Heart of the Infiltrators

by MordinofSolus

Senran Kagura x Male Insert - Amidst the turn of the modern era, a young man is forcibly contracted to cure twenty shinobi of a mental ailment known as distortion, caused by the corrupted blood of Yōma. As time goes on, the long hidden societies of the world are forced to come out into the public spotlight when they are pitted against one another.

30. Chapter 30: Perpetual Desperation

Heart of the Infiltrators

(Senran Kagura x Male Reader)

Chapter 30: Perpetual Desperation

A soft and lulling heat began to envelop the young man as he continued to simmer in his anger. Whenever he tried to focus on what it was that enraged him so, his mind would go completely blank as the world around him continued to shift into a variety of shapes. The only thing that he could really bring himself to focus on was the fact that he was still trapped in his bed, one of his arms and both of his legs completely immobile. Hating the confinement, he let out a frustrated yell that echoed into the void.

From no particular direction in the emptiness, there was the sound of wood slamming into something while a stoic voice ordered, "Clear the futon," as a bunch of alarmed cries followed after him. If the young man concentrated enough, he could barely identify some of the voices as some of the girls. At the head were Asuka and Yumi along with Hibari, Minori, Yomi, and Ryōna. Less clearly, he could hear panicked demands for some kind of explanation from Homura and Miyabi with some additional support from Katsuragi, Murakumo, Mirai, and Imu. Despite all of the aforementioned voices and others expressing concern for him, the young man couldn't bring himself to care too much about them in that moment. All he could really know for sure was that he was unable to move and that he hated such a feeling of confinement.

Pushing the cries and yells out of his mind, the young man tried to push off the bedcovers enveloping him with his one good arm. However, as the heat around him left him lightheaded, his focus was turned toward different sounds coming from the void… strange sorts of mumbles. After a bit of thought, he bewilderedly recognized them as the girls despite the fact that he'd heard them from elsewhere just a few moments before. He slowly tried to call out, "Hey… Hey…!" only to find his voice dying out before anything else could be said. Though he could make loud noises and even yell if he wanted to, something was keeping the young man from formulating proper words.

Along with multiple panicked cries that contained his name, the boy could hear the same voice as before ask, "Where's Jasmine? He's been bleeding the whole way here… Nearly two pints, I'd wager…"

"I've got it! Sorry, I had this buried out back…"

"Alright, pass it here…"

"What? Why not me…? Look, Hanzō, I can handle-"

"Quit bickering and would one of you two just do it!"

While that exchange continued to loudly echo all around him, the murmurs in the void got closer and closer to the young man. He didn't know if he should have been frightened or… if he should have been doing something else… It wouldn't have made a difference either way. By the second, the warmth burying the young man only got heavier and heavier. There were a few faint presences that suddenly came to his mind that took all of his focus instead. As the murmurs continued to surround him, soothing and assuring him with their indistinct lulls, the young man reached out his arm and groaned, "Gram…? Gran…? What're you two… doing here…?"

"I'll handle it, Sayuri!"

"Hanzō-, give- No, damn it!"

Then, just as quickly as the presences and voices surround him, a familiar blue light suddenly shined from high above the young man's bed. The heat was gone and the murmurs had fallen completely silent. With a few blinks of clarity, he was suddenly much more aware of the space that he was in. Though he was still bound and confined to the bed with three unmoving limbs, the young man could understand the conversation taking place from somewhere nearby.

There was a pained yell from Hanzō followed by a groan. After a few seconds with many people expressing concern and yelling over one another, the old man weakly grunted, "I'm good, I'm good… Ts… Ah-ha-how-ow… Whatever hit him packed one hell of a punch…"

"Let me check your head," came Kin's stoic voice. After a few seconds, he continued, "Alright, it doesn't look like the skull's cracked… There's still some bleeding though. We'll handle it from here. Go get bandaged up."

"What're you talking about?" groaned Hanzō's voice again, "We've still gotta worry about his arm, back, and knee. I can handle those too."

"You're already bleeding from the head," said Jasmine's iron voice, "We don't need you walking around with anymore broken bones."

"One wounded shinobi is a lot better than four… I can handle it, Sayuri. Hell, I've survived how many years of marriage with you?"

Despite his joke, there was a long pause before the young man could hear Jasmine respond, "You're sure…?"

"I've got it."

"Alright… I'm trusting that this won't cripple you… old goat…"

Whatever was happening, the young man didn't understand all that much. But just as he was trying to make sense of it all, he looked to the shapeshifting room around him and sucked in a horrified breath. What he thought had been an innocuous living room, once populated by the voices of the girls he'd come to know, was actually a barred cage with no exit. As the blue light above shined upon his horrified face, the young man began to desperately shake his head, "No… Oh, come on… Where the hell am I…? Where the hell am I!?" As the line of blue light was broken by the shadow of the cage's bars, he began to scream in complete and utter fear.

Despite his terror, the only remote response that he got was a voice from outside. "What's with his eyes?" Akari could be heard asking, "They're moving and blinking…"

"It's probably an intense dream," came Masayoshi's calm voice, "Just hold his arm steady. We don't need the bone fusing out of shape."

As panic from his confinement continued to rise, the young man let out another panicked yell as the blue light brightened again. Despite the fact that he was suddenly able to lift both of his arms up to cover his head, the boy was too focused on the cage's shifting shape as it continued to try and block out the light. Following his cry, Hanzō let out another groan before saying with little breath, "Metal… Nngh… Something blunt and metal hit him, for sure… Oh…"

"Are you good to continue?"

"Mmmmmmhm… Do it and get it over with…"

Once his scream came to an end, the young man huffed and puffed for breath as he did his utmost to compose himself. But just as he was about to call out for help, a new voice- no… An emotionless voice he'd known through all of his life confronted him.

