Chapter 142: Evolution? A Hidden Move!

"Huff... puff!"

It wasn't until Kato Mifuyu and Tsunade closed the heavy doors of Sarutobi Hiruzen's office that Uchiha Yashiro finally began to gasp for breath.

In the late autumn season of Konoha, inside a room that was by no means hot, several large, heavy beads of cold sweat condensed at the tips of Uchiha Yashiro's hair.

Uchiha Yashiro stared with his mung-bean-sized Sharingan, looking blankly at the door of the Hokage's office, and muttered to himself, "How could this be, and when..."

From the moment Uchiha Yashiro stood up to block their path to the departure of Kato Mifuyu and Tsunade, only a few short sentences had been exchanged. To an ordinary person, nothing suspicious would have seemed to happen between them just now.

However, the people waiting in the room at this moment were mostly Konoha Jonin; they were precisely not ordinary people.

The Konoha Jonin Reika spoke up, "Did I see that wrong? Did Uchiha Yashiro just use Illusion: Sharingan: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique?"

"No, I saw it too. It was definitely Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!" said Konoha Jonin Retsuotsu.

Konoha Jonin Komahei, who was still half-asleep, heard his two companions discussing and chimed in, "Is it over already? In my drowsiness just now, I felt a biting killing intent and thought a fight was about to break out!"

"Did you just wake up? They made a move, and Uchiha Yashiro was completely crushed. In the blink of an eye, he was subdued, with lethal points all over his body—his neck, his eyes..." interjected the nearby Konoha Jonin Kantei.

"Really? Tell me the details. I really was dozing off just now. I soaked too late in the green hot springs near the Hokage Rock last night. There are two new waitresses from the Land of Islands there, tsk tsk..."

As Konoha Jonin Komahei finished, he wore a smile that every man understood.

Konoha Jonin Kantei, who was in his thirties, clearly understood the meaning behind Komahei's smile. Sensing the strong negative mental energy radiating from Uchiha Yashiro ahead, he continued:

"Shh, Uchiha Yashiro is looking over. You tell me about the intelligence regarding the green hot springs and the waitresses from the Land of Islands first, and I'll trade intelligence with you later."

"Hehe, it's a deal then. Speaking of that green hot spring, it's actually related to Kato Mifuyu who just went inside..."

Following that, Reika, Retsuotsu, Komahei, and Kantei began to quietly exchange information about the green hot springs and the waitresses from the Land of Islands.

Behind the four of them, other members of the Konoha Jonin gentlemen's league—those who were eagerly following the gossip and driving safely—were also whispering among themselves about the brief yet intense conflict that had just occurred.

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Listening to the murmurs of the Konoha Jonin behind him—whispers kept low, yet clear enough for him to hear—Uchiha Yashiro felt the blood vessels in his temples throbbing violently. He felt a suffocating tightness in his chest, making even deep breaths difficult.

"Huff... puff!"

"So handsome! Lord Kato Mifuyu is so handsome and gentle! If only I were Lady Tsunade..."

Standing beside Uchiha Yashiro at that moment, Yamanaka Chizuru held her hands tightly against her chest, looking toward the door of the Hokage's office and letting out a lovestruck sigh.

Suddenly, a wave of sharp, needle-like pain surged through Uchiha Yashiro's pair of Sharingan. He covered his eyes with both hands in agony and let out a low groan, "Ah!"

His two crimson Sharingan radiated unbearable pain. Even as he gasped heavily for air, the suffocation persisted. Along with the physical torment, Uchiha Yashiro felt that the psychological trauma inflicted upon his spirit was even harder to endure.

*Could it be that I, Uchiha Yashiro, haven't even started acting like a simp, yet I've already suffered fatal emotional damage?*

*What kind of nonsense is this? The mental secret-crush simp method? Weren't they supposed to give me the same protagonist destiny as the male lead in "Tactics of Affection 2"?*

Before Uchiha Yashiro could sort through the chaotic thoughts in his mind, an irresistible wave of drowsiness washed over him, triggered by the excruciating pain in his eyes.

"Lord Uchiha Yashiro! Lord Uchiha Yashiro!"

