Naruto: Building Insect Kingdom Chapter 62 62: The War Draws to a Close

A week passed, but the lack of discipline and the wanton indulgence of the shinobi remained an unsolved crisis.

A few days later, Shisui Abura was the first to detect a hidden Iwagakure spy. However, he remained in the shadows, monitoring the spy to see who was receiving the leaked intel rather than informing Naoto imdiately.

It took Naoto five days to sense the intruder, by which ti the information had already changed hands.

Wracked with guilt, Naoto descended into the hive, only to find that Shisui had already apprehended the entire cell.

"You're here," Shisui said, standing over several strangers dressed in foreign ninja attire.

"They are..."

"Iwa scouts," Shisui replied calmly. "Spies are like water; they find every crack. I am not as omnipotent as you imagine, and there will be tis when I lapse. That is why I need the White Dew you produce."

After a mont of internal struggle, Naoto extended his white tendrils. He drained the life force of the captive spies, condensing their essence into a single, glowing drop of Dew.

On that day, the resolve to protect his village hardened within his heart. Shisui was a rogue ninja of Konoha; once the war ended, the world would hunt him.

Naoto didn't know how strong a "Kage-level" fighter truly was, but he knew that if a Great Village moved against them, Takigakure would be the first to burn. He had to beco stronger.

"I will protect this village," Naoto vowed.

Days later, the village implented a radical new policy. The young leader, Shibuki Kogan, acting on the advice of the newly promoted Jonin Naoto, announced the planning of a dedicated comrcial district.

For the first ti, Takigakure opened its doors to foreign rchants. Anyone willing to settle permanently could purchase storefronts and residency.

Furthermore, Shibuki moved to overhaul the Takigakure Ninja Academy, appointing Naoto as the Honorary Principal.

The school was restructured into six grades with six dedicated instructors. Naoto's close friends—Arisue, Harukusa, and "Takigawa Sho"—were all appointed as teachers. Joining them were Aoki, now fully recovered, and two veteran Chunin, Sasaki and Morita.

Unsurprisingly, this roster was a result of Shisui's behind-the-scenes manipulation, though largely prompted by Naoto's pleas.

The educational foundation of Takigakure—especially regarding worldviews and advanced knowledge—was abysmally poor. Strength without thought, Shisui mused, resulted in nothing more than a beast.

Shisui decided that spending all his ti underground with insects was ill-advised; he would use a shadow clone to interact with the children, if only to prevent his own life from becoming too stifling.

The village expanded, basking in a new era of prosperity. However, trouble brewed when a high-ranking Chunin, known for his alcoholism and arrogance, brutally beat his young child into a critical condition. The neighbors were furious but terrified to intervene in a "private family matter."

The following morning, the Chunin was publicly executed for violating multiple new village laws. His body vanished that night, and another drop of White Dew appeared in the hive.

That afternoon, Naoto convened the entire village to redraft their laws. His voice was quiet but carried to every ear: "From today, I expect every ninja to cast aside their arrogance and abandon their vile habits.

And to the villagers—hold your heads high. Do not believe yourselves inferior. We may be few, but we are united. Everyone here deserves a life of happiness."

The villagers looked at the young man and realized he had changed. It wasn't his face, but a certain weight he carried—the gravity of responsibility.

Soon, Naoto led the villagers in processing a specialized type of military ration. he realized that a luxurious life wasn't the danger; the danger was losing the will to fight and having no vision for the future.

He wanted the village to break free from the control of nobles and Daimyos—to be economically independent and wealthy, no longer reliant solely on grain or Shisui's hidden support.

In the depths of the hive, things were also shifting.

By diluting two drops of White Dew into a dicinal oil and absorbing it through a dicated bath, Shisui finally shattered his physical limits. His long-stagnant strength, stamina, and speed began to climb again, dragging his chakra capacity upward with them.

As soone who could already utilize chakra with 200% efficiency, this surge allowed him to finally research high-consumption insects.

He turned his eyes toward the creature he had held for over two years: the Tailed Beast. It was ti to use it for his breeding experints.

The Tide of War

In the lands south of the Land of Waterfall, the Rain Country battlefields were reaching a turning point.

April, Year 37 of Konoha: The Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water was the first to withdraw, beginning a period of isolationism and implenting the brutal "Bloody Mist" graduation policy—a historic step backward for their strength.

September: The Hidden Sand Village declared defeat. The Third Kazekage, his face grim, conceded that years of war had hollowed out the Land of Wind's economy. To continue was to invite the collapse of the village itself.

October: The Hidden Stone Village withdrew. Onoki stood at the border, surveying the scarred earth, and sighed as he ordered the retreat.

Now, only Konoha and the Hidden Rain remained.

Late Year 37: On a wasteland littered with corpses, three figures stood against a man in a gas mask. They were Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru; their opponent was Hanzo of the Salamander.

The battle had raged for three days and nights. Technically, the Konoha trio had been defeated, but Hanzo, having lost his own grand ambitions, lacked the heart to take their lives.

"You are strong," Hanzo declared. "From this day, I na you the Sannin of the Leaf."

While the Land of Rain never officially surrendered, Hanzo never appeared in public again. The war was effectively over.

Jiraiya decided to remain in the Rain Village to care for three war orphans. Tsunade, devastated by the death of her brother Nawaki, chose to leave the village to wander, her mind set on revolutionizing Konoha's dical system.

Orochimaru was ordered to remain at the border to clean up the battlefield. It was during this ti that he received another invitation from Danzo.

Danzo handed him a map marked with several "blind spots" in their intelligence network. One recent void was particularly glaring: The Land of Waterfall.

"That is a place the Foundation cannot penetrate," Danzo said. "Every spy we have sent recently has mysteriously vanished."

He turned to leave, dropping a final, tantalizing hook: "We have acquired a portion of precious material. The laboratory is ready. The village cannot be without the Wood Release."

Orochimaru didn't ask where the materials ca from, but the predatory smile on his face slowly faded into a look of deep contemplation.

After a long silence, he sighed softly, "Life... is truly a fragile thing."

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