"Little brother…"

At the foot of his bed, the shadow of the young man's oldest sibling stood over him. Feeling his fighting spirit deplete in an instant, he could only whisper under his breath, "Tsao…"

"Why're you laying down? Head out, finish the job, and come home… or, if you'd like me to, I can handle it for you… that way, you can stay safe."

At first, the young man was going to explain his situation and how he didn't know why he was confined. Then the last statement hit him. With newfound liveliness, the young man growled under his breath, "How many times have I told you…? I'm not coming home after this. That was the agreement. I'll finish this and I'm never going to…" His voice faltered a bit in his throat before his hands gripped the bedcovers. With his fiery eyes practically glowing, he raged, "We're never going to see each other again!"

"Quit it with that nonsense," said Tsao, speaking despite the fact that neither his mouth nor jaw were moving, "You're an infiltrator. One of the best, I'd theorize."

"Shove it!" barked the young man.

"Grandpa said the same thing." The figure stepped towards the side of the bed and leaned forward in a show of dominance, "In his own words, he said you'd embody everything an infiltrator should be. He sees that kind of potential in you and I do too. Please, come home," before the blue light flared up again.

There was the sound of a loud crack followed by an agonized groan from Hanzo, "NNNNNNnnnnnnnnnnngggghhh… Ah-," followed by a quick breath and moan, "Ha… Knee's busted… Definitely busted…"

"Get yourself tended to!" ordered Jasmine, "I can handle the spine." A frustrated grunt came from her husband, who sounded as though he was about to protest. But, with a bleeding forehead, a fractured forearm, and a shattered kneecap, he could no longer bring himself to defy her demands. There were a few sounds of reluctance before Jasmine could be heard uttering, "I've got this…"

While looking up to the top of his cage, the young man planned to blow off his oldest brother's statement before an immensely enraging voice taunted him, "You'll just do as you've always done, baby brother…"

The young man looked back to the foot of his bed and found Haruo in the same place where the oldest once stood. Without even a second's worth of delay, the boy's eyes narrowed and his face tensed up as he growled through grinding teeth, "Haruo!" before trying to launch himself up, forgetting the fact that he was still unable to move his legs.

"Keep laying there," mocked the man, "It's our ritual, right? Something just between us two brothers." He theatrically gestured to himself, "I do something in the heat of the moment, very much so usually the result of an honest mistake on my part…" To the last couple of words, the young man spat loudly as Haruo finished, "And then there's you, who'll help pull me from the gutter as always."

"Fuck yourself…" whispered the young man in a dark and violent voice.

Tsao stepped forward and gestured to the middle brother, "He's family. Like it or don't, we need to stand by and help each other."

Haruo shrugged his shoulders and said through his unmoving mouth, "In all seriousness, the issue with the shinobi is completely overblown. It's just some odd number of brats and bitches. Inexperienced hooligans, I hear! Nothing you can't handle."

Tsao sternly turned to him, "Don't try to butter him up," before turning to his most cherished brother, "He's trying too hard to ease your worries. In reality, the girls are training as the elite of the class. Go with caution."

The young man was about to retort before he was cut off by a smiling Haruo, "Just handle it. C'mon, it's no real biggie. This is what brothers do for one another." He snapped his fingers and spun his hand around, "Remember the year before you went to junior high? You happily took that problem and swept it under the rug. Because of that, you were smiling because you helped me and I was smiling because I could pay off those rotten apples."

Remembering the hundreds of dollars in savings that were stolen from him, the young man was about to call out his brother's lies before being cut off again by Tsao, "Back then, you helped Haruo and saved him from those dealers. Now, it's the same thing with different circumstances… Though, if you'd rather not, I can help… I can clean house, easily, within a couple of nights."

"It's just another favor-"

"For family."

"-and, not to come off as entitled, but you kind of owe me…"

"You can do it. I know you can."

"After all, being the obnoxious baby brother that you are-"

"Again, if you want me too, I can fix it easily."

"-you held a lot of mom, dad, even our grandparents' attention-"

"You don't need to sever yourself from us."

"-so, I think I'll just cash in on that childhood of mine that you ruined."

Jasmine's pained scream was synchronized with the young man's lengthy yell of frustration, all while the blue light above shined brightly as the cage's bars continued to twist and convolute themselves. Then there was only the sound of people rushing to the former's aid along with heavy breaths filling the quiet void. Feeling his two older brothers stare him down, the young man felt himself wiggle his toes from underneath the bed and let out a resigned breath of defeat. Even if he stood up and let out his voice against the two, it would do him no good.

"Tell me… why d'ya stay quiet?" came a quiet but proud voice with a hint of brashness.

The young man's eyes went up in recognition. While his brothers continued to rail against him, he spoke tiredly into the void, "Not much point t'being loud, Grandad… 's all…"

"Wit' an head like that, y'r asking to get skull-fucked by life itself, ne'er mind those two little banjaxed cunts hoakin' for you… n' I know you ain' the sort to take this shite lyin' down."

With little to no energy to speak of, the young man just shook his head and stated, "Tsao told me there're twenty elites, Grandad… They' been in fights, some of 'em killed an' done Gods knows whate'er else…" As though he were about to accept the hand he was dealt, the boy's face fell to the covers over his legs. He made a pinching motion, "I was this close, Grandad…" before throwing down his hand, "I was so close to leavin' all this behind… I don' wanna die nor do I wan' to hurt anyone… But with all this attention from 'he other webs and those two shinobi, no infiltrator 'll let me walk the Earth 'less I correct those girls. At the end of the day, 'm fucked."

