A Bountiful Harvest

Insect Sister's matter was temporarily settled.

The Insect Eggs given by the elders were not in a hurry to hatch. Mimi instead followed the hatching process of the second kind of Insect Eggs found at the base.

Each one was only the size of a soybean, and there was a large handful in the Clay Pot.

As they hatched, the Insect Eggs visibly grew larger. After roughly several minutes, a flying insect broke out of its shell.

It was about the size of a finger joint, larger than several hundred Kikaichū combined. Unlike the Kikaichū, which belonged to the order Coleoptera, this insect belonged to the order Lepidoptera.

It resembled a Butterfly, its entire body covered in white scales.

It had two pairs of tiny scaled wings.

With a small head, large eyes, and a fluffy body, it was extremely cute.

Its whole body was snow-white and it looked like a little rabbit. Its feathery antennae resembled rabbit ears as well as twin ponytails.

In short, it was an extremely cute insect.

"Isn't this a silkworm moth?" Mimi muttered as she looked at the little fellow.

The kind that ate mulberry leaves and spun silk.

Which was then made into silk.

However, on Earth, it was the larva that spun silk, whereas this one was already an adult the moment it was born.

It didn't seem to have much combat power.

Seeing the little fellow flap its wings on her finger without being able to fly away, Mimi frowned.

What use did this thing have?

It seemed to be some kind of courtship behavior, constantly releasing specific Pheromones.

"Looks like a failed product," Old Man Shion said.

"A failed product?" Mimi asked.

In nature, cute animals were bound to possess something astonishing. Take sharks and dolphins, for example. No matter how fierce sharks looked, unless they were bent on suicide, they usually wouldn't provoke dolphins.

"In the past, our clansmen tried cultivating other kinds of insects, but none were as outstanding as the Kikaichū. So, the clan kept these failed products behind," Old Man Shion explained.

Yet the fact was that even a powerful existence like Insect Sister was approaching death with the passage of time.

Meanwhile, this cute little insect still retained vigorous Life Force.

Just as Mimi was thinking about testing the little fellow's abilities, Insect Sister beside her suddenly took Mimi's finger into her mouth.

Mimi couldn't help looking at Insect Sister.

Insect Sister gazed at Mimi innocently.

The poor little fellow had already disappeared into Insect Sister's mouth.

"Open your mouth!"

She really couldn't let her guard down for even a moment.

This child's energy and curiosity were far too vigorous.

Insect Sister opened her mouth and looked at Mimi.

She showed no awareness of having done anything wrong. Instead, she stared expectantly at the Clay Pot in Mimi's hand.

Seeing this, Mimi licked her lips. It seemed quite delicious.

"Is it tasty?"

Mimi asked.

Insect Sister nodded frantically.

"Let's try it cold with dressing when we get home," Mimi said thoughtfully.

Then she raised her hand and chopped it down onto Insect Sister's head.

Insect Sister tilted her head.

An animal's instincts could be trusted. If something couldn't be eaten, Insect Sister, who acted according to her instincts, shouldn't prey on it.

"Insect Princess, we've already given you the things. Remember to come find us for training after school tomorrow."

Old Man Shion didn't care about the moth-like insect. After speaking to Mimi, he left decisively.

"Right, you can choose any Ninjutsu scroll you like. I won't accompany you."

"Yes."

After answering, Mimi began looking through the clan's Ninjutsu scrolls.

They were basically ordinary elemental techniques.

There were practically no Forbidden Techniques.

After looking for a while, she made some discoveries.

There was no Shadow Clone, as she had expected. Naturally, there was no Sealing Technique either.

The Aburame clan didn't need Shadow Clones, because they had the cheaper Insect Clone instead.

And when Mimi had played around with the Third Hokage earlier, she hadn't used an Insect Clone, but the Transformation Technique's visual trick.

