"Ah, what's that?"
Not many people in the Village saw it; some idle children playing happened to stumble upon it.
Tiny green flashes sparkled under the moonlight, drifting up like a starry galaxy, then flying off in one direction.
"It's some kind of insect, like a firefly, right?" the older child said uncertainly.
"Then what are they going to do?"
"How would I know? Why don't you go ask the insects?"
"Insects don't talk, Big Brother."
Insects don't talk.
The Shinobi from the Konoha Ninja Village's Barrier monitoring team looked at these insects, somewhat troubled.
"Senior, what kind of insects are these?"
The Senior, who had worked for over ten years, was seeing these insects for the first time.
And they were unusually gathered in large numbers.
Although they quickly flew out of the Village, they didn't seem dangerous.
"Don't overthink it, just report it first."
"Ha!"
The Third Hokage, upon receiving the intel, was a bit stunned, then became troubled.
Although he knew the Mushi-Hime was an expert with insects, he truly hadn't expected so many to be hidden right under his nose.
It was completely undetectable.
And they were a completely new, never-before-seen species.
Looking at the hand-drawn surveillance report sent by the Yamanaka Clan, the Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe.
Although there were slight differences in the details, these green-armored insects were just enlarged Insects.
Speaking of which, just how many types of insects did the Mushi-Hime have?
He didn't know.
So, what was this guy up to now?
Still didn't know.
Hence, a headache!!!
"Seriously, you're not really trying to start a Shinobi World War, are you?"
"No way!?"
If it was just gathering insects for battle, the Mushi-Hime had a good Summoning Technique; such a display would never appear in the Village to be noticed by people.
The current insect swarm was clearly flying towards a specific location.
So, what was it for?
Traveling?
Long-distance assault on a Shinobi Village?
In any case, the Third Hokage couldn't guess the Mushi-Hime's intentions.
But...
"It can't be 'Why don't we dance!'"
If the Mushi-Hime wanted to act stealthily, honestly, the Third Hokage felt he truly wouldn't be able to discover it.
This wave, clearly, had a problem!
The Third Hokage threw down the drawing; he didn't care anymore.
He notified his subordinates to do what they needed to do, treating it as a normal natural phenomenon.
But the Third Hokage couldn't be at ease.
He was the Hokage! As Hokage, he had the responsibilities of a Hokage.
Alright, he'd send someone to follow and see what the hell was going on.
"Follow them and observe; don't act rashly, and be careful to hide so you're not discovered."
The Anbu wanted to speak but held back.
As trusted confidants of the Third Hokage, much information was not hidden from them.
Therefore, he recognized at a glance what he was supposed to track.
That was Oil Girl Insect Princess!
Hiding one's tracks in front of an insect swarm?
What a joke!
He wouldn't even know how he was exposed.
But, Shinobi people, Shinobi soul.
"Ha!" The Anbu accepted the mission with tears in his eyes.
He could only hope the insects wouldn't swarm him and cover his entire body.
He would have nightmares.
"You don't need to hide in front of the insect swarm," the Third Hokage added. "Follow them openly, but don't let anyone else see you."
The Third Hokage was also afraid of his subordinate being killed.
"If the insect swarm attacks you," the Third Hokage patted the Anbu's shoulder and said, "Lie down and don't resist."
I'm sorry to put you through this.
"Ha!" The Anbu accepted with tears.
Nightmares, here I come!
Within the River Country, Miki slightly narrowed her eyes, using the forces she had at hand.
You took the bait, Third Hokage.
Her efforts to create a stir weren't in vain.
If he didn't react even to this, he truly would be incompetent.
However...
"We have a bit of chemistry, don't we?"
Miki glanced at the Anbu Shinobi swaggering behind the insect swarm, then directed the swarm to fly towards a certain location.
Another Root Shinobi, who had been stealthily pursuing, screamed and silently collapsed in the forest.
