Boom! Boom! Boom! Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Behind Squad Aburame's line of retreat, waves of high-powered Earth Style ninjutsu erupted, sending tremors through the ground.
Aburame Tetsumaru suddenly froze. A Ghost-faced Moth he'd left behind had just encountered a swarm of Kikaichu. His footsteps faltered instinctively. The presence of Kikaichu meant one of his clansmen was on the field.
This is a member of my own clan... should I stay and back them up?
Hmm, let me get a closer read. I don't recognize the signature of these Kikaichu. Better just keep running.
A moment later, a lean, powerful ninja hound entered the moth's field of vision.
"Sora!" Tetsumaru blurted out.
Inuzuka Takeshi was here!
Tetsumaru skidded to a halt and dropped his bag. He pulled Hisamoto out and promptly administered two injections of paralytic, followed by two more of a heavy sedative.
Uchiha Akira's eyes twitched at the sight. With a dosage that high, is this rogue even going to survive the trip?
Once the prisoner was drugged and re-bagged, Tetsumaru tossed the heavy sack toward Akira. Akira caught it purely by reflex, but the 110-pound weight sent him spinning before he collapsed onto the dirt.
Akira: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ
"Take the loot and the prisoner and keep moving toward the extraction point," Tetsumaru ordered. "I'm going back for reinforcement."
With that, Tetsumaru vanished in a Body Flicker.
"Captain—!!" Akira scrambled up, shouting at the empty air, a hint of genuine panic in his voice.
Seeing his Captain had truly vanished, Akira stood dazed for a moment before turning his head toward Kurama Yun, inch by inch. After a long hesitation, he finally spoke. "Uh... hey. Do you know the way back?"
"Huh?!"
Yun blinked her watery eyes, looked at the sky, looked at the ground, and after her pupils performed a few laps, she finally answered, "I remember! It's simple."
"Phew..." Akira let out a massive sigh of relief. Then, he looked at the massive bag that had just flattened him with a pained expression. How am I supposed to carry this?
Maybe I should just kill him and bring the head? I heard the reward is the same.
Akira's hand twitched toward his blade, but he didn't draw it. The memory of the Captain grabbing his head and shaking him like a maraca less than a day ago was still fresh. The deterrent was effective.
He handed his miscellaneous gear to Yun, gritted his teeth, and hoisted Hisamoto onto his shoulder. A thirty-eight-kilogram boy carrying a fifty-kilogram man—the veins in Akira's forehead began to bulge.
Regardless, they had to move. They were only two or three kilometers from the Iwa ambush site; it was far from safe.
On the other side, it took Tetsumaru only a minute to reach the battlefield. Thanks to the flanking maneuver by Inuzuka Takeshi and an Aburame ninja, the Iwa squads could no longer maintain their combined ninjutsu, but the Konoha force had already suffered catastrophic losses.
The battlefield was currently split in two. In the front, sixteen Iwa-nin were swarming seven Konoha survivors. Surprisingly, the Konoha ninjas were relying primarily on Earth Style—Earth Style: Mud Wall was being stacked in layers, not only blocking falling boulders but also dampening the vibrations from the Iwa-nin's Earthquake and Earth Flow Divide techniques.
In the rear, four Iwa-nin were hunting down Takeshi and the Aburame. The two of them had zero coordination, running for their lives in different directions, their situation becoming increasingly dire.
In fact, it was safe to say the entire Konoha unit was on the brink of annihilation.
Tetsumaru made up his mind instantly. While he didn't feel much of a connection to the Shinobi World at large and often acted cold, his feelings for his family, classmates, and clan were genuine.
He couldn't just stand by and watch his friend Inuzuka Takeshi die when he had the power to prevent it. He wasn't that cold-blooded.
Tetsumaru drew a Flight-Locust from his sleeve and gripped the spike on its head with both hands, letting the tip draw blood from his palms. He then drew a gargantuan amount of chakra from his Grand Circulation—so dense that a visible aura shimmered around his body.
Summoning Jutsu: Swarm Call!
In a massive eruption of white smoke, Tetsumaru summoned twenty two-meter-tall Hives. Instantly, 160,000 insects poured out like a black tide, surging toward the clearing where Takeshi was being cornered.
Tetsumaru manipulated thousands of Summoning Silks, directing the swarm into sub-groups to adjust the angles of attack, effectively encircling the four Iwa-nin before launching the assault.
The scale of the summoning was so massive that every ninja on the field felt the chakra ripple. The Iwa-nin realized Konoha had received a high-powered reinforcement and reacted immediately.
