With the dead weight of sentintality cast aside, Shisui Abura's escape velocity surged.
As he neared the outer edge of the forest, the silhouettes of patrolling ANBU flickered through the mist. The chakra feedback from his scouting insects identified them as two Chunin.
Shisui moved forward without hesitation. Two figures wearing animal masks and the signature grey tactical vests intercepted him. Following protocol, one extended a hand. "Identify yourself. Present your papers."
Shisui reached into his tool pouch and tossed a forged mission scroll toward them. "Ergency mission," he said curtly.
"Why are you alone?"
"Independent scouting."
One ANBU caught the scroll, unfurled it, and scanned the text for a few seconds before exchanging a sharp look with his partner.
Shisui sighed internally. He knew the ruse had reached its limit. As the ANBU opened his mouth to shout, the black ink on the scroll suddenly liquified, turning into a swarm of ink-colored insects that surged up the man's arms and over his throat.
The second ANBU reacted instantly, leaping back and hurling a kunai rigged with an explosive tag.
Shisui didn't dodge. He caught the kunai barehanded, but in the blink of an eye, his body dissolved into a mass of grey insects. The swarm engulfed the kunai and the tag completely.
"Explode!" the retreating ANBU yelled, finishing his hand signs.
Nothing happened. The explosive tag had been devoured and neutralized by the grey swarm before the spark could catch.
These were insects the ninja world had never seen—certainly not the standard breeds kept by the Abura clan.
Realizing his teammate was down and the enemy's abilities were unknown and lethal, the ANBU reached for a flare to signal the village.
Suddenly, a sharp, searing pain erupted in his back. A giant, translucent scorpion—camouflaged perfectly against the bark—had struck from the shadows, its venomous stinger impaling his chest.
Shisui released his grey insects to dissolve the bodies. Within seconds, every trace of the patrol was erased.
He reached out and patted the head of the giant scorpion, which vanished in a puff of white smoke. This was his personal summon, the fruit of years of secret breeding and refinent.
"The village will have noticed the silence by now," Shisui muttered. "I need to pick up the pace."
He scavenged the two discarded tool pouches and sprinted west. Monts later, he felt a series of ntal "snaps"—his sensory bugs back toward the village were losing connection one by one.
Root was faster than the Hokage's faction. Was it the handlers who had been monitoring him? Or had the clan elders reported his disappearance directly to Danzo? It didn't matter.
Shisui skidded to a halt.
Among the pursuers were mbers of his own clan. An Abura knew an Abura best; if he didn't eliminate the tail, they would track him to the ends of the earth.
Defecting from the Hidden Leaf was never ant to be easy. Even with the Legendary Sannin away and Danzo recovering from wounds sustained on the Northern front, the village's residual strength was formidable.
He waited for ten seconds. Then ca the sound—not the wind, not a bird, but the unmistakable rustle of fabric against leaves.
Three n in black tactical gear and animal masks surrounded him from three directions. One, wearing the signature dark glasses of the Abura, stepped forward. His voice was a flat drone. "Shisui Abura.
You will co with us. Lord Danzo wishes to see you."
Shisui looked at his kinsman and felt a surge of dark amusent. "But I'm currently defecting. Shouldn't you be trying to kill ?"
"Lord Danzo is magnanimous. He will overlook this lapse. As long as you—"
Shisui raised a hand, cutting him off. It wasn't a hand sign; it was a simple upward gesture.
A low, vibrating hum filled the air. The sky grew dark, but not from clouds. Thousands of insects erupted from the canopy and the earth like a rising tide.
Unlike the black Kikaichu of his clan, these were leaden-grey with transparent wings that shimred with a tallic luster in the filtered sunlight.
The three Root agents scrambled for cover. One leaped into the high branches, finishing a series of signs. A black shadow stretched out from beneath the tree, snaking toward Shisui—the Shadow Possession Jutsu.
The shadow caught him, but "Shisui" rely collapsed into a heap of buzzing bugs. A Bug Clone.
The real Shisui was already seated high above. A massive swarm had coalesced into a floating platform, a "cloud bed" of insects.
He leaned back, looking down at them with cold detachnt as his fingers blurred through signs.
"Secret Technique: Swarm Deception."
The leaden insects surged like an avalanche. A silver waterfall of hunger crashed down upon the three agents.
A single, unified scream rang out, followed by a sickening crunching sound. Within seconds, not even a bone remained.
Even the tracking bugs his kinsman had planted on him were consud by the grey swarm.
Once the area was purged of all trackers, the swarm flowed back into Shisui's sleeves like a returning tide.
His cover was blown; there was no longer any need for caution or slow trekking. He swapped the Erosion Bugs for Aero-Bugs—a breed specialized for high-speed flight. Sitting atop his insect cloud, he perford a technique he had "borrowed" and modified from the Hidden Sand.
"Secret Technique: Insect Carpet."
He accelerated, soaring over the treetops.
Suddenly, the world went unnaturally silent. The colors of the sky bled into a dull, sepia tone, like an old film reel. Cherry blossom petals began to drift lazily from the sky.
Genjutsu.
In the Hidden Leaf, there was only one man capable of casting a Genjutsu of this scale that could catch Shisui instantly: Shinku Yuhi.
Though only twenty-five and not yet at his absolute physical peak, Shinku was already an elite Jonin and a renowned master of illusions.
Shisui's body stiffened. A circular mark glowed faintly on his chest. A small, wingless insect crawled from his collar, secreting a sharp, pungent pheromone. The chemical shock snapped Shisui's nervous system back to reality.
The sepia world shattered. Standing right in front of him was a handso man in his twenties, his kunai already lunging for Shisui's throat.
Shisui's hands blurred through signs. The body the kunai pierced exploded into a cloud of flying insects. Bug Replacent Jutsu.
Shinku Yuhi reacted with veteran precision, leaping backward and sensing the direction of the replacent. He let fly three kunai in a tight spread.
Shisui was faster than Shinku anticipated. He twisted mid-air, dodging the projectiles, and finished a sequence of seals.
The floating Aero-Bugs began to churn violently, condensing into a massive sphere that roared toward Shinku like a living cannonball.
"Secret Technique: Insect Sphere."
Against an average ninja, this was a death sentence. Against an elite like Shinku, it was rely a distraction.
Shinku was the best of the best. Even if his Genjutsu failed to end the fight, his mastery of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu was top-tier. He used a flawless Substitution to evade the sphere, followed up with a minor sensory disruption, and closed the distance instantly with a kunai in hand.
In Shinku's experience, a bug-user's body was usually hollowed out and weakened by their parasites. Up close, in a physical brawl, Shinku was certain he held the winning hand.
User Comments
0 comments from readers