Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 84 Kakuzu's Surrender and Larvae Hatching

Kakuzu fell silent again, staring at Aburame Shisei with a complex expression.

The young man before him had displayed strength far exceeding his expectations in the battle just now. It wasn't just simple power, but the ability to utilize insect control techniques to their fullest extent—intelligence gathering, tactical deployment, feints to distract, and the fatal blow—every step was calculated with crystal clarity.

How old is he?

Early twenties?

Kakuzu suddenly remembered when he was twenty years old, he was still a lowly ninja in Takigakure, thinking every day about how to complete missions and how to survive.

"What kind of monster are you?"

Aburame Shisei didn't answer, but looked at him and said, "Your strength should have reached its limit, right?"

Kakuzu was taken aback again. Before he could ask a question, Aburame Shisei continued, "For the next ten, twenty, or even a hundred years, your strength will not change at all. Even if you learn more powerful Five Elements Ninjutsu, it will only increase your attack methods."

Kakuzu asked in surprise, "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm referring to the flaws of Earth Grudge Fear. While acquiring hearts can grant immortality, chakra is a fusion of spirit and cells, an extension of the will and body of the strong. With each heart you fuse with, some mixed wills will grow within your body. These things are the obstacles that restrict your strength."

Kakuzu paused, his hand, which was taking out the scroll to repair the heart, stopped abruptly, because this was the first time he had heard such a theory.

He had used this technique for decades, only knowing that it could grant immortality and allow one to possess multiple chakra attributes. He never imagined that the lingering will within his heart would become his shackles.

"Can you solve this?" Angle looked up and asked.

"Not in the short term," Aburame Shigeaki said frankly, "but with long-term care, it should be possible."

"I can use pills to wash away the residue on your body. But the residue of your mental consciousness in your chakra requires a more complicated method. The ideal way is to clone your own heart, and use your own cloned heart to replace someone else's heart each time you need a heart transplant. Although it will be weaker in the early stages, it will allow your chakra to gradually become pure and become an extension of your own will."

"The advantage is that casting spells will be faster, and you can also use more sophisticated Five Elements Escape Techniques."

Kakuzu was dumbfounded: Cloning his own heart? What kind of thing is this?

Seeing that he didn't understand, Aburame Shisei explained a bunch of academic issues to him. Kakuzu nodded repeatedly. As an old-fashioned person, although he was learned, he was also insightful, and he could roughly understand some of the content.

He didn't understand the specific details at all. He even wanted to ask how it was done, but he didn't know where to start.

But I have to admit, he does have a point, if it could really be done...

"Do you know sealing techniques?" Aburame Shisei suddenly changed the subject. "If you do, write them down for me so I can see if we've learned any overlap. The more sealing techniques we have, the better."

Kakuzu looked at his matter-of-fact expression and suddenly laughed—a hearty laugh. He hadn't laughed like that in a long time.

"OK."

He took the headband from Yu Nu Zhicheng, held it in his hand and looked at it for a long time, then knelt down on one knee.

"Kakuzu, I am willing to serve you, sir."

Aburame Shicheng nodded and turned to walk towards the underground palace.

He said, "Come on, I'll take you to see the real treasure."

Several months later, deep within the underground palace, in a separate stone chamber.

Yu Nuzhicheng sat cross-legged in front of the petri dish, his eyes fixed on the movement inside.

After half a year, the insects cultivated with the chakra of the Seven-Tails finally began to hatch.

The first to hatch were dragonfly larvae. They were completely transparent, with faint bluish-purple light spots visible moving inside their bodies.

Most of the larvae were quite ordinary, except for one—it was larger than its companions and had more intense purple markings. More importantly, it could absorb natural energy on its own.

Yu Nu Zhicheng witnessed it lying on the edge of the petri dish, slowly absorbing the free natural energy in the air.

After those energies entered its body, they fused with the Seven-Tails' chakra, forming something entirely new.

"Sage Chakra?" Aburame Shisei wondered to himself. To verify his guess, he took out a bottle of Hero's Water and poured it into a petri dish.

The larva immediately swam over and greedily absorbed the contents. It sucked the entire bottle of Hero's Water dry in one gulp.

Then, it began to molt, a process that lasted for a whole week. Yu Nu Zhicheng stayed here day and night, never leaving its side.

On the seventh night, it finally emerged from its pupa.

It was a dragonfly about the size of a palm, entirely emerald green, with wings as transparent as crystal and a faint purple glow at the edges.

After circling in the air a few times, it landed on Aburame Shisei's shoulder and gently nuzzled his face.

He could clearly perceive its thoughts, which were vague and confused, like those of a three- or four-year-old child, but its closeness to him was instinctive.

"From now on, I'll call you Qing."

Aburame Zhicheng bit her finger, formed a hand seal, and pressed it against his forehead, thus establishing a spiritual contract with him.

The dragonfly flapped its wings, seemingly quite fond of the name.

Just then, a dark shadow darted over; it was the Invisible Scorpion.

It perched on the other shoulder of Yu Nu Zhicheng, staring at the dragonfly, its tail hook slightly raised, as if it were about to fight.

Not to be outdone, Qing flapped its wings and emitted a buzzing warning sound.

"Stop fooling around."

Aburame Zhicheng grabbed one in each hand and scolded, "No fighting! Scorpion, you're not allowed to bully Qing, understand?"

The invisible scorpion reluctantly retracted its stinger, feeling endless grievance.

Qing also folded its wings and landed on his head, taking up the high ground. Aburame Shisei shook his head helplessly and began to examine Qing's body.

The result brought him both joy and regret. He was joyful because Qing had indeed completed its transformation into a celestial insect, able to freely absorb natural energy. This meant that the techniques it could use in the future would far surpass those of ordinary insects.

However, it can currently only absorb natural energy and cannot convert it into Sage Chakra. Also, unfortunately, it has only one attribute—Wind Release.

Aside from the wind attribute, there is no trace of any other elemental attribute in its body.

Aburame Shisei murmured, "Well, it's already quite good to be able to take a single attribute to its extreme."

He turned to look at the other side, where rhinoceros beetles were perched on the tree. After six months, these beetles had grown several times larger than before, the largest of which was now the size of a fist. However, they still hadn't completed their final metamorphosis and had all fallen into a deep sleep.

"It seems they'll need a few more years on their own," Aburame Shisei frowned.

"Well, for now we can only accelerate the evolution ahead of schedule, but I don't know if the energy in the petri dish will be enough."