"Fuck off. S'your just gonna give it all up then? Y'dreams, life, all that? Void because some radical stoaks 're givin' you the hardest time in y'life? Call me a fuckin' doaty, but y'didn' stay in m'fuckin' house f'r five years jus' to be a prick about it now!"

Throwing up his arms and feeling the frustration creeping through his shaking fists, the young man yapped, "The fuck y'want me to do about it? I' done m'thinking an' I' tried to explore e'ry other option. There's shite!" After taking another breath, he finished by asking, "Y'r ass is hangin' out the window if y'think I can do something about it by myself…"

The old man didn't need to be seen for the young man to know he was dismissively waving a hand, wherever he was, "You're overthinkin' this bullshit, boy. All you need is to light a fire in you. The same kind that got y' to slice Tsao's ugly fuckin' ear five years ago."

"I won' stand a chance against twenty shinobi, Grandad. Fur'er more, that'd be a real fight. Not some sparrin' session against m'jakey brother after 'e had a few more rounds 'n he should've."

"I'm talkin' about what was behind y'r strike from back then, y'daft cunt! Tell me what he said back then! What unforgi'able thing 'id he say that sent y'r sword flyin'!?"

As the memory flashed through his eyes, a sudden fire sprouted from underneath the young man's bed. While voices from outside the cage were pestering and asking how he was, he uttered dangerously, "So long as I'm with family, I should be grateful… Whether or not said family treats me kindly or like a slave… 'e said blood was thicker than water an' that I should be grateful to even have relatives when so many don'!"

"Why did that piss y'off!? Let me hear it!"

"'Cause I'm human!" growled the young man as the fire spread, engulfing the two figures of his brothers as they stood by with no hint of moving, "I'm a fuckin' human an' my birthright is freedom! If I want to live a peaceful existence, why should I care f'r what some mangy lapdogs have to say!? Whether those dogs are strangers r'family, enemies r'friends, I should not 'ave to stand by and watch as someone tries to mold m'whole life in the way they want it to be! That's my life 'ey're touchin' and I will not stand to have some fuck dictate it!"

"Well, those same fucks're on the move as we speak, boy! They're comin' to take you for all y'are! They're gonna grab you in their big fuckin' hands an' they're gonna mold you! What'll y'do about it!?"

The fire scorched at the young man as he boomed with teary eyes, "I'll fight! By whate'er means I can! Even if I need to do so with my bare hands, I'll fight!"

"Then what the fuck are y'waitin' for!? Will you fight now, when y'fuckin' back's to the wall, or are y'words hollow!?"

The inferno screamed with the young man, "They're not hollow! BY NO MEANS OF THE WORD, THEY'RE NOT HOLLOW!"

"THEN WHATTAYA PLANNIN' TO DO!?"

With the whites of his eyes being the only thing to glow against the raging wildfire around him, the young man threw off the covers of his bed and looked at the burning figure of Haruo at the end of it. Hating the haughty smirks and devilish looks that he always casted, the boy pulled himself up before throwing his body forward while reeling back a fist.

"ROTTEN PIECE OF SHIT!"

Having had his crippling injuries healed, the young man pushed aside the arms of whoever was trying to tend to him and pulled himself up into a standing position atop the futon before diving forward with an animalistic screech. Standing there, Jirō's face reflected complete surprise at both the boy's speedy recovery and his sudden outburst. There were numerous yells, many of surprise with a few of relief, before everyone saw what was coming.

While Jirō was trying to step back, still trying to process the sudden turn of events, the young man pushed one foot down into the futon to build further momentum as his fist continued to reel back. Then, kicking himself forward with his eyes dangerously narrowed on target, his abdomen arced back around and twisted to send the punch home. Hooking his fist straight into the side of Jirō's jaw, all of the kinetic energy from the young man's foot soared throughout his body and flowed right into the point of delivery to echo the ugly crack of a dislocated mandible.

Before the wide-eyed audience throughout the entire room, the young man had sent Jirō stumbling backward a few steps. After realizing he'd been punched by the boy who had his head caved in a few minutes before, the principal just held his jaw in place while staring frustratedly at his attacker. In the meantime, before the young man's body could continue to fly forward with his momentum, Shiki and Yozakura caught him in their arms and had begun to repeatedly yell, "Stop moving! You need to calm down, right now!" At first, their words had no effect as he continued to try and throw himself at Jirō. But, as his eyes scanned the room and realized he was back in his apartment, the young man eventually slowed.

There was a loud crack as Jirō put his jaw back into place, a move that received a look of disapproval from Shōwa, "You're not supposed to do that on your own."

But the man waved his friend off, pointed an aggressive finger at the young man, and threatened in a low voice, "You'd better be expecting me to repay that one, you son of a bitch…"

The boy was taking heavy breaths as he tried to calm down, jumping a bit when a few reassuring hands touched his back. Upon turning his head around, he found Yumi and Homura looking to him with tearstains across their cheeks. Though they were putting on awkwardly forced smiles, the young man could see the strange mix of relief and sadness in their eyes. Off to the back, he also spotted Asuka resting down Jasmine down onto the bed that he was just lying in while the latter struggled to keep her balance. The two of them were also looking at him with similar looks.

Feeling a bit of guilt for his display, the young man murmured, "I'm sorry-" before whipping his head around to Jirō, "Not to you, lavvy head!" Yumi and Homura squeezed his shoulder to calm him down further, which succeeded wonderfully. While the man he punched was raging loudly in the background, the young man turned to them and said, "I'm sorry you guys had to see me like that…"

"You don't need to apologize at all," replied Miyabi, who'd been standing off to the side of the futon. She stepped forward and, after offering a reassuring pat to the young man's head, inserted herself between him and her father. As Jirō continued to madly yell about how he was going to avenge the insulting punch that he just took, raving his head back and forth as he tried to get a look at his much-hated target, Miyabi bellowed, "THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU FOUL DISGRACE!"