The gentle secretary Yamanaka Chizuru was the first to notice that something was wrong with Uchiha Yashiro. She called out softly, quickly reaching out to steady him, and in her panic, pulled his head into her embrace.

As darkness descended before his eyes, Uchiha Yashiro finally passed out. In the final few seconds before losing consciousness, he heard Yamanaka Chizuru's gentle calls and experienced the greatness of Yamanaka Chizuru firsthand.

*I knew it, Miss Yamanaka Chizuru still cares about me! Combining victory with greatness, let's call this the Great Victory Method of Mental Secret-Crush Simps...*

This was Uchiha Yashiro's final coherent thought before his pair of crimson Sharingan plunged into darkness. The three pitch-black tomoe within each Sharingan were still spinning rapidly, faster and faster, spinning faster and faster...

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Meanwhile, with his arm pulled along by Tsunade, Kato Mifuyu walked right up to the large, curved desk of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

A trace of an even more smug and mischievous smile flashed quickly across the corner of Kato Mifuyu's mouth. At that moment, his bright, light-blue, deadpan eyes emitted an extraordinarily brilliant radiance.

In an instant, Kato Mifuyu's deadpan eyes shifted back into mesmerizing, light-blue starry pupils, leaving no trace of anything unusual.

If Tsunade, who was exceptionally familiar with Kato Mifuyu, had carefully observed his eyes at that moment, she might have noticed the subtle differences within them.

Unfortunately, Tsunade was standing right in front of Kato Mifuyu, making it impossible for her to detect any unusual changes in his eyes.

Just outside the Hokage's office, with so many Konoha Jonin watching, Kato Mifuyu had indeed not done anything overly reckless to Uchiha Yashiro.

This included the Wind Blade and those wind senbon—especially the two wind senbon hovering directly in front of Uchiha Yashiro's Sharingan cornea; not a single hair of his had harmed Uchiha Yashiro's precious eyes.

However, let us not forget that from beginning to end, Kato Mifuyu had never released Uchiha Yashiro from his own technique: Illusion: Sharingan: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.

Within Uchiha Yashiro's Sharingan vision, Kato Mifuyu had been trapped by his illusion.

Right up until the moment he was jolted awake by Kato Mifuyu's words, realizing that Kato Mifuyu's Wind Blade and wind senbon were threatening all the vital points of his body.

And right up until Uchiha Yashiro heard the gossip of the Konoha Jonin and the lovestruck cries of Yamanaka Chizuru.

Right up until the final wave of drowsiness and unconsciousness claimed him, the tomoe within Uchiha Yashiro's Sharingan had never stopped spinning rapidly.

The Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique had remained active the entire time.

Inside Uchiha Yashiro's mental illusion space, there had always been a version of Kato Mifuyu whom he thought he was controlling, while in reality, the fully mobile Kato Mifuyu had been sightseeing everywhere.

Since Kato Mifuyu had told Uchiha Yashiro that he approved of his simping ways, and even used his own relationship with Tsunade to encourage Uchiha Yashiro, how could he just stop at empty words? When helping someone, one must see it through to the end.

As a true successor to the Will of Fire in this new era, how could Kato Mifuyu lag behind when it came to the civilized virtue of taking pleasure in helping others?

Just now, taking advantage of the moment when Uchiha Yashiro heard Yamanaka Chizuru's lovestruck words and his mental emotional fluctuations were at their peak, the version of Kato Mifuyu remaining inside his mental illusion space had kindly given Uchiha Yashiro's back a little push in secret.

Even that irresistible drowsiness at the end, when Uchiha Yashiro was suffering the most, owed part of its success to Kato Mifuyu's deadpan power.

*I really am a good Konoha ninja who takes pleasure in helping others!*

Kato Mifuyu sighed inwardly, then stepped forward, bowing respectfully with a formal greeting gesture toward Sarutobi Hiruzen, who sat behind the large, curved desk.

"Lord Third, Konoha Jonin Kato Mifuyu, accompanied by his girlfriend, Konoha Jonin Tsunade, reporting for duty!"

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Author's Note: Dear readers, Green Pepper, alongside everyone's wife Tsunade, salutes you!

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