Everyone in Class (Extra Chapter for the First Comment)

"I'm back."

The house was always spotless. It wasn't because Mama cleaned particularly diligently, but because every home in the Aburame clan was basically like this.

Using Kikaichū to clean was the most fundamental of fundamentals.

Her mother, in her mid-twenties, was Mimi's only relative. Her grandparents had died during the Warring States period, while her father had died in Konoha Year 12, during the First Ninja World War.

Her mother, Yumi, was an ordinary Chunin. She wasn't particularly talented as a ninja, and she had retired many years ago to raise Mimi. In her spare time, she ran a small inn.

Night had already fallen outside. Yumi was used to Mimi coming home late and said gently, "Welcome back. I'll heat up the food."

"Mm."

She merely nodded, seeming somewhat cold.

It wasn't that she disliked this woman. Mimi respected Yumi as her mother. It was just that although Mimi looked like a child on the outside, she wasn't one.

Mimi had never opened her heart to Yumi, so the two naturally didn't seem particularly close.

As a first-time mother, Yumi had no experience. On top of that, she possessed the Aburame clan's generally withdrawn personality, leaving her utterly at a loss when it came to dealing with Mimi.

Thus, there was no ordinary conversation between mother and daughter at the dinner table. Yumi merely watched Mimi quietly and gently.

After dinner, Mimi returned to her room and left the door slightly ajar before getting busy with her own affairs.

Nighttime was Yumi's reading time. She had already read the family's few ninja scrolls over and over again.

Ever since she had learned to speak, Mimi had consciously studied reading and writing. She had no trouble reading now and had already mastered the contents of the scrolls.

Her father had left behind pitifully little. As a Jonin of the village, he had left nothing besides several clan secret techniques and the basic Three Body Technique.

The clan's own secret techniques were already extremely versatile, so there was no need to learn additional Ninjutsu. Even so, Mimi couldn't help sighing at the situation.

Mimi really wanted to learn Shadow Clone so she could achieve the goal of unlocking a cheat.

But she had no way to learn Ninjutsu.

Unless...

"Show that I'm worth investing in?"

After playing with the scroll in her hand for a while, Mimi decided that the most valuable thing in it was her father's notes on using Kikaichū. They could serve as a reference and help her avoid many unnecessary detours.

In short, the contents of this secret transmission could be summed up in one word: endure. Hide and release bugs.

It contained many practical techniques for lowering one's presence.

The very first sentence was one her father had marked in bold: "Silence is golden."

The clan members were basically all like this, very much embodying the style of the Hidden Leaf Clan.

That suited Mimi just fine.

Mm, ruthless and not much for words.

But once an enemy found them, the game was basically over.

That was how her father had died. According to the clan member who had brought back the news, he had accidentally been cornered on the front lines.

Putting down the scroll, Mimi picked up one of the books she had bought. It wasn't related to Ninjutsu, nor was it a novel for passing the time. They were textbooks on mathematics, physics, and chemistry, along with books on miscellany, geography, local customs, and the like.

Of these, the one Mimi had memorized the most was the biology compendium. In between reading, she would occasionally check on the movements of the swarm to relax.

Many of the new bugs she was raising were still in a dazed state, with no idea what to do. A portion of them, however, had already begun Nest Building.

Was this a little bit of success?

No. In the proper order, they should undergo nuptial flight first.

Most of these diggers and nest-builders had already been eliminated.

Her reading continued until Mama's alarm clock called her to bed.

Mimi's day officially ended. The next day, she went to work as usual—or rather, to class.

After waking up, she walked along the road to school. Beneath her mask, her sleepy, underslept expression was impossible to hide.

By the time she reached the classroom, Mimi was already very late. Although the Ninja Academy didn't have a concept of early self-study, Mimi still arrived last, barely making it before the deadline.

Quite subtly, the noisy classroom fell silent for a moment when Mimi arrived. After a brief pause, the children resumed their commotion as though nothing had happened.

Children really were so simple. Most of the people in the class disliked her.

