Mishiro's POV (Irminsul Wildlands - West River Plains)
Mishiro and Leifazu had arrived at a large flat stone stretched in the middle of a large river. In fact, as far as Mishiro could see, small stretches of trees and land were often split by a system of large rivers. Even glancing, Mishiro could know a litany of aquatic life within the water. The buzz of insects as they flew around. The land was raw and natural in a way the world at home simply wasn't. Without the destructive touch of man, the land was wild and overgrown.
Mishiro and Leifazu first scanned the area using Mishiro's considerable sensing ability to ensure no hostels were close. Though she struggled due to the latent chakra in the air. Once done, Mishiro set Leifazu to begin preparing their camp. As they would not leave until accomplishing their goal and with no clue how long it would take, it would be wise to have some safe ground in their control.
The two of them worked with tireless efficiency. Well, Leifazu did anyway; while she worked on creating a home base and pooling resources, Mishiro worked with a seal she had written into a large scroll. A flat rock was used as her workstation; the seal was simple. A chakra detection tool, it would track any notable chakra signature from a human or creature. And shouldn't be affected by the chakra in the air. Ikam had created this seal which should allow it to operate even in the odd scenario. It would be necessary for their goal; while a summoning clan would be valuable and certainly gained for them, they were looking for something much more promising.
Ikam had thought of the plan during the exams. A way to weaken their enemies while increasing their strength. Ikam had discovered the existence of the Okama clan in a long-forgotten hidden Uzumaki hideout. And while her Love had failed to gain their allegiance, the hidden crypt of knowledge had mentioned something piqued his interest. A land that connected all summoning clans, and mentions of a way to control it…
Impossible to know if it was true, but if it was… oh, the possibilities. Mishiro loved the cunning and cruel mind of Ikam, and even better, he had chosen her to ensure his plan became a reality. Mishiro would not fail him…
But before searching for the supposed item, they had to find a clan to question and gain allegiance from. Finding them would be straightforward, though only some animals would do. Ikam had a certain one in mind, one that, if truly real, would be perfect. However, it would take time for the seal to be complete, and even then, it would be difficult to find a good clan; they would be left to manually check each they detected. Since it could not sense specific chakra only amounts. Henceforth why, Ikam had hired the Kamizuru clan, extra hands and eyes. Yet somehow, Ikam's transport seal must've malfunctioned, for Leifazu and her had been left somewhere separate from them. Or perhaps the absurd amount of chakra present had interfered in some way…
"Alrighty Mishiro~!" Leifazu called as she leaped from the finished camp to Mishiro. "I finished camp and a perimeter just as you rudely ordered. Detection seals, barrier seals, no animal or person can get in here without alerting you. A little beneath a lieutenant of Ikam but-"
"Do you question my orders?" Mishiro asked as she gave an eye to Leifazu. While both were loyal to the same master, the two could not be more different. Leifazu, with her unique ability to leave her body and inhabit another with proper preparation, was nearly as old as Ashira. And considered after many deaths due to her ability to be eccentric bordering on insane.
"Are you still mad I flirted with our leader?" Leifazu asked with a giant smile making it clear she was enjoying Mishiro's frustration. "Come on now, I was just trying to have fun, I knew our leader would never, and I would never be foolish enough to step on your toes."
"Even suggesting such was a mistake," Mishiro replied hatefully. "I should still slay you for such. Besides, wasn't your original body that of a man?"
"One, we only have one extra body for me. So waste it, if you will. Secondly, my gender changes with my body. *9* And as someone who gets to experience both sides of the gender coin, I prefer to keep my choices open. After all, I have experienced how fun it can be for both sides." Leifazu replied with a smile as she examined herself with a crazed smile. "Besides, are you telling me I'm not a total babe now?"
"You're a foolish degenerate," Mishiro replied evenly. "Just remember your place… a slutty corpse that should be long gone."
"Yeah, yeah." Leifazu agreed breezily. "Anyway, what's next? I wanna get this mission done so I can chase some male tail. Neither side is safe from Leifazu!"
