The next morning.
Leo was already awake.
Which wasn't surprising.
He wasn't sure he had actually slept.
He sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee.
Across from him sat Rinko.
The moment he spoke, she nearly choked on her drink.
"We need your brother."
Cough.
"Cough!"
Rinko put her cup down.
"No."
Leo stared.
Rinko pointed at him.
"Absolutely not."
"We are not dragging Tatsuro into this."
Leo didn't blink.
"Rinko."
She immediately looked away.
Asagi, sitting nearby, looked between them.
"...We are really calling him?"
Leo nodded.
"Yes."
Rinko groaned.
"You know he's busy."
"Rinko."
She sighed.
The kind of sigh someone gives when they already know they lost the argument.
"...Fine."
Several hours later.
Far from the residential districts of Gosha Village.
Far from the Academy.
Far from where sane people worked.
There was a laboratory.
A terrifying laboratory.
The place smelled faintly of disinfectant.
Blood.
Chemicals.
And things that probably should not be alive.
Large test tubes lined the walls.
Some contained Oni.
Some contained demons.
One appeared to contain something that nobody wanted to identify.
Scientists moved between stations.
Research assistants hurried from terminal to terminal.
Someone yelled across the room.
"No, you idiot! If the arm grows three extra elbows, that's a failed result!"
Another voice yelled back.
"How was I supposed to know that?!"
"BECAUSE IT HAS THREE EXTRA ELBOWS!"
Leo sighed.
"Yep."
"Still Tatsuro."
Standing in the center of the chaos was a young man with blue hair and a lab coat.
He looked barely older than a teenager.
Yet everyone in the room moved around him with the caution normally reserved for live explosives.
Akiyama Tatsuro.
Rinko's younger brother.
Yukikaze's boyfriend.
And one of the most terrifying researchers currently employed by Gosha.
Leo stared at him.
I really changed him by accident.
Years ago, Tatsuro had asked a simple question.
A very simple question.
What makes humans different from Oni, demons, orcs, and other non-human species?
That question had turned into another.
And another.
And another.
Until somehow he had become one of the leading experts on biology, genetics, demon physiology, and anti-corruption medicine.
He was currently staring at a floating holographic diagram of an Oni skeleton.
"...Interesting."
One of the assistants looked nervous.
"What's interesting?"
Tatsuro pointed.
"The liver."
The assistant blinked.
"The liver?"
"Yes."
He zoomed in.
"Why does it have two?"
The assistant looked horrified.
"...I never noticed."
Tatsuro's eyes widened.
"You NEVER NOTICED?"
The assistant immediately started sweating.
Leo looked at Rinko.
Rinko looked away.
"See?"
Leo pointed.
"That's exactly why we need him."
Meanwhile Tatsuro finally noticed them.
"Oh."
He waved casually.
"Hi, Rinko."
Then he saw Leo.
"...Why are you here?"
Leo got straight to the point.
"Kotaro was captured."
The entire laboratory went silent.
Even the assistant with the liver problem froze.
Tatsuro's expression changed immediately.
The friendly curiosity vanished.
The researcher remained.
"...Nomad?"
"Nomad."
Tatsuro put down his tablet.
"What have they done so far?"
Leo explained.
The capture.
The test tube.
The bloodline research.
Everything.
Tatsuro listened quietly.
When Leo finished—
The young scientist adjusted his glasses.
Then he spoke.
"They're trying to reverse engineer the Fuuma Demon Mark."
The room went still.
Rinko frowned.
"You figured that out already?"
Tatsuro nodded.
"It's the logical next step."
He turned and walked toward a computer terminal.
"If they can understand how the Demon Mark works..."
His fingers began moving rapidly across the keyboard.
"...they can artificially recreate portions of it."
Asagi crossed her arms.
"Can they?"
Tatsuro paused.
Then he looked back at everyone.
His expression was completely serious.
"...No."
Everyone relaxed slightly.
Then he continued.
"Not before they kill several hundred test subjects."
