Chapter 38 – Meeting Mitarashi Anko Again
"Take a seat. Sorry, the place is a bit messy." After Mitarashi Anko followed him in, Izaya casually found a spot to sit and then asked, "Who sent you to find me?"
"It's Lord Hokage. He wants to see you." After stating her purpose for visiting Izaya, Mitarashi Anko also found a place to sit. While looking at Izaya with curious eyes, she muttered to herself, "You seem to have gotten stronger since the last time I saw you. Back then, I couldn't even sense any Chakra in your body, but now it's much better."
"Oh, really?" A flicker of caution crossed Izaya's face. He hadn't expected Mitarashi Anko to sense the changes in his body, but he didn't dwell on it. For Izaya, this was just a trivial matter. On the contrary, the Third Hokage's summons was what he needed to pay attention to…
Aside from Uchiha Itachi and Hyūga Hiashi, in most people's eyes, Izaya was just the academy's dead-last. Under normal circumstances, someone like Izaya would never attract attention, let alone be proactively summoned by the Third Hokage… After all, Izaya wasn't the Hokage's grandson, nor did he have a Tailed Beast sealed inside him… Yet such a thing had actually happened.
"Could it be because of the fight with Hyūga Hiashi?" "Or Danzō?" "Or Itachi?" Instantly, over a dozen possibilities flashed through Izaya's mind…
"Hey, Izaya, what are you thinking about?" Seeing Izaya spaced out, Mitarashi Anko waved her hand in front of his face and whispered, "It's very rude to space out in front of a girl."
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something." Reminded by Mitarashi Anko, Izaya immediately refocused and said in a flattering tone, "Anko, do you know why Gramps… I mean, Lord Hokage sent you to find me?"
"I do know."
"Tell me, quick!"
"No. As a shinobi, I must have shinobi ethics. This is a mission secret and cannot be disclosed to you."
"Not even to the person involved?"
"No!" Mitarashi Anko shook her head, directly refusing Izaya's request.
"Tch, did you know a new super-delicious dango shop opened in Konoha? They not only have red bean dango but all kinds of super-tasty dango!" Since direct questioning didn't work, Izaya simply resorted to temptation. While talking about dango, Izaya made an exaggerated expression, as if the deliciousness was right before his eyes.
"Dango…" Upon hearing Izaya's words, Mitarashi Anko's eyes instantly lit up. She then asked Izaya, "Which dango shop is it?!"
"Tell me why Lord Hokage is looking for me, and I'll treat you."
"No! This is my mission. I can't tell you just because of a meal!"
"I'll treat you twice?"
"No! The mission is very important. Not even two meals!"
"Four meals!" Seeing the conflicted expression on Mitarashi Anko's face, Izaya instantly felt there was a chance. To make Anko bite quickly, Izaya said directly, "Hey, four meals of dango, super delicious! And I've already promised to go see Lord Hokage. Your mission is complete now, right? Can't you share details of a completed mission?"
"But…" Although she felt something was off, Izaya's words sounded very reasonable to Anko. Essentially, the moment Izaya agreed to see the Third Hokage, her mission was already accomplished. "It shouldn't be too much to share a completed mission with a friend, right?"
Seeing Mitarashi Anko's conflicted face, Izaya continued to tempt her.
"I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else!" Finally, under the temptation of Izaya's words and dango, Mitarashi Anko spoke up… "Actually, I don't know exactly why Lord Hokage wants to see you about this matter, but I vaguely heard the name Uchiha Itachi…"
After telling Izaya what she knew, the conflict on Anko's face instantly eased. She then looked at Izaya and cautiously warned, "I told you this, but you can't tell anyone else. Although I don't know the specifics, I think it's definitely not a simple matter…"
"It's more than 'not simple'…" After listening to Mitarashi Anko, Izaya's heart instantly grew tense. Uchiha Itachi… Himself… "What exactly does that old man want to do…"
Izaya wasn't stupid. The moment Mitarashi Anko mentioned Uchiha Itachi's name, he had already guessed why the Third Hokage wanted to see him. Although Izaya and Uchiha Itachi trained in the mountains behind Konoha, and no one else knew about it… the Third Hokage was different. With his Telescope Technique, he could monitor almost everything happening in Konoha Village. It wasn't strange for him to know about this.
What troubled Izaya now was… the Third Hokage's stance on this matter. Was he friend or foe? Or neutral? This left Izaya somewhat conflicted…
"You're spacing out again!" Seeing Izaya ignoring her once more, Mitarashi Anko immediately put her hands on her hips, looked at Izaya angrily, and then wagged her finger, saying, "You promised to treat me to dango once, plus these four times, that's five times total! You can't forget!"
"Don't worry, I definitely won't forget." Izaya nodded,敷衍地 replied, then proactively asked Mitarashi Anko, "Anything else?"
"Nope." Mitarashi Anko shook her head.
"Then I won't see you out. I'm going to get some sleep. About the dango… next time!" Randomly making an excuse, Izaya stood up directly and ushered Mitarashi Anko to the door. Just as Izaya was about to wave goodbye, an inexplicable sense of threat suddenly flooded his heart…
"Someone?!" Instantly, Izaya cautiously looked around, but aside from a breeze, he didn't see anyone nearby…
"What's wrong with you?" But at that moment, Mitarashi Anko also noticed the strangeness in Izaya's behavior and immediately asked, "What happened? Why are you so jumpy?"
"It's nothing. You go ahead. I won't forget the dango." Right now, Izaya's attention wasn't on Mitarashi Anko at all. Although he hadn't noticed anything unusual… this feeling of being watched was definitely not mistaken!
"Alright then…" Seeing that Izaya didn't want to say more, Mitarashi Anko didn't linger and left directly. But just before leaving, she said to Izaya in a serious tone, "You still owe me five meals of dango. I don't want you disappearing before I get them. Be careful…"