Chapter 50 - Chapter 48

Sorry about the no chapter yesterday I came home and crashed but it is here today 👍🏾

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Shiori's mother sighed heavily at Hiruko's question as she stepped out of the darkness of the cave, her long front legs thumping across the floor with every step she took.

Hiruko watching this felt a small shiver down his spine as the spider's hulking 45-meter-tall frame revealed her metallic black exoskeleton gleaming in the light.

On her back were six red circles reminiscent of Hakuja's purple ones. 

Her pedipalps twitched with power as her eight beady eyes locked onto Hiruko, giving him a feeling he'd only felt once when Ken Hatake released his pressure on Sakumo and Hiruko when they first met.

The feeling of oppression that with a single hit Hiruko could die, and even if he wanted to risk it, the sheer feeling from them rendered him immovable. 

Her eyes shifting to Shiori went from intense to disappointed. "It seems my idiot of a daughter told you nothing, showing me her lack of thinking things through is as worrisome as before she left. I worry for our clan." Shiori's mother said bluntly, her disappointment showing through every word. 

Hearing this, her happy-go-lucky attitude disappeared in a flash as her mother's words stung her; she knew this wasn't like the other times where she could brush it off with a joke, no, her mother was really upset this time. 

'Why can she never just be proud of me? I'm sure I chose the right person if only she could see that' Shiori thought, her gaze shifting to Hiruko, who still had his eyes locked on her mother as he grappled with what he was seeing. 

Shiori's mother, seeing her daughter's now solemn face turned toward Hiruko, refused to acknowledge the damage her words did. 

"This child is Kumogakure no shinkai, or Shinkai for short, the home to our clan of spiders. I am the queen and ruler of this clan, Jorogumo, and my idiot daughter is the princess," Jorogumo said.

Hiruko, hearing this, couldn't help but look at Shiori in somewhat surprise, though he already guessed it somewhat; still, hearing it was true was a big surprise in itself. 

Seeing this, Shiori put away her solemn look as she jokingly stood tall on her hind legs while crossing her front limbs like arms.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a princess. You can fawn," she said smugly.

Jorogumo, seeing this, whipped one of her front legs forward, smacking Shiori so fast that even with his Observation Haki, Hiruko barely registered the motion.

"Ow, Mom, that hurt. I was joking," Shiori whined, clutching her head where a visible bump was forming.

"That's primarily why, Shiori, this is an important conversation, and you're messing around. I have told you time and time again to grow up and act like a princess and future queen." Jorogumo chided angrily. 

Hiruko, watching this, held his tongue; at the end of the day, he wasn't Shiori's mother, and he, someone who wasn't royalty, couldn't comment on Jorogumo's teaching methods when it came to raising a queen.

Also, he was a bit scared of Jorogumo, but if anyone asked, the first reason was the most prevalent one. 

Jorogumo, picking up on Hiruko's butting out of her parenting methods, mentally appreciated it as she continued. 

"As for how long you've been here, as of today it's been one week, which in and of itself is miraculous; you were estimated to be out for at least 1 month. Since your injuries included several broken bones, even more that were fractured, your left arm unnaturally twisted with each finger twisted and broken, and a chunk of your waist missing. And that's not even accounting for the blood that seeped from, well, everywhere," Jorogumo said, her face darkening some as she recounted the grave injuries. 

'One week!? Hiruko thought sharply. What about my mom? The others? They probably think I'm dead.' He thought his heart was racing slightly before he calmed himself down.

'No, that's highly unlikely' though he didn't know where exactly Shinkai was. He trusted his mom, one of the best sensors in the world, had some way to know one of her only sons wasn't dead—at least that's what he hoped.

Realizing he could only hope for the best, Hiruko's thoughts shifted to his injuries. 

'I don't remember sustaining those injuries, which meant they were a byproduct of the ability I used,' he reasoned as he thought the only thing that could mean was 'So it needs refinement,' he thought, part of his mind already analyzing flaws and limitations.

He'd never been able to test it properly before, as it was too destructive, but now he had data to go off of.As he thought of how to improve the ability outside, Hiruko asked a question.

"That's what the web was for, right?" Hiruko asked as he remembered what Shiori mentioned earlier; his body instinctively shivered as he remembered the crampedness of the space. 

"Yes, precisely, those webs are a unique web cultivated by our clan, and they boost recovery speed when paired with your…weird body. 1 month turned into a week."

Shiori noticed the shift in his expression when the word "1 month" was said, and knowing how deep Hiruko's love for his family went, she felt a spike of panic.

If Hiruko insisted on leaving now, everything she'd done would be for nothing, and her mother would be proven right.

She definitely couldn't allow that.

"Yeah, blah blah," Shiori interrupted quickly.

"More importantly, Inheritor, when a spider reaches adulthood, it's tradition to travel to the shinobi world and find a human willing to undergo the merging and be the Spider clan's inheritor for the next generation. I was hoping it'd be you." She stared at him with wide, puppy eyes.

