You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

The light shards acted like shackles, fixing Black Eyes' arms to her waist. Although it was energy, it had a physical form, making it impossible for the girl to break free. Then, like a rocket running out of steam, she lost her balance and fell freely to the ground.

【Binding Spell Part Four: This Rope】

With a single swipe of her hand, Iori sent a yellow aura trailing through the air before solidifying into a long rope that flew out, binding the falling black pupil and pulling it back in an instant.

"What kind of Imperial Arms is this?!"

Kurohime was shocked, never expecting to be defeated so quickly, and even more incredulous at Iori's methods.

There are also types of Imperial Arms that can use energy for attack or defense, but if she wasn't mistaken, Iori clearly launched the attack with his bare hands just now!

Could it be... a [Teigu] residing within my body?

"let me go!"

"This is the path of ghosts."

Iori didn't bother to explain anything to her. Using the "no-sword take-off" technique from kendo, he casually snatched the katana that Kurohime was holding tightly and carelessly stuck it into the ground.

"Give me back my Eight Directions!"

"Tsk~"

Because Kurohime kept struggling and was very restless, he frowned in disgust, ignored Akame's hesitant expression, used the binding rope to lift Kurohime in his hand, leaped up onto a tree branch, and jumped to the highest point of the tree canopy.

Seeing that there were no obstacles around, Iori gave Kurome a final warning.

"Get out! Let me go, or else—"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that."

The boy weighed the black pupil in his hand, and after getting a sense of its weight, he slowly extended the light rope, stopping it after about five or six meters.

"W-what do you want to do?"

"This……"

On the ground, Akame looked up at her younger sister, who was suspended in mid-air, and was also confused. But as the older sister, she instinctively didn't want her sister to suffer too much. If Iori wanted to interrogate Kurome, she would never agree to it.

"I...the Faceless One, what does that mean?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to play a little game with you."

Iori asked quietly, "Have you ever played with a yo-yo?"

"Yush—ya!"

Before the words were finished, a sudden, powerful force struck from the light rope, rapidly pulling the slender body with dark eyes upwards.

What's interesting is that this force is very skillful. It's not just straight up and down, but also has a rotating force, causing the light rope to "wrap" around Kurohime's waist. The girl spun around several times before returning to Iori's hands.

But this wasn't the end. Before Kurome and Akame could speak, Iori swung out the light rope again—

"Powerful Whirlwind!"

"What are you doing, Yami?! Ugh!"

"A whirlwind sweeps away the fallen leaves!"

"Um-"

"Rocket!"

"Ah-ee——————"

"Elevator, Around the World, Lightning Strike!"

When the mood struck her, Iori even hummed a melody she used to know well in her previous life.

"A silver dragon from beyond the heavens!"

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

……

The girl's mournful cries continued for a long time. Akame was stunned on the ground, wanting to stop Iori but not knowing how to start. At the same time, listening to her sister's mouth, which was as stubborn as a dead duck, now making such a pitiful sound... why did she feel a strange sense of pleasure?

Finally, Kurohime's voice gradually faded until it disappeared. Akame was worried about whether she was alright when Iori jumped down with the short-haired girl.

This time, he didn't use advanced binding techniques, but only used [Binding Technique One: Seal] to bind the girl's wrists.

Hei Tong didn't even try to struggle anymore. In fact, it was a miracle that she didn't faint, which was probably related to her special constitution.

Now, this stubborn girl leans against the tree trunk with a blank look in her eyes, a trace of clear liquid at the corner of her mouth, and occasionally hums a few meaningless lines such as "spinning and spinning" and "blooming with the spark of life," giving off a strong sense of being played with and ruined.

"Black Eyes!"

Akame quickly stepped forward to check on him and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Kurohime was only in a daze and had no obvious external injuries.

“You’ve gone a bit too far, Iori.”

"What I can't stand the most is arrogant brats. I only let her off this time because of you, and you should thank me so she won't fight back."

Iori raised her chin, indicating, "Take her away."

"What, take her away?" Akame asked in astonishment.

"Isn't she your sister?"

Iori said calmly, "Judging from your expression, you're definitely reluctant to kill her? Then you have no other choice but to take her away."

"...Kuro-tomi is the person I cherish most in this world, and I want to take her away, but...she won't betray the Empire," Akame said painfully. "I...I can't—"

"Naive! So naive, Akame!"

Should we really respect her personal wishes in something like this? How could you have such a weak idea!

"Huh?" Faced with Iori's unfounded accusation, the girl looked up blankly. "I'm naive?"

"Yes."

Iori said matter-of-factly, "What favors has the Empire done for her that would make her rather kill her sisters than betray them?"

It was nothing more than long-term brainwashing and psychological manipulation... that is, mental enslavement, implanting ideas such as 'the empire is invincible' and 'traitors will surely die' into her mind.

Besides psychological methods, there might also be drug-based control methods, such as the Three Corpse Brain God Pill.

Don't understand? No problem, just do as I say!

"But...but even though she's been brainwashed, she'll still resist once she wakes up, right?"

"Then let's cover it up with an even stronger brainwashing effect!"

"—!"

"I know a scientist with a strong sense of justice. Brainwashing techniques and drug control are no problem for him at all. He can even make Black Pupil more docile in the process."

The empire's ideological imprint was replaced by "I cannot disobey my elder sister" and "I listen to my elder sister the most!"

Don't think it's extreme. If you don't make a tough decision now, are you waiting to kill your own sister in the future?

