Explosive Insects

A stone house that was nearly in ruins.

The stone walls were mottled, riddled with cracks of all sizes. Sunlight leaked through the gaps, forming slender beams of light.

Half the roof had collapsed, exposing a gray, overcast sky. Rainwater dripped through broken tiles, striking shallow pits into the mud.

The air was thick with the damp smell of mildew, along with a faint, sickly sweetness.

It was the smell of blood.

Deep inside the stone house, a crude stone bed rested against the wall. A muscular, dark-skinned man lay on it, his bare upper body covered in knotted muscles. A body that should have radiated strength now lay completely motionless.

Because a massive swelling occupied most of his chest.

The swelling was grotesquely shaped, like some distorted spider. Eight legs stretched outward in every direction, deeply embedded in his flesh.

Its surface was bluish-black, veins bulging across it. It trembled faintly with his breathing, like a living thing.

"Karai, hang in there!"

Amai knelt beside the stone bed, gripping his companion's hand tightly, his voice trembling despite his efforts to suppress it.

"Lady Tsunade, the strongest medical ninja, is here. You'll be fine, do you hear me? You'll be fine!"

Karai gave no response.

His eyes were half-open, his pupils unfocused, his lips dry and pale. Only the spider-shaped swelling on his chest rose and fell slightly, as if mocking them in silence.

Tsunade stood beside the bed, looking down at the swelling.

She did not act immediately. She merely watched it.

Her golden hair slipped over her shoulders, a few strands hanging before her chest. Her expression was calm, but there was not the slightest trace of drunkenness in her eyes.

Sōji stood at the doorway, his cane resting at his side as the Six Eyes beneath the black cloth silently observed everything.

That swelling...

His Six Eyes could see more.

Within the swelling, densely packed chakra signatures writhed. They were incredibly tiny, like countless minuscule insects crawling and breeding.

They fed on chakra. With every bit they devoured, they grew a little larger, then continued feeding.

Karai's chakra pathways had already been eroded beyond recognition.

Tsunade extended her hand over the swelling.

Pale green medical chakra flowed from her palm and slowly seeped into the hideous mass.

Gradually, her brow furrowed slightly. Then she withdrew her hand, turned to the Fourth Raikage, and asked, "You said you seized the secret technique of the Land of Cedar?"

Her voice was calm, but there was a hint of scrutiny in her tone.

The Fourth Raikage stood at the entrance, his tall frame nearly blocking half the doorway.

His white cloak fluttered in the wind, while his broad chest and knotted muscles gleamed bronze beneath the sunlight.

At her words, he nodded.

Tsunade gave a scornful laugh. "I never expected the Land of Cedar to have someone capable of such a secret technique. A technique of this level is not something just any minor country can produce."

The Fourth Raikage looked at her, his gaze steady. "They were not ninjas from a hidden village."

"Oh?"

"They were mercenaries hired by Sugakure. The Xuan Yuan Corps."

The air in the stone house seemed to freeze for an instant.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "The Xuan Yuan Corps? That mercenary group famous throughout the Shinobi World for hunting ninjas?"

The Fourth Raikage did not answer, but his silence was answer enough.

Tsunade smiled.

Her smile carried undisguised mockery. "Fourth, you people are still acting like bandits as always! You took quite a nasty fall this time, didn't you?"

The Fourth Raikage's brow twitched.

Amai shot to his feet, his face flushed red. "What do you know? We did this for the village—"

"Amai." The Fourth Raikage's deep voice stopped him.

Then he looked at Tsunade, his gaze calm. "Call it whatever you like."

Tsunade folded her arms and leaned lazily against the stone wall.

"Was I wrong? Do I really need to list the Land of Lightning's reputation in the Shinobi World? Konoha's Byakugan, the head family's eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan—you nearly kidnapped her back then, and it hasn't even been that many years!"

Her tone was light, but every word cut like a knife.

"And the Sealing Technique of the Land of Whirlpool, Takigakure's Hero Water—which one have you not set your sights on? Kumogakure covets the secret techniques of nearly every nation in the Shinobi World. If that doesn't make you bandits, what does?"

The Fourth Raikage did not argue.

He merely looked at her, his gaze as still as water. "Are you done?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"If you're done, save him."

The Fourth Raikage's voice remained deep, carrying innate authority, yet he was unexpectedly restrained.

Tsunade stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly laughed. "Interesting."

She turned and walked back to the stone bed, looking once more at the spider-shaped swelling.

"The Xuan Yuan Corps' secret technique..." she murmured. "No wonder you couldn't handle it."

Amai hurried closer anxiously. "Lady Tsunade, can you treat him?"

Tsunade did not answer.

She extended her hand again. This time, it was not a simple diagnosis but a deeper examination. Pale green chakra continuously seeped into the swelling, and her brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

After a while, she withdrew her hand and looked at the Fourth Raikage. "How much do you know about this technique?"

"Not much." The Fourth Raikage spoke gravely. "Only that this swelling will explode."

"Explode?"

"After he was hit by the technique, we immediately sealed his chakra, hoping to stop it from spreading, but it was useless."

The Fourth Raikage's gaze fell upon the swelling on Karai's chest. "Especially after using ninjutsu, the swelling expands rapidly."

"At the time, we saw Niru use ninjutsu, and he swelled up and exploded in an instant."

"Karai... If we hadn't stopped it in time, he might already have..."

At that, Tsunade nodded thoughtfully. "So it really is that kind of thing."

As she spoke, she straightened and looked at Sōji. "Kid, do you know what this is?"

Sōji was slightly startled. He had not expected Tsunade to suddenly ask him, but the Six Eyes had indeed shown him some things.

"It's a type of insect."

He spoke in a cool voice. "They're very small, roughly the size of bacteria. After invading the human body, they feed on chakra."

As he spoke, he looked at the swelling on Karai's chest.

"Eventually, they gather in the chest and form this kind of swelling. But it isn't one swelling. It's a collective of countless insects."

Amai's face went pale at those words, while Tsunade smiled, her expression meaningful.

This kid's eyes were even more terrifying than the Byakugan's ability to see through things.

Then she turned to the Fourth Raikage. "He's right. These are called Explosive Insects. They should be the Xuan Yuan Corps' signature secret technique."

"Explosive Insects..." the Fourth Raikage repeated.

"That's right. A type of insect that can invade the body and feed on chakra."

"Konoha's Aburame Clan once bred this kind of insect. At first, they were only the size of bacteria, and when they invaded the body, they could do so without a sound."

"But their survival rate was too low, the cost of breeding them was too high, and their uses were too limited, so the Aburame Clan abandoned them."

As she spoke, Tsunade pointed at the swelling on Karai's chest. "But once they grow to this extent inside a human body, the person is basically finished."

The Fourth Raikage's gaze darkened. "Can you treat him?"

Tsunade did not answer directly.

She looked at Karai, then at the Fourth Raikage, and suddenly smiled.

"Speaking of which, Fourth, haven't you noticed yet?"

"Noticed what?"

"You're parasitized too."

The Fourth Raikage's pupils contracted slightly.

Amai cried out in shock. "What?"

Tsunade folded her arms, her tone casual. "Not just you. That loudmouth beside you has it too."

Amai's face went completely pale. He instinctively looked down at his chest and hurriedly yanked open his collar.

But there was nothing there.