Chapter Seventy-Eight: Lotus Leaf

Kato Mikaze’s soul avatar flew out of the cave and immediately condensed into a soul body, casually erasing the residual soul-sensing technique he had left behind, then merged into a massive boulder. He quietly inspected the state of his soul avatar while waiting patiently for the insect to emerge from underground.

The soul avatar was holding up rather well; the only real expenditure below had been the constant need to stay hidden, which had drained some chakra and soul power. Chakra could be replenished from his main body, and the remaining soul power was more than enough to catch the insect.

He didn’t have to wait long. Accompanied by a string of muttered curses, his prey—a white insect—took the bait.

“What’s going on, again!” A pale-skinned head with a lush green patch atop it suddenly popped out beside the cave entrance, grumbling incessantly. “This vine must have been ruined by the rain in the Land of Rain. I’ll tell the boss to replace it, it’s delaying me from eavesdropping on Lord Madara. Honestly.”

This white insect was none other than a clone of White Zetsu, tasked with monitoring the place. Despite his complaints, he carefully examined the vine at the entrance and the surrounding environment. Apart from the endless rain pouring down and the fierce wind, he found nothing amiss.

Of course, this White Zetsu clone failed to discover anything, and his actions and words were observed clearly by Kato Mikaze’s soul avatar, concealed within the nearby boulder. Unlike the main Black and White Zetsu, he lacked the carnivorous plant-like, serrated neck guard; perhaps to shield himself from the rain, he had somehow acquired a lotus leaf to use as an umbrella. But in such heavy rain, that fragile lotus leaf was of little use.

From the soul avatar’s perspective, the neatly trimmed green atop the clone’s head was thoroughly soaked by the relentless rain. The White Zetsu clone was now little more than a drowned rat.

Kato Mikaze’s soul avatar extended his soul-sensing ability, finding nothing else of note near the clone and the vine. Once he noticed the clone had finished checking and, finding nothing unusual, was preparing to sink back underground, he emerged from the boulder and darted straight for the drenched head, passing through the feeble lotus leaf and green patch, and possessed it.

“Who knows if all this rain will end up soaking me through…” The White Zetsu clone’s continuous muttering abruptly ceased.

The pale neck supporting the head lost all strength, and the head lolled to one side. The lotus leaf, its origin unknown, fell along with the pale head. Now, the clone was completely drenched.

Moments later, Kato Mikaze’s soul avatar emerged from the top of the white head. The possession and extermination of the insect had gone nearly without trouble. The soul strength of this White Zetsu clone was weak—less than that of an average Jonin, in Mikaze’s estimation. Whether this was a special case or typical for all White Zetsu clones, he could not say.

He examined the green soul fragment in his hand; it resembled those acquired in the Spring Base, but was larger and of higher quality—equivalent to four or five of those earlier fragments.

He silently thanked Tsunade’s kiss, which had never failed him. With a smile, he touched his brow, storing the soul fragment within himself.

He then dealt with the clone’s corpse, summoning a sealing scroll, sealing the body, and reverse-summoning the scroll away. As for how a soul avatar could use summoning without blood—the summoning technique required soul resonance, which was no issue for a soul avatar.

The White Zetsu clone was valuable research material and shouldn’t be wasted; its corpse was clearly different from those “patients” at the Spring Base. Whether for his own private studies or for the researchers at the base, it might yield some new discoveries.

This also served to destroy evidence, buying a bit more time. Eventually, the base below would realize a White Zetsu clone was missing.

The more thoroughly Kato Mikaze’s soul avatar cleaned up traces, the less likely he would be suspected by the figure below. He even erased the hidden soul-sensing technique he had left on the boulder outside the cave entrance.

The ninja world was vast, and Kato Mikaze was but a nondescript Konoha Jonin, previously unknown in the ninja world, likely never drawing the attention of that great figure, Uchiha Madara.

If Madara knew of Mikaze in Konoha, it was likely because of Tsunade. To Madara, Mikaze was probably just Tsunade’s lover—far less important than Tsunade herself, Madara’s dear friend’s granddaughter.

How could a forgettable Mikaze ever catch Madara’s eye? The man was busy orchestrating major events, quietly fanning flames and hastening the onset of the Second Ninja World War.

By the time the base discovered a missing White Zetsu clone, Mikaze would likely have left the Land of Rain, perhaps already reminiscing with his old schoolmate, Sakumo Hatake, in the northwest fortress camp.

After tidying up the scene and restoring it to its pre-incident state, Mikaze’s soul avatar checked once more for any overlooked traces.

Finding none, he sensed the direction of his main body and swiftly withdrew.

…

The vine at the cave entrance still wound around the area, its leaves swaying in the rain and wind as before—not the patterned movement triggered by an alarm. The White Zetsu clone had triggered the vine’s alarm state during his inspection, but now its leaves had returned to their normal swaying, dutifully monitoring the entrance.

The surroundings appeared unchanged, save for a lotus leaf lying limp on the ground, battered by the relentless rain.

Rain, wind, stone, the swaying vine—it was as if nothing had happened.

…

After safely leaving the scene, Mikaze’s soul avatar wasted no time, merging into a gust of wind and racing toward his main body.

Soon he reunited with himself in his hiding place, swiftly erasing all traces and warning traps.

Glancing at the weather overhead, he noticed the rain here was lighter than at the cave entrance.

Rain filtered through dense foliage, falling softly around Mikaze.

He paid it no mind, cast Wind Style: Light Step, and accelerated away from his hiding spot, heading for the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain. There, a Rain Ninja specializing in Rain Flow Body Technique awaited him.

Checking the time, he was confident he could meet his old friend Sakumo Hatake tonight in the northwest fortress camp for a chat.

Coincidentally, he had barely left his hiding place when he passed a small pond in the forest, filled with lotus leaves—these were round, large, and their stems stood upright, proud amidst the gentle rain.

“What a lucky day!” Mikaze, rushing onward, touched the spot on his brow kissed by Tsunade and murmured softly.

…

PS: New author seeking support, recommendations, and favorites.