Chapter 120: The Pawn in the Shadows
Leaving Konoha Hospital, at Kato Gofu’s current pace, it wasn’t long before he arrived at the hidden Spring Base.
The dark, cramped Spring Base looked the same as it had months ago—on the surface, it appeared to be a place for healing and rescue, but beneath that veneer, it was still a bloody, filthy den of horrors.
“Lord Kato Gofu!”
“Lord Kato Gofu!”
Ignoring the base attendants saluting him, Kato Gofu made his way directly to the lowest level’s “Ward Area,” where he found the busy Orochimaru.
With the ninja world’s situation growing increasingly strange and tense, the number of spies infiltrating the Land of Fire had risen steadily. Konoha’s defense units were capturing many enemy operatives daily.
Among them, the Root organization, led by Shimura Danzo, was the most active. Most of the spies caught by Root, after brutal and harsh interrogations, were rendered useless and sent to Spring Base to become new patients.
Many of these spies were enemy ninja, clearly of higher caliber than mere thieves or bandits.
Today, Root had delivered a fresh batch of high-quality patients. Orochimaru was busy selecting promising candidates and thus had no time for surgical experiments, which was why Kato Gofu had taken the chance to slack off at Tsunade’s place.
Of course, this was only Kato Gofu’s convenient excuse for taking it easy. Having grown increasingly accustomed to the influence of the salted fish power within his body, he found all sorts of reasons to slack off at work.
Orochimaru was long accustomed to Kato Gofu’s antics. Although he often shirked work, he never neglected his duties. After a few protests, Orochimaru had come to turn a blind eye.
When Kato Gofu found Orochimaru, the ward supervisor, Hei, was standing with him outside a special patient room.
The room’s walls were transparent on one side, allowing them to observe a new patient inside.
It was a fairly well-equipped private room. Inside lay a female ninja wearing only minimal undergarments, her forehead adorned with a ninja headband.
Apart from her beautiful face, which remained intact, her nearly naked body was covered in wounds—some still oozing fresh, dark red blood—giving her an eerie, seductive allure.
“You’re here, Orochimaru,” Kato Gofu greeted as he joined him, peering through the one-way transparent wall alongside Orochimaru and the others to observe the sleeping female ninja.
“Kato-kun has arrived,” Orochimaru greeted back.
Kato Gofu’s sharp eyes flickered as he examined the patient and then asked, “A Sand Village Jonin? A puppeteer?”
He had not focused on the strange landscapes of mountains and canyons inside the room but immediately noticed the special sealing techniques inscribed on the patient’s hands, as well as the numerous scars—some fresh, some healed—caused by chakra threads cutting and mending her fingers.
From the seals on her hands, he deduced she had Jonin-level strength.
The base generally did not apply sealing techniques to patients below Chunin rank.
Judging by the scars from chakra threads on her hands, he concluded she specialized in puppet techniques and was likely a puppeteer.
The headband revealed her ninja village affiliation.
As for why she was almost completely naked and covered in wounds...
Perhaps the ward staff feared she might be concealing poisons within the folds of mountains and valleys...
It was well-known that Sand Village puppeteers were adept poison users, their bodies laden with various toxins. The saying about “hidden explosives in the crotch” was no exaggeration—it was more like “hidden poison in the crotch.”
The base staff’s caution was understandable. Even after capturing, torturing, and imprisoning a person, they had to strip them nearly naked, humiliating their dignity to prevent any poison from slipping through.
Sand puppeteers’ toxins were notoriously potent and omnipresent, demanding constant vigilance.
Rumor had it that a certain white-haired Konoha ninja once fell victim to crotch-hidden poison from a young, beautiful female puppeteer.
Though the white-haired ninja was saved in time and survived without major harm, the ordeal left a lasting, unforgettable impression on him.
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“The Root member who delivered her said she’s the daughter of an elder from the Sand Village.”
“She’s the best-conditioned patient among this batch. Kato-kun, just look at her delicate skin and tender appearance—isn’t she beautiful? Tempting? Quite impressive?”
Orochimaru, upon hearing Kato Gofu’s question, eagerly introduced his new patient.
At first, Orochimaru’s voice was his usual cold, hoarse tone. But as he grew more satisfied with the new patient, his voice unconsciously shifted to a softer, more feminine tone.
Not content with that, Orochimaru also licked his own lips with his crimson tongue, embodying the quintessential mad scientist.
From his tone and voice, Kato Gofu could tell Orochimaru was quite pleased with his new “toy.”
“Um... Orochimaru, you’re getting weirder and more serpentine every day.”
Kato Gofu teased Orochimaru’s tone and demeanor, even shivering exaggeratedly to show his discomfort.
“Heh, what’s wrong with being perverse?”
Orochimaru eyed Kato Gofu’s mock reaction and reverted to his usual cold, hoarse voice.
“It’s nearly quitting time, and I’ve been busy enough. Kato-kun, why are you back at the base again?”
“Don’t tell me you came back to help me receive this batch of new patients and work overtime—that’s unlike you.”
Kato Gofu’s teasing about Orochimaru’s serpentine perversity was met with a retort about his slacking off at work.
“Uh... well, the patient inside does look promising. She should contribute well to our mission.”
“Is she the only promising candidate among this batch?”
Kato Gofu, unperturbed by Orochimaru’s teasing, smoothly took over the conversation, shifting topics.
When it came to shamelessness, Kato Gofu’s rule was simple: as long as he didn’t feel embarrassed, others would.
“This batch is overall quite good. There are a few other promising candidates yet to be arranged. They’re just behind here. Kato-kun, want to help me organize them?”
Orochimaru, unable to resist Kato Gofu’s brazen attitude, followed his lead upon hearing the mention of business.
“Uh, haha, I just came to check in. It’s about time for me to go—I have a few other places to visit.”
Seeing Orochimaru ready to pull him into work, Kato Gofu quickly found an excuse to slip away.
“I’m off, Orochimaru. Tsunade’s waiting for me. Women, huh? Complicated creatures, you know! Haha...”
Before he finished speaking, Kato Gofu had already vanished, leaving Orochimaru’s snake-like eyes behind.
“Heh.”
Watching Kato Gofu’s departing figure, Orochimaru reverted to his feminine voice, licking his crimson tongue over his lips once again.
“Let’s go.”
“Let’s check out the other promising candidates in this batch.”
Addressing Hei, the ward supervisor who had remained silent, Orochimaru led his subordinates out of the room.
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Leaving the lowest-level ward area, Kato Gofu did not return to his office but instead headed straight to the cell cultivation chamber.
He wasn’t simply killing time or clocking in at Spring Base to show his face to Orochimaru.
He had serious business to attend to—he needed to closely observe Kang, the recently controlled covert tool, who was the head of the base’s cell cultivation chamber.
That afternoon in Tsunade’s office, Kato Gofu hadn’t been entirely slacking off.
Besides maintaining constant communication with his remote salted fish clone busy completing missions elsewhere, much of his attention had been on Kang.
Using a newly mastered ninjutsu, he remotely monitored Kang. Since this was the first time he used this technique on an important target tool, Kato Gofu felt it prudent and responsible to come see for himself—fitting his usual cautious style.
After all, behind Kang stood a Root leader: Shimura Danzo.
When trying to undermine Danzo, caution was paramount.
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