Chapter Ninety-Eight: White Worms and Black Worms

Kato Mikaze naturally had no idea what was happening to the big black rat right now. Even if he had noticed, aside from sympathy, there was nothing more he could do. Perhaps he would even sigh at the remarkable power of the Salted Fish Force.

The Salted Fish Force was a new ability that Kato Mikaze had only recently acquired—less than half a day ago, to be precise. He had yet to fully master this newfound power.

The big black rat could do nothing but enjoy his idle moments, half-heartedly praying that his superior wouldn’t discover him slacking off.

But soon, the big black rat remembered the strict work regulations within the Root organization: 996, 007, 886, 715...

"Things are comfortable now. If only I could fall asleep, it would be even better..."

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At this moment, Kato Mikaze had returned to the Spring Base after five or six days away and was seated in his own office.

As he passed by Shimura Danzo’s office, Kato Mikaze sensed that, aside from Danzo himself, the base’s internal affairs supervisor An and the security chief from the Aburame clan, along with several of Danzo’s trusted aides, were inside.

Kato Mikaze didn’t bother to join the gathering. He instructed an internal affairs ninja to notify him once Danzo was finished with his business.

Sitting at his desk, Kato Mikaze habitually activated his soul-sensing ability, checking his office and its surroundings.

On the surface, everything appeared normal, just as it had been when he left several days before. Even the concealed soul markers he had specifically set showed no signs of being disturbed by anyone or anything.

"Excellent..."

Kato Mikaze was very pleased with the state of his office.

"Hmm? What’s this?"

Inside the office, nothing seemed amiss. But when his soul sense meticulously examined the corridor outside, he discovered an unusual little object.

What he found was indeed something small—a barely noticeable bug nest hidden in a corner of the corridor, where several parasite bugs, tinier than grains of rice, were coming and going.

Aside from the bug nest, Kato Mikaze also found traces of a soft-bodied creature, likely a snake, near his office door.

The scent of snake was impossible to escape Kato Mikaze’s senses.

Analyzing the traces left by the snake, Kato Mikaze concluded that—whether out of caution or because it detected the surveillance measures in his office—the snake had ultimately not entered his office.

"Heh, so you didn’t come in? I thought you weren’t interested in me..."

Having caught onto someone’s slip, Kato Mikaze didn’t overreact. After confirming his office was secure, he casually set up a more advanced soul concealment technique to ensure the situation inside remained unnoticed.

Then, Kato Mikaze drew upon his chakra to perform the summoning technique, bringing forth a sealed scroll. On its cover was a white character signifying “bug.”

He stared at the white character for a moment, then glanced through his soul sense at the tiny black bugs in the corridor outside.

"Not coming in, huh? Perhaps I should release more bug bait next time. You have black bugs—I have white ones, and they’re considerably larger."

"I wonder if snakes eat bugs too... That would be interesting to see."

In his office, Kato Mikaze quietly contemplated the sealed scroll before him, seriously considering how to handle its contents.

Time passed quickly, but ultimately, Kato Mikaze decided not to open the sealed scroll just yet.

"It’s not the right moment... But I can start laying some bug bait now. As for what I’ll catch in the end, I’m rather looking forward to it..."

Sensing someone approaching his office, Kato Mikaze reversed the summoning, sending the scroll away, and withdrew the soul concealment technique.

He then picked up some old files from his desk, feigning the appearance of a busy man newly arrived, calmly waiting for someone to knock on his office door.

Tap tap.

"Come in, the door isn’t locked."

The visitor was the same internal affairs ninja as before. "Lord Kato Mikaze, Lord Danzo is aware you’ve arrived at the base. He’s waiting for you in his office and sent me to invite you over."

"Danzo’s finished with his business? Lead the way, then. I'll go right now."

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When Kato Mikaze reached Shimura Danzo’s office, only the internal affairs supervisor An remained; the other cadre members had departed.

"Sir, Lord Kato Mikaze is here."

"Leave now. And have someone bring good tea later—the finest leaves from the Land of Tea. I’ve heard your Lord Kato Mikaze enjoys quality tea."

"Yes, Lord Danzo. I’ll send someone with tea right away!"

An and the internal affairs ninja who had led Kato Mikaze bowed to Danzo’s instructions and withdrew. As he passed by Kato Mikaze, An gave him a friendly smile in greeting.

"Sit down, Kato Mikaze. Make yourself comfortable here."

Shimura Danzo spoke with deliberate warmth, gesturing for Kato Mikaze to take a seat on the sofa, while he himself moved from the desk to the main seat.

"Thank you, Lord Danzo, you’re too kind. Whatever instructions you have, please feel free to command me directly. As the chief elder advisor of the Leaf Village, there’s no need to stand on ceremony."

Kato Mikaze maintained a respectful demeanor before Danzo, carefully playing the part. He had only just tidied up one of Danzo’s subordinates at the Leaf Hospital for similar reasons, and could not afford to give anyone cause to criticize him.

After formally greeting Danzo in the manner befitting a subordinate meeting his superior, Kato Mikaze followed him to sit on the guest sofa.

Shimura Danzo smiled with narrowed eyes, "Heh, am I only the chief elder advisor of the Leaf?"

Perhaps it was Kato Mikaze’s imagination, but since entering the office, he noted that Danzo’s actions and tone were unusually cordial—much more so than during their previous meetings.

This was no illusion; Danzo was indeed deliberately courting Kato Mikaze, hoping to win him over, ideally absorbing him into the Root organization.

The reason?

Danzo had recently received reports from Spring Base indicating Kato Mikaze’s importance in the New Spring Mission was growing ever more crucial.

The longer Kato Mikaze’s involvement in the New Spring Mission, and the deeper his participation, the more indispensable he became.

Although Orochimaru was leading the surgical experiments at Spring Base, those experiments in which Kato Mikaze was directly involved yielded markedly better results than the others.

While Danzo had yet to see signs of success for the New Spring Plan, his analysis of the reports suggested that Kato Mikaze’s significance was now nearly equal to Orochimaru, who had been leading these surgical experiments.

Beyond the mission, Danzo had received another piece of intelligence yesterday from Root regarding Kato Mikaze—an assessment of his strength.

The report showed that in just four or five days, Kato Mikaze had completed nearly twenty high-level A and B rank missions.

These missions, mostly assassinations and intelligence gathering, included targets from other nations’ ninja villages, some of them jonin.

Excluding time spent traveling and resting, Kato Mikaze’s effective action time was probably only two days.

Root’s intelligence analysis team concluded that the newly promoted Leaf jonin Kato Mikaze’s abilities far exceeded those of ordinary jonin, particularly in assassination and intelligence work.

The team further speculated that after breaking through to jonin level, Kato Mikaze’s growth showed no signs of slowing, and he had a good chance of reaching Kage-level strength within the next few years.

Taking all these factors into account, Shimura Danzo was now more eager than ever to recruit Kato Mikaze.

Danzo had sensed the turbulent changes sweeping the ninja world recently; his experience told him that another great ninja war was imminent. If he could secure someone like Kato Mikaze as a trusted subordinate, it would be an undeniable advantage.

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