Naoto didn't know how long he had been running or where his feet were taking him. As the night deepened, guided by a frantic instinct, he found himself standing before the door of "Takigawa Sho."
He hesitated for a long ti, his breath ragged in the cold air, before finally knocking with a trembling hand.
Inside the hive, Shisui had already sensed his arrival through the Mimicry Insects.
"Have you finally found the courage to face it?" Shisui murmured to himself. This ti, he did not send a clone. He left the hive in his true body and stepped into the living quarters.
The door creaked open. Naoto looked up, eting Shisui's eyes directly for the first ti with a piercing clarity. "The changes in my body... it was you, wasn't it?"
It sounded like a question, but his gaze was absolute.
Shisui paused for a beat, offering no denial. "Yes. It was ."
"Why?" Naoto's voice turned sharp, his throat tight with suppressed fury—not because of the power he had gained, but because of the betrayal of his trust.
"Because you possess a rare quality. I apologize, Naoto; I exploited your trust to turn you into a specin."
"You aren't Takigawa Sho, are you?"
"No. You should have realized that a long ti ago," Shisui answered truthfully. He stepped aside, inviting Naoto in, and poured a concentrated, high-quality liquid into a cup.
"Co in and drink. I believe this will help with what you're feeling right now."
Naoto wanted to refuse, but the rich, nutritional scent wafting from the cup made his mouth water uncontrollably. Finally, he stepped into the familiar room—a step that felt like walking through a gateway into an irreversible abyss.
He downed two cups of the liquid greedily. Shisui refilled them with asured, calm movents.
"You should have seen it. My strength, my experience... they far exceeded anything the real Takigawa Sho was capable of. I thought that by slowly revealing my hand, you would see the reality. But you are just like soone I once knew—you trusted blindly until the end."
With the nutritional fluid in his system, the gnawing hunger in Naoto's gut finally subsided. He looked up. "Where is the real Takigawa-niisan?"
"Dead. He was weak and was abducted by bandits. By the ti I found him, he was drawing his last breath."
"Then why did you..."
"I needed a new identity to evade the pursuit of Konoha. I am not a 'villain' in the traditional sense, Naoto. You've seen that yourself."
Naoto fell silent. He couldn't deny it. Their interactions had felt genuine, and the village had been improving.
He wasn't blind; he saw the sturdier walls, the fertile earth, and the high-end supplies brought in by the rchant Ryuji Ida—goods usually reserved for nobles, sold at prices commoners could afford.
But he also knew the dark side: the thugs who vanished overnight, the bodies of the elderly that disappeared before burial, the "departure" of the Jonin six months ago, and the eerie silence of the elite after the "spy rebellion."
He took a deep breath, asking the question that had haunted him. "What is inside ? Did Saki-san and the others really leave of their own free will? And are you... are you controlling everything?"
"It is an insect—one that holds the key to breaking my physical limits. As for the Jonin, so are still alive. Do you wish to see them?"
"So it's true. You are the shadow over this village. Who are you? What do you want from us?"
"My na is Abura Shisui. I am sorry we had to et under these pretenses." Shisui's voice was flat, almost chanical.
"As for 'controlling' the village, it wasn't my original plan. I wanted a quiet life, but people kept disturbing . Believe it or not, I didn't choose this; they forced my hand."
"You say you were... forced?" Naoto felt like he was hearing the world's most absurd joke, yet Shisui's eyes were unnervingly sincere. He had a sickening feeling that the man was telling the truth.
"And how long does this control last?"
"Are they not living well now?" Shisui countered.
Naoto couldn't answer. He felt that people shouldn't live in a lie, a fabricated paradise that was actually a gilded cage.
"No wonder the Jonin look like they're suffocating. No wonder the Chunin do nothing but gamble and drink. We are all your prisoners."
"I would open the barrier," Shisui said, "but I am still too weak. If soone accidentally leaks my location, this place will be overrun by Great Village shinobi. It would beco a hell."
"What are you trying to say?" Naoto wanted to ask why he didn't just leave, but the words died in his throat.
Shisui said nothing more. He opened the hidden passage to the hive and stepped into the darkness. Naoto stared into the bottomless hole for a mont before following him down.
Soon, light blood. Naoto gasped as he entered Shisui's kingdom.
It was a subterranean world teeming with life: glowing yellow insects clung to the walls like lamps, ladybug-like scouts flitted through exotic flora, and grey-white plankton drifted over the water.
Stag-beetle mutants fed on the sap of the Great Tree, and near the roots, shifting insects mimicked centipedes and lizards.
Beneath the massive central root, a colossal, semi-transparent scorpion lay slumbering.
"This is..." Naoto was breathless.
Shisui spread his arms. "Welco to my world, Naoto. The key to the village's freedom has always been in your hands. Are you willing to rge fully with the insect inside you?"
"If this experint succeeds, your chakra will shatter its current limits. Combined with your unique will, you could reach the level of a Kage. At that point... You would finally have the strength to protect ."
Naoto looked at the face that was both a stranger's and a friend's. "Aren't you afraid I'll turn on you?"
"Why should I be?"
"Fine," Naoto said firmly. "I'll do it. But on one condition: once the experint is over, you release your grip on the village. Change the barrier to a warning system only. Let the villagers leave if they wish. They shouldn't be trapped in this valley forever."
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