Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 24, First Insect Hive Outpost

The mine shaft behind the mountain was dark and gloomy, but not damp, and there were more than a dozen people hiding inside.

The foreman had long been murdered; his limbs lay piled in a corner, rotting and emitting a foul stench. The rebellious farmer, wounded by the fallen spring grass, lay dying on the ground.

Instead of rushing in, Aburame Zhicheng first let the Stink Bugs enter, releasing pheromones and using illusion magic to put them into a deep sleep.

Afterward, he selected those that could still survive and brought them out of the cave; the rest were completely devoured by the carrion worms.

Soon, the inside became clean and tidy, and the remaining odor was neutralized and purified by the stink bugs.

He continued deeper into the mine, found a suitable spot, threw the four unconscious wandering warriors onto a stone platform inside the cave, and gently patted them awake.

"Who are you? Why are you arresting us?"

The leading samurai was named Nanichi. He was in his thirties and had a weathered face. Even though he had been captured for no apparent reason, he still maintained a fearless attitude.

Compared to him, the other wandering samurai performed much worse.

"Boss, he's a ninja from Takigakure. You can tell by the headband he's wearing."

The wandering samurai who spoke was a middle-aged man. Seeing the situation, he kept grumbling, "Boss, I told you long ago that we should have left here a long time ago. Why bother with those tenants? Look at what they've done these past few days, they're not exactly good people either."

"Shut up!" Nanshi scolded, then turned to Aburame Shicheng: "You're definitely not a ninja from Takigakure, are you? They have no strength, yet they captured the four of us here without anyone noticing."

He looked around and keenly observed the insects crawling around the mine: "You are that Aburame traitor from Konoha."

Aburame Shisei snapped his fingers: "Smart. But how did you get the news so quickly?"

"Cats have their ways, and mice have theirs. We wandering samurai may lack strength, but we have our own channels for gathering information. You captured us not just to kill us, right? Tell me, what do you want us to do?"

"Clever. What if I make you kill your own brothers to survive?"

"What? Impossible!" He sneered, looking as if he were ready to die. "Change your terms. I, Nanshi, never betray my brothers."

"Oh? Then you can help me slaughter the nearby villages and bring all their corpses here. Since you know my information, you should also know that my insects need to eat meat."

"Hahahaha!" Nan Shi laughed loudly, "I never thought that a great ninja village like Konoha would produce someone like you. I used to have doubts, but now I know why they've been hunting you down. Starting wars and massacring civilians. I thought only small ninja villages would do such things."

Just then, the other two samurai's expressions changed: "Sir, please don't kill us! We're willing to do it!"

"Third brother! You'd do something like this just to save your own life!"

"Brother, we initially followed you just to make a living. As for your so-called Bushido spirit, sorry, what era are we living in? Samurai are outdated. This is the age of ninjas."

The man turned to Aburame Shigeaki: "My lord, I'm willing to kill!"

"Alright." You Nu Zhicheng took out an insect egg from his pocket: "Eat this, and from now on you will be my subordinate."

Looking at the fist-sized insect egg, sweat was already dripping down his forehead. Finally, he swallowed hard, put the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

Aburame Zhicheng watched as he swallowed the insect eggs and formed hand seals.

The secret technique, Cocoon, was activated, and the insect eggs rapidly hatched inside his body.

The man suffered a severe stomach cramp and collapsed to the ground. In no time, his body began to shrivel up, while his belly grew larger.

You Nu Zhicheng stepped forward and kicked the bulging belly open, quickly releasing four insect eggs, three of which were much smaller than before.

It has evolved?

However, the insect eggs became smaller, probably because the person was not getting enough nutrition.

He picked up the insect eggs and looked at the other three: "This world is the same everywhere, so do you still have any expectations for Konoha? The tenant farmers' rebellion in the farm, that must have been your doing, right?"

Nan Shi lowered his head and remained silent: "Yes, I did it."

"You can't change anything, because there's no such thing as absolute justice in this world. Those tenants will probably retaliate even more fiercely after they enjoy power." Aburame Shicheng placed three insect eggs in front of the three of them: "Eat them."

"No, no!" the other samurai shouted, struggling and clenching his teeth.

Aburame Shichen nailed a kunai to the man's forehead, and the insects on the ground swarmed up and devoured him completely.

"You have no right to refuse."

The remaining two, Nanshi and the middle-aged samurai, had no choice but to lower their heads, lick up the insect eggs that had fallen to the ground, and swallow them.

This time, however, they didn't experience excruciating pain. Instead, they were met with a warm current that flowed through their bodies, making them feel stronger.

"Don't take any chances. I can give you strength, and I can also take your life."

All I need now is for you to stay here, assist me with my experiments, and help me guard this mine.

I will send people to control those farmers outside. After that, their grains, vegetables, and meat will be supplied to you in unlimited quantities.

All you need to do is diligently cultivate and improve your strength. Besides that, keep an eye out for outside news and gather intelligence for me.

The two men rose, knelt on one knee, and lowered their heads in submission: "Yes, Master."

Aburame Shisei nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave the mine. He set up a simple camouflage barrier at the entrance; the barrier wouldn't block entry or exit, but it would interfere with external perception of the chakra inside the cave.

The Takigakure squad had already assembled in front of the manor's main house.

"Did you find it?" Yoshisuke Sato asked with a stern face.

Naoto, Ono Yuki, and Haruka all shook their heads.

"I searched a mile radius around the manor but found no trace of the samurai."

"I also checked the farmland and mines to the west; there are only tenant farmers, no samurai."

Chuncao was even simpler; she didn't say anything, just shrugged.

Sato Kisuke frowned and looked at Aburame Shisuke: "Takikawa, what about you over there?"

Aburame Shisei also shook his head: "I checked all the buildings in the manor, and there were indeed no samurai. I did find some fragments of samurai swords, but they were all rusty scraps."

"Strange." Sato Yoshisuke stroked his chin. "The intelligence clearly stated that there were three to five wandering samurai instigating a rebellion. Now the samurai are gone, but the rebellion has actually occurred."