A look of disbelief came over Jirō's face before he moved to say something, only stopping when Oda took him by the shoulder and ordered, "Head home for tonight." Though the Hebijo principal moved to protest, the larger man turned to all of the other adults, "That goes for the rest of the parents in here!" He pointed to the door, "Once everything is resolved tonight, I'll update you on your daughters' conditions. In the meantime, none of you have a place here. Out!"

Many of the other adults' faces fell with Oda's order, though Kin and Masayoshi only offered simple nods to their daughters before heading for the door. On the way, the former was thanked by the large shinobi for having found the young man, to which he simply answered back, "I was given an order and followed it. Nothing more."

Following after the two, Shōwa and Tomoe also offered curt nods to their daughters and left before they could acknowledge Imu's reciprocated gesture. Beside her, Murasaki just stood and buried her mouth into Bebeby while averting her eyes. Deciding to keep close to his only real friends, Jirō shook his head at Miyabi before storming off with his pride in tow. Not one person gave him a second glance. Finally, side by side, Akari and Yayoi gave two quiet goodbyes to their daughters, which were quickly and earnestly matched, before they also left with an air of worry.

Having finally been left alone with all of the girls, his two ex-friends, and the young man in the cramped apartment, Oda felt as though the lot of them were ready to talk. Keeping in mind everything he'd heard about the boy's past, the old man took in a heavy breath and declared, "I'd like to have a talk with you. No games, no intimidation, nothing of that sort… Just an honest talk to clarify some things before either of us do anything."

Pulling a bit from the arms that were restraining him from before, the young man raised his head and looked Oda up and down with narrowed eyes. After a moment of consideration, he crossed his arms and looked as though he was about to insult the man. Then a different thought seemed to have hit the young man, beckoning him to take a deep breath and shrug his shoulders as he frustratedly grumbled, "What other option is there…?" Stepping out of the girls' reach, he blew some hot air through his teeth and gestured to the large man before him, "Let's talk then… What did you want to… clarify…? Is it about my attacker?"

Oda's eyes danced back and forth around the room, thinking about what he wanted to ask, before meeting the boy's eyes, "We'll hold off on discussing whoever attacked you. I'd like to give you some time to recover first. Rather, I'd like to discuss your involvement with the infiltrators… Particularly, the part where you apparently wanted nothing to do with them. That's true?"

Sharply clenching his eyes in thought for a moment, the young man answered back, "Since a little bit past my tenth birthday, if we're going to be exact, I've wanted to leave the organization. Around that time, I stopped regarding the infiltrators as… I don't know… I stopped regarding them in the same way a child regards all of those old stories about legendary samurai."

Oda nodded before adding softly, "For someone so young, it must have certainly been a bit different for you to be thinking so independently. If you don't mind me asking, what broke the illusion that your family was probably trying to set?"

"Grandad," answered the young man in a frank voice before his face twisted in embarrassment. He raised an apologetic hand, "Grandfather. I meant grandfather… sorry."

"Don't be," called Hanzō, who was tending to Jasmine and ensuring her comfort despite his fractured arm, before he turned to his old comrade, "His grandfather is the man we mentioned before. The more… principled infiltrator who kept showing up in our reports until about twenty-five years- Grngh!"

While Hanzō resisted the urge to double over in pain, Oda quickly berated him, "Good gods above, sit yourself down already!"

Upon turning over to check on what had happened to the old fool, the young man flinched upon seeing his battered form. His forehead was bandaged, though there was some smeared blood along the side of his face that implied heavy bleeding. In addition to that, he had a makeshift sling of sheets on his forearm and was standing on one strong leg while dangling the other in the air. While Hanzō let out an acknowledging groan of pain, Jasmine used her arms to pull her upper body up to look at the young man's surprised eyes.

At first, the teenager was about to begin questioning what had all happened before the memory of his fight with Sato hit him like a particular lead pipe. All over again, he could remember the sight of his shattered arm and knee, the crippling pain of his spine being split into two, and the paralyzing fear as the spectacled girl delivered what should have been a fatal blow to his head. Comparing his previous injuries to the married couple before him, the young man stuttered out, "Hey… hey, hey, hey! This is…?"

"The scroll," Jasmine murmured as she reached to the side of the bed and raised the item into the air with mock triumph, "Have you forgotten the last time we used it?"

The young man's eyes glowed as he relived the aching pain of his first night correcting the girls and the morning after. Back then, when Jasmine found him in his suffering state, she produced that very same scroll and had taken on each of his cuts and bruises. Though he had made a few demands for her to use it since that time, the young man was still surprised to see its… miraculous, for lack of a better word, powers. Regardless of whether or not he was acquainted with it, he still had to ask, "Just what the hell is that thing?"

"The Scroll of Equivalent Exchange…" Jasmine said, with an odd mixture of pride and remorse. She closed her eyes and held her head, "Originally, it was supposed to be an… extremely potent healing scroll of a different sort… It was a project that I've been working on for a few years but…" Her eyes opened and she looked to the young man, "I'm sure you can already tell that it failed its original purpose."

"It's still a healing scroll… kind of," mumbled Oda, trying to raise the woman's spirits. Just by listening to the pitch of sympathy and forced friendliness in his voice, nearly everyone in the room could tell that there was much more to the story.

The young man wouldn't push it though. Instead, he slowly asked, "So… You two took on my wounds through that scroll, yeah? Then…" before he pointed to Hanzō, "shouldn't your skull be broken…?"

