They finally crossed into the Land of Rivers.
The giant ant squad had fully taken on the role of transportation, letting everyone keep moving even while resting on the road.
However—
The ants had dragged their entire "family" with them, so while they helped, it wasn't that much help.
By the end of a full day's travel, most of Souma's senjutsu chakra was already depleted.
On the other hand—
He now knew all the ants very well.
Over time, he'd gathered a lot of details.
This pack of giant ants numbered twenty-eight.
Two were female reproducers, four were male reproducers, ten were soldiers, and the rest were all workers.
They also carried a good number of eggs.
This clearly wasn't the whole colony, maybe not even a tenth of their original nest.
But once they settled near Konoha, as long as food was sufficient, their numbers would explode.
That was the natural wisdom of their species.
Souma spent another day secretly observing their habits and diet.
In the end, he discovered they were even less picky eaters than ordinary ants.
Raising them would be simple.
The only problem was—
Where to keep them.
He brought this concern up to Kakashi.
It had to be addressed in advance.
Otherwise, once they arrived in Konoha, the ants would be stuck outside—
First, delaying egg hatching.
Second, becoming a village security hazard.
So Kakashi told him to write a report himself. Once it was done, he'd pass it to the Third Hokage—
With the ANBU captain here, long-distance communication was easy.
Kabuto didn't care about the ants.
But—
He did notice that Souma really was very similar to Orochimaru.
Creatures like this were something most ninjas wouldn't spare a second glance at.
If anything, they'd just kill them on sight.
Only Souma—
Not only spared them, he "persuaded" them to pack up and move their nest to Konoha.
Their research mindset was exactly the same.
What a pity, Lord Orochimaru, Kabuto thought, adjusting his glasses.
For now, at least, the boy is clearly valued by Konoha. He's not someone you can easily lure away.
Konoha.
Today, the Hokage's office was completely packed with Aburame clan members.
"Lord Hokage, please let us go out to meet them! These creatures are treasures—what if something happens to them on the way?"
Aburame Shibi looked genuinely pained, as if he could already see the giant ants dropping dead on the road.
For even usually taciturn Shibi to react like this, the others' excitement was easy to imagine.
The whole office was noisy and chaotic.
The Third Hokage didn't even have a chance to interject.
After waiting quite a while without finding an opening, he finally had to forcefully raise his voice:
"Everyone, calm down! Calm down!"
"Shibi, you've been a shinobi for many years now. Why are you working up like this?"
Koharu rubbed her temples.
The Aburame clan were supposed to be the quiet, calm type.
Who'd have thought that one day they'd be this agitated over "giant ants?"
She honestly couldn't understand.
Shibi sighed.
The Hokage and his advisors weren't Souma; they had no way of understanding why his clan was so fanatical about these ants.
He had to explain.
"Lord Hokage, honored advisors—you're aware of our cooperation with Souma-kun, aren't you?"
"You mean the medical insects?" the Third asked.
"No. The other project. Internally, we call it the Sacred Bug Project."
Shibi's expression turned solemn.
"I can't disclose the details, but I can say this—after our research, we confirmed that the enhanced kikaichū got bigger."
"So you're thinking…"
The Third immediately understood why they were so excited.
Their kikaichū had grown larger after absorbing the power of the so-called Sage-born Talent.
These giant ants might have a similar origin.
And—
Their descendants might be converted into kikaichū hosts as well.
A brand new insect type.
A brand new source.
That was what had the Aburame clan so stirred up.
No wonder.
The Third thought for a moment, then tried to soothe them.
"Have some faith in Souma. He's never made a mistake in his work. If you all go charging out there, you'll just scare the ants."
"This…"
"Besides," he continued, "Souma's urgent letter was to ask us to find a habitat for these ants, wasn't it?"
That line finally dragged the Aburame clan's attention back to the main topic.
Where to put the nest.
"All right, let's read his report properly first,"
the Third said.
He had a point, so Shibi could only suppress his anxiety and study Souma's letter.
There was a lot of good information in it.
Of course, the main point was—
The Aburame clan had never formally studied the ecological needs of ants before.
They finished reading, then held a quick discussion.
Shibi finally said,
"Lord Hokage, I believe a spot deep within the Forest of Death would be ideal."
