The lead Root ninja stared at the severed heads in Tetsumaru's hand, his eyes flaring with rage. "You dare murder Konoha shinobi?"
Tetsumaru tilted his head, his face a mask of sheer, skeptical confusion. Did a Root ninja seriously just say that with a straight face?
"Why are you even asking me that? Since when has Root been shy about assassinating fellow Konoha ninja?"
"They were either traitors who deserved it, or they died for a worthy cause," the ninja spat. "Everything we do is for the sake of the Leaf!"
Tetsumaru: "..."
Heh. Typical high-horse rhetoric from someone hiding behind power and a 'greater good' script.
And here I am, actually wasting breath on a breathing puppet.
"Die!"
Seizing the moment while Tetsumaru seemed dazed, the three lead ninjas lunged. They moved in perfect synchronization, brandishing a tanto, a kunai, and a jitte, aiming strikes at his vitals, liver, and throat with lethal intent.
Every strike slammed into a wall of Armor Beetles. The Root trio didn't miss a beat; their expressions remained cold as they prepared to follow up. Simultaneously, the other ten Root ninjas—the ones who had seemed dull and robotic—sprang into action. They didn't draw weapons or weave hand signs. Instead, they fanned out, surrounding Tetsumaru from all directions.
Intricate black ink-like runes began to crawl across their faces, necks, and arms. Even without seeing the full array, Tetsumaru recognized it instantly.
Fuinjutsu.
Based on the ten-man formation and the manifestation of the chakra runes, he pinned the technique: it was the Ten Directions Sealing, a derivative of Uzumaki Sealing Arts.
Tetsumaru calmly analyzed the ten seal-casters while casually fending off the three attackers.
First, he dealt with the lead rat aiming for his vitals. Tetsumaru lashed out with a front kick, his boot catching the man square in the chest and stomping him straight through the purple creep.
With his left hand, he snatched the ninja aiming for his throat by the knee. Without a second's hesitation, he swung the man in a wide arc and slammed him into the ground. Lift, slam. Lift, slam. After the fourth impact, the weight in his hand suddenly lightened; he had literally whipped the man's leg off.
Tetsumaru tossed the bloody limb aside and looked up at the third ninja, who was already sprinting away, attempting to dive back into the sea from the opposite cliff. Tetsumaru pointed a finger, marking him with a scent invisible to the human eye.
Instantly, dozens of Scythe-Mantis erupted from beneath the creep in a three-hundred-meter radius. Thousands of never-before-seen wasp-like insects launched themselves from the fleshy pillars, swarming the runner.
In a single second, the ninja was buried under a tide of chitin. A moment later, a sphere of Kikaichu rose from the pile like a cloud of soot, expanding into a howling gale of wings and mandibles.
Secret Technique: Insect Storm!
Oh ho? A clansman.
Tetsumaru's interest piqued. He wove a set of hand signs, performing his own version of the Aburame secret art.
Secret Technique: Insect Torrent!
Starting from Tetsumaru's palm, a dense stream of insects over two meters in diameter surged forward. It punched through the Insect Storm like a hot knife through butter, slamming the Root Aburame to the ground.
This was a custom technique Tetsumaru had developed specifically for his high-capacity style. It was simple, crude, and violent—leveraging massive numbers and overwhelming chakra to bulldoze the enemy. It required zero finesse, but its speed and power were so high that no other Aburame could replicate it effectively.
As for the ten robotic seal-casters, they had already been tackled by the Mantis swarms and dragged into the distance.
These ten were likely "expendable" units who had failed the brainwashing process. They were already slow and clumsy; trying to use a stationary sealing formation against a swarm commander on his home turf was just pure idiocy.
In a profession defined by high lethality and high mobility, being slow is a death sentence. When your enemy knows exactly where you're going to stand, dying is just the logical conclusion.
Capturing every Root ninja who dared step onto his island was a decision Tetsumaru had made the moment he realized he was being tailed. It was time to give Danzo a lesson and set some ground rules for his domain.
