When the man who had tried to prove his resolve through self-destruction finally regained consciousness, he was stunned to find himself not only alive—but tightly bound to a chair.
The dim lighting offered no clues to his surroundings, but the total absence of etheric energy in the air told him one thing clearly:
He was outside the Hollow.
Standing before him, arms crossed and eyes sharp, was Uchiha—no, one of Zhong Yan's shadow clones, stationed here to guard the prisoner.
"Nice nap?" Zhong Yan asked, walking forward with slow, deliberate steps. "Any longer and I might've had to get creative to wake you."
The moment he realized he'd been captured, the man's rage surged. He thrashed against his restraints. "You insolent filth! You think tying me down will stop me? Don't think I'm powerless!"
With that, he began channeling his internal ether, intending to self-destruct once more.
But to his horror, he quickly realized something was wrong—his ether was nearly gone. His body felt hollow, fragile. He could barely sit upright, let alone explode.
"You... what did you do to me?!" His eyes widened in disbelief.
For hybrids like him, ether didn't simply dissipate on its own—especially outside a Hollow. If anything, it remained in a stable, saturated state. Even if depleted, a quick return to a Hollow could restore it.
But now, something had stripped that power from him.
Zhong Yan didn't bother hiding it. "Just gave you a little injection—some meds to suppress corruption symptoms. Didn't expect it to drain your ether entirely, but hey, guess that means no more self-destructing for you."
Suppressing corruption, in practice, meant eliminating ether buildup. Since most humans would turn into Ethereals if they accumulated too much, these medications stopped that progression—by cutting off ether entirely.
That gave Zhong Yan an idea. Maybe these hybrids could be weakened the same way. With time, it might even lead to discovering their vulnerability.
But first came the interrogation.
Unlike Zhao Anmen, who had been cast out, this one was a full member of the organization. He might not know top-level secrets, but he'd surely know something about Belle's whereabouts.
"You're dreaming if you think I'll betray my god!" he spat, unrepentant.
At first, he treated Zhong Yan's threats as meaningless.
That changed quickly.
Zhong Yan administered a cocktail of drugs—so many the man couldn't even count them. Each one drained his ether further, leaving him so weak he couldn't lift his head. The pain of being forcibly stripped of ether was like having one's bones crushed and nerves torn apart.
He passed out again and again—each time jolted awake by Zhong Yan without mercy.
In his delirium, he imagined that someone from the organization would come to rescue him. But this was Kamui space. No one in New Eridu could even find it, let alone breach it.
After a full day and night of agonizing torture, his ether was completely depleted.
Now he was little more than a husk—his breathing shallow, his body gaunt and dried out.
It was almost impossible to believe he was still alive.
His tenacity had become his curse.
Zhong Yan watched with a mix of horror and curiosity. This man had been forcibly transformed by experiments—and yet he was fanatically loyal to those who had done it to him. So deeply brainwashed, he even believed in some warped ideal of "glorious evolution."
The organization was more terrifying than he'd thought.
And it was becoming clear that surviving in this world couldn't be done alone.
Which was why, once this operation was over, Zhong Yan resolved to form a faction of his own—one led by Uchiha.
As for how to select members, and what the group's purpose would be—he'd figure that out with time.
Back to the present—
After a full day and night of physical and psychological torture, the man finally broke.
Everything he knew spilled from his mouth.
He revealed the location of the facility where Belle was being held. According to him, once all the captives were gathered there, they would be transferred to the organization's main base.
He didn't know where the headquarters was. Only the two commanders stationed at the facility knew—and they were expected to escort the test subjects during the transfer.
The move was scheduled for three days later.
If his intel was accurate, Zhong Yan had time to prepare.
But he didn't want to wait.
The organization was too enigmatic, and Belle's condition was unknown. The longer he delayed, the less he'd be able to sleep at night.
After granting the man his final request—death—Zhong Yan dispelled all his clones and began the rescue operation.
...
Hollow Zero, Deep Sector.
Following the provided intel, Zhong Yan located an area deep within the Hollow, one that the Hollow Investigative Association had never mapped.
The etheric pressure here was immense. Without specialized protective gear, even those with ether affinity couldn't survive long.
Which made it the perfect hiding place.
Using his Sharingan, Zhong Yan quickly spotted signs of movement beneath the surface. The facility had clearly been built underground—likely to avoid attacks from roaming Ethereals.
Most people, even if they sensed this, wouldn't find the entrance. But Zhong Yan had a solution.
With Kamui, he entered his personal dimension and performed a hand seal, summoning a shadow clone.
"Put this on. You're going as Tobi." He tossed a uniform from a nearby wardrobe to the clone.
The plan was simple: the clone would impersonate Tobi and draw attention, while the real Zhong Yan infiltrated the rear to rescue the captives.
He could've brute-forced it with Susanoo—but the priority here was rescue, not battle.
Once Belle and the others were safe, he'd come back to finish the job.
Simultaneously activating Kamui, two different versions of Uchiha entered the enemy stronghold.
A bloodbath was coming.