CH_174
"Natchi—I'll explain later." Tōji wasn't about to dump all the complicated details on Natchi right now.
"So—what's the secret, then?" To Tōji's ears, Tenchi's voice was still that same sharp, grating sound.
"Where's the bamboo tube?" Tōji asked.
Tenchi didn't think he could actually take on two shinobi dressed as Konoha chūnin, so he straightforwardly pulled the small bamboo tube from an inner pocket of his lab coat—the very one Tōji had left behind.
Tōji frowned slightly. He wanted to examine it himself, to confirm it was the same tube—it should still bear his seal.
"This is the real one. You're so tense—seems this secret really isn't simple." Tenchi's eyes darted around. He grinned, showing his teeth, and stared at Tōji. "We're both Konoha people. So—are you ready to trade secrets with me now?"
"My secret can only be told to Lord Orochimaru. Dr. Tenchi, you wouldn't be trying to pry into Lord Orochimaru's secrets, would you?" Tōji had no intention of honoring the deal—he just wanted the bamboo tube back.
"Hmph—I don't mean anything by it." Tenchi sneered and shook the tube in his hand. "I just want to know why you're so obsessed with this. I'm guessing what's inside isn't the 'secret' you claimed at all, is it?"
Tōji lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked up straight at Tenchi. "You don't need to know, and I'm afraid I can't disclose it."
Tenchi narrowed his eyes, sizing Tōji up and down. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Fine—since you won't say, I won't force it. But this bamboo tube is useless to me anyway…" Tenchi raised the tube, looking like he was about to toss it to Tōji.
"But…" Tenchi stopped his hand mid-motion. "Maybe I should let Lord Orochimaru deal with it."
Tōji's eyes went cold. He tightened his grip on the kunai. He couldn't let the tube fall into Orochimaru's hands—the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Dr. Tenchi—we both work for Konoha. Why make things difficult?" Tōji tried to persuade him.
But Tenchi laughed—a sleazy, echoing laugh that sent chills down the spine.
"Rather than working for Konoha, I'd say I'm just a mad scientist following in Lord Orochimaru's footsteps, pursuing scientific truth with all my heart. This tube must contain something important—how could I just hand it over to you?"
With that, Tenchi tucked the tube away and turned to leave.
Tōji was frantic—he couldn't let Tenchi walk away with the tube. In a flash, he rushed at Tenchi, his kunai aimed straight for the man's throat.
Tenchi seemed to have anticipated it. He immediately let out a shrill shout. "I've already notified Lord Orochimaru! Are you planning to silence me?!"
Seeing things go wrong, Natchi furrowed his brow and looked at Tōji, waiting for his combat orders.
Tōji suddenly calmed down and stopped the kunai just before it pierced Tenchi's throat. "You have a way to contact Lord Orochimaru? You're bluffing me, aren't you!"
"Lord Orochimaru's summoning snake happened to bring me a message from him a few days ago. I kept that little summoning snake here, planning to have it report my research results to Lord Orochimaru once they're ready…" Tenchi's eyes darted toward the octopus monster lying off to the side.
"And the moment you two arrived at the base, I had the summoning snake notify Lord Orochimaru to come over…"
"…" Tōji was suddenly bluffed by Tenchi—he couldn't tell if it was true or false.
"Tōji—you two keep talking about Lord Orochimaru. What does Lord Orochimaru have to do with this place?" Natchi finally couldn't hold back his question.
Clap. Clap. Clap. From deep in the passage, where there was no light, came a few cold, slow claps.
Then—the hoarse voice Tōji least wanted to hear. "So this is… Tōji-kun?"