"Huh… You want me to interrogate Terao?" Haruto Saito blinked in surprise.
"Not necessarily an interrogation. You can use any method you see fit," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, turning fully to face Haruto. "You've hypnotized Terao before. You've even used hypnosis to make people answer truthfully. Perhaps you can apply the same technique on him."
"This..." Haruto hesitated.
Terao was, without a doubt, the most terrifyingly strong-willed person Haruto had ever encountered in both of his lives.
As the top assassin of Amegakure, Terao's mental resilience was nothing short of inhuman. His intelligence, execution skills, willpower, and quick thinking were the best Haruto had ever seen. Even when severely wounded, he could calmly analyze the situation and formulate a strategy in an instant. Even when on the brink of death, he remained rational, clear-headed, and never gave up.
Haruto even suspected that not even Hiruzen Sarutobi had the same level of sheer, indomitable willpower as Terao.
Such unbreakable resolve could only be forged through an unimaginably harsh life.
Sure, Haruto had hypnotized Terao before, but that was under extremely specific conditions. More importantly, back then, Terao hadn't known about his hypnosis ability.
The hypnotic techniques Haruto had mastered—especially the advanced Magic Hypnosis—all shared one fatal weakness: they required the element of surprise!
Now, however, Terao knew about his ability. A man with such iron will would never lower his guard around him again. That was the biggest problem.
It was like trying to hypnotize Tsunade now—after she was already aware of his ability. The difficulty level had skyrocketed.
Even if Haruto could successfully put Terao to sleep again, making him answer questions truthfully was a completely different challenge. It was exponentially more difficult and far more prone to failure.
"Terao fears neither death nor torture," Hiruzen continued. "He doesn't even fear Sharingan-based genjutsu. The ANBU tried using a Uchiha's Sharingan illusion on him while he was defenseless. While his consciousness entered the illusion, his mind didn't get lost in it. He's terrifying."
Hiruzen sighed. Even he had never seen someone with such an unbreakable will.
"So… why do you think I would succeed?" Haruto asked.
"Because your ability is unique—something we've never encountered before," Hiruzen replied. *"Terao is extremely valuable. According to intelligence from Amegakure, before he was captured, Hanzo had been considering appointing him as his chief strategist. In Hanzo's eyes, Terao's importance might even surpass that of the leader of Amegakure's Black Ops.
"We can't afford to let him die easily. He could be exchanged for valuable resources or information. But extreme methods might render him useless. Your ability, however, poses no risk of killing him."
Haruto hesitated. He really didn't want this assignment—it was too difficult.
Even if he failed once, they'd just tell him to keep trying. Again and again. Who knew how much time he'd end up wasting on Terao?
It was a massive waste of effort!
Haruto had plenty of other things to do—missions, training Flying Thunder God, and other techniques. All of them were more beneficial than trying to crack a human vault like Terao.
This kind of monster shouldn't have been assigned to him in the first place.
Haruto could tell that Hiruzen was simply at his wit's end and had decided to give his hypnosis ability a shot.
"Even Lord Danzo can't break him?" Haruto asked, knowing that Danzo specialized in more… extreme mind-controlling techniques.
"Danzo's methods are too risky," Hiruzen explained. "If he uses forbidden techniques to attack Terao's mind, the sheer force of will required to resist could leave Terao permanently brain-dead. The stronger the resistance, the worse the consequences of breaking it."
Haruto hesitated again.
This was tricky. He really wanted to refuse the mission.
"Fine. What's the reward?" Hiruzen suddenly asked, his eyes narrowing with mild disdain. "You never do anything without a price, after all."
Haruto wasn't actually trying to negotiate for a reward—he simply wanted to decline.
But…
An idea suddenly struck him.
"Lord Hokage! I can't guarantee success, but I'll give it a try!" Haruto said quickly, his eyes gleaming. "Of course, I do have a small request—just a tiny one! Heh heh."
"Speak."
"It's like this," Haruto began, speaking quickly. *"I know Terao is extremely valuable right now. But if I successfully extract all the important information from him, he'll have lost all worth to Amegakure.
*"He's so loyal to Hanzo that if he betrays Amegakure by revealing secrets, he won't even consider returning.
"In fact… he'd probably kill himself. Not out of weakness, but because his will is too strong. He wouldn't allow himself to live as a traitor."
Hiruzen nodded. "That's a valid point. If Terao betrays Hanzo, he'll see himself as irredeemable. He might indeed take his own life."
"Since that's the case…" Haruto stepped forward slightly. "Lord Hokage, if I succeed in breaking him, and Terao is no longer of any use, then… can I be the one to execute him? It has to be me! I must be the one to kill him!"
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Haruto.
It was always something strange with him.
And yet, this time…
This time, something felt off.
"Perhaps you should have accepted Mifune's offer," Hiruzen sighed, shaking his head. "One hundred million ryo is nothing to you now. He was right about you—your illness is worsening."
Haruto froze.
What the hell?!
Hiruzen thought this was a symptom of Black Armor Syndrome!
"Lord Hokage, you do realize that Terao almost killed me before, right? I just want revenge, that's all! I'm not—" Haruto started, but his voice trailed off.
It was pointless.
He could see it in Hiruzen's eyes—he didn't believe him.
To Hiruzen, bloodthirsty people always rationalized their killings. When accused, they would find excuses to justify their actions.
And Haruto's reasoning had exactly that vibe.
"Forget it! Fine, Lord Hokage, think whatever you want!" Haruto grumbled, exasperated. "But Terao must die by my hand! That's not too much to ask, is it? I'm not saying I'll kill him now—only after he's no longer useful."
"Very well," Hiruzen agreed.
"Then I accept the mission!" Haruto immediately responded.