"Deep within the Forest of Death? You mean the area near Yellow Earth Hill?"
The Third recalled.
That region really wasn't bad.
It was already barren—almost no trees, very few people, and far enough from the village to avoid impacting civilian life.
The only issue was—
If he remembered correctly, that area had once been a battlefield.
There were still a lot of buried explosive tags underground…
It looked like he'd have to issue a high-level cleanup mission.
The Third did some quick mental math.
"All right, we'll choose that spot. I'll trouble you to handle the clearing work. The village will cover the cost."
"Yes, sir!"
By the time Souma received the reply, they were less than half a day away from Konoha.
The ants were relatively slow, so most genin teams had already gone ahead.
Now only Kakashi, Tenzo, and a few ANBU were traveling with Souma's group.
Kakashi lay flat on the back of a soldier ant, bored, reading a book.
Souma sat beside him.
The difference was—
Souma was writing a journal.
"Giant Ant Evolution Observation Log."
Tenten and Kazusa were very different again.
Since the journey back began, they'd been even more diligent than before.
Any break in movement was spent training.
Once he'd finished that day's entry, Souma turned his head.
"Sensei, which squad are you going to be leading?"
"Hm? Not decided yet. It's entirely possible they all fail and get sent back to the Academy for remedial lessons."
Kakashi replied calmly.
Naruto…
For someone who could invent such utterly pointless jutsu, his mental state definitely needed monitoring.
"If they pass, that'll be the real nightmare. Haha. I sincerely pray you fail them all and come back to take us on missions instead."
Souma grinned.
"…"
Kakashi was speechless.
Naruto probably belonged to the "extremely hard to teach" category.
If he did pass, teaching him would definitely be a headache.
Mainly—
Kakashi had never taught that type before.
Souma, Tenten, and Kazusa all had decent talent.
Plus, having Souma around to share the teaching burden, guiding the three of them had never been difficult.
Naruto and his group, though…
"I heard Naruto doesn't get along with the Uchiha kid?"
Souma asked.
"Yeah. Back when I was teaching at the Academy, those two were constantly arguing and making a scene. To be fair, Naruto started most of it."
Kakashi sighed.
This is going to be rough…
The path ahead was long and arduous.
He let out a heavy sigh, losing all desire to keep reading.
"Why are we talking about something this depressing? Let's change the subject."
Souma suggested.
"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"
"Special chakra. Interested?"
Souma asked seriously.
The monk from Fire Temple had written back earlier.
If Souma found a suitable candidate, they were willing to discuss transferring the Sage-born Talent.
If it was Kakashi, the Fire Temple would definitely agree.
Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly before he gave a helpless laugh.
"I don't even have enough chakra for normal ninjutsu half the time. What would I do with something like the Sage-born Talent?"
"The Sage-born Talent isn't 'just a technique.' That's the Fire Temple misunderstanding it. At its core, it's an entirely new form of energy."
Souma said quietly.
Kakashi's eyes opened fully.
"Oh," Souma added, "in other words—it's a new kind of chakra."
Light flashed through Kakashi's mind.
So that was it.
No wonder…
So these ants had followed them all the way to Konoha because of that power?
Wait.
"You're not planning to teach it to me just so you'll have an extra person to help feed the ants, are you?"
Kakashi asked suspiciously.
"Of course not."
Souma smiled warmly.
"I genuinely just want you to get stronger, Kakashi-sensei."
"…Do you expect me to believe that?"
"Are you learning it or not?"
"Learning."
Kakashi answered instantly, without a moment's hesitation.
"Then once we get back, I'll write to the Fire Temple. If it's you, they'll definitely agree."
Souma said.
"I'm counting on you."
Kakashi straightened up as if to bow.
Souma quickly stopped him.
"Sensei, let's not do the formal stuff. Just—don't forget us once you get new students. That's all I ask."
"…"
That line was full of all sorts of implications.
Kakashi looked at him with clear disdain.
But after a few seconds, he lowered his voice and said:
"How could I forget? You're all my students."
"Eh?"
"Mail's here!"
Tenzo's shout echoed from ahead.
Souma leapt down from the ant's back.
Kakashi paused for a moment—
Then chuckled softly and followed after him.
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