Gisei looked at Castle with a peculiar expression.
This was the first time he had seen Castle with a fully formed consciousness. It was almost like looking at himself in a mirror.
"Let's talk. Why did you say that earlier? And what on earth is going on with you? I raised you, shouldn't you be listening to me?"
"Why do you listen to Mei's orders to monitor me? Or is your Butterfly Species originally just a tool used to spy on our clan?"
Castle sighed. "As expected, different species simply cannot understand each other."
"The prerequisite for mutual understanding is that both of us have the same status. Do you truly think our current status is equal?"
"Mei completely regards our clan as food. Don't you also treat me as food?"
Castle shook his head. "To us Ninja Butterflies, Lady Mei is a true mother. All Ninja Butterflies are her children."
"What is wrong with me obeying Mother's orders? Besides, Lady Mei has no ill intentions toward you."
"Food? Surveillance? That is just your persecution complex talking. I told you, we are a shared life form."
Persecution complex?
Gisei's mouth twitched. "Speaking of which, Mei seemed to mention something about predicting the future yesterday. Can you tell me what that's about?"
"Can you spy on all my memories?"
Castle shook his head again. "I can only capture your surface thoughts. I'm not a Spirit Peeping Butterfly; I don't have that ability."
"However, when you encounter certain people or things, some very strange thoughts always pop up in your mind—thoughts similar to predicting the future, but completely different."
Gisei sighed. "So you told Mei about the 'predicting the future' thing. How do you even communicate with her? Why haven't I noticed anything at all?"
"I cannot tell you this. In short, even if Lady Mei is in the Butterfly Habitat Valley, she can contact me."
Gisei's face darkened.
"Don't use human thinking to speculate about us, just as we cannot fully understand you."
"Lady Mei won't harm you. After all, I am also her child. She won't hurt me, just like your mother wouldn't hurt you. Can you understand if I put it this way?"
Completely incomprehensible. Gisei felt his headache worsening.
"Castle, do you want me to cooperate with Mei? You should know that if I cooperate with her, I might live forever, but you will only be able to stay here, trapped inside me, forever."
"Don't you desire freedom?"
A thoughtful look appeared on Castle's face.
"For every species, survival comes first. Freedom comes after survival."
"I cannot disobey Lady Mei's orders. Her evolution can drive the evolution of our entire race. That is the most important thing."
"Moreover, can you really live forever? The human world hides countless malicious intents. Didn't that Danzo you just met want to kill you?"
"Instead of caring about our affairs, shouldn't you be considering how to survive in the human world?"
Gisei fell silent.
"I'll ask you one last time. Can you really guarantee that Mei won't harm me?"
"As long as you don't do anything against Lady Mei, she will absolutely not harm you."
Gisei took a deep breath. "I understand."
While Gisei was communicating with Castle, Sakumo Hatake had already brought him to the training ground.
Many Anbu members stopped their training when they saw Gisei arrive.
"Is that kid the last descendant of the Butterfly Clan?"
"He doesn't look like anything special, just a kid from a good background."
"I heard that he almost caused a big problem in the village over the last two days."
"Want to test him?"
"That sounds like a pretty good idea. Will Sakumo get angry? After all, he's his team member."
"Coward, I'll do it."
The Anbu who spoke raised his hand and threw several shuriken.
Sakumo noticed the attack but didn't move to stop it. He also wanted to see Gisei's skills for himself.
Gisei had just come out of his mental space when he saw the shuriken shooting toward him.
He merely tilted his head slightly, allowing the shuriken to embed themselves directly into his body.
Sakumo was stunned.
Even the Anbu who threw them was stunned.
Almost every Anbu on the training ground froze in shock.
Waves of cold disappointment began to radiate from the crowd.
"Is he really just a brat? Can someone who can't even dodge a basic shuriken throw enter the Anbu?"
"As expected, he just has a good background. No one here cares about pedigree; he'll die very quickly out in the field."
It hurts...
Gisei looked down at the shuriken. If he wanted to dodge, he could have, but he chose not to.
He reached up and pulled the shuriken out of his body one by one. Medical ninjutsu activated simultaneously, and the wounds healed instantly without shedding a single drop of blood.
His current medical ninjutsu was good enough for small wounds like this, achieving near-instant healing, but it wouldn't work on anything major. If he were disemboweled, he would probably lose half his life trying to fix it.
He looked at the Anbu who threw the shuriken and tossed them back with a casual wave of his hand.
He didn't use much force, just enough to land them near the Anbu's feet.
"Senior, returning your shuriken."