The Insect Clone was recorded in the Secret Summoning of Insects left behind by her father. The three most powerful techniques within it were Wall of Insects for defense, Insect Sphere for offense, and Insect Tornado Technique.

Mimi could use them without needing to deliberately study them.

The clan had discovered pitifully few secret techniques.

The first technique Mimi didn't know was Secret Summoning of Insects.

This technique could attract large numbers of wild insects.

Its use was neither especially great nor especially small.

It seemed to have no use at all.

But it seemed highly effective against Kikaichū or other insect users.

The second was Insect Evil Demonic Tool Technique.

This technique could interfere with a Sensory Ninja's perception.

It was highly practical on the battlefield.

Although it was of little use against the Byakugan.

The third was Secret Detoxification Technique.

This technique was specifically used to cure poison. Its principle was simple: have Kikaichū suck the toxins out. The overall difficulty lay in the precision of the operation, as well as having an accurate understanding of the human body.

It belonged to Medical Ninjutsu, and its overall difficulty was rather high.

Mimi merely lacked medical knowledge, not operational precision, so it wasn't difficult for her to learn.

Conversely, it could also inject toxins.

Poisoning insects was quite simple. Mixing a packet of medicinal powder with water solved the problem.

However, the clan rarely used it, because a single mistake in operation could easily injure the user.

My insects are poisonous! Lick!

That sort of thing.

After several accidents, the secret techniques explicitly stated that no one with such a hole in their head had done it again.

The fourth was Secret Life Transfer Technique.

It was also a Medical Ninjutsu. As mentioned before, Kikaichū converted Chakra into life energy they could consume by feeding on Chakra.

This technique took advantage of that point. By transmitting a limited amount of converted life energy, the Kikaichū could keep a critically injured person alive.

The fifth was also a Medical Ninjutsu, Secret Healing Technique. Kikaichū themselves were products of Yang Release and could use simple Yang Release to heal wounds.

If not for this, the Aburame clan's skin would be covered in dense pinholes bored out by Kikaichū, and their terrifying appearance would be several times worse.

But its effects were basically comparable to Yunnan Baiyao.

It was simply much faster at healing wounds than Yunnan Baiyao.

Aside from Secret Summoning of Insects, Mimi hadn't learned these techniques, but she already knew how to use them. Their essence was merely the application of Kikaichū.

These were basically all the clan's secret techniques. There were pitifully few of them.

The technique Mimi valued most was Forbidden Technique: Jar of Poison Technique.

It was a technique designed to work in conjunction with Shiki's poisonous insects, created by an earlier generation.

Its destructive power was terrifying, and it made no distinction between friend and foe.

It gathered large numbers of corpses on the battlefield as a breeding ground for Nanotoxic Insects, then used a Barrier to accelerate their reproduction. Once enough had been cultivated, they were detonated and spread all at once with the help of the wind.

The resulting swarm of insects was extremely deadly.

Mimi didn't care much about its destructive power.

What she cared about was the Barrier that accelerated reproduction.

This thing was a super-enhanced version of secret hatching techniques.

The difference was that even creatures other than Kikaichū would experience accelerated cell division and grow rapidly.

It was extremely useful for rapidly producing troops and accelerating the cultivation of experimental bodies.

To Mimi, it was an unqualified treasure.

Therefore, Mimi first chose the C-rank Earth Release: Earth Hiding Technique.

An Earth Release Hardening Technique.

Finally, she chose the B-rank Wind Release Vacuum Sphere.

One for offense, one for defense, and one for escape. Her thinking was very clear.

Mimi's Chakra affinities were Wind and Earth, so she couldn't learn Fire Release or Water Release for the time being.

As a clan that had co-evolved alongside Kikaichū, Mimi theoretically also possessed the Yang Release attribute.

But the clan had no related Yang Release Ninjutsu.

If she wanted to learn Medical Ninjutsu, she could only find a way in the village.

As for taijutsu, the clan didn't have any at all.

After this trip, Mimi had gained a great deal.