Danzo's intelligence simply wasn't enough; he deserved not to be the Hokage.
Afterward, Miki shifted her gaze to the battlefield within the River Country.
Since they weren't taking the bodies, she would borrow them.
Scattered Summer Red Soldiers, which had been lurking, flew out, subsequently dropping the Insects carried on their bodies.
The Insects flew and scattered, each burrowing into a corpse.
They carried the eggs of the Little Devil Slug.
Miki had researched troop types capable of carrying large insect swarms.
Using them as multi-functional aerial support units.
But the first problem to solve was gigantism.
The Summer Red Soldiers could barely carry a small number of Insects, but it severely affected their own flight speed.
In the development and application of insect swarms, Miki still had much work to do, but she could only take it slow.
Currently, it was still in a 'gacha' mode, relying on luck.
She couldn't guarantee what useful things she would get.
Next, Miki looked at Naori; the two sides were about to engage in battle.
The Iwagakure Ninja moved quickly underground, frequently surfacing to observe their surroundings.
Seeing that the Summer Red Soldiers were no longer attacking, many Iwagakure Ninja surfaced after confirming it was safe.
The terrain of the River Country was mostly rivers, with numerous waterways passing through the country, eventually converging and flowing into the sea.
Besides that, there were forests and lakes.
A group of Iwagakure Ninja moved quickly through the forest; unlike Konoha Ninja who liked to climb trees, they preferred to run on the ground.
Furthermore, they no longer used Earth Release to save Chakra for travel.
"Pay attention to your surroundings! We've already penetrated deep into enemy territory, and battle could break out at any moment. Stay alert and don't be careless!"
"Ha!"
Just then, the attack arrived silently.
The surrounding forest was completely normal, with lifelike birds, insects, and beasts visible everywhere.
As the Iwagakure Ninja passed, they normally panicked and fled.
But in such a situation, completely without any signs of an ambush, the leading several Shinobi inexplicably spontaneously combusted.
Flames engulfed their entire bodies, and they screamed as they fell to the ground, instantly losing all signs of life.
Dead!
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation
"Enemy attack! Fire Release!"
The Shinobi in the back, seeing this, shouted sharply, then formed hand signs and pressed their hands to the ground.
This was why the Iwagakure Ninja didn't climb trees.
An earth wall rose from the ground, followed by more earth walls rising in succession, forming a continuous Barrier in front of them.
The Fire Release, concealed by genjutsu, crashed into it. In the distance, Naori cupped her left hand over her mouth, Chakra undergoing intense nature transformation in her palm, and the wide-range flames spewed from her mouth changed color, becoming almost white from red, and the temperature began to rapidly increase.
Within the invisible great fire, the Iwagakure Ninja clearly saw the earth wall in front of them rapidly collapsing and burning.
Dancing sparks scattered like fireflies, and the acrid smell of charring enveloped them. Under the intense fire, sweat poured from their bodies, and their throats burned with a sharp pain.
Under the strong flames, their clothing gradually began to burn.
After only two or three seconds of initial contact, they instantly fell into a dangerous situation.
A tall Iwagakure Ninja formed a hand sign, and then, in front of them, a massive earth wall, like a fortress, powerfully rose from the ground, cutting off the sea of fire.
"What a terrifying and bizarre Fire Release," the tall Shinobi, who had formed the hand signs, said with a heavy voice.
An invisible Fire Release; at the moment of contact, they couldn't accurately judge the situation, and this Iwagakure Ninja hesitated for a moment.
"The opponent is very strong!"
Many Iwagakure Ninja nodded gravely.
Could it be that Shinobi who controlled insects?
They should have called the Kamizuru Clan earlier.
Seeing this tall fortress wall, Naori stopped spewing Fire Release.
A nearby forest area was ignited; the forest was burning.
The genjutsu concealment was removed.
This is the fifth update for today, right on time.
I had some things to deal with during the day and no time to write.
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I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"