Insect Sage Mode

These five minutes were proving to be quite a challenge for Shibi.

First, Kizashi Moku was a rare type of ninja in the village who specialized in Earth Release Nintaijutsu, adept at combining the Hardening Technique and Partial Hardening Technique with Konoha-Style Strong Fist; in recent years, the ninja world had even bestowed upon him the moniker of "Konoha Iron Fist."

As a clan of bug users, the Aburame clan feared taijutsu specialists above all else, especially those possessing such terrifying defensive capabilities.

Although Touma had put him through specialized training to counter taijutsu before the match, it was impossible to completely eliminate this inherent weakness.

Secondly, before his promotion to Chunin, Kizashi Moku's combat style had primarily relied on simple Earth Release ninjutsu combined with traps; consequently, he was extremely experienced in setting traps and possessed a keen eye for detecting and countering them.

This meant that Shibi's strategy of using Kikaichū to set traps would be ineffective against Kizashi Moku. Unless this "Iron Fist" intentionally held back, it would be very difficult for Shibi to survive these five minutes!

However, it was not entirely impossible for Shibi to succeed; it was just that he would inevitably have to use the trump card Touma had prepared for him.

Calling it a trump card was an understatement; it was actually a final, desperate gamble.

After all, the strength of the Aburame clan was directly proportional to their chakra reserves and the number of Kikaichū bred within their bodies, making it difficult to achieve any significant, sudden leaps in power.

Therefore, to temporarily enhance the strength of an Aburame, one had to focus on the Kikaichū residing in their internal hives.

Touma had previously requested many samples of mutated bugs cultivated by the clan and taken them to Orochimaru's laboratory for analysis.

Finally, among hundreds of naturally mutated bug samples, they found a species capable of clearly sensing natural energy and, after absorbing a small amount, resisting the erosion caused by that energy.

By utilizing these bugs, which the two of them had temporarily named "Sage Destruction Bugs," Shibi could enter a relatively stable Sage Mode.

Under this "Insect Sage Mode," not only did the power of Shibi's ninjutsu improve substantially, but his basic physical constitution also saw a marked leap, providing him with enough strength to unleash more powerful taijutsu!

Of course, the "Sage Destruction Bugs'" ability to resist natural energy erosion was not without limits; it could only be maintained for roughly three minutes.

Once those three minutes elapsed, the "Sage Destruction Bugs" would enter a decay process and had to be expelled from the internal hive before they were completely petrified by the natural energy.

Furthermore, the reproductive capacity of the "Sage Destruction Bugs" was not high. Before the match, Shibi had paid a significant price to barely fill a single jar, which was only enough for him to activate the "Insect Sage Mode" once and a half—less than five minutes in total!

Therefore, at the start of the match, Shibi did not immediately ingest the "Sage Destruction Bugs," but instead used a combination of Kikaichū, Digestion Bugs, and Fluorescent Destruction Bugs to coordinate various tactics!

This was precisely why Shibi was revered as a genius within his clan; his internal hive was innately compatible with any type of insect, meaning he could harmonize with almost every species of ninja bug the clan possessed.

Kikaichū could absorb chakra, Digestion Bugs could emit infrasound waves, and Fluorescent Destruction Bugs could release intense light and secrete a chemical substance that spontaneously ignited upon contact with air.

The combination of the three created a combat style vastly different from that of a typical Aburame ninja, leaving Kizashi Moku momentarily bewildered.

The Kikaichū would break through the effects of his Hardening Technique, then the Digestion Bugs would penetrate his skin and muscles to attack his internal organs with infrasound waves, and finally, the Fluorescent Destruction Bugs would spray him with flammable substances.

However, Kizashi Moku was truly among the most experienced of Konoha's Chunin. Once he adapted to Shibi's combat rhythm, he quickly identified the flaws in Shibi's defense, closed the distance, and used swift taijutsu to suppress Shibi's next move.

Under normal conditions, Shibi's physical constitution was indeed a glaring weakness. This was not his fault, but rather the destiny of the Aburame clan; from the moment they became bug users, it was impossible to achieve any significant results in physical cultivation.

One must understand that the Aburame clan kept bugs in hives within their bodies, which was already considered a Kekkei Genkai.

To host a sufficient quantity of bugs, it was impossible to build up high muscle and bone density.

The Aburame clan had once researched the construction of space-time barriers within the body in an attempt to accommodate more Kikaichū.

Unfortunately, after generations of massive investment, they saw no light at the end of the tunnel; once Kikaichū were separated from the host's chakra for a period of time, they would suddenly develop a wild nature and require re-taming.

Consequently, the Aburame clan had since relegated their tactical role to intelligence and sensory work, placing little importance on developing their combat potential.

However, after Touma used a cross-screening method to help Shibi breed a jar of "Sage Destruction Bugs," the Aburame clan saw hope for further advancement.

Shibi did not hide the information that he could use "Insect Sage Mode" with the "Sage Destruction Bugs" from his clan, nor did he hide it from the Third Hokage.

However, the Third Hokage was not notified directly by Touma, but rather informed indirectly through the one-way intelligence channel from Orochimaru's side.

After all, the Aburame clan suddenly possessing a more universal means of combat enhancement—even if only for a short three minutes—was enough to affect the power balance between the village's ninja clans; it was impossible to keep this from the Hokage's eyes for long.

The fact that Shibi was randomly matched against Kizashi Moku, who was about to be promoted to Jonin, was a decision made privately by the Third Hokage and the Aburame clan after learning the intelligence.

They had temporarily decided to test just how significant an improvement a Shibi in "Insect Sage Mode" would have compared to his usual state.

Generally, such tests should have been conducted in private, but unfortunately, the breeding process for "Sage Destruction Bugs" had not been fully mastered by the clan, and currently, there was only this one jar that Touma had helped Shibi breed.

Seeing that he had fallen completely into a disadvantage, Shibi glanced at the timer board below the podium; the time had just reached 2:01.

He suddenly pulled back, retreated violently, tore the bug jar from his waist, and buried his face into it, inhaling deeply!

The "Sage Destruction Bugs" were not large—they didn't reach the nanoscopic level of "Phosphorus Destruction Bugs," but they were not visible to the naked eye either—so the fastest way to ingest them was through the respiratory tract.

As Shibi lifted his head from the jar, his skin turned from its original wheat color to an increasingly pale white, and a deep green sage pattern quickly traced itself across the corners of his eyes, his brow, and his forehead.

Once the pattern fully formed, a layer of nearly tangible emerald-green chakra cloak rose from his body, and his hair floated upward, pulled by the chakra.

Coupled with the cold, sharp gaze revealed after Shibi removed his sunglasses, he truly possessed the aura of a sage looking down upon all things in the mortal world!

Seeing this change, Kizashi Moku had already raised his vigilance to a thousand percent, yet he still failed to capture the trace of Shibi's instantaneous movement.

One must know that the high-speed movement Shibi had just displayed was not the result of any Body Flicker Technique; it was purely the speed generated by his physical constitution, as he had just entered "Insect Sage Mode" and could not yet control his surging power.

Shibi's small, bean-like fists rained down upon Kizashi Moku like a storm, but no matter how hard Kizashi Moku concentrated, he could only see the blurred afterimages of Shibi moving at high speed.

The power of each punch was not light; even Kizashi Moku, who had fully activated his Hardening Technique, felt an unprecedented pain. The force of the punches actually penetrated his Hardening Technique and struck his internal organs!