In short, you need to be prepared to brainwash her, drug her, and lock her in the basement, just to transform her into a 'sister slave' who can't live without you!

Chapter 21: I did it on purpose.jpg!

After hearing Iori's words, Akame was almost completely stunned, but upon closer reflection, what he said did seem to make some sense...

"Anyway, she is currently brainwashed by the Empire. If you give up now, she will forever be under the Empire's control, eliminating dissidents and slaughtering the innocent, her hands stained with blood and sin. For you, who are determined to overthrow the Empire, Black Eyes, as a henchman, is someone you will have to kill sooner or later."

This will only lead to a greater tragedy!

If that's the case, why not bring her to your side and make her follow your instructions?

Depending on the illness, poisonous plants can sometimes become effective medicines, just like you and Black Eyes right now.

Don't be afraid to impose your will on her; after all, she has no free will to speak of. Besides, do you really think you're worse than the Empire?

This is a relief for Kurohime too~

Iori patiently explained, "This is just a temporary measure. In the future, once the empire is overthrown or a solution is found, we can free Kurohime from her shackles, and you sisters can be together forever."

"...I must say, this is a very tempting future."

Akame felt a dryness in her throat and said with difficulty, "But Kurome's problem is not just mental. As far as I know, apart from my 'Elite Seven,' other imperial assassination squads use drugs to enhance their physical abilities in order to improve their combat power, and they become extremely dependent on them."

This medicine can only be provided by the Empire. If it's not replenished for a long time, Black Eye won't be able to hold on..."

Didn't you hear what I just said?

Iori became dissatisfied: Is this disrespecting my dear Mayuri Kurotsuchi-sensei?

"For my friend, as long as there's a blood sample, he can make anything, not just an antidote, but even a more potent sex-changing drug. If you think your sister is annoying, he can even make a gender-swap drug!"

"No, no, no, the antidote is fine. We don't need the modification drug or anything like that."

Akame felt like she was about to break out in a sweat: "What kind of people do you know?"

"I just have a few connections."

Iori pondered for a moment: "There's a small problem now. It might take some time to get the antidote. But Kurohime is out on a mission, so she should have brought some medicine with her. Let her hold out for now. I'll bring back the brainwashing device and the antidote as soon as possible."

How will I contact you then?

"How long do you need?"

"...Five to ten days, I guess?"

Iori did the math carefully. The brainwashing equipment wasn't a problem for Mayuri Kurotsuchi, but the antidote required either a blood sample from Kurome or the modification drug itself to be brought back to Soul Society.

To achieve this, the blood sample must be transformed from a material form into a spiritual form, which involves a technical problem of two-state conversion.

In order to smoothly transfer resources between the two worlds, Iori had long ago made a request to Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Unlike later generations, this mad scientist did not have abundant technical reserves, and it took him a lot of time to overcome the difficulties one by one, and he was just about to reach the final stage.

However, according to him, the technical problems are no longer significant; the only issue is the lack of available resources to build a large-scale conversion device—most likely an implication that he is asking for money.

Let Mayuri Kurotsuchi make a small conversion device, and give him a few more days to analyze the blood to make the antidote. Ten days should be enough, right?

You should know that when this guy later fought a certain Espada, he spent the time it takes to eat a meal to copy all his internal organs, leaving them to be destroyed at his own disposal...

"Ten days? That should be fine."

Akame nodded in relief. She knew that Kurome always had a habit of carrying extra candy (medicine). If used sparingly, it should last at least ten days.

After all, the drug's function is to modify the body; it doesn't mean that you'll die immediately if you don't take it for a day.

"Eight days from now, I will bring Kuroko to the town where we first met, and wait for you at the 'Hat Pavilion' inn."

"..."

"Have you forgotten how we met?"

“No, how could that be?” Iori smiled slightly. “I remember, the hat shop in Loguetown, right?”

“…It’s Gro Town.” Akame was slightly displeased, then surprised, wondering why she was bothered by such a trivial matter.

"Okay, then it's decided."

Iori borrowed a bamboo tube from Akame to hold water, emptied it, took a small blood sample from the vein on the back of Kurome's hand, and took a candy (medicine) from Kurome's snack bag, thus completing the collection of materials.

"This knife is mine."

Iori pointed to the Imperial Arms Yatsufusa stuck in the ground and said righteously, "It's not a good thing for Kurome to keep this cursed sword that plays with the dead. For the sake of her mental state, I'll keep it safe for her."

"...You can take the sword." Akame didn't have any objections to this, after all, she also felt that Yatsufusa was too evil, and even the Murasame demon sword seemed much gentler in comparison.

Imperial Arms acquired!

—Iori raised an eyebrow, in a good mood.

"Speaking of which, won't Kurohime resist when she wakes up?"

"She has no weapons, the medicine is in my hands, and you've exhausted her. If I can't even subdue Black Eyes in this state, what's the point of me joining the Revolutionary Army? Am I just going to be a hindrance?"

"That's true. Then let's part ways here."

"No...wait a minute! I have a question."

"Ok?"

Having acquired one Imperial Arm and one Imperial Arm during this trip, Iori happily wanted to go home, but was unexpectedly stopped by Akame.

"Is there something wrong?" Iori thought for a moment and felt there was nothing left to discuss.

Akame hesitated, a rare occurrence for her. This usually decisive female assassin was now somewhat... uneasy?

"I just don't understand... why... why did you help me?"

"Huh?" Iori paused for a moment, then suddenly realized.