Chapter 135: The Shadow of the Pot Calls Forth

After sharing a sweet, heart-shaped breakfast with Tsunade, Kato Mikaze did not linger with her. They agreed to meet at Konoha Hospital at noon, so Kato Mikaze set off for the Spring Base.

Yesterday, because of Nawaki’s affair, Kato Mikaze had slipped away from the Spring Base soon after checking in for the morning. He had basically lazed around for the entire day. If he did not show his face at the Spring Base today, the Snake Lady—no, Orochimaru—would probably turn into a neglected wife pining away in her boudoir.

Kato Mikaze had already discussed things with Tsunade. In the afternoon, he would go with her to visit the Third Hokage. After that, he would probably continue slacking off for the rest of the day. Whether he would be loafing around or fooling around with his rabbit would depend on his girlfriend Tsunade’s mood. Most likely, he would not be handling snakes.

The snake-handling activities would have to be left for the morning. No, that was not quite right. He would be helping Orochimaru conduct experiments…

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“Knock, knock!”

“Come in!”

Kato Mikaze had only just arrived at his office in the Spring Base and had barely settled into his chair when he heard someone knocking at the door.

“Lord Kato Mikaze, here is the tea I brewed for you.”

After receiving permission to enter, Aoi Shikaku, the secretary with the honest, somewhat awkward appearance, came in carrying a cup of freshly brewed hot tea.

“My lord, these are the duties you are scheduled to attend to at the base today.”

“There are two important meetings. One is a meeting of the base’s senior officers concerning the strengthening of the base’s security and defensive forces. The other is a seminar organized by Lord Orochimaru to discuss the latest approach to transplanting Hashirama cells.”

After setting down the tea, Aoi Shikaku began reporting Kato Mikaze’s schedule in a noticeably brisk tone, nothing like his usual leisurely manner.

He had no choice but to hurry. Aoi Shikaku never knew when his superior might suddenly disappear or come up with some bizarre excuse for not wanting to work.

When Kato Mikaze heard the name of the first meeting, he asked, “Strengthening the base’s security and defenses?”

Aoi Shikaku truly was an elite administrative shinobi. Faced with his superior’s question, he immediately launched into a detailed explanation.

“It was an order delivered yesterday by Lord Shimura Danzo. Given that the situation in the shinobi world has become rather unsettled recently—and that the number of spies from other nations infiltrating Konoha has increased exponentially in recent days—”

Noticing that Kato Mikaze had taken an interest in the meeting, Aoi Shikaku elaborated further.

“Considering the special nature of the Spring Base, and the priority that must be given to protecting its secrecy, Lord Danzo has ordered that the base’s defensive level be raised. In the near future, another group of elite shinobi will be transferred here from other Root bases to reinforce the Spring Base’s security and defenses.”

‘Has the security situation in Konoha really become this dire?’

After a moment of thought, Kato Mikaze said, “Fine. Since it is Lord Danzo’s order, I will attend on time. What else is on the schedule today?”

“Er… because you have taken leave and been absent rather frequently lately, there are quite a few surgical experiments that have piled up. You have nine operations scheduled for this morning. Lord Orochimaru specifically sent someone to inform us that they are all important experimental procedures, and that you must make certain to attend. Otherwise, he will come and drag you there himself…”

Aoi Shikaku watched his superior’s expression carefully as he reported the rest of the day’s schedule.

‘Damn it, which bastard has been tattling on me? Could it be that cross-dressing freak Orochimaru? No, that does not seem like his style…’

‘Can yesterday really be called an absence? I clearly checked in that morning before leaving. That counts as normal attendance!’

The moment Kato Mikaze heard his secretary mention taking leave and being absent, his handsome, starry eyes instantly turned into the dead-eyed gaze of a listless fish. He stared at his honest-looking secretary with a half-smile.

‘That look again. No, please! I still have so much work to do.’

The instant Aoi Shikaku saw his superior’s expression, he wisely obeyed his instincts. He quickly rephrased what he had just reported and repeated it.

“Er… due to the recent upgrade of the base’s security forces, the schedule for the surgical experiments has been affected, making the timetable extremely unreasonable… Lord Orochimaru will come to ask you to attend…”

Kato Mikaze listened to the revised report, took a satisfied sip of tea, and nodded.

“Anything else? If so, it would be best to take care of everything this morning. I have other important matters to attend to in the afternoon. The Third Hokage has summoned me and has an important mission for me.”

Kato Mikaze casually brought up his plan to continue slacking off and fooling around with his rabbit that afternoon.

“Er… Lord Danzo also has instructions for you. He sent someone to the base yesterday afternoon to look for you and told you to report to the Root headquarters to meet him.”

“Since you were not here, the person Lord Danzo sent arranged the meeting for this afternoon.”

Aoi Shikaku’s voice was somewhat strained. It became even more strained after hearing his superior say that he intended to loaf around in the afternoon.

As for Kato Mikaze’s claim that the Third Hokage had summoned him, Aoi Shikaku did not believe it in the slightest. Most likely, his superior simply intended to visit his beautiful girlfriend at Konoha Hospital and fool around with her.

He had been working under Kato Mikaze for more than half a year. On the surface, Aoi Shikaku was a seasoned administrative shinobi; in reality, he was an elite spy placed beside Kato Mikaze by Root. He could not claim to understand his superior completely, but he was certainly well acquainted with quite a few of the man’s scandals.

In Aoi Shikaku’s eyes, his superior Kato Mikaze was powerful, possessed bizarre abilities, and specialized in the mysterious power of the soul.

Kato Mikaze was not as cruel and cold-blooded as the other great figure at the base—Orochimaru—but neither was he as harmless as his appearance suggested.

He could be exceptionally vindictive at times. His methods of punishing people were unfathomable, filled with malicious amusement, and occasionally downright vicious.

Provoking Kato Mikaze would not necessarily result in immediate death, but he did occasionally take action against subordinates who made mistakes.

During the past six months, Aoi Shikaku had suffered no shortage of Kato Mikaze’s punishments. On one occasion, for example, he was struck by one of Kato Mikaze’s mysterious techniques and forced to remain in an excruciating state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness for an entire day.

It was not life-threatening, but it was genuinely agonizing. At its worst, the suffering made a person wish they were dead.

What frightened Aoi Shikaku most was what happened afterward. He had specifically sought out a medical shinobi within Root who specialized in treating strange and mysterious techniques, and undergone a thorough examination and treatment. Yet they could not find the slightest trace that he had ever been subjected to a technique.

The organization concluded that he had never been affected by any technique at all, and that he had merely been so exhausted from work that he had suffered hallucinations.

Aoi Shikaku had also heard that other Root shinobi had experienced similar symptoms. Supposedly, a Root operative with the codename Black Rat frequently suffered from the same condition.

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