Natural Enemies

After returning home, Shiraishi Yoshijo trained for a while, then went out to buy groceries.

Passing the graduation exam was certainly worth celebrating.

At noon, Shiraishi Eizawa didn't come home.

Shiraishi Yoshijo ate all the food by himself, then went out to buy groceries.

After training all afternoon, he started cooking again.

At eight that evening, Shiraishi Yoshijo stared blankly at the table full of food.

Shiraishi Eizawa still hadn't come home.

The food had gone cold, so he heated it up again.

At ten, he heard a noise at the front door.

Shiraishi Yoshijo hurried to the entryway and bowed.

"Welcome home, Uncle Eizawa."

Shiraishi Eizawa looked surprised. "You're still awake?"

When he went inside and saw the table full of food, his feelings grew complicated.

He really had grown up.

After sitting down, he picked up his glass and drained it in one gulp.

"I was careless. I should've come home earlier on such an important day."

Shiraishi Yoshijo picked up the bottle and poured him another drink.

"I didn't wait long. If anything, I'm the one who should apologize. I can't even help with things around the house."

"It's good to hear you understand."

One poured while the other drank, and soon the bottle was empty.

"Speaking of things around the house, there's something I'd like your opinion on."

"What is it?"

"I'm thinking of selling everything here and moving to the Takemoto Family. What do you think?"

The topic left Shiraishi Yoshijo silent.

"I understand. It's up to you, Uncle."

"Don't say that. I want to hear what you think."

"It sounds good. This place is desolate and remote, nothing like the bustle over there. And it's close to the hospital, which will be convenient for me later."

Shiraishi Eizawa gave him a long look, then changed the subject.

"To be honest, I was glad you managed to beat the Aburame today. But from now on, try to avoid fighting them if you can."

Shiraishi Yoshijo asked, puzzled, "Why?"

"Because they're our natural enemies."

Natural enemies?

Shiraishi Yoshijo froze.

"The Aburame's Kikaichū are a hard counter to Summoning Butterflies. Let me put it this way: if they use only their Secret Technique, an Aburame Genin can fight one of our jonin."

At that, Shiraishi Yoshijo couldn't sit still.

Weren't Genin fighting jonin supposed to be a privilege reserved for the protagonist?

Were the taciturn Aburame really that powerful?

Shiraishi Eizawa sighed. "Don't think I'm joking. The truth is, the Aburame Clan counters almost every summoning clan."

"There used to be many summoning clans in the Land of Fire. Most of them were defeated by the Aburame. Before Konoha was founded, whenever we ran into them, we had to abandon our missions."

There was no need to explain how important missions were to a shinobi.

"Is there really such a huge gap between the Shi-Die and the Aburame? We can't even fight them?"

"It's not that we can't fight them. It's just not worth the cost. Our clan has to spend money raising its Summoning Butterflies, while they use human bodies as nests for their Kikaichū. Their insects can reproduce quickly and even evolve."

"When we fight the Aburame, our Summoning Butterflies often suffer heavy losses. That weakens our clan members and costs us money. Even completing the mission can't make up for those losses."

"The Aburame don't have that problem. No matter how many insects die, their strength isn't affected."

"We've suffered too many losses at the hands of the Aburame. Fortunately, they joined Konoha after it was founded. Otherwise, we might have had to move our entire clan to another country."

Shiraishi Yoshijo remembered the strange reactions of the people in the stands earlier that day and gave a rueful smile.

"If the Aburame's Kikaichū are so useful, don't they have any weaknesses?"

"They don't have many clan members."

Shiraishi Yoshijo considered this. "Is there a risk of death when inheriting the Aburame Secret Technique?"

Shiraishi Eizawa nodded. "Making your body entirely into a nest for insects is something our clan once experimented with, too. The mortality rate was practically one hundred percent."

Thinking of the drawback of their own Butterfly Seeds, which consumed their lifespan, Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed. "It's tough for everyone."

For that matter, Shiraishi Yoshijo still hadn't summoned a Summoning Butterfly.

"Uncle, I should be able to summon butterflies now, right? How do I do it?"

He still hadn't figured that out.

The Summoning Scroll he'd signed could only summon Ninja Butterflies. He couldn't summon Summoning Butterflies at all.

Besides, Shiraishi Eizawa hadn't made any hand signs when he summoned his Summoning Butterflies.

So how exactly did a Summoning Butterfly appear beside its summoner?

"You just need to communicate with the Butterfly Seed inside you, and you'll be able to summon one."

Shiraishi Yoshijo had never spoken to the Butterfly Seed inside him.

He didn't think a human and a butterfly could have anything in common to talk about.

Besides, could humans really communicate with another species?

He'd always been skeptical.

He'd give it a try, he thought.

Chakra began to flow toward the Butterfly Seed inside him.

Once Shiraishi Yoshijo wanted to communicate with it, he found himself in a strange space.

The space was white all around, with a lone cocoon standing in the middle.

"You finally came."

Who was speaking? Shiraishi Yoshijo looked around.

There was nothing here except that cocoon.

Shiraishi Yoshijo approached it and noticed it was covered in densely packed jutsu formulas.

Was this a Sealing Technique?

