If there is any way to die that terrifies people the most, it would undoubtedly be the scene before them.
Being surrounded by a swarm of snakes, bitten to death, crushed to death, feeling those slick serpents crawling all over your body—what could possibly be more terrifying than this?
Right now, the Root members were undergoing this full baptism, finally dying in despair.
"tsk tsk, Chizan, you really have such twisted tastes. You clearly could've just killed him with one strike."
"You just had to give him a snake-swarm baptism. If it were me—tsk tsk—I wouldn't be scared either, hahaha."
Chōmei watched the pitiful man being drowned in snakes and let out a string of sighs.
Even though he was a tailed beast who wasn't afraid of snakes, just imagining himself being buried under a pile of them still made him shiver.
After all, Gekko Chizan commanded a huge number of snakes, and many of them were massive.
Suddenly, he had a new idea.
"Chizan, say—next time we fight other tailed beasts, how about you give them a snakey baptism too?"
"I think it's reliable, especially that lousy Nine-Tails fox. Tsk tsk, just imagining him surrounded by snakes… that scene must be amazing!"
Gekko Chizan shook his head. Chōmei was getting more and more unrestrained. Using giant snakes to beat up the Nine-Tails? Did he even have that chance?
No… wait. Maybe he really would get that chance.
If Uchiha Madara's successor had already appeared, then it wasn't impossible he would attack Kushina.
When that time came, should he interfere? If he didn't interfere… then he really could trigger a Nine-Tails rampage.
Tsk tsk… just imagining himself entering Sage Mode, summoning Jinlin's four giant snakes, turning himself into a snake, and together ganging up on the Nine-Tails… honestly, that felt kinda great.
While he was imagining things, Gekko Chizan vanished from sight.
...
The next moment, he reappeared on the other side of the village, preparing to quickly eliminate the four sensor-ninja stationed at the four directions.
He immediately summoned several snakes, sending them toward the four directions, each carrying his special kunai for coordinates.
Flying Thunder God for travel—blade raised—snakes attacking.
Gekko Chizan used both blade and venomous serpents to finish off four Root members and four Rain Village squads.
Facing Konoha's Ghost in a surprise assault, they had no room to resist at all.
Even when they died, they still couldn't understand—how had they been ambushed inside the village despite using sensory ninjutsu?
"Hah… taking them all out at once is pretty tiring."
"Chōmei, guide some insects toward the castle."
"Hanzo, that old bastard, thinks he can trap me? Hmph. Keep dreaming."
Gekko Chizan had no intention of giving Hanzo a chance for a face-to-face fight; he intended to kill him in the shadows.
With that, he found a hidden spot, pressed his hands together, and Chōmei's chakra began to surge.
The three Snake Princesses immediately stopped gathering natural energy, leaving room for the tailed beast chakra.
Both forces coordinated smoothly inside Gekko Chizan's body.
This was a true jinchūriki—perfectly merging his own strength with that of a tailed beast.
Sage arts, tailed beast power, his own chakra—all blending perfectly.
As Chōmei's chakra condensed into scale powder, the powder began spreading along the ground, seeping underground.
"Chizan, this time might take longer. This is inside the village, after all. It'll need time."
"It's fine. I know. Just do it boldly."
Gekko Chizan waited quietly for the scale powder to settle into place.
...
At this time, Hanzo was inside the castle with Aburame Tatsuma and elites from both sides, discussing how to lure Gekko Chizan out.
"That guy appears and disappears like a ghost—are we just going to sit here waiting?"
Hanzo looked grim. He had a hot temper, and sitting idle like this went entirely against his nature.
Someone had attacked his home, and he couldn't even find the attacker—what kind of humiliation was this?!
However, Aburame Tatsuma remained completely calm. He knew very well how difficult it was to capture such an enemy, so he wasn't anxious.
"Be patient. You know his abilities."
"Root improved their sensory ninjutsu because of him. He has bad blood with Danzō-sama, so of course we also want to get rid of him quickly."
While they were talking, none of them realized that Gekko Chizan had already resumed his assault, quietly spreading underground.
As the scale powder spread throughout the entire village, insects began gathering toward the castle due to its influence.
"Chizan, there are so many bugs. Eh."
"I know you're the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki, and Seven-Tails is a big bug—but why can you control so many bugs? Gross."
Gekko Chizan couldn't help smirking—he had been feeling delighted at the sight of the insects—but then he heard Tagitsuhime's disgusted comment.
Her remark left both Gekko Chizan and Chōmei stunned.
The next moment, Chōmei roared in outrage, and through the link inside Gekko Chizan, his angry words transmitted clearly to Tagitsuhime.
"You filthy snake! Do you even understand the beauty of insects?!"
"I didn't even say snakes were ugly, and you dare say insects aren't pretty?!"
Tagitsuhime froze for a moment, then immediately started verbally fighting Chōmei.
Their back-and-forth argument made Gekko Chizan rub his temples. Now he understood what kind of chaos the future crown prince would face.
Whether tailed beasts or sages—they were all part of his power, yet they argued like children. Sigh.
"Enough. Stop arguing."
"Let's do the real work first."
The insects had fully gathered beneath the castle, waiting only for a command to begin swarming upward.
"Chōmei, start."
"Let's begin the show."
Gekko Chizan's eerie chuckle instantly shut both Chōmei and Tagitsuhime up.
They both snorted coldly and got to work.
The insects received Chōmei's signal and began moving.
At the same time, with the help of the Snake Princesses, Gekko Chizan concealed himself and rose into the air.
"The carnival begins..."
...
The insects began their advance. Chōmei's scale powder gave him absolute control over them.
Under his command, the insect army surged toward the castle.
Most of them were beetles and ants, but among them were many deadly poisonous insects.
"What's that?"
"So many…?"
The ninja guarding the castle perimeter quickly noticed the insects' movement.
At first, they thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. But after rubbing their eyes, they realized the dense wave of insects was already very close.
Horrified, they shouted:
"Insects! So many insects!"
"Enemy attack—no—insect attack!"
His shout made everyone tense up.
But the insects moved even faster than they expected. The moment they drew their weapons to fight back, the insects were already upon them.
Screams instantly filled the air!