Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 88 Green Dragonfly

The village of Kusagakure was simpler than I had imagined. There were no tall walls or imposing gates, only a wooden fence surrounding a few dozen low houses.

A dozen or so lower-ranking ninjas were lazily basking in the sun at the village entrance. They only slowly stood up when they saw him approaching.

"A wandering ninja?" one of the Chunin asked, sizing him up. "Here to seek refuge?"

Aburame Shiki, now known as Shiraki, pulled a forged identity document from his pocket. He had suddenly remembered it and asked the lord of Hozuki Castle to help him make it. Although crude, it was enough to pass the inspection of Kusagakure.

The genin took it, glanced at it, and casually tossed it back: "Go inside, the third one to the east, the registration desk."

You Nu Zhicheng nodded and walked into the village.

The village of Kusagakure was even more dilapidated inside than it appeared from the outside. The houses were old and run-down, the streets were muddy, and most of the ninjas coming and going looked pale and had blank stares.

Occasionally, a few people who were dressed a little better would also be in a hurry and not want to linger.

"This is what it's like to survive in the cracks," he thought to himself, his steps never faltering.

The registration desk was staffed by a short, stout middle-aged ninja who looked like a Chunin. He took Shisei Aburame's identification, asked a few casual questions, and then wrote his name on the register.

"The White Wood Wandering Ninja is skilled in sensory perception and possesses a dragonfly that can use Wind Release..."

Looking at the data provided by Aburame Shisei, he suddenly looked up and asked, "Perception? How far can it perceive?"

"About one mile."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged ninja's eyes lit up, and his tone immediately became more enthusiastic.

"One mile? Really?"

Aburame Shisei did not answer, but simply closed his eyes, and opened them a moment later.

"Three hundred meters northwest of the village, two people are arguing. One is wearing gray clothes, and the other is wearing black clothes. The one in gray clothes says that the one in black clothes stole his money."

The middle-aged ninja paused, then beckoned to the ninja at the door and whispered a few words to him. The ninja ran out, but returned shortly after, whispering his report back to him.

The middle-aged ninja's eyes widened immediately upon hearing this.

He looked at Aburame Shigeaki, his eyes filled with surprise: "You...how did you know?"

"Perception," Bai Mu said calmly.

The middle-aged ninja remained silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"Good, good, you've come at the right time. The village is in dire need of someone like you lately. Here's what we'll do: go settle into your dormitory first, and we'll start assigning tasks tomorrow. Don't worry, you won't be shortchanged working for our Grass Ninja Village."

Aburame Zhicheng nodded and turned to leave.

The middle-aged ninja behind him immediately replaced him with someone else after he left, and rushed out in a flurry—judging from his demeanor, he was probably going to inform the leader.

Aburame Shisei knew exactly what that person wanted to do. A newly arrived sensory ninja was quite valuable, and he needed to report it quickly and secure the position before other departments could.

This is exactly what he wanted.

For the next few days, he lived his life in Kusagakure in an orderly manner, taking on missions, doing missions, and turning in missions every day.

His perception abilities amazed everyone who teamed up with him. No matter the mission, as long as he was there, they could know the enemy's location, number, and movements in advance, resulting in a sharp increase in mission completion rate and a sharp decrease in casualty rate.

"Bai Mu, you're coming on a mission with our team tomorrow!"

"Shiraki, our team is short-handed too, come help us out!"

"Shiraki, let's have drinks tonight, it's on me!"

His name began to circulate in Kusagakure.

Those who used to ignore him now greet him with smiles; those ninjas who were once just nodding acquaintances are now trying to win him over.

Aburame Zhicheng accepted all comers, since as long as there were dragonflies around, he could cultivate natural energy at any time.

Moreover, the natural energy in each place is limited. If you stay in the same place all the time, your cultivation speed will be greatly reduced. So traveling around is better than staying in one place alone.

Besides that, he spent the rest of his time studying Wind Release ninjutsu, most of which originated from the Land of Martial Arts or were copied and modified from the Land of Grass.

When it comes to the technology of imitating and improving ninjutsu, the Land of Grass is quite good, but their geographical environment forces them to be short-sighted and unable to develop steadily.

Over the course of a month, he went on missions with different squads, met different people, and collected different intelligence.

For each mission, he would secretly release some mimicry insects, letting them lurk in various corners of the Grass Ninja Village.

A month later, his insects had completely integrated into the natural ecosystem of Kusagakure. In the high-level meeting room of Kusagakure, several insects invisible to the naked eye were already crawling on the beams of the meeting room.

The addresses, habits, and weaknesses of all twenty-three Jonin of Kusagakure; the strength and mission plans of each squad; the core of the conflict between the two major factions, their leaders, and their respective secrets.

And then there are the thirty spies hidden in Kusagakure—it's fair to say these spies are everywhere. Iwagakure has the most, and many of them are already out in the open, making no attempt to conceal their presence.

Next came Konoha, Sunagakure, Amegakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure. Of these, Kirigakure only had one person, and judging from his condition, he was probably on the verge of defecting. He didn't collect intelligence; every time he sent it back, it was fabricated by himself.

Of course, these spies would occasionally betray and kill each other during missions; in short, it was a constant struggle between them, which was quite interesting.

Aburame Shisei quickly made a name for himself among the crowd, known as "Grass-Colored Dragonfly," and was later rumored to be the number one sensory ninja in Grass Village.

As for his identity, what does it matter if we have doubts?

He was just a wandering ninja recommended by the lord of Hozuki Castle from beginning to end. No matter how strong he was, he could not enter the inner circle.

A few days later, Aburame Shisei returned from a mission and noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the village.

The usually lazy guards stood ramrod straight, the ninjas coming and going had solemn expressions, and there were several people at the village entrance whom we had never seen before—judging from their attire, they were from Iwagakure.

He returned to his dormitory without making a sound, took out the crystal ball, and lay down on his bed to look at it.

The scene depicts the meeting room of Kusagakure.

The leader of Kusagakure bowed and scraped as he received the special envoy, but the envoy didn't give him a friendly look and immediately issued orders.

The details are quite simple: Onoki, the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, has issued an ultimatum, stating that Kusagakure has been delaying for too long and will face consequences if it does not send troops to test Konoha.

"You will bear the consequences"—this phrase was nothing short of a catastrophe for the high-ranking members of Kusagakure.

After treating the special envoy with great hospitality, presenting him with a large sum of money, and sending him off, an emergency meeting was held that evening.

All the Jonin were present, and even a few elders who rarely showed up were there.

"Chief, send out the troops. We have no other choice."

"Yes, didn't we already expect this day to come?"