The man snorted, "That isn't how it works, fortunately enough in this case." He folded his hands for a moment and made a few incoherent noises of thought before explaining, "It's like this… the thing being exchanged by this scroll isn't the injury itself. It… goes back to the point that you were hurt and finds out what caused that kind of damage, in this case a metal of some sort. Afterwards, while taking away that past trauma from you, my body will react as though I were hit by that metal something. While your skull cracked in your case… which would have led to your death… no joke."

The young man's head reeled back as he gave a confused mumble, "Shit… I'd believe it…"

"I," Hanzō gestured to himself, "in this case, have a much stronger and thicker skull than you do. Thus, when the… exchanged damage was inflicted on me, it didn't… Well, it doesn't feel like it cracked my skull, but it left me with a pretty bad wound on the side of my head."

Feeling a bit guilty for having had his injuries transferred onto Jasmine and Hanzō, the young man's eyes fell as he sorrowfully spoke, "Well… I suppose I should thank you for that then…" He looked up to meet both of their eyes, "Thanks… both of you. While you've both been pissing me off these last few days… and beyond… I appreciate the fact that you saved my life."

"In more ways than one," Oda stated as he crossed his arms. He nodded his head to the couple, "They've… filled me in on your circumstances. Honestly, I was going to take a bunch of time to… crosscheck and interrogate you to see if they were being honest." After a few thoughts flashed through his eyes, Oda sighed and murmured, "But, I can see through that tired look in your eyes… If you didn't go through what they've told me you have, then you've at least gone through something similar."

"Being sold out and offered up by one's flesh and blood tends to do that to people… Tire them out, that is," remarked the young man, putting on a weak smile before offering a final nod of thankfulness to Jasmine and Hanzō.

"Well, since the story is mostly confirmed," Oda mumbled before clapping his hands, "perhaps you could fill in a few blanks?"

"Shoot."

Not expecting the young man to be so open about his private life, Oda had to take a few seconds to catch his brain up. Setting aside the argument he had planned to try and convince the boy to be more open, he instead stated, "I know about Renka, Hanzō and Jasmine hunting Haruo, how they were already acquainted with your grandfather, the deal arranged with your parents, all that…" He took a breath and asked, "But how will coming here allow for you to be free?"

Nodding along with the giant's words, the young man raised a finger and asked right back, "You're referring to me correcting everyone, right? You're asking how that'll free me?"

Oda gave a grunt of acknowledgement, "Now, perhaps I'm just getting old and my logic has fallen through the gutter… But wouldn't that engrave you further into the organization of infiltrators?" He gestured a hand to the side, "Before, you were going to be officially let out because of how little you contributed to them… because of how unremarkable you remained. But now," Oda shrugged before gesturing to the surrounding crowd, "correcting these girls will only embed you into the works of an infiltrator. How will that free you?"

"And you'd be right if it weren't for my grandfather," remarked the young man, casting glances to his friends. Minori, as though she were watching a drama, was leaning onto Murakumo's shoulder with a curious look while Murasaki was hugging Bebeby close, doing her best to hide her face for whatever reason. Hikage was staring blankly, seemingly curious but not really paying much attention to the details as Ikaruga's face was unreservedly worried. Not at all daring to be dishonest with all of them, the young man continued, "Keeping in mind that, shortly after his immigration to Japan, he'd become a second-generation infiltrator, my grandfather had plenty of time to gather information on infiltrators everywhere. Different web locations, tactics, warehouse storages, and even emergency safehouses… he knows just about everything important to the entire organization."

Oda raised and tilted his head, "So why couldn't he just use that information then? Why not just threaten to leak that information to the government and make the rest of the infiltrators release you?"

The young man narrowed his eyes on the man, "You're assuming that he hasn't already… that they haven't already bent their knee to him in submission… and that they're the ones with the chains… They're not," before rounding his head towards Hanzō and Jasmine, "In truth, the ones I'm earning my freedom from is you two…"

Remembering the two's hand in forcing the young man to correct them, everyone turned toward Hanzō and Jasmine with awkwardly twisted faces, offering small hints of interest and scorn. Amidst a few murmurs, Asuka stepped toward them and quietly asked, "From what I heard last time, you two forced his parents to make a decision, right? You were… Knowing you two, I'd bet you were just trying to intimidate them? You didn't expect them to make that decision and only just…"

"It's like you heard back in the restaurant," Jasmine answered, "but there's much more to it than our deal with his parents…" Her face fell slightly before she turned her head away, "Let's discuss this lat-"

"Jasmine," called the young man, "we're going to discuss it now." He narrowed his eyes on her before gesturing to Oda, "He won't be giving us a second chance."

While his wife took a deep breath, hating the revelation that was to come next, Hanzō stepped beside her and nodded his head, "Go ahead."

Turning to face all of the girls, the young man quietly proclaimed, "I mentioned the fact that there was a deal back then… but I didn't share the exact details beyond the facts that my grandfather arranged a meeting with my parents and that they chose Haruo, did I?" He took a frustrated breath and uttered, "I'm truly thankful for the injuries you both managed to spare me from…" before blinking his eyes and staring coldly at Hanzō and Jasmine, "but you were going to do something horrible back then of your own volition… Would you like for me to tell it or yourselves?"

To that, Hanzō wobblily stood up, "I'll do so," and turned to the girls while ignoring the screaming pain in the knee that he was keeping off the ground, "His grandfather didn't just arrange a meeting with his parents… He knew what we were planning to do from the get-go… He knew that we were willing to force the only grandson he truly cared for into correcting the lot of you, regardless of the favors he'd done us in the past… And…" Despite his efforts to continue speaking, the old man began to break out into a mumble.

"Please," Oda said with a furrowed brow, "I'd like to hear this."