Two Iwa-nin continued to pressure the Konoha survivors, while the other two spun around to weave signs.
Earth Style: Rock Hailstorm!Earth Style: Stone Pistol!
A barrage of thumb-sized pebbles and head-sized boulders tore through the swarm, punching holes the size of a house through the black cloud. Forty or fifty insects were pulverized instantly.
In that moment, Tetsumaru's face twisted into a snarl of pure rage. Was he overwhelmed by the effort?
No. His heart was bleeding for his wallet.
The two Iwa-nin realized their mistake almost immediately. Faced with a swarm of this magnitude, Earth Style should be used for Earth Wall or Earth Prison—all-out defense, not counter-attacks.
The gaps in the swarm were filled in half a second. In the next breath, the black tide swallowed the two Iwa-nin, their screams drowned out by the deafening drone of wings and chittering mandibles.
The other two Iwa-nin didn't hesitate to use jutsu to flee toward their main group. The Iwa-nin at the front realized the tide had turned; they abandoned their offensive and immediately began constructing a defensive fortification with Earth Style.
By the time five Earth Prison Domes were completed, the two fleeing ninjas had safely retreated inside. Eighteen Iwa-nin were now hunkered down, launching a counter-attack.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Divide!
The ground began to heave and buckle. Fissures opened and snapped shut like giant maws, burying countless insects. Bug ichor began to spray from the cracks in the earth.
Earth Style: Rock Hailstorm Bomb!
A dense net of gravel swept through the air, detonating upon contact with the swarm. Charred limbs and broken wings rained from the sky.
Since when did this group have an Explosion Style user? Tetsumaru cursed. How am I supposed to fight this?
Standard Iwa Earth Style was generally ineffective against a swarm, with two exceptions: Explosion Style and Lava Style—both rare Bloodline Limits.
His previous encounter with Roshi had left a deep impression; the Lava Style had practically evaporated his army. Explosion Style was just as bad. As a high-tier AOE bloodline, a skilled user was a natural predator for insects. A single Rock Hailstorm Bomb had just turned two hundred of his large insects into dust.
The other Iwa-nin weren't idling either; they were spamming the most effective anti-bug techniques they knew.
Earth Style: Rock Hail!
Waves of flying stone pelted the swarm, the attrition rate climbing so high that the insects' momentum was ground to a halt.
Tetsumaru took a deep breath, then another. Every second of this stalemate saw hundreds of bugs dying. And bugs were money.
Don't panic. Stay steady. Just a little longer, and then they all DIE!
Because the Iwa-nin had successfully halted the swarm's charge, they were now stationary. The trap was set.
Fifty Combination Bugs reached their peak velocity after seven seconds of flight. They dived from the stratosphere, detonating at a height of one hundred meters. The kinetic energy drove the needle-sharp heads deep into the rock walls of the Earth Prisons.
Some, striking at the perfect angle, punched through the stone entirely, wounding the ninjas inside.
Following his last field test, Tetsumaru had made a final modification to the Combination Bugs: he had embedded explosive tags into the spikes. The blast radius of the tags would compensate for the insects' lack of precision.
Half of these fifty bugs were rigged with tags—roughly five for each Earth Prison dome.
"Detonate," Tetsumaru whispered.
The five domes were obliterated. In the one where a spike had fully penetrated the wall, the tag exploded inside the confined space; all four Iwa-nin inside were killed instantly.
Tetsumaru watched the flashes of the explosive tags and felt a single, unbidden tear roll down his cheek. In this moment, he had even forgotten the value of his bugs. The tags were more expensive.
Two hundred and fifty thousand Ryo, gone just like that. I HAVE to find a biological alternative to explosive tags.
It wasn't that Tetsumaru lacked explosive bugs—he had his Landmine Beetles. But those things were the size of a man's forearm and weighed four kilograms. The Combination Bugs couldn't carry that kind of payload. The bugs themselves could explode, but they were already at their weight limit; adding more would ruin their speed, range, and armor penetration. It was a dead end.
The surviving Konoha ninjas weren't fools. Seeing the "tortoise shells" shatter, they didn't miss the opening. They launched a blistering volley of attacks. The dazed and wounded Iwa-nin were cut down where they stood.
The battle was over.
After the cleanup, the tally was grim. Of the sixteen Konoha ninjas ambushed, only six had survived. Fortunately, Takeshi and Tetsumaru's kinsman were among the lucky few.
The Iwa unit was almost entirely wiped out: fifteen bodies and two prisoners. Three had likely escaped using Leaking Earth—the downside of fighting Earth Style specialists. If they dove into the ground, there was little one could do.
