Chapter 72: My Subordinates Work So Hard — I Really Feel Bad About It!
The drunken man barely got two sentences out before vomiting right on the street.
The vomit nearly splashed onto the two Uchiha clan members.
His words immediately drew the attention of nearby villagers, who stopped and began pointing and whispering about the two Uchiha officers.
The two Uchiha patrol members were both shocked and furious, but they barely managed to hold back.
At that moment, however, they noticed that not far ahead on the same street, several other villagers seemed to be in conflict with more patrol members.
Loud arguing voices carried down the long street.
The noise from the restaurants, food stalls, and izakayas along both sides couldn't completely drown out the quarrels.
Although the content of the arguments wasn't entirely clear, the blood pressure of these two Uchiha officers immediately shot up.
Even now, the villagers still misunderstood them — still insisting on pinning the blame for the Nine-Tails attack squarely on the Uchiha clan.
Every day on patrol, they endured at least dozens of curses, provocations, and countless dirty looks.
Even when they went to eat, the shop owners charged them noticeably higher prices than everyone else!
These accumulated grievances had worn their minds and bodies down to the breaking point.
And right at that moment — while they were distracted — the drunken man suddenly lunged forward and punched one of the patrol members square in the face.
How could proud members of the Uchiha patrol tolerate such humiliation?
In an instant, they were completely enraged. The conflict exploded.
They immediately restrained the screaming drunkard:
"How dare you assault members of the patrol force! We now suspect you of being an enemy spy. You're coming with us for interrogation!"
With that, the two of them dragged the wailing man away under the eyes of the crowd.
Similar incidents weren't limited to this street.
Nor were they happening for the first time tonight.
And it certainly wouldn't be the last.
From a dark corner far away, Obito watched the scene with completely cold eyes.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
He wanted the Uchiha clan to become enemies of the entire village of Konoha!
"The great nations' attention can't be fully diverted yet… it's inconvenient for us to act…"
"So I'll just have to trouble you, Konoha."
"When the time comes, I will create a more beautiful world."
…
When Oborotsuki returned home, he found that everyone had basically gone to sleep.
He stood by the window gazing at the distant Mizukage building — its lights were still blazing. Terumī Mei hadn't finished work yet.
"Risa works so diligently and tirelessly… it really is exhausting…"
"As an assistant, she's handled so much work on my behalf… I actually feel a little embarrassed."
"She came back so late and probably went straight to bed without dinner. Not eating or drinking like that isn't good for the body. I'll just make her a bowl of noodles…"
Thinking this, Oborotsuki quickly headed to the kitchen.
…
After several days of nonstop work with no rest, the utterly exhausted Ishiki Risa was sleeping deeply.
Since she was in Terumī Mei's house — surrounded by so many powerful shinobi — she had completely let down her guard.
Only when she felt as though a mountain (or perhaps a giant boulder) was pressing down on her body, making it impossible to turn over, did Risa finally startle awake.
"Sleep paralysis…? It feels just like being caught in a Binding Technique… I must be too exhausted, that's why my body can't wake up…"
As she thought this, Risa suddenly jolted.
There really was someone in the room!
"Obo—"
"Shhh…"
Oborotsuki quickly covered her mouth with one hand, signaling her to be quiet.
In the silent room, Risa's wildly pounding heartbeat — "thump thump thump" — was clearly audible.
She blinked her large, teary eyes at Oborotsuki.
Oborotsuki continued kneading dough with his left hand:
"Everyone's asleep. We don't want to wake them, right?"
"Besides, there are two little babies here too."
He whispered the reminder.
Risa obediently and understandingly blinked again and nodded.
Suddenly, a person had appeared in her room. The instinctive shock made tears well up in her eyes — one even slid down from the corner.
"I don't mean anything bad."
"I just saw how hard you've been working, going all the way to the daimyō's capital on behalf of Mei and me. That long journey must have been exhausting… Risa."
Oborotsuki smiled gently as he explained.
Risa looked at the man sitting before her like an immovable guardian statue. She obediently stayed silent, blinked again, and nodded.
"Lord Oborotsuki, you…"
She parted her lips slightly, keeping her voice to the lowest possible whisper. Just as she was about to speak, Oborotsuki stopped her again.
"I'm kneading dough right now."
"You came back, took a bath, and went straight to rest — you probably haven't had dinner yet, right? Are you hungry? I'll make you some noodles."
Oborotsuki's hand movements slowed down a little and became gentler.
Hearing that he was actually making noodles for her, Risa finally relaxed a bit. But she was still very shy, and her heart continued pounding wildly — "thump thump thump".
"Lord Oborotsuki, I… I am actually a little hungry."
"But… isn't this inappropriate?"
"And it's so late… why don't we just go out and eat something…"
There should still be plenty of restaurants open in the village at this hour.
Even if not, izakayas and snack stalls were usually open late — they could grab some small dishes and a few bottles of sake to make do.
This was normal life for shinobi.
Sometimes missions made regular meals and rest impossible.
"No need to go to that much trouble. The dough is almost ready."
"There's just one last step."
"I need to use the rolling pin to flatten it a bit more, and then it'll be done."
Oborotsuki smiled.
After he finished speaking, Risa indeed felt the presence of the enormous rolling pin.
So Lord Oborotsuki is actually so caring toward his subordinates… he's incredibly gentle!
Her eyes filled with surprise and overwhelming gratitude. She was very embarrassed:
"But… what do you mean by 'rolling the dough'? Lord Oborotsuki…"
Having spent most of her life on missions and rarely touching kitchen work, Risa clearly didn't understand the process of making noodles.
"Just wait. I'll show you personally."
With that, Oborotsuki took out the long rolling pin.
Risa's face suddenly flushed crimson. She covered her mouth in shock:
"Lord Oborotsuki, this rolling pin is so…"
"Hot, right? That's normal."
"When you roll the dough, friction generates a lot of heat. Just think of it as using Fire Release — our ancestors used similar methods to start fires…"
"Lord Oborotsuki, your knowledge really is impressive… It's just… I feel a little strange."
"That's not strange. You've never worked in the kitchen before, so of course you're unfamiliar. You'll get used to it later."
"Now I'll teach you. Here — hold it and try."
Oborotsuki said as he placed the rolling pin into Risa's hands.
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