The Anbu didn't look down. He just stared coldly at Gisei. "Brat, this isn't a place where you should..."
He didn't finish his sentence because Gisei had instantly appeared right in front of him.
He hadn't just been standing there idly when pulling out the shuriken; he had quietly attached fine wires to them.
The full name of the Anbu was the Assassination and Tactical Special Forces. The members here were all elites with superb skills. If he didn't want to be looked down upon and bullied, he had to show at least a little skill.
The reason he didn't dodge earlier was simple: dodging wouldn't have set him up for an effective counterattack.
It was better to go with the flow, pretend he couldn't dodge, lull the opponent into carelessness, and create an opening for a fatal blow.
Shuriken stuck in the body really hurt, and Gisei was someone who held grudges.
Lightning flickered in his hand; he had even activated his Lightning Release nature transformation. That kind of energy would make anyone wish they were dead if it even grazed them.
When the Anbu member saw Gisei instantly appear in front of him, his pupils contracted sharply.
In his haste, he could only block his chest with his arms.
With a muffled bang, the Anbu member froze in place.
Gisei immediately began to form hand seals.
Chō Bunshin (Butterfly Clone).
The Anbu member's counterattack arrived a split second later—a knee strike aimed right at Gisei's abdomen.
It hit perfectly.
But Gisei's body exploded into hundreds of butterflies that fluttered past the Anbu and reformed behind Sakumo.
Gisei reappeared, shrugging as if nothing had happened. "Senior, my attacks hurt a lot, you know."
Without him needing to say it, the Anbu had already sensed something was wrong.
His arm felt like it had been bitten by something, and the pain made cold sweat break out on his forehead.
"Is this Lightning nature transformation?"
"This brat can actually use this kind of ninjutsu? As expected of someone from a famous clan."
"Did you guys not notice how fast his Body Flicker was just now? It was simply faster than Sakumo's."
Sakumo was also a bit surprised. He gave Gisei an appreciative look and started to clap.
Applause gradually rang out, then grew enthusiastic.
Gisei scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
After a moment, he walked toward the Anbu he had just struck, the green light characteristic of medical ninjutsu glowing on his hand.
"Senior, I am a medical ninja. Do you need treatment?"
The Anbu member didn't act pretentiously. For people like them who lived on the edge of a knife, face was basically dispensable; survival was the priority.
Moreover, the stronger the teammate, the better. There was no need to hold a grudge over a spar.
While treating the Anbu, Gisei was secretly clicking his tongue in amazement.
There was no doubt his Lightning Body Flicker was fast. Yet this Anbu had not only blocked the attack with his arm but also launched a counterattack at the same time.
That reaction speed really lived up to the title of an Anbu elite.
While Gisei treated the injury, not only Sakumo but also the other Anbu noticed something else.
Gisei had been hit by shuriken earlier, but he hadn't shed a drop of blood. At most, his clothes had a few holes.
They originally thought Gisei had risked injury just to set up his Body Flicker technique.
None of the people who could enter the Anbu were fools. As long as they saw a technique once, they could basically judge its mechanics.
That Body Flicker technique obviously required wires as a medium.
Deliberately taking a hit to make others careless, while quietly attaching wires to the shuriken to launch an instant attack.
Quite a sinister brat!
The applause was naturally for this, too.
In their view, having that kind of courage combined with such sinister combat strategies made him fully qualified to be here.
It was just that seeing Gisei not shed even a drop of blood...
They looked at each other and finally looked at Sakumo.
Sakumo spread his hands, indicating he wouldn't ask.
For Anbu ninjas, personal intelligence was an untouchable taboo. Leaking abilities could lead to enemies developing countermeasures, resulting in injury or death. Sakumo wouldn't do such a thing; after all, this was a member of his squad.
Soon, Sakumo introduced Gisei to his other two teammates.
Hanadanuki (Flower Badger) and Shintori (Faith Bird).
Hanadanuki took off his mask to reveal his true face. "Aonobu Kawai. Please take care of me from now on."
Kawai?
Gisei's mouth twitched. Seeing Hanadanuki wink at him, he didn't say much.
These ninja clans were really pervasive; perhaps they had made some deal with the Third again.
As for Shintori, she was a woman, and apart from her code name, he knew nothing else.
Sakumo took out a mask painted with a butterfly design and handed it to Gisei.
"This is your mask. Think of a code name yourself."
"Yumechō (Dream Butterfly)."
Konoha under the Will of Fire—for him, life here was like a dream.
He was very awake now, and he hoped to remain awake forever. After all, humans are a species with strong assimilation capabilities.
He didn't want to be immersed in a dream forever.