Hanzō pressed his lips together, feeling the shame and weight of his actions beginning to crush him in a way that was more insufferable than all of the injuries that he took on. Not being able to find the right words, he began to stammer, "It's important that all of you know… Sayuri and I were furious and… rash at the time. In complete honesty, we regret what we were almost- No… What we were going to do…"

Jasmine hung her head and faced her unmoving legs as she declared more aggressively than intended, "If he survived correcting you all…" and pointed to the young man, "If he somehow found a way to get each of your distortions fixed… We planned to… hurt and harass him further, repeatedly call attention to him with other shinobi, and… other things, so on and so forth…"

"And doing so would have gained the attention of every infiltrator within the region," stated the young man, keeping himself cool and composed as he closed his eyes, "With that kind of persecution from a shinobi, they wouldn't have let me go… Not when I'd be the renowned infiltrator who'd cured twenty girls, only to be further hunted by the shinobi who hired him on. Word would spread to the other webs… then, quite suddenly, I go from being the infiltrator who offered extremely little to being a name that most webs wouldn't willingly let go…"

As everyone read into the implications left in the air, Oda growled, "You two couldn't have told me this earlier?" as he took a few aggressive steps toward Jasmine and Hanzō, "When I asked you what the boy wanted to be free from, this was it!?"

Hanzō averted his eyes from his ex-friend and focused on the girls instead, feeling his heart break bit by bit as he saw the looks mixed with horror and disgust. Just a year ago, he was uniting them all together amidst a Shinobi Battle Royale. At the time, he was either the one they looked to for advice or the butt of some joke since he was a shameless pervert… In that moment, Hanzō wasn't at all confident that he'd be on the receiving end of those same looks anytime soon… not for as long as he kept quiet on who was responsible for the threat they made. Still, he'd never deny the extent of his own part in the situation. Once he finally realized he still had to answer Oda's question, he stumbled, "We… We were hoping-"

"Don't take the fault for it, Hanzō," ordered Jasmine, keeping her eyes unbendingly narrow as she turned to Oda, "I was at the head of that threat. Renka was one of my assistants during the Millennium Festival and pursuing Haruo after what he did to her was my idea. Once we lost the trail and only had his brother to show for it, thanks to the bastard selling him out, I made the call to go after the kid… Between the fact that he was away from his family and the fact that he was living with his grandfather, who I knew had a distaste for infiltrators… I quickly figured that the boy must've also had a distaste for the lifestyle of an infiltrator…"

Oda stared at her with contempt, "So… you knew you were screwing him then…?"

"Very much so," Jasmine answered with no hint of pride in her actions, "I wanted Haruo but couldn't have him… Since I couldn't avenge Renka that way, I thought I'd settle on making someone related to him suffer… Fortunately, the deal his grandfather made had… kept us sensible." She turned her head to all of the girls, who were looking at her in the same way they'd been looking at Oda, "In the end, we agreed only to the correction of all twenty of you. We'd provide him a home, with some cost of upkeep going to his parents, and would let him go once everything was done."

"Using an innocent to get to someone else…" Oda shook his head, "That's the kind of thing that disgusts me most."

Without another second passing by, Jasmine turned her head to him and sneered, "Yes, it is disgusting. It's one of the most revolting things I've ever done and one of the worst things I've ever made Hanzō take part in…" She took a long breath before pointing an accusatory finger at the man, "But you were doing the exact same thing until this morning," and bellowed, "IF I'M DISGUSTING, SO ARE YOU, ODA!"

The large man was about to defend himself before the young man strode over to the woman's bedside, "She makes a fair point." While Oda fell silent with disbelief, the boy narrowed his eyes and declared, "There will always be a part of me that will be angry with her and Hanzō for what they've done… I'd even say that part of me hates them… But you were attacking me for the exact same reason."

The shinobi retorted, "I went after you because you were an infiltrator-"

"But that isn't the only reason, is it!?" yelled the young man, "Yes, you probably were chasing me because some small part of you wanted to uphold the law… But, after everything I've seen and heard out of you, I know that you were after me solely because you wanted to get to Tsao!"

"He is part of the reason," Oda yelled right back, "but he was not the sole reason at all! My job is to uphold the law of the land and see its enforcement!"

For a brief moment, the young man bared his teeth and growled incomprehensibly. Then he calmed himself and murmured, "Can you really say that after what happened earlier?" Feeling the bruise from Jirō's beating still on his forehead, the young man pointed up to it and asked, "Do you mean to say that, despite your demands for Tsao beforehand, he had nothing to do with this? Would you beat an average person to a pulp just because they were an infiltrator? In this case, an infiltrator who wasn't even physically resisting against you?"

Oda felt his face fall and heat up. Then his eyes and cheeks relaxed as he inhaled and reflected on himself. By the second, despite his internal protests that having the young man beaten wasn't just because he was Tsao's brother, his shame continued to build more and more. In the end, Oda knew that the young man being an infiltrator really had nothing to do with anything. Since the beginning of the pursuit, once he recognized the facial features and details of the boy and connected the dots to his brother, the only reason he'd been so persistently tailing him was because of his relation to Tsao. Nothing more and nothing less. On trying to admit to it, Oda could only stutter out, "I-, it's all just…"

The young man took a single step forward, "I'm pissed at Jasmine and at Hanzō… but I'm willing to respect them a hell of a lot more than you… They've always been willing to admit their wrongdoings. Can you not do the same?"

"I'm at great fault…" admitted Oda in a quick voice before he closed his eyes, "I pursued you because of your relation to Tsao… I'm sorry" and began to shake his head. While it felt like some weight had been lifted from his shoulder, there was still no denying the shame that continued to rip away at him. He wanted to leave the room then and there to be done with the day. He wanted to go home to his wife and daughter to beg for their forgiveness. More than anything else, Oda wanted to lower himself before whoever reigned above for having failed his principles… But he couldn't leave. There was still an infiltrator that he was aware of and he had to enforce the law.