Out of the sixteen Root ninjas, five had died in the initial clash. Three of the four squad leaders were among the dead; only the Aburame clansman had survived, spared solely due to Tetsumaru's curiosity.
The survivors wouldn't go to waste. They were perfect specimens for studying Root's control methods. If he could find a way to crack Danzo's mental and physical seals, it would be a devastating blow to the organization's foundation.
The fact that Danzo had to rely on brainwashing, coercion, and the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal proved one of three things: either Danzo had zero confidence in his own leadership, or Root's mission was so repulsive that no sane ninja would accept it voluntarily—or, most likely, both.
Tetsumaru believed that once he cracked those seals, the collapse of Root would be inevitable. He sealed the eleven survivors into large, transparent stasis vats to begin his research.
The fact that every single one of them fought like cornered animals when they saw the vats suggested they had probably spent time in similar containers before, likely under agonizing conditions.
The Root incident was a mere footnote. Tetsumaru's true focus was the swarm. Upon returning to Hive Island, his first act was to synchronize with his Shadow Clones.
Once the real Tetsumaru absorbed their experiences and memories, he dispelled the clones. After a thorough review, he took a metaphorical hatchet to his messy list of side-projects, consolidating everything into five core strategic plans.
1. The Purple Tea Garden Project (Highest Priority): The goal was to build ten Broodmothers and cover the southwestern peninsula of the Land of Tea in purple creep. This would turn the region into a sovereign kingdom of the Swarm—Tetsumaru's personal, secure sanctuary.
His past life had taught him that "a clever rabbit needs three burrows" to survive. The Purple Tea Garden was his first burrow: his "official" headquarters for the world to see.
2. The Aerospace Plan: This involved three major stages: the Shinobi Communication Satellite Network, the Shinobi Positioning Satellite Network, and the Lunar Exploration & Landing Project.
This plan would progress from low-earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit, and finally to the Earth-Moon transit. Once completed, he would establish his second burrow: a Moon Base. Transforming the moon into a spaceport and building a zero-gravity station at the Lagrange point would give him an untouchable sanctuary and a base for interplanetary travel.
3. The Inner World Plan: This was highly viable and technologically ready, but faced a major threat. It also consisted of three sub-projects: the Subterranean Network, the Broodmother Planet-Control Project, and the Anti-White Zetsu Project.
The network involved using Burrowing Worms and Mole Crickets to dig a subterranean transit system connecting the entire Shinobi World. The control project would use these underground hives in tandem with the satellite networks to achieve total dominance over everything from 100 to 2,000 meters below the surface. This was his third burrow: an underground Zerg world.
The Anti-White Zetsu Project was the safeguard. As the tunnels grew longer, they were being discovered by the White Zetsu—Kaguya's biological weapons—who roamed the underworld. Their curiosity and aggression were extreme. Lately, they had begun targeting the worms and crickets directly, causing damage that Tetsumaru could no longer ignore. If he didn't neutralize the Zetsu threat, the Inner World Plan would stall.
4. The Tier-1 Swarm Plan: Continued research into specialized combat strains, including Worker Bees, Explosive bugs, and Roaches.
5. The Bio-Armor Project: Focused on Tetsumaru's personal safety. This included research into energy weapons, gravity weapons, and sonic weapons that could be shared with the swarm units. It also incorporated the long-running Eye of Truth Project, which was undergoing a radical shift thanks to breakthroughs in studying Katsuyu's cells.
If all went well, the Bio-Armor project would be the first to finish, producing the Second Generation Katsuyu Bio-Armor. This wouldn't just be a combat suit; it would serve as the "spacesuit" required for the Aerospace Plan.
With the plans set, Tetsumaru produced a legion of Shadow Clones, dividing them into project leads and engineering teams. With roles and responsibilities defined, the gears of the Swarm began to turn at a breakneck pace.
Broodmothers rose one by one. Rocket Bugs launched into the sky in steady intervals. Dozens of clones scurried through newly established laboratories.
