"Fine then!"
Yamanaka Yuta shook his head helplessly. He slowly closed his eyes, settling his mind to begin probing the first corpse's memories.
To him, Qingyu was a total greenhorn. Everything was fresh and interesting to the boy, even a pile of cold bodies. Yuta figured that once the war started, they'd be so buried in corpses and prisoners that Qingyu wouldn't have the luxury of "counting" them. He decided to just let the boy be.
Seeing that Yuta didn't object, Qingyu immediately pressed his right hand onto the head of the second corpse.
Hum!
Instantly, memory fragments flooded his mind. Like the first, most of the images were of gray prison walls.
[Ding! Memory Reading Successful! Reward: Clone Jutsu!]
Qingyu's lip twitched. Seriously? Just a basic Academy-level Clone Jutsu?
He didn't dare hesitate. Staying crouched too long would definitely arouse Yuta's suspicion. He moved his hand to the third corpse.
Hum!
[Ding! Memory Reading Successful! Reward: Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!]
Now we're talking. Another Ninjutsu mastered.
He looked at the remaining four bodies. He had to be fast. His hand swept across them one by one.
[Ding! Memory Reading Successful! Reward: Transformation Jutsu!]
[Ding! Memory Reading Successful! Reward: Substitution Jutsu!]
[Ding! Memory Reading Successful! Reward: Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!]
[Ding! Memory Reading Successful! Reward: Ninja Tool Throwing!]
The electronic notifications chimed in rapid succession. He noticed that Ninja Tool Throwing was a duplicate, realizing that rewards could be repeated—and when they were, his proficiency in that skill increased significantly.
As the rewards settled, so did the memories. Thousands of images were now "downloaded" into his brain.
Task complete. Qingyu stood up and lifted the top corpse.
"So heavy!" he grunted loudly, putting on a show of great effort as he moved the body to the iron bed.
Yuta heard him but didn't open his eyes. This kid really needs to train, he thought. He hadn't seen a ninja this physically weak in years.
Qingyu stood by the bed, closed his eyes, and placed his hands on the corpse's temples. He even circulated his chakra to mimic the appearance of someone performing a deep mental probe.
He maintained this facade for about twenty minutes before slowly opening his eyes. By then, Yuta had already finished with two bodies on the adjacent table.
"No intel found," Qingyu said plainly.
He didn't actually need to "probe" anything. The man's life was already stored in his head like a movie file. He could skip, fast-forward, or pause the timeline at will.
These men were all shinobi convicts who had died in the Konoha Prison about a week ago—precisely during the ten days Qingyu was waiting in his dorm.
Seven prisoners dying at the exact same time in their cells? That's not natural, Qingyu mused.
He suspected this mission was actually an investigation into the cause of their deaths. However, since Yuta hadn't mentioned anything, Qingyu played dumb. He wasn't going to volunteer information he "shouldn't" have.
"If there's no intel, don't report it. Move to the next one. Only report if you find something useful," Yuta said indifferently.
"Understood."
Qingyu was happy to comply. The remaining bodies yielded nothing but prison memories and a few repetitive Ninjutsu. As for how they died... it wasn't obvious. It would take deep deduction and comparison of their lives to find a pattern.
Qingyu couldn't be bothered. In the Naruto anime, this incident was never mentioned, meaning it wasn't a world-altering event.
Less is more, he thought. He spent the rest of the morning "fishing"—simply going through the motions to look busy.
By midday, they had finished seven bodies. Yuta handled four; Qingyu handled three.
The mental strain of the Yamanaka secret arts was immense. Yuta's first probe took ten minutes, but his second took over thirty as his chakra and mental energy depleted.
Qingyu, observing this, made sure to work even slower than Yuta.
"Qingyu," Yuta said, looking at the empty floor and then at the boy. A look of relief crossed his face. "It's lunch break. I suggest you eat a real meal and then take a nap. We have more tasks waiting for us this afternoon."
Yuta turned and left, clearly not intending to dine with his subordinate.
"Yes, sir."
Qingyu stretched his back. Pretending to be exhausted all morning was like being forced to stand still for hours; his lower back actually felt a bit sore.
"I wonder if the afternoon batch will have any surprises," he muttered, heading toward the Anbu cafeteria. He was satisfied; even for a morning of "fishing," the haul of Ninjutsu was excellent.