But, before Oda could get a word out, a pair of arms reached out from the crowd of girls and protectively grabbed onto the young man to pull him in. When the boy turned his head up to the perpetrator in confusion, he found Yumi with her eyes staring intently at Oda, "You're still planning to do something… aren't you?"

Once those words were thrown out, nearly everyone else in the room scrambled to get between the young man and Oda. If they weren't able to grab a defensive hold on their friend, the girls were spreading their arms out or were readying their weapons for a grand fight. The sudden formation brought complete surprise to the faces of all the adults and the young man, especially considering how silent everyone had been up until that moment.

In an effort to dispel their caution, Oda began to offer, "While I must act, I am able to make a deal-"

"Shove your deals!" declared Katsuragi, who was pushing one arm against the young man's chest while balling her other hand into a fist, "Let him finish with us and leave him alone!"

"I wish it were that easy-"

"It is that easy," stated Haruka as her mouth remained curled into an uncharacteristic frown. The arm that she kept around the young man's neck pulled him back a bit as she continued, "No other government official knows of his existence and I can only assume you've made no record of what's been happening, considering the lack of other law enforcement in the area. Just let him go."

"Listen, I really want to! Just calm-"

There was a metallic click of a rifle's action being locked, beckoning everyone to turn toward Ryōbi and the weapon that she had aimed straight for Oda's head, "You're going to back off…"

Seeing that the situation was spiraling into chaos, the young man realized that he needed to act quickly. While some of the girls were yelling for Ryōbi to lower the gun, he summoned every ounce of energy that he had to try and pull away from the grips that were binding him. Despite the fact that his effort turned out to be futile, seeing as there were multiple shinobi holding onto him that were each stronger than him by themselves, the young man still managed to loudly declare, "I'm willing to make a deal with you!" After a few seconds, everyone's faces slowly turned and faced him in bewilderment.

Then Miyabi stammered to him while her katana was still pointed at Oda, "Huh!? Hold up, hold up! You don't need to do anything!"

Yagyū turned around to rest a hand against his chest and pushed him back a bit, "Just leave this to us for now. We can handle this."

Even Asuka and Homura, who were both wrapping their arms around his waist and pulling him back, spouted, "Just forget about Oda, please! We'll fix this for you!"

"You don't need to submit yourself to him!"

Despite all of the craziness that erupted from his statement, it was Oda's quiet and confused, "Wai-, what?" that somehow stuck out in the young man's ears.

With everyone still loudly yammering away beside him, the young man acted again to try and regain control of the situation by letting out a loud, extensive, and demanding, "QUIET!" before curling his mouth into a grimace. Fortunately, the volume of his voice far outmatched the girls' and they were all willing to obey his order, albeit while cautiously watching Oda for any sign of aggression. After ensuring the peace was going to be kept, the young man said to Oda, "My terms are the same as before… I still want to be free- completely free of all of this once it's done."

Oda closed his eyes remorsefully as he began to say, "There's… Look, I want to but-"

"I'm willing to pay the price," stated the young man, "You need to bring in an infiltrator, right? I can give you the infiltrator."

The large shinobi didn't catch the implication at first, "You're… what? Are you saying you're going to turn yourself in?" His question made nearly a quarter of the girls in the room jump with alertness before questioningly turning toward the young man.

The boy quickly shook his head to correct him, "No, you don't understand… THE infiltrator. I can give you him."

After a few more seconds, Oda's eyes began to widen in a mix of shock and excitement. Despite the frown on his face, his movements were much more energized as he gestured to the young man, "Tsao…? You're offering Tsao…? Your brother, Tsao!?"

"He's only a brother by blood," mumbled the young man, "While I'll always be attached to him in that way, he played a part in hiding away Haruo when Hanzō and Jasmine were hunting him… In turn, that led to all of this… Throw in the fact that I hold no real love or respect for that mass murderer, then I don't see why I shouldn't be offering him up."

Despite the mix of looks from all of the girls throughout the room, with some like Mirai nodding their heads in approval and others like Yozakura looking on in complete disbelief, Oda's focus remained squarely on the young man. The silence was heavy with neither party daring to say a word before Jasmine questioned, "I thought infiltrators, even those with families, moved their living spaces continuously. Does Tsao have a permanent residence?"

"I can give that information," said the young man before he turned back the larger shinobi, "if we have a deal…"

By the look on Oda's face, the man was practically salivating at the opportunity to go after the killer he'd been hunting for so long. But, after a moment of thought, he cleared his head and stated, "It's… extremely tempting-"

Before any hesitation could be expressed from his adversary, the young man quickly interjected, "It isn't just his location either! I'm offering you everything! Every residency he's ever visited, places where he'd most likely go out to drink, part-time jobs his wife tends to work, the sort of schools that my niece goes to… Anything that might help you track him!"

On those last few remarks, Yozakura couldn't help but interject, "No, hold up!" and stepped from the group to get between the young man and Oda, "Your brother is one thing… and I can't rightly judge that situation… But you'd also give up your sister-in-law and niece!?"

Averting his eyes away and feeling his face fall with guilt, the young man had to take a breath before he could resolutely face off against the girl, "Yes, I would." He gestured to himself, "I know they haven't done anything. Despite being an infiltrator, my sister-in-law has never gone on a mission before… and my niece is only an eight-year-old… the only harm she could do is by calling someone a name or something…" After another long breath, he steeled his eyes, grimaced, and stared hard into Yozakura's core, "But it's exactly like I told you in the restaurant… I'm a selfish bastard who's within reach of getting the one thing he's only wanted… I know that makes me a piece of shit and I will always feel guilt for it… But I would not regret selling any of them out."

