Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 601 The World of Insects Five Years Later

Before the morning mist had completely dissipated, the first commercial street in Takigakure Village after its reconstruction was already bustling with activity.

It's called a commercial street, but it's actually just a row of long wooden sheds built along both sides of the underground river. The roof is a huge, transparent cocoon-shaped dome that lets in natural light but blocks out wind and rain.

As Kakuzu walked along the wet stone path to the entrance of the insect market, the air was already filled with the peculiar smell of insect gland secretions, somewhat like the astringent smell of crushed grass mixed with the sweetness of honey.

He took a deep breath and found the smell much better than the putrid stench of the Earthly Grudge Culture Fluid from back then.

"Lord Kakuzu, you're here early today."

The speaker was a hunchbacked old woman. In front of her was a rattan insect cage about half a person's height, inside which lay a six-legged insect with a metallic sheen on its shell, slowly gnawing on a piece of ore.

No one could tell that this hunchbacked old woman was the once charming Mrs. Sato. Time has passed, and the world has changed. Mrs. Sato has become Grandma Sato.

"Hmm." Kakuzu nodded. Although he looked old, he was actually younger than her. Yet, he treated her with the respect due to an elder.

Mrs. Sato smiled and didn't ask any further questions. Everyone in the village knew that Aburame Shisei had imprisoned Otsutsuki Isshiki in a special space five years ago and hadn't come out since.

Although Kakuzu appeared calm on the surface, he actually came to the Insect Market every morning, as if he was waiting for something.

Kakuzu's gaze swept across a row of stalls, finally stopping at a special spot. There was no stall owner there, only a beetle the size of a millstone, with five recessed compartments on its carapace, each containing a different insect.

"Here we go again," Kakuzu muttered to himself, walking over and squatting down.

This beetle is a lower-level branch of the scarab beetle, with an intelligence roughly equivalent to that of a five- or six-year-old child. However, it is docile and has been trained by the beetle handlers to be a walking shelf. It sensed Kakuzu approaching and gently twitched its antennae on its back, as if in greeting.

Kakuzu reached out and touched the first compartment. Inside was a group of earth-burrowing silkworms, each about the thickness of a little finger, their bodies semi-transparent, and one could vaguely see the earth-attribute chakra flowing within them.

They were curled up asleep, but when Kakuzu touched them with his finger, they all raised their heads, revealing two rows of fine mouthparts.

"Twelve in one litter." Kakuzu counted them and nodded.

The second square is for water striders, whose six slender legs glide lightly across the shallow water at a speed almost invisible. These are newly developed delivery bugs from Takigakure, capable of gliding across the water to deliver packages, making them even more efficient than the ninja errand runners of the past.

The third compartment contains the bursting aphid, which is round and plump like a pea, with red and black stripes and a swollen abdomen.

These insects swell rapidly when heated, making a muffled popping sound—not very powerful, but frightening enough. The village children often play with them like firecrackers.

The fourth cell contains the larva of a drifting moth, its white silk threads tangled together, capable of producing a meter-long strand of resilient silk each day.

These silks, once dried, are both light and strong, and can be used to make clothes or as materials for barriers.

The fifth cell was the quietest, containing only three electric fireflies, their pale blue glow faintly visible in the morning light above the cocoon dome.

They don't attack, they don't spin silk; their only use is to generate electricity—or rather, to produce a weak electric current. Kakuzu recently had lower back pain and tried massaging his muscles with electroluminescent materials; the effect was surprisingly good.

"Earth, water, fire, wind, thunder..." Kakuzu muttered the five elements, took out his wallet, and said, "Give me a whole bunch of each."

The beetle couldn't speak, but its antennae pointed to a wooden sign next to it, on which was written in a crooked hand: "Take it yourself, put the money in the basket."

Kakuzu counted out the corresponding number of banknotes and put them into the small bamboo basket beside the insect. Then, he carefully placed the five insects into the five small insect cages he carried with him and hung them on his belt.

"Lord Kakuzu, are you buying this to raise, or are you going to use it directly?" A familiar voice came from behind.

Kakuzu turned around and saw that the old insect envoy had returned at some point, carrying a basket of fresh insect feed, which consisted of chopped vegetable leaves and crushed nuts.

"Use it directly," Kakuzu said seriously. "I want to test the order of the five elements' mutual generation and let them stay in the meridians of the Five Elements Immortal Technique for a period of time."

The female insect user froze, giving Kakuzu a once-over. She knew who this person was, but still couldn't help saying, "Insects aren't chakra; they'll die."

As a woman, a female Mushishi, she naturally pays more attention to the Mushi themselves than men. They all possess considerable intelligence, so how can they be used as tools?

Although there has been no war in the last ten years or so, even during wartime, these lovely insects should not be treated like this.

"So I need to research what kind of insects can withstand divine power." Kakuzu's expression remained unchanged. "The number of insects that died at the Lord's hands combined is comparable to the entire insect swarm of the Empire. Why are you meddling in this?"

My lord, Shisei Aburame, King of Mushishi, Demon of Mushi. In the Empire of Taki, this title is everything.

The old female insect maker didn't try to persuade her further, but just sighed and said, "Then please use them gently; it's not easy to raise these little guys."

Kakuzu nodded and turned to leave.

After Kakuzu left, the old female insect master took out a Sound-Image Insect and pressed it against its stomach. "Who understands a best friend? Lord Kakuzu bought five more insects from me today. They're probably going to die again. Don't men have any feelings for insects?"

"I feel unworthy to be a Mushishi!"

"I support it. Intelligent insects should have rights."

"Then take a look at me, this soft, multi-tentacle sucker worm."

"I'm going to throw up, it's disgusting! How could there be such a disgusting bug? Let it die already!"

"..."

"It's very intelligent, even more so than you."

On the other hand, no one paid any attention to him. The stall owner wrote a long post to him, saying that it would be good to marry a woman like that.

Once the concept of marital harmony takes hold, any illness can be cured, because they won't retaliate after being beaten, as they only see it as an expression of love.

He took a dozen steps when a young Earth-Grieving Demon suddenly crawled out of his collar.

That was after he lost his mature Jigan-yu in the previous battle, and Orochimaru used Jigan-yu cells to re-cultivate it.

This thing looks like a clump of sea anemones, with long tentacles tangled together, but it is actually very docile.

Kakuzu didn't plan to transplant it into his body this time, keeping it by his side like a pet. He thought that after learning the Five Elements Immortal Arts in the future, he would also cultivate it into an immortal pet, so that he wouldn't feel lonely after achieving immortality.

At this time, he was still a child, only the length of a finger, a dark blob, but he had already grown needle-like mouthparts.

The Earth Grudge Fry larva hissed threateningly at the insects in the insect cage on Kakuzu's waist.