"Evil Sealing Method!" I announced as the sealing symbols on the girl's body and on the scroll glowed blood red, violently retracting toward the curse seal. This created an intricate circle of miniature seals, cutting it off from her normal chakra circulation.
Even while unconscious, the girl thrashed as the seal worked, her body slowly losing the scales on her arm and head as she was forcibly reverted to her fully human form.
The process must have been incredibly painful, but after no more than two minutes, the seal had fully formed, and the girl looked completely human again.
I scanned her chakra network for any damage and felt relieved not to find any. However, her physical health remained questionable.
"Is anyone here at least somewhat competent in medical ninjutsu?" I asked, hoping someone had more knowledge than I did.
It was somewhat disappointing to find that only Kurenai could use the same basic healing jutsu that I could, but it was still better than I had expected.
Together, we managed to heal her most obvious injuries, anything more serious bruises and minor fractures was beyond our capabilities.
I had never needed Hinata on a mission more than in situations like this.
Luckily, we didn't find any serious injuries on her, so she should wake up soon, most likely in the morning or sometime later tomorrow.
"Your seal worked faster than the one used on me…" Anko commented as we finished the healing. Her voice sounded distant, almost wistful.
"I take it your sealing didn't go smoothly?" I replied, barely recalling that she had the same seal applied to her cursed seal.
"I was stuck in the hospital for weeks after it," she confirmed, her face displaying a smile that seemed about as genuine as a politician's promise.
"Maybe your curse seal is more sophisticated. There are many factors that could have made your experience much worse," I answered, realizing that I had never actually seen her curse seal; most of the information I had on it came from my past life.
"And to be fair, if her cursed seal had been in a later stage of taking over, the Evil Sealing Method might have straight up killed her," I added. "The more entrenched the seal, the worse feedback you suffer if it is cut off from your chakra."
The issue was figuring out the cutoff between saving someone and making their situation worse.
With this girl, I hadn't taken a gamble, though. The chances of her being harmed were very low, but unfortunately, with curse seals, that chance is never zero.
We would see if there were any possible side effects tomorrow. These curse seals were designed to make the user addicted to their effects, so it wouldn't surprise me if she entered some form of withdrawal.
We decided to take guard duty, with Anko and me assigned to guard and, if possible, interrogate the girl once she woke up. Gai and Kurenai would take the guard shift that night.
The night passed quickly, and the rays of the morning sun shone throught the window as the alarm went off, pulling me from sleep in a simple room.
I quickly got up and went to relieve last night's guard, entering the room where the girl Kurenai had found was sleeping, guarded by Gai, who was doing push-ups to pass the time.
Leave it to Gai to find every possible second to train. I shook my head at the sight, not out of disapproval, but with a kind of fondness for the eccentric man.
"Take some rest. She should wake up soon, in a few hours at most," I told him, causing him to stop his exercise momentarily.
"I'll go wake up Anko-san, then," he grinned, still full of energy even after the night shift.
Not long after Gai jogged out of the door, Anko appeared, looking like she had just woken up from a ten minute power nap.
"Not a morning person?" I asked in an amused tone, prompting Anko to grumble something incomprehensible under her breath.
I decided not to poke the sleepy snake lady and instead waited for our guest to wake up.
I didn't have to wait long; the girl woke up in only a few hours time, and even Anko finally pulled herself together from her sleepy state.
This was good timing because the first thing we got from the young woman was an attempt to burst through the window and escape. While she didn't actually get the chance to run, the attempt was clearly there.
Though that reaction was expected, welcome even. It showed that her self-preservation instincts were fully functional, something the curse seal would have overridden if it were still affecting her.
Anko decided that ordinary restraints were too boring and wrapped the poor girl up in her snake summons.
I felt the need to start talking before the girl began to think we really wanted to kill her.
"Calm down, we don't want to hurt you," I said, trying to sound reassuring. However, the large snakes coiling around her may have sent a different message.
"We just need a few questions answered," I added, hoping she would stop struggling against the snakes, which started to look rather hungry.
"And what's stopping you from hurting me after I tell you anything?" she asked, putting on a brave face.
"Nothing, really..." I shrugged. "But killing people who help me isn't really my style," I said casually. "Can you call back the snakes, Anko? I don't think they're helping." I sighed after a brief pause, causing Anko to narrow her eyes, but the snakes retreated, disappearing into the long sleeves of her trenchcoat.
"Let's start with something simple. What's your name, and how did you get that curse mark on your shoulder?" I asked slowly, giving her time to compose herself.
"I'm Isaribi. And what's a curse mark? The only weird thing I have is fish scales," she said, lifting her left arm only to find it was completely normal, lacking any fin or scales.
She stared at her arm for a while, clearly unsure what to say or do.
"Those things were caused by a seal... but since you have no idea what I'm talking about..." I groaned.
It seemed she didn't know nearly as much as I had hoped.
"The mark on the back of your left shoulder is the reason for your previous fishiness," Anko chimed in, not letting the obvious pun go unsaid.
"B-but... Doctor Amachi said there's no way to turn me back without his help... that he'll cure me after I help him," Isaribi whispered, hit by a sudden realization of some sort.
But now we had a name, which was something at least.
"He was right... if he's the one who gave you that seal in the first place, that is. The curse seal can be sealed off, though. That's what I did with yours," I told her, seeing no reason to lie.
"From what I can tell, trying to remove the cursed seal would most likely kill you, but leaving it unchecked could mean you slowly lose yourself to it." I continued explaining, almost missing the intense stare Anko directed at the distraught Isaribi.
"Amachi. I remember that name... He works, or at least used to work, under Orochimaru. One of his head researchers, in fact," she recalled, providing me with more vital information.
"But he—" Isaribi muttered quietly. "He would cure me..." She murmured further, unsure of what to believe.
The facts were clear, though. Amachi either couldn't or wouldn't cure her. Either way, he was lying to her. Even from her perspective, things weren't adding up.
I looked at Anko, who just like me already guessed Isaribi's next move and shook my head slowly.
Our hunch proved correct; she dashed away in an impressive burst of speed for someone my age with little training. She crashed through the window and took off running, leaving a startled citizens in her wake.
"Do you think it was a good idea to let her go?" Anko asked, her expression softening as she watched the purple-haired girl flee.
"It's better than go looking for him and hoping he doesn't have a secret hideout," I replied, getting a nod from her.
"Don't get me wrong... I don't like using her as bait. But the sooner this is done, the sooner she can return to a normal life," I added, focusing on Isaribi's chakra signature as she put more distance between herself and us.
"You could've gotten more information out of her if you held her back," Anko stated, but I was already moving out to find Gai and Kurenai.
"If you were in her place... would you trust me?" I asked as I walked out the door.
I didn't need an answer; Anko knew the reality. There was no way Isaribi would believe us over Amachi, especially if his word went against ours.
I had planted a small seed of doubt in her mind, though. An idea that maybe her doctor wasn't as truthful as she thought.
Anko snorted as she followed me, seemingly agreeing with my sentiments, though perhaps not with my lax methods of questioning.
"And what's your plan now? Group up and follow the girl?" she asked shortly before we arrived at Gai's room.
"You fill them in on what we found, and I'll make sure she isn't killed along the way," I said casually, shrugging my shoulders.
"And if you run into trouble?" she asked, a curious look on her face.
I smiled my most innocent smile. "Then I'll have no choice but to kill my way out of it."