Everyone immediately stopped relaxing.
Tatsuro looked at the screen.
"If they're experimenting on Kotaro..."
He paused.
"...we need to find him quickly."
For the first time since arriving—
Leo smiled.
Because that was exactly why he came.
Not because Tatsuro was a scientist.
Not because he was Rinko's brother.
But because if there was anyone in Gosha who could figure out what Nomad was doing before Nomad finished doing it—
It was Akiyama Tatsuro.
The laboratory went completely silent.
Tatsuro sat on the edge of his desk, staring at the screen.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
A map appeared.
A blinking red dot pulsed on the display.
Tatsuro pointed at it.
"Found him."
Rinko blinked.
"...What?"
Leo looked at the screen.
"How?"
Tatsuro looked up.
"As it turns out, locating people becomes much easier when they are carrying tracking devices."
The room froze.
Rinko slowly narrowed her eyes.
"...Tracking devices?"
Tatsuro nodded.
"Nano bugs."
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Tatsuro continued typing.
"I put them on everyone."
Another pause.
Then he added.
"Secretly."
Everyone immediately started scratching themselves.
Asagi looked horrified.
"You WHAT?"
Kurenai checked her sleeve.
"Where?!"
Yuuko adjusted her glasses.
"Define everyone."
Tatsuro looked genuinely confused.
"Everyone."
The room erupted.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN EVERYONE?!"
"THAT IS NOT AN ANSWER!"
"HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN THERE?!"
Meanwhile Leo just stared.
"...Mother of God."
Tatsuro pointed at him.
"Yours is behind your left shoulder."
Leo immediately tried reaching for it.
"Don't."
Tatsuro held up a finger.
"You won't find it."
"Why?"
"It's microscopic."
Leo slowly lowered his hand.
"...I hate you."
"That's fair."
Rinko looked absolutely mortified.
"Tatsuro."
"Yes?"
"Please tell me you got permission."
Tatsuro looked at her.
Then looked away.
Then looked at her again.
"...Define permission."
Rinko facepalmed so hard the sound echoed through the lab.
Leo started laughing.
Then Kurenai started laughing.
Then Yuuko covered her face.
Even Asagi looked like she wasn't sure whether to yell or laugh.
"Tatsuro."
Leo pointed at him.
"You illegally bugged an entire village."
Tatsuro nodded.
"Technically several villages."
Everyone stared.
"...Several?"
Tatsuro pointed proudly at a chart.
"The success rate was very high."
A scientist nearby quietly moved away from the conversation.
He wanted no part of this.
Rinko grabbed her brother by the collar.
"TATSURO!"
"What?"
"You can't put tracking devices inside people!"
"Actually I can."
"TATSURO!"
"Right, right, legally speaking I probably shouldn't."
Leo wiped a tear from his eye.
"I forgot how insane this place is."
"Thank you," Tatsuro replied.
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I know."
Finally Asagi stepped forward.
"Focus."
Everyone stopped.
Asagi pointed at the map.
"Kotaro."
Immediately the mood shifted.
Tatsuro nodded.
"Right."
He enlarged the image.
The blinking dot zoomed in.
An offshore facility appeared.
Built into the side of a small island.
Multiple structures.
Underground sections.
Heavy security.
Leo's expression hardened.
"Nomad."
Tatsuro nodded.
"Definitely."
He brought up additional data.
"They moved him three days ago."
"Research facility."
"Biological experimentation."
"And..."
He paused.
His expression darkened.
"...they've already started."
The room went silent again.
Leo stared at the screen.
Then at the island.
Then back to Tatsuro.
"Can you get us inside?"
Tatsuro smiled.
The kind of smile that immediately made everyone nervous.
"Of course."
Rinko immediately groaned.
"Oh no."
Leo pointed.
"Why are you saying 'oh no'?"
Rinko buried her face in her hands.
"Because whenever Tatsuro says 'of course'..."
Tatsuro pulled up what looked suspiciously like blueprints.