The reason was simple: the bugs on Mimi's body. It was probably a mixture of fear and disgust.

Because of the Kikaichū, Mimi could even smell the subtle scent filling the air. They were Pheromones released by human bodies.

Kikaichū could keenly detect these chemical molecules, but most couldn't identify them. Mimi, however, could use the Kikaichū to mark and identify them one by one, building a Pheromones database.

Once it was more or less complete, Mimi would share it with the clan and establish a communication channel belonging exclusively to them.

In fact, the clan already had a similar method of use, but it was still limited to a very crude, superficial level.

It relied on the concentration of Pheromones left behind by Kikaichū to achieve a simple form of information transmission.

The children in the class unknowingly released the scent of fear. On a physiological level, it was their instinctive inability to accept Mimi.

As she made her way to her seat, the children nearby subtly widened the distance between themselves and Mimi.

That was why Mimi sometimes hated how perceptive she was. But Mimi possessed a strong heart, hardened by more social beatings than any ordinary child had experienced, so she had no interest in playing house with them or indulging in friendship games.

This was fine. It was peaceful.

Mimi wasn't a cold person by nature. Rather, she felt that she was quite warm, cheerful, and lively.

Once the teacher arrived in class, the lessons began as usual. The initial cultural classes weren't complicated, but many children in the class couldn't read or write. This was common among children from civilian families. They couldn't even do arithmetic without counting on their fingers. Teaching these children took the teacher a great deal of effort.

Especially that white-haired brat named Jiraiya. He had no foundation, and to make matters worse, he was stupid.

He was constantly causing all sorts of amusing incidents, making him the class's source of entertainment, although the teacher was left on the verge of tears.

That said, whether it was Tsunade or the others, most of them treated him like a monkey that hadn't fully evolved.

For an entire month, they taught nothing but things like this. Geography, history, ideology, and politics weren't neglected either. Compared to the hazy elementary school curriculum from her memories, they were only better, not worse.

Because the school followed a six-year graduation system rather than elementary, middle, and high school, the sheer amount of knowledge made the curriculum especially intense. Once someone fell behind, it was difficult to catch up. Although there were no signs of this yet, Mimi had keenly noticed it from the curriculum.

The school's cultural education was based on rote learning. They didn't expect these children to excel academically, so only the truly intelligent could keep up with the pace. Those who fell behind would be eliminated without mercy.

Mimi hadn't seen a single class with the distinctive flavor of a ninja that she had envisioned. The school did arrange one physical education class every day, though it amounted to little more than running and exercising.

Even through these simple exercises, it was easy to distinguish the children's foundations and potential.

After some time, her deskmate Tsunade had taken first place in taijutsu by relying on her family's teachings.

She had consequently become the class's undisputed ruler.

She had basically beaten up everyone who could be beaten, and the children in the class behaved themselves under Tsunade's tyranny.

The class troublemaker, Jiraiya, however, seemed either thick-skinned or hard-headed. He took great pleasure in provoking Tsunade.

Mimi saw it clearly: this was a child's infatuation.

Tsunade was simply too beautiful. Although there were several little beauties in the class who weren't inferior to Tsunade, the added prestige of her identity as the Konoha Princess caused the boys to tacitly acknowledge her as the class beauty. Plenty of people liked her.

Although Jiraiya was very stupid, he wasn't actually the class's dead last. His foundation in taijutsu was terrible, but he could still rank in the middle of the class. His potential could be seen from this alone—not low.

One had to understand that this class could be called the elite class of its year. It was basically made up of the children of the various Ninja Clans.

For someone without any foundation, Jiraiya's results were extremely impressive.

His cultural performance was terrible, though.

The actual dead last was a boy named Hiruko, who was so cute that he looked like a girl.

Because of his appearance, he was frequently bullied by the boys in class.

And Tsunade, the Konoha Princess and class leader, had not yet become considerate and gentle enough to stand up for others.

Thus, after some time, he became extremely gloomy and practically shut himself off.

Besides him, several other students in the class also caught Mimi's attention.