"I'm glad you're so energetic," Mishiro said with a smirk. "I'll leave the discovery of our Kamizuru allies to you. Find and bring them here."
"Always the grunt work…" Leifazu complained. "Though I suppose that blonde one was kinda hot… alright, I'll find them. Might have some fun before they find some way to be killed."
"Don't you dare! We have no time for pleasure, merely business!" Mishiro warned snappishly.
"Everyone says that, but they don't really mean it~!" Leifazu sang as she raced off to find the others.
Mishiro sighed but let it go, instead focusing on her seal. Content with the isolation and silence, she allowed her mind to drift as she worked on her seal. Thinking of only her love…
Shino's POV (Irminsul Wildlands - East Forest)
It was admittedly a fantastic experience, teleportation. Over in an instant, but was different in a way far from anything else Shino had experienced. Shino could immediately tell they were no longer in the Land of Iron. His insects buzzed worriedly from within him. Unsurprisingly any of his allies that had been outside of him had been cut off. They would be fine of course they would stick to their post. Content with the fact things were in order. Shino allowed several scouts to his body to get a sense of his surroundings. Oddly enough, they were not in some wildland as Muri had warned them.
They were in a thick and damp forest, though many of the trunks of trees had carved out into wide pathways. In fact, some force had created a complex system of pathways that led up and down the forest as far as his eyes could see. But there were no buildings, furniture, or anything to suggest this was a living area. It was some sort of road… One that had appeared on. Though there was no sign of life…
Shino flinched as a returning scout communicated its find to him. His allies had found Hinata a short distance away and led her to him. In fact…
Shino closed his eyes and focused on the light tingling sensation in his head. It felt similar to when his allies left the Hidden Leaf. It was as if one of his insects were outside of his range… That was it. Shino often, with or without the permission of his teammates, kept a few beetles on his friends. They would feed and live sneakily on his friends, harmless and with them, Shino could always find them should he need to. The connection was shaky and loose. So much so Shino was not sure if it was Yuno, Choji, or even both. However, it was a lead…
Hinata zipped onto the same road as Shino. Smiling widely, seemingly glad to see a friendly face. I saw your insects leading me to you. Thank you, Shino-san, let your insects know I am thankful to them as well." Hinata nodded politely. "It seems we are in some kind of forest, well a forest that someone turned into some kind of road system."
"Not someone, something." Shino countered, looking at the road in more detail. It was roughly assembled wood, smooth and connected well but crude and unsanded. It was certainly functional, though Shino doubted a human would leave it so. Furthermore, anyone would construct something so crudely by anything but choice. "This roadway or system of roadways is intelligently built, but not by humans. It seems like an intelligent creature made this but lacked the finer tools to construct it well. In fact, these roads are larger than even carriages. As if whatever uses them is much larger than a mere human." As Shino finished, he sent out even more drones to provide more information.
"Likely the results of one of these summoning clans." Hinata agreed. She understood Shino's goal, which was aided by activating her Byakugan for a moment. "I don't see any life within the area… isn't that strange?"
"It certainly is… though it seems there is some life… my allies found some underneath the dirt, only one kind, ants," Shino explained.
"Only ants, if they are ants, wouldn't there be other insects too? In fact it's quite rare for a lively forest to be mostless lifeless." Hinata asked, confused.
"Indeed insects, no, all life, live only where they can find food, water, and shelter. Otherwise, they would never last… for a location with these resources and space for only one species to be found suggests they are apex predators, a near impossibility for a normal ant species… we're near a home for the ants. These small ants have likely realized they were here and communicated it to their nest. If we assume they are a summoning clan, well… there should be much larger ones."
"Ah, so the littles were not incorrect. They are indeed chakra-enhanced humans here." A voice sounded out, interrupting Shino. It was raspy and somewhat hard to understand. It was as if someone was speaking by scraping two pieces of metal together. The two shinobi turned to face the voice and saw it came from a massive ant. The creature was dark and seemingly covered in a sheeny armor covering its body. At each bend, dark orange hair poked out; its eyes were dark and menacing, its antennae twitched in the air. Worse yet, the monstrous ant was not alone. There were six larger ones and many ants of varying sizes beneath the larger ones' legs. It was clear Shino had been correct; the area must've been the territory of this ant clan… "Hello, humans; as this is the queen's territory, we must insist you explain your presence. If it is for resources, we may have to force you to leave."
