# Chapter 3: Dangerous Prisoner
"Of course I can."
Hozuki Zangetsu's answer was very certain.
"With this collar on, I can't use my water transformation."
In the adjacent cell, a figure sat leaning against the wall, with white hair and a mouthful of shark-like sharp teeth.
Around Hozuki Zangetsu's neck was an iron collar, with several tubes deeply piercing into his throat.
If Hozuki Zangetsu tried to use his water transformation ability, the sealing technique on the collar would detect it and release a Lightning Shield.
In the past, this wouldn't have been a problem for Hozuki Zangetsu, but now he was too weak.
Perception-type ninjas were stationed around the prison, making escape nearly impossible. After all, they were holding a prisoner who had attempted to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage—the security level wouldn't be weak.
Clang.
The iron door at the diagonal upper end of the dungeon opened, and harsh light poured into the dim prison.
Several ninjas wearing Mist Ninja uniforms walked in, five in total: two Jonin and three Chunin.
The three Chunin looked nervous. Pairs of predatory eyes were staring at them from inside the prison.
The two Jonin walked at the front. They were also nervous—the prisoners here were all heavy criminals and desperados—but they couldn't lose face in front of their juniors, so they forced themselves to stay calm.
Seeing people arrive, the prisoners began to speak up:
"Did the food delivery guy die? No one's come for two days."
"That pale-skinned kid, let me taste your flesh. Dead people's meat is too awful."
"A bunch of trash. We only follow the Fourth. We won't recognize that woman Terumi Mei."
There were about a dozen prisoners locked up in the dungeon.
"Shut up."
One Jonin spoke, making hand seals.
"This guy's about to make a move?"
"Hurry up and kill me. I've been wanting to die for a long time."
Clearly, there were no prisoners afraid of death in this dungeon.
The two Jonin frowned. These guys were harder to deal with than they'd imagined.
Ignoring the prisoners, the five walked deeper into the prison, soon stopping in front of Hozuki Zangetsu's cell.
"Hozuki Zangetsu, time's up."
The cell door opened, and Hozuki Zangetsu was escorted out.
"Hey, Bai Ye."
Hozuki Zangetsu looked toward Su Xiao's cell.
"Hmm?"
Su Xiao looked up. The two Jonin watched him warily, one even pulling out a kunai.
Only then did Su Xiao get a clear look at Hozuki Zangetsu's face. He was a man around thirty years old, not very tall.
"If you can get out, do me a favor."
"No interest."
Su Xiao wasn't familiar with Hozuki Zangetsu, so he wouldn't agree to any requests.
"Stop wasting time. Move it."
One Jonin shoved Hozuki Zangetsu, who didn't seem to care.
"If you get out, tell Hozuki Suigetsu that I'm already dead. He doesn't need to avenge me. As for the reward for doing this... he'll give it to you."
Leaving these words behind, Hozuki Zangetsu was escorted out of the dungeon. His fate was predictable.
From his conversation with Hozuki Zangetsu, Su Xiao learned the current timeline.
The Fourth Mizukage might already be dead, and the future Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei, was preparing to take power.
This wasn't good news. The current Mist Village was more chaotic than he'd imagined.
But setting aside the danger, this time period offered many opportunities. Many events were happening right now.
The protagonist Naruto had already been training with Jiraiya for three years, and the Akatsuki organization was unusually active.
Su Xiao sat in his cell, considering whether to break out.
If the Fourth Mizukage was already dead, then he was temporarily safe. After the Fifth Mizukage took power, the Mist Village's structure would undergo earth-shattering changes—"regime change" was the most fitting description.
If the Fourth Mizukage wasn't dead, then things would be troublesome. No, maybe it wouldn't be too big a problem. At this time, the Fourth Mizukage was under the control of the Sharingan's genjutsu, lacking subjective thought.
Breaking out would be very difficult. Perception-type ninjas were monitoring Su Xiao's every move.
After the five ninjas took Hozuki Zangetsu away, the prison fell silent. A long time later, the dim oil lamp went out.
"Bai Ye, Hozuki Zangetsu is dead. You're next."
"I've hated him for a long time. It's best that he's executed."
"Daring to assassinate the Fourth-sama. An ignorant fool who doesn't know death."
"If I weren't too weak from hunger, I would have found a way to kill him already."
Waves of malice came from all around. Su Xiao had a feeling that in this dungeon, aside from Hozuki Zangetsu who had been taken away, everyone else wanted to kill him.
Three hours passed like this. Su Xiao knew this couldn't continue. The situation was worse than he'd imagined. He had to create an opportunity himself.
A special-grade alchemy bomb appeared in his hand. The bomb pulsed and gradually transformed into over a dozen small white spiders.
This was a new form Su Xiao had recently developed. The frog form was fast on the ground, the snake form could entangle enemies, and the spider form was fast and could climb walls.
Before long, the prison became lively.
"Damn bugs, crawling on my face again."
"Huh? You've got bugs there too?"
"I've got them here too. What's going on?"
"No, it's Bai Ye's bomb—"
Over a dozen prisoners realized something was wrong, but they were too weak from hunger, drowsy and sluggish, their perception greatly reduced.
"Detonate."
Boom!
An explosion rang out. Over a dozen spiders detonated simultaneously, the firelight illuminating the entire dungeon.
After the explosion, the prison fell silent. The air was filled with the smell of burning and blood.
Su Xiao had killed all his "cellmates." He did this for two reasons: first, to attract the Mist Ninjas' attention, otherwise he didn't know how long he'd be imprisoned; second, their malice was obvious enough—striking first was Su Xiao's style.
He didn't know who these people were, but since they wanted to kill him, he'd let them die first. It was that simple and brutal. He wouldn't ignore threats.
Rapid footsteps approached. The dungeon door was pushed open, and a ninja in a dark green robe rushed into the prison. This ninja wore a single black eyepatch, with two paper talismans hanging from his earlobes.
"What happened here."
This ninja's single eye was exceptionally sharp. He looked around and locked his gaze on Su Xiao.
Within seconds, over a dozen more ninjas rushed into the dungeon.
"Qing-sama."
"Qing-sama."
Seeing the green-robed ninja, these ninjas lowered their heads in respect.
"Go inform Terumi Mei-sama. Tell her something happened here."
"Yes."
Several ninjas vanished. Qing walked deeper into the dungeon.
Tap, tap, tap...
Only Qing's footsteps echoed in the dungeon. The cells he passed held corpses, all with their heads blown apart. Some bodies were still burning.
Reaching the deepest part of the dungeon, Qing stopped and looked at the dark cell. He sensed someone inside—the only living prisoner, an extremely dangerous one.
"What happened."
Qing asked, but received no response for a long time.
"If you don't speak, I can order your execution."
A pair of eyes opened in the cell.
"Is the Fourth dead?"
Qing hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"He's dead. Your two slashes severely wounded him. Later, he fell in battle against an external enemy while protecting the village."
The Fourth Mizukage being hit by two of Su Xiao's slashes might be true, but as for the "external enemy," that was definitely nonsense.
"Is that so. Let's make a deal."
Qing frowned. This man didn't belong to any ninja village, didn't even have chakra in his body, yet someone like this had wounded the Fourth Mizukage with just a blade—even if it was by ambush.
He had to admit, the identity Reincarnation Paradise had arranged for Su Xiao came with some risk, but it depended on how he handled it.
"A deal? I'm very interested."
A female voice came from the dungeon entrance.