Ultimately, when he was so forward and honest about his stance, there weren't any words that Yozakura nor anyone else could offer to him. Some wanted to rebuke him and others wanted to plead with him to reconsider. But the words wouldn't come to any of their mouths, so they could only just remain silent.

At that moment, Oda cleared his throat and awkwardly stammered, "Your… offer would be extremely appreciated… but-"

The young man wouldn't be denied his plea for freedom, "I can offer more. While I won't give you everything else until I have a signed document that you'll let me go, I can also give you everything about Tsao's combat techniques and weapons."

Oda reeled his head back, thinking about how many lives would be saved if they could find a way to counter the killer's methods. Yet, with an infiltrator before him, "I… want to-"

"He uses grappling guns, I'm sure you're aware," spouted the young man, his face filling with desperation more and more as every word passed his lips, "But he has more than the two handhelds. Aside from the guns, he has a pair attached to his wrists, shoulders, and calves. They allow for him to move much better and more flexibly in any off-ground environment that contains buildings or trees. In addition to those, he wears a booster pack. With the push of a button, that thing will launch its user up to thirty kilometers an hour. For those who launch themselves with particular techniques, that number can be doubled."

Oda raised his palm and mumbled, "Alright… I think…" before resting his head in his hand, thinking about how dangerous those tools would be in the hands of killers across the world.

"He's often equipped with two handheld shotguns and two liuyedaos, each sharp enough to cut through bone." As the young man continued to talk, his eyes grew more and more maddened, "He uses slugs for his shotgun, due to their exceptional accuracy, stopping power, and range, and loads them in micro drum magazines for two second reloading… Ah… In addition to all of that, I know he carries a dagger. He showed it to me when I was young but I don't really remember what kind it is…"

Waving his hand to try and calm the boy down, Oda tried to say, "Look, I think I-"

"In every combat engagement he's taken part in," spouted the young man, his voice breaking off into panicked mumbling while still looking Oda in the eye, "he's always brought about twenty to thirty other infiltrators… They're all-, the lot of them, they practically worship Tsao like a war god of sorts. He commands-, commands-, he leads them using-, commanding their loyalty. They follow him in a way-, like he's a father!"

"Easy," yelled Oda, "easy! I get it!"

"Now that I've told you all of that," boomed the young man as he stretched his flattened hand out, "do we have a deal!?"

Every single eye in the room was trained on Oda, who's face was tense and alert. More than anything else, he wanted to take the young man's hand and accept the deal. Even without Tsao's location, the information that Oda had just taken in was more than he was able gather over the course of years. But then there was the principle he had in regards to enforcing the law… what was he to do with that?

"Please…" came Hibari's quiet murmur from the side, "just let him and the rest of us go…"

There were a few other murmurs, with all of the girls practically offering puppy eyes to try and sway Oda's decision. While the man was trying to stabilize himself, Hanzō called to him from the side, "You can take a guilty man instead of an innocent man…" He smirked knowingly, "C'mon, you know the answer already. Don't leave us in suspense… Just say it."

The only one who remained silent was Jasmine, who was staring right at Oda. Even in her crippled state, she was daring him to refuse with a threatening glare. With so many throwing him off balance, Oda sighed and turned for the door, "We'll meet at Hanzō's restaurant tomorrow… There, we can discuss this matter and finalize everything…" he turned his head over his shoulder, "Furthermore, you can also share the details on who attacked you earlier… Just give me some time to… sort my head out."

With that, he made a hasty retreat to the door and left the room in complete silence. Nearly everyone was exchanging looks with one another, each conveying their conflicting feelings on all of the new developments. Despite everything, Yumi and Miyabi were looking at the young man in the same warm way that they always did. They knew that his offer would bring potential harm to his sister-in-law and niece but, knowing how open and honest he'd always been, they found it difficult to fully blame him. Even if he insisted that he was a selfish piece of garbage, they would always believe him to be a mere victim of circumstance.

There were others who appeared to share their sentiment, between Murasaki finally lowering Bebeby from her face to skittishly approach the young man and Yomi patting his shoulder while asking if he was alright… But then there were others who were much more conflicted, such as Asuka and Homura. When they heard the young man's willingness to make others suffer so that he didn't have to, they couldn't help but question their image of him. Seeming to be along with them, Yozakura stared harshly at the boy while Imu rubbed her chin in thought. Though he'd announced it from the very start, to see his selfish behavior firsthand was a major blow for all of them.

Then there was the young man, himself, who still had his hand extended toward where Oda was once standing. He blinked and clicked back into reality before he lowered his eyes to the floor in reflection of what he'd said and done. While he was extremely confident that Oda would take the deal, he knew that his selfish statement had done extreme damage to some of his relationships with the girls. He wouldn't blame them at all, especially since he admitted to the fact that his sister-in-law and niece were purely innocent in the matter.

Raising his head up and facing the doorway, the young man pondered a thought before nodding his head. In the end, he was glad that everyone saw his selfishness. It would do damage, certainly, but it would have been much more catastrophic if he tried to hide it. Ignoring the worried looks that Jasmine and Hanzō were throwing to him, the young man decided that he'd deal with whatever happened next while keeping his head high. Just as he promised his grandfather, he'd fight until his bitter end… It was all that he could do…

"To be selfish is to live with guilt and to be selfless is to die with a clear mind. With all of the injustices that we've performed throughout our lives, any honest person who is aware of that fact knows which side of the spectrum they fall on. Neither side is good nor evil. It is a matter of whether or not one prioritizes themselves over others or vice versa… and there is nothing wrong with choosing oneself. Everyone is human and we are all of equal value. Why should one life matter more than another just because they aren't you?"