Six o'clock.
Shibi began his first sparring session with the squad assigned to him.
Honestly, the overall standard of these three new graduates exceeded his expectations. They were even better than he had anticipated.
"Though they're somewhat inexperienced, that can only be cultivated bit by bit through continuous battles."
Shibi looked with satisfaction at the three exhausted children before him.
Each of the three had surprised him. Might Guy had graduated at eight years old, while Uchiha Kazue had awakened her Sharingan at ten and evolved it to the two-tomoe stage in such a short time.
Those two could absolutely be called geniuses.
But the last one left Shibi completely unable to understand him.
"Is it just my imagination? Why does this kid seem to get more fired up the longer he fights? This amount of Chakra is a bit excessive for someone his age... Doesn't he get tired?"
Shibi was utterly baffled.
Battles consumed Chakra, and Chakra was energy refined from the mind and body. The more Chakra one lost, the weaker one's mind and body became.
But Genitsu...
Shibi extended a finger, upon which stood a reconnaissance insect. The information it relayed plunged Shibi into thought.
The entire training ground was now riddled with pits and craters, clearly bearing the marks of a fierce battle.
"Genitsu-san, Teacher Shibi is too strong. We can't go on like this..."
Guy clenched his fist. "How about I open that technique further? Maybe we can create an opportunity."
"There's not much point. He fights with insects, not something your current taijutsu level can overcome."
Genitsu gazed deeply at Aburame Shibi, his expression grave.
He was strong, and there was no opening to exploit. No wonder he was the most well-rounded elite jonin.
"My Chakra is nearly depleted. I can't hold on much longer... Genitsu-san, you also sent out a Shadow Clone Technique to take care of Obito's grandmother. How much Chakra do you have left?" Kazue gritted her teeth, finding it difficult even to maintain her Sharingan.
Genitsu solemnly replied, "Yeah, I've consumed a lot too. I've probably lost around thirty percent."
"I see, so you still have sev... What?!" Kazue's eyes widened.
"That Shadow Clone Technique took away fifty percent of my Chakra. Even though I hurried to refine more Chakra to deal with this high-intensity fight, I could only recover this much... Oh, I've recovered to eighty percent now."
Genitsu looked utterly serious as he stared at the silently standing Shibi, feeling that this was rather troublesome.
What kind of ridiculous thing was that to say? Was he serious? Kazue screamed internally.
After fighting for so long, he still had that much left?!
Kazue stared through her Sharingan at the Chakra still surging endlessly within Genitsu's body, showing no signs of stopping.
"...Then what should we do?" Kazue gritted out.
"I have an idea... Listen to me..."
"Even now, they're still devising a new strategy..."
Shibi adjusted his sunglasses.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
A massive ball of flame came roaring toward him, blanketing more than half the training ground. Shibi swiftly retreated while raising his hands, and countless insects flew from his sleeves.
Before his insects, no action could escape his eyes.
A huge swarm whirled through the air, bypassing the Fireball Jutsu before rushing toward the three-person squad.
Rip!
The Fireball Jutsu was kicked aside. Guy opened the second Gate of Healing, his muscles swelling as he launched a Konoha Great Whirlwind at Shibi. Yet he was sent flying by an Insect Sphere Shibi flicked from his hand.
In that opening—
Genitsu moved.
"Two Genitsus? Did he create a Shadow Clone Technique while the Fireball Jutsu concealed him?" Shibi quickly assessed the situation. A vast swarm of insects descended on the two Genitsus, and soon one of them exploded with a bang.
Then the remaining one was the original!
Whoosh!
The ground suddenly split open with enormous cracks, and countless insects surged out with howling cries, madly flooding toward the three-person squad!
Endless buzzing filled everything. No matter how one looked at it, the squad had no way to break through.
Yet Genitsu, who was about to be swallowed by the insect swarm, revealed a faint smile. "You let your guard down, Teacher Shibi..."
What?
Shibi adjusted his sunglasses. A rare trace of surprise appeared on his impassive face.
The information fed back by his insects was equally bizarre: "This Chakra tastes awful," "It hurts to bite," and "I feel afraid."
"Afraid... What is going on? Why would my Kikaichū convey such an emotion...?"
But in the next instant, even he was shocked by the sight before him.
Genitsu and Kazue, wrapped up and bitten by the swarm, began to melt in a bizarre fashion. Their suddenly soaring temperatures and erupting nuclear radiation slaughtered his insects indiscriminately.
Countless insects died instantly.
It was an astonishing sight. Black rain fell from the sky, while layer upon layer of dark carcasses blanketed the ground.
"Is this Genitsu's Kekkei Genkai? But he was a clone? Kazue too... What kind of Clone Technique is this?"
Shibi was greatly startled, and at the same time, he felt a sense of danger. He instantly turned his head.
Kazue and Genitsu had already attacked.
Her blood-red two-tomoe Sharingan fixed on Shibi's eyes and activated a genjutsu.
Her eyes were better suited for genjutsu. At this moment, she used the last of her Chakra to cast one.
As for Genitsu, he seized that fraction-of-a-second opening and began forming hand seals.
"Nuclear Release... Vibration Wave!"
An immense amount of Chakra gathered in Genitsu's mouth. Then, a terrifying shockwave erupted from it, striking Shibi head-on and blasting him apart on the spot!
Shibi's body scattered into countless insects. Some of them flailed about in panic, stumbling through the air in every direction, seemingly unaware of what had happened.
"Very good. You actually defeated my insect clone. Your performance has satisfied me."
The real Shibi, who had been observing from afar all along, walked over with his hands in his pockets. A heavy gloom radiated from his entire body as he praised them.
"Huh? Teacher Shibi had been standing there watching the whole time? When did that happen? I didn't notice at all." Guy collapsed to the ground and scratched his head.
"..."
That was rather offensive.
Still, Shibi was genuinely astonished. These children had given him far too many surprises.
"The poison that killed insects over such a wide area—is that the Kekkei Genkai ability you used to defeat Anko? So it isn't activated through blood. It's even more terrifying than I imagined..."
Shibi adjusted his sunglasses, visibly moved. He had never seen such strange, unknown poison before.
And it had even caused his insects to instinctively feel "fear." Was that because of the poison itself, or some other reason...?
More importantly...
They had used two unusual clones to replace himself and Kazue, then waited for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack?
Such a special physical Clone Technique...
The only truly unfortunate one was Guy. He had genuinely been surrounded and viciously bitten by the insect swarm, and now lay sprawled helplessly on the ground.
"Gather here at six tomorrow morning. We'll begin carrying out the village's missions."
Shibi gave those two clones a deep look, left those words behind, and used the Body Flicker Technique to depart.
"Ah, Teacher Shibi really is a good teacher. He didn't stay behind to watch me retrieve my clones."
Genitsu smiled and walked over, reaching out to place his hands on the mangled "Genitsu" and "Kazue" in turn. Then...
The two clones rapidly dissolved and merged back into Genitsu's body.
But no one knew that—
Rather than retrieving those two special physical clones, Genitsu's true purpose was to retrieve what lay inside them...
Two minuscule white masses.
White Zetsu body tissue.
Though he had taken a shortcut, his first attempt at Nuclear Release Clones had been a great success.
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