"It isn't a Sealing Technique. It's a Space-Time Transfer Jutsu."

The voice spoke again.

Shiraishi Yoshijo was bewildered. He poked the cocoon a few times, then tentatively asked, "Are you the one talking to me?"

"Of course."

Hmm.

Shiraishi Yoshijo fell into thought. This wasn't scientific.

"Chakra is a bridge that connects hearts. Once you wanted to communicate with me, you were naturally able to hear my voice."

The voice was vague, impossible to tell as male or female.

Shiraishi Yoshijo tilted his head, doubts rising in his mind.

He hadn't even said anything aloud, yet the Butterfly Seed knew what he was thinking.

Mind reading?

"Idiot. I'm inside your heart, of course I know what you're thinking."

It actually called me an idiot.

It was the first time anyone had ever called Shiraishi Yoshijo an idiot.

"Come out here if you've got the guts. I'll beat you to death."

"You really want me to come out?"

"What, are you afraid to?"

"I'd be more than happy to come out. But are you sure you want me to?"

"Why are you talking so much?"

"If I come out, you'll die."

At the mention of death, Shiraishi Yoshijo lost his composure.

"How would I die if you came out?"

"Cocoon Binding Technique."

Hearing the name of this suicidal jutsu, Shiraishi Yoshijo shuddered and immediately understood.

"No, no, don't come out! You're the boss. I'll make sure to keep you well-fed and plump from now on."

All right, he'd confirmed it. This was a species he couldn't afford to provoke.

"Did you come here because you want to summon a Summoning Butterfly?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo nodded enthusiastically.

"Got it."

The black jutsu formulas on the cocoon began to glow as the jutsu activated.

"All right. Once you leave here, you'll see the Summoning Butterflies."

How do I leave?

Shiraishi Yoshijo looked around the space, utterly bewildered.

"You really are an idiot. I just told you that chakra is a bridge for communication. All you have to do is think about leaving."

It called him an idiot again.

He'd let it slide.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a swarm of butterflies fluttering around him.

He held out a finger, and several butterflies landed on it.

Shiraishi Yoshijo tilted his head, studying them curiously. How was he supposed to direct them?

With his mind or with chakra?

He'd try it.

Pointing at a white butterfly, he said, "Play dead!"

Shiraishi Eizawa sat beside him. When he saw Yoshijo giving a butterfly that order, his eyelid twitched a few times, but he said nothing.

The butterfly flapped its wings twice, then dropped straight to the ground.

Shiraishi Yoshijo grinned and hurried to lie on the floor and blow on it.

The butterfly was blown far away, but it didn't move at all.

Amazing.

"Get up."

Shiraishi Yoshijo gave another order.

The butterfly that had played dead flapped its wings and flew back up, then landed on his hand.

"Uncle, this is so much fun. By the way, what can they do?"

"Ordinary Summoning Butterflies can only absorb chakra. Their consciousness is simple, and their lifespans are very short."

"The three special kinds you're raising will take at least half a year before you can summon them."

"How do I send them back?"

"The same as before. Communicate with the Butterfly Seed."

Shiraishi Yoshijo found himself in that space again.

He looked at his hands, then slapped himself.

"Ow, that hurt."

Did my body come in here?

"Idiot, this is your Consciousness Entity. I've already sent the Summoning Butterflies back."

"Boss, your mind-reading ability is practically a cheat. Can I use it too?"

"Call me Dad."

What?

Shiraishi Yoshijo's mouth twitched. Was it taking advantage of him now?

"That's strange. 'Boss' makes you a generation older than my dad. If I call you Dad, wouldn't you be the one getting the better deal?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo stared at it, dumbfounded.

It was strange enough that the Butterfly Seed could talk to him. Now it wanted him to call it Dad?

He'd raised a dad inside his own body?

Hey, what kind of weird thing was I thinking?

Shiraishi Yoshijo flatly refused. "No way."

"Then call me Jo. Don't think I don't know what you mean when you call me 'Boss.'"

Shiraishi Yoshijo: "..."

Had this Butterfly Seed become a spirit or something?

And Jo...

He remembered that the Ninja Butterfly his father had turned into was named Qiu, also after the last character in his father's name.

Could butterflies really turn into people?

The question surfaced in his mind once more.

"Butterflies aren't people. A butterfly is a butterfly. In a sense, our hearts are connected, so I know everything you're thinking. But we're different species. I hope you don't misunderstand."

Shiraishi Yoshijo grew interested. "Then why do all my clan members treat you as family?"

"It's hard to understand how humans think. We've never felt that way, after all. We're different species, and our emotions are structured differently."

"Then what exactly are my clan members to you Ninja Butterflies?"

"If I were to put it in human terms, probably parents."

Parents?

That did seem about right.

The Shide Clan had raised the Ninja Butterflies, giving them different abilities and longer lives.

It wouldn't be wrong to call them their parents. It was just—

"Since you think of me as your parent, why did you just ask me to call you Dad?"

"That has to do with my personality. Well, or maybe it's your personality, since everything about me comes from you."

Shiraishi Yoshijo was thoroughly confused. I asked myself to call me Dad?

What a lunatic.