Four months later, Danzo Shimura cornered the Hokage in his office.
"Hiruzen! You cannot hesitate any longer! You must take decisive action against Aburame Tetsumaru!"
The Hokage massaged his temples. "What has he done now?"
"A terrifying disaster has struck the southern Land of Tea! That monster is commanding countless insects to sow 'Demonic Fungi,' turning half the country into a wasteland!"
Hiruzen looked up, his patience fraying. "Do you have proof of this 'demonic fungi'? Do you have samples?"
Danzo faltered. "Not... not yet. Every sample my men collected turned into useless slime the moment it left the Land of Tea. I need more time—and another 300 million Ryo in research funding."
"Don't bother. I already have the samples." Hiruzen cut him off, reaching into a drawer and tossing a sealed file onto the desk.
He picked up a vacuum-sealed test tube and threw it at Danzo. "Inside is your 'demonic fungi.' It only stays active when sprayed with a nutrient solution specially formulated by Aburame Tetsumaru."
"You should also read the South Tea Land Environmental Reclamation Proposal he submitted to me. I approved it two months ago."
"Oh, and take this bottle of the nutrient solution. I don't need it anymore."
Hiruzen continued to toss items into Danzo's arms like he was clearing out trash. Danzo stood there, stunned into silence, clutching the tubes and documents.
Finally, Danzo managed a weak, "You will regret this, Hiruzen."
The Third Hokage didn't even dignify that with a response. He just rolled his eyes and went back to his paperwork.
With the war over, the village was struggling. Over half of the thirty-thousand-strong shinobi force had retired, leaving less than ten thousand for active duty missions. Furthermore, the Daimyo had ceased war funding under the guise of "allowing the people to recover." Konoha's revenue had dropped by nearly eighty percent overnight. After nine years of high spending, the village was broke and drowning in debt.
Hiruzen, desperate for revenue, was willing to look anywhere.
Tetsumaru had proposed using specialized fungi to terraform the southern Land of Tea, increasing crop yields to attract settlers, which would in turn boost the output of local gold, copper, and iron mines.
The Hokage had approved the plan almost immediately after verifying the fungus was harmless to people. After all, it was the Land of Tea—a remote, nearly deserted wilderness.
Who could have guessed that in just a month and a half, Tetsumaru's "reclamation" would be such a smashing success? Hiruzen had just finished counting the first round of "dividends" sent by the Daimyo of Tea when Danzo had burst in to demand money for a problem that was actually a profit center.
The only reason Hiruzen hadn't kicked Danzo out was their long-standing friendship.
Meanwhile, on Hive Island, Tetsumaru—secretly delighted at having effectively occupied half a country—received a letter from home.
Most of it was the usual parental rambling, but the core message from his father made Tetsumaru freeze in his tracks. His mother, Aburame Aiko, was confirmed pregnant.
The news hit him like a lightning bolt.
I'm... I'm going to be a big brother?
"By the time this kid is born, I'll be twenty. It's hard to imagine—a sibling twenty years younger than me. Does that even count as the same generation?"
Tetsumaru quickly regained his composure. He had no right to judge his parents' decisions. They were still young—both only thirty-six—and in peak physical condition. Plus, they were both medical-nin; there was no danger in the pregnancy.
Wait... he realized. I'm nineteen, Mom is thirty-six, and Dad is thirty-eight.
Nineteen years ago—no, twenty years ago—Dad was a fast worker, wasn't he?
No wonder they were nagging me to get married the moment the war ended. Thank god I ran away to this godforsaken island. It takes a letter two months just to reach me. If I were still in the village, life would be a nightmare right now.
Feeling a mix of relief and excitement, he began adjusting his work schedule. He needed to coordinate the project teams so that his real body could return to Konoha without everything falling apart.
He couldn't miss the birth of a new family member. He had to go back in person.
Even if, in the end, it was mostly his Shadow Clones doing the socializing while his real body stayed hidden, the gesture mattered. His heart would be there.
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