"...it means he already has a plan."
Leo grinned.
"Good."
Tatsuro's smile widened.
"Excellent."
"Because my plan may technically qualify as several war crimes."
The room exploded into shouting again.
After the planning was finished, everyone began preparing.
The mood inside the laboratory shifted.
The jokes stopped.
The mission started.
Leo stood in front of a locker as he pulled on his combat gear.
The black outfit fit snugly against his body, designed for speed, stealth, and survival.
Seven years of fighting had changed him.
The teenager who once stumbled through fights with blindfold experiments was gone.
Now he looked every bit like a veteran Taimanin.
His Hell Blade rested across his back.
The Blacklight Virus stirred beneath his skin.
Waiting.
Watching.
Ready.
Nearby, the others were getting ready as well.
Asagi adjusted her sword belt.
Rinko checked the equipment she had prepared for the infiltration.
Kurenai spun her weapon once before attaching it to her back.
Yuuko stood near a table covered in scrolls and magical tools.
Then there was Mizuki.
Leo glanced toward her.
She noticed.
"What?"
Leo smiled slightly.
"Nothing."
Mizuki rolled her eyes.
She knew exactly what he was thinking.
After losing her husband years ago, she had spent a long time isolated.
Leo had been one of the few people who kept reaching out.
One conversation became several.
Several became friendship.
Friendship became something more.
Eventually...
Well.
The result was standing in this room.
'The C.R.A was something else.'
That was honestly the only explanation Leo had anymore.
Not that he was complaining.
His life had become ridiculous years ago.
At this point he had accepted it.
Across the room, Yuuko was chanting quietly.
Magic circles appeared beneath the team's feet.
Blue light spread across the floor.
One by one, the circles rose.
Yuuko adjusted her glasses.
"There."
She smiled.
"Invisibility enchantments."
Asagi looked at her hand.
It vanished.
"...I will never get used to magic."
Yuuko smiled proudly.
"That's because you're a ninja."
"You're saying that like it explains anything."
"It explains everything."
Before Asagi could argue—
The door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Ayame.
Kurenai immediately waved.
"Took you long enough."
Ayame raised an eyebrow.
"You called me three hours ago."
"Exactly."
"That's not long."
"It is when people are being kidnapped."
Ayame sighed.
Leo chuckled.
Some things never changed.
Ayame walked over and looked at the holographic map displaying the Nomad facility.
Her expression immediately became serious.
"...That's a lot of security."
Tatsuro nodded.
"Several hundred personnel."
"Automated defenses."
"Experimental weapons."
"And approximately twelve things I cannot legally describe."
Ayame blinked.
"...Should I ask?"
"No."
"Fair."
Leo stepped forward.
Everyone turned toward him.
The room became quiet.
He looked at the map.
Then at his team.
Then at the blinking red marker representing Kotaro.
For a moment nobody spoke.
Finally Leo crossed his arms.
"Alright."
His voice was calm.
Focused.
The voice of someone already committed.
"We get in."
His eyes narrowed.
"We get Kotaro."
A Blacklight tendril briefly moved beneath his sleeve before disappearing.
"And anyone standing between us and him..."
The room seemed colder.
Even Tatsuro stopped typing.
Leo's expression hardened.
"...is having a very bad day."
Kurenai grinned.
Asagi smirked.
Ayame cracked her knuckles.
Mizuki reached for her weapon.
Yuuko adjusted her glasses.
And somewhere in the back of the room—
Tatsuro quietly opened a folder labeled:
"Emergency Plans That Definitely Aren't War Crimes."
Then another folder.
"Actual War Crimes."
Rinko immediately smacked him in the back of the head.
"OW!"
"Close that one."
"Fine."
The folder disappeared.
Nobody believed him for a second.
And with that—
The rescue mission officially began.
To be continue
I am back everyone hope you all like this Ch and Give me power Stones, also I am removing Yukikaze from the Harem, but not thr Harem lost because that means I need to give all does Photos after Ninja King helped so yeah