Hinata eyed the large crowd nervously. Shino could see why. The giant ants looked durable and had managed to sneak up on them. And while the two of them could likely fend them off it was doubtless there was more on the way. Shino was confident they wouldn't perish; but fighting would be risky. "We are Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga of the Leaf Village." He answered honestly, "We have been sent to search for our allies. We seek no trouble and if unwelcomed will vacate the area after we ensure our allies are not present."
The giant leader made a strange clicking sound. Shino assumed they must be laughing. "Ah, a bit of a shame; the littles were looking forward to feasting on your flesh. But if you are of the Leaf, you must be the group of shinobi the Okama clan referred to. They warned that some may come through and that we should aid them. I am Number 743 *10* of the Antuni Clan. We shall aid you as asked… under certain circumstances of course."
"A circumstance? From what you said, you are allies of the Okama Clan." Hinata chimed in. Shino nodded at her angle. It was good to see that Hyuga could be as wise as she was timid. Using the Okama as an angle may spare them from combat. "One of ours is, in fact, a summoner of theirs. Would it not be beneficial for the Antuni to heed the words of the Okamas?"
Another series of clicks was more aggressive than nature than the last sound. "You humans know little… We are not allies of the Okama nor enemies, merely colleagues at best. In fact, any we interact with is beneficial to us or prey. We intend to see what you shall be. If you're powerful enough to be useful, we will treat you as a guest and aid in your quest, as the Okama asked. Otherwise, we will slaughter and consume the two of you."
Shino narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. "And how would you have us prove ourselves?"
"There is a group of creatures that invade our land. Mutts that savagely hound us. They are much less kind than us and ferocious in nature. Normally, we would simply war with and exterminate those who would dare. But with their numbers, we would lose far too many soldiers. Deal with this threat for us, and we will offer you our aid. That is the word of Queen 3."
"How do we know you'll keep your word?" Shino asked. "Or even need your aid?"
"We can sense another pair of humans nearby, just northwest of here, struggling against this enemy. I can safely assume they are your allies. The littles mentioned they have the same headband as you. They are a distance away, far enough that you need to be absurdly fast to aid them. Even now, your scouts have yet to discover them."
Hinata dropped into a low combat stance, kunai drawn and coated in chakra. She glared fiercely at the ants. "Take us to them!"
"Yet your clan can sense them. And if you mention it, you must have a way to help us. You simply are attempting to bind us unfairly to you." Shino interrupted Hinata and stared down the ant unflinchingly.
The first series of clicking sounds went off again; it was laughing. As the ant recovered, it replied, noticeably amused with Shino: "You are wise for a human. Yes, we have the ability to tunnel through the earth at incredibly fast speeds. This would allow you and a strike force of us to attack them and likely save your humans."
Shino looked back at Hinata, who nodded hesitantly. Shino was less sure. Could these ants truly be trusted? How could they sense the others? Could he afford to take the risk of not believing them? No, he had loosely sensed Choji in the same general direction. It certainly gave credence to what the ant had said. Besides, it had been aware of the Okama clan and could have attacked them earlier…
"Very well, lead the way." Shino agreed.
The ant nodded before clicking several times loudly. The other large and small ants reacted immediately. Moving in a straight, thick line, they immediately began to dig, somehow easily getting what Shino estimated was ten feet deep in mere seconds.
Choji would need only wait a while longer…
X-X
9.) So, as explained in the mark, Leifazu often switches bodies upon death. And tend to fully embrace the gender of their body. Even enjoy switching genders on occasion. Though Leifazu was originally male.
10.) So this is a way of acknowledging how some of these animals may act considering their animal traits—well, bugs, in this case, or insects… yeah. The ants in this are intelligent but have different priorities than the average creature. They are more part of a machine than an individual.