Chapter 114: Mind Control
The room was dim, but Haru immediately spotted the boy who had dragged him through hell.
Kael was poking the butt of a tiny worm on his chest with great interest. The strange, bouncy texture seemed to amuse him greatly.
To Haru's disappointment—and relief—Kael didn't even look at him.
But as if sensing Haru's hidden thoughts, Kael stopped his movements and slowly turned his head to look at him.
With a half-smile, he spoke.
"Haru, is that what I should call you?"
Steading his mind and dispelling the faint fear in his heart, Haru said in a low voice, "I am just an insignificant ninja of the Hidden Frost Village. Even if you kill me, you won't get anything you want from me! Young man... I advise you to stop now, before you bring disaster upon yourself!"
Hearing these threatening words, Kael immediately sensed the hollowness behind the middle-aged man's bravado.
The corners of his mouth curled into a faint smile as he spoke calmly.
"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. I have a jutsu that can bring a person's will under my control. This jutsu is enough to make you spit out everything I want to know."
"Heh..."
Haru laughed disdainfully, looking at Kael with eyes full of mockery.
"Then why don't you try it?"
Kael narrowed his eyes and began forming hand seals without hesitation.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof!
The next moment, Goldie and Kun Kun appeared in the room. Goldie, in particular, took up almost all the available space.
Kael looked at the two summons possessing Yin Release and communicated telepathically.
"Do you have a way to make him lose control of his will?"
"Woof, woof, woof! —Boss, I can't do that. My 'Inferiority Glare' only makes him so angry at me that he loses his reason and attacks me wildly. I can't do anything else. At most, I can use my Titanium Alloy Dog Eyes to blind him!"
Goldie shook his massive head honestly.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck! —Master, I suddenly have a brilliant idea!"
Kael raised an eyebrow and smiled. "What kind of good idea do you have?"
It wasn't easy catching a Hidden Frost ninja; Kael wanted to get information out of him to avoid alerting the enemy unnecessarily.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck! —I do, Master! Although my ability only taunts people and grants immunity to attacks, willpower is essentially spiritual energy. While neither Goldie nor I can strip him of his willpower directly to make him a puppet, the soul stems from spiritual energy, and so does willpower. It's inextricably linked to his beliefs. As long as we exhaust his willpower to the limit, wouldn't the final effect be similar to those genjutsu that control people's minds?"
Kael's eyes lit up. Kun Kun's theory was very simple; he understood it immediately.
It was just like torture methods used to extract confessions in ancient times, but this method was more advanced.
Physical torture inflicted pain on the body to force a confession.
But spiritual torture could achieve the same effect, perhaps even more terrifying and extreme. A slight mishap could even drive the person insane.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck! —Goldie and I will release our abilities intermittently, engaging in a spiritual tug-of-war with this guy. Eventually, he'll be exhausted, and his will will collapse!"
Kael paused. "You mean...?"
"Goldie uses his 'Inferiority Glare,' and I'll perform my dance art for him. We'll keep him in a constant state of being taunted—attacking me one moment, attacking Goldie the next. Before long, this guy will go crazy! Prolonged torture will maximize the weakening of his willpower and spiritual energy, causing mental trances and confusion. It's a bit troublesome, but it's the only way, isn't it, Master?"
Goldie couldn't help but shudder, looking at Kun Kun as if he were looking at a pervert.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Just to perform his dance art, is he really going to these lengths...?" he muttered internally.
"If we use Kun Kun's method, a slight mistake could drive this man insane, or even turn him into a soulless idiot!"
Kael frowned, then looked at the eager Kun Kun with a half-smile.
That smile made the twisted grin on Kun Kun's face slowly freeze, and his expression became unnatural.
"I think you're just crazy about wanting to dance!"
Despite saying this, Kael agreed to the proposal. Although it was a bit cruel, he would be watching from the side. He could stop it at a critical moment, so there was no need to actually torture the man into madness!
"By the way..."
Kael thought of a possibility.
"After his mental collapse, will he know what happened later?"
Kun Kun shook his head. He was an expert in Yin Release and had a say in this matter.
"No. Although the body will still be his, his soul will have long fallen into a confused void. He won't feel anything about what happens to him, nor will he recall it afterward. Unless he wakes up at a critical moment, he won't know what specifically happened."
"Alright, fine. You and Goldie can start!"
Kael nodded.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck! —You got it!"
Kun Kun looked impatient, while Goldie had a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Kun Kun suddenly turned around, extending a wing to point diagonally at the sky. A mysterious power from an unknown source instantly filled the room, as if some unknown deity had projected power onto Kun Kun, its spokesperson. The feeling was incredibly eerie, and everyone's gaze was involuntarily drawn to Kun Kun's performance.
Kael shuddered and quickly pulled Seven out of the room.
Although he was immune to his summons' abilities, he didn't want to appreciate Kun Kun's dance art. And Seven was just an innocent civilian; Kael wouldn't let him suffer a disaster.
He even summoned a large gray wolf-dog—Little Gray—to play with Seven.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Old-timer! Is there something good happening? I saw you summon Brother Goldie and Kun Kun away, so I knew you guys must be playing something fun!"
As soon as he appeared, Little Gray spoke impatiently.