"Shiori," Jorōgumo snapped. "The merging is not a game. Neither you nor the boy is ready. And what did I tell you about interrupting? It's unbecoming of a princess."

"I know!" Shiori protested. "But I promise we're ready!"

"That is your flaw," Jorōgumo said sharply.

"You only think of yourself and this boy. A future queen must think of her people. What happens if he fails? If he dies during the process?"

Shiori froze, realizing she never took the time to think 'What if we fail?'

"Our clan would lose its heir for an entire generation," Jorōgumo continued coldly. "Vulnerable. Exposed. Your actions have consequences."

Hiruko, watching Shiori's shoulders slump, quickly decided to change the subject.

"…Wait," he said calmly. "What exactly is this merging you're talking about?"

Jorōgumo turned her gaze to him. "It's dangerous."

"That's not what I asked." He responded back, his gaze unflinching. 

Jorogumo, hearing this, sighed. "When a princess selects an inheritor," Jorōgumo explained, "they are given our clan's mark. This binds them to Shinkai, allowing them to be summoned here automatically. And when here, they'd undergo a process called the merging, involving consuming a potion created using the princess's DNA."

Her eyes sharpened. "But my idiot daughter left before either of you reached the required age."

"And what makes it so dangerous?" Hiruko asked if doubtful DNA merging caused the Queen of Shinkai to be so fearful atleast it didn't seem so dangerous in the movies. 

"The body is transformed," she said. "A perfect human, with the abilities of my clan, the best of both worlds.However, to survive the process, natural energy is required to stabilize the change. Natural energy is violent. And it's not easy to get control of; if one thing is only slightly wrong, you die."

'Natural energy…' Hiruko thought. Right. To be completely honest, I forgot about it since Jiraiya hasn't started sage training and hasn't even traveled to Mount Myoboku yet, Orochimaru hasn't developed the curse seal, and Jugo isn't alive yet.' Hiruko thought a piece of his mind unlocked as he' remembered a long-forgotten piece of lore vital to the Naruto world. 

'Not to mention nor of the sou—' Hiruko was about to add on internally before he stopped himself, remembering a certain character. 

'Didn't Kidomaru's seal take the form of a mutated human and spider mixture, and couldn't he summon spiders too?' Hiruko asked himself as he noticed many overlapping points between Kiomaru and the Shinkai Clan.

"Hey Ms. Jurogumo, are there any other Spider clans other than the Shinkai?" Hiruko asked, though unsure of how to address Jorogumo, as she was a queen. 

Jorogumo, ignoring this, though, simply answered Hiruko's question, "No, the Shinkai Clan is the only spider clan." She said,

'Just as I thought, where did Kidomaru's summon come from? Is it an outlier or maybe cultivated by Orochimaru himself? But then what about the cursed seal giving him a spider-like form and abilities? Am I supposed to think of it as a coincidence? Or did Orochimaru somehow get his hands on the serum, using it as a base?' Hiruko couldn't help but think as millions of questions rushed into his head. 

'Whatever, there's not enough data and too many missing pieces, plus what's the point? It hasn't even happened yet, and even if he was some inheritor gone wrong, it doesn't matter because I'm going to take his place.'

Hiruko thought as he pushed the questions about Kidomaru out, but soon other thoughts and maybe something else took over. 

'Your strength isn't enough. None of it's enough'

'My strength isn't enough. The system isn't enough. This world… isn't enough.' Hiruko thought as a whisper, and his thoughts coincided as if a devil he didn't even know was there was influencing his free will without him knowing it. 

But as said earlier, Hiruko was none the wiser to what just occurred as his thoughts drifted to the battle with Suna. 

The battle with Suna had made that clear. The timeline was already shifting. His knowledge would become obsolete faster than expected.

He wouldn't—no, couldn't—grow slowly. Lifting his head, Hiruko met Jorōgumo's gaze, a faint smirk forming.

"What do I have to do to complete the merging?"

Shiori's eyes lit up. 'I knew I chose the right inheritor. Take that, Mom.' She thought as she giggled internally. 

Jorōgumo sighed deeply. "It's not—"

"Mom," Shiori cut in firmly. "When a princess chooses an inheritor, it's law." Her voice was final, taking on a tone her mother had never heard her use, one of a ruler.

Jorogumo, hearing this, was left in silence as she tried to stop a smile from forming on her face.

Finally, Jorōgumo relented. "If he fails, you will dedicate yourself entirely to producing the next successor and repairing the damage done to our people. Understood?"

"Yes, Mom," Shiori replied without hesitation.

Turning back to Hiruko, Jorōgumo spoke plainly.

"You would have to remain here… for a year and a half."

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Warning either in the next chapter or the one after that there will be mentions of self harm and suicide If you have problems with that it is best you skip them I will put another warning before the chapter

Also if you also read my other novel today's chapter might be a lil late :)