Historically, only the First Hokage could reliably counter Leaking Earth with his Wood Style roots. Hashirama's "Chakra-ton" levels of energy ensured his roots reached deeper and further than any Iwa-nin could dig.
Among the Konoha survivors, there was one ANBU, two Root members, and a Chunin named Ota—the specialist whose Earth Style was even more fluent than the Stone-nin's.
The ANBU member, prohibited from revealing his identity, silently began bandaging his wounds. The Root ninjas were even more withdrawn, keeping a significant distance from the other Konoha shinobi.
Tetsumaru didn't bother with them. He had shown a bit too much of his hand in front of Root. Even if it was only a fraction of his power, he was worried about trouble from Shimura Danzo.
He wondered if that classic scene from the anime would play out in the Hokage's office soon.
Scene Start.Danzo slams his hand on the desk.Danzo: Give me Aburame Tetsumaru. Root will forge him into the ultimate blade.Hiruzen: That is impossible!Danzo: You will regret this!Hiruzen: I am the Hokage!Danzo storms out, slamming the door.Scene End.
If I ever get to see that in person, this transmigration will have been worth it, Tetsumaru thought.
The four Konoha ninjas exchanged intel. Tetsumaru's kinsman was named Aburame Daito, another branch member. His Captain was the Earth Style specialist, Ota.
Squad Ota had also been assigned the Hisamoto hunt—they were one of the "competitors" Tetsumaru had guessed. The other was Takeshi's squad.
Sadly, both of Takeshi's Genin subordinates had fallen in the ambush. Takeshi himself had barely dodged a Stone Pistol to the head. It had been a near wipeout.
After a short rest, the ANBU and Root members departed without a word.
"So rude. Not even a goodbye," Takeshi grumbled.
Takeshi was more senior than Tetsumaru and had already deduced that this rogue ninja hunt was likely Root's way of "fishing." Their sloppy op-sec had allowed Iwa to turn the tables, and he'd been dragged into the mess. Now that his squad was dead and the mission was a failure, he had no reason to be friendly to the "dark side."
Tetsumaru kept his mouth shut about the fact that his squad had actually caught the guy. He didn't want to get punched.
Regardless, the mission was over. The survivors had to return to receive their punishments or rewards.
Tetsumaru stood on a battlefield littered with bug parts. He saw the three ninjas off, noticing their confused looks. Why is this kid staying on a stinking battlefield? What is he doing?
I'm recovering my resources, obviously.
Step aside, everyone. I'm about to show off.
He expertly drew chakra from his Grand Circulation. A pillar of visible energy erupted toward the sky, leaving the three ninjas who hadn't walked far enough away slack-jawed.
Tetsumaru performed the Summoning Jutsu, calling more Hives. Ten empty Large Hives were used to house the surviving insects; the other half were for recycling.
Ten Small Hives released a wave of Mole Crickets, Gold-Eating Beetles, and Logistics Cockroaches. The worker bugs swarmed the field, covering the ground in a carpet of chittering legs.
With a rhythmic sound of crunching and chewing, the bug corpses were broken down. Precious metals and fresh insect protein were hauled into the Hives, while the remaining organic waste was buried deep underground to prevent disease. This was the Land of Fire, after all; he had to be a responsible citizen.
Takeshi, standing on a distant ridge, watched as a tide of insects flowed around Tetsumaru, churning the earth until the multi-colored mess of bug parts vanished. In its place was nothing but a patch of fresh, black soil.
Tetsumaru recalled his bugs, dispelled the summoning, and vanished.
Takeshi let out a long sigh. Tetsumaru is still Tetsumaru. He found his own path, and he's still the strongest of us all.
Before dawn, Tetsumaru returned to his camp. To his surprise, his subordinates weren't there.
"Where are they?"
Tetsumaru was baffled. He couldn't go looking for them in the dark, so he could only wait.
In a forest southeast of the camp, Uchiha Akira was screaming: "DO YOU KNOW THE WAY OR NOT?!"
"Of course I do! We just need to go a bit further West and we'll hit the camp," Kurama Yun said confidently, pointing ahead.
The sun had just cleared the horizon, bathing the sky in a brilliant red. It was a rare, beautiful morning.
Akira looked at the sun in despair, then at Yun's left cheek, which was glowing in the morning light. He pointed to the direction she was pointing.
"YUN! The sun is LITERALLY coming up right there! How can you point SOUTH and call it WEST?!"
"Wait, really? You're not joking?"
Akira: ┗|｀O′|┛ ROAR—!! Yun: ╰(＊°▽°＊)╯