Chương 539: CH_14.9 (539)

On the roof of a commercial building right outside the district called the Aburame Enclave, Takuma observed the spacious traditional estates. The building didn't have much height, so he could only see the roofs of the houses among the thick canopies.

"May I know what we are here for?"

"No, you may not." Takuma turned to look at Aquilla standing beside him. Like him, the Hyūga wasn't wearing a mask. Aquilla wasn't part of the squad handling the Aburame case, but he was part of Takuma's unit, so he borrowed him for a bit.

"It's better if you keep the flow of information to a minimum. This is sensitive…" Sitting behind the duo was an ANBU radio operator, who looked like he couldn't care less what was happening and was just there to man the radio. He gave them a thumbs-up to indicate that the radio was ready whenever they were, then poked a straw into an absurdly large cup of some cold beverage.

"What isn't serious about our jobs?" Aquilla sighed.

"What's the plan?"

"Do you have a view of Aburame Shigeki's house?" Aquilla weaved hand seals, and the veins around his eyes bulged as his eyes became pronounced. He was silent for a few moments before he nodded.

"I got it. There are three people at home. One of them is a kunoichi, likely a genin; probably Shigeki's wife given her age. The other two are likely civilian house help."

"Anything suspicious?"

"There's an underground level beneath the house. An office? Limited research facility? I can see a lot of bugs down there, a lot of them." Aquilla had an uncomfortable disgust on his face.

"The entrance is also covered with a layer of bugs, most likely security."

"Can you identify the bugs?" Takuma asked.

"Wouldn't know." Takuma hummed.

"You'll guide me to that underground level and keep me informed of any and all danger via radio," he said.

"What's the procedure if you get caught?"

"If you keep me aware, I won't," Takuma said.

"How—" Aquilla narrowed his eyes.

"You're a clone. Should've known; you don't have much chakra."

"I am. Too much chakra otherwise," Takuma said—if the original had come along and someone were looking, he would be glowing up like a Christmas tree. Instead, he was the fourth direct clone—the only clone, direct or sub—with 6. 25% of his total reserves. He had been up and alive for a few hours, bringing down the reserves even further. After four direct clones, the original would have 6. 25% of chakra as well, but shadow clones had the advantage of being unable to be captured.

In fact, that was exactly why shadow clones were made in the first place. A part of him was excited at the novelty of using shadow clones for their intended use.

"How do you plan to get past the bugs?"

"Watch and learn. I brought along a nifty toy," Takuma said, doing a final check on his standard Leaf uniform. The ANBU gear would catch too much attention if he were seen on his way to the home. On the other hand, no one would bat an eye at a random shinobi in uniform. The radio operator handed them earbuds connected to receivers.

"Best of luck," Aquilla said. With the receiver attached firmly and an earbud in his ear, Takuma gave a sharp nod and then loosened his body while focusing inward and very consciously slowing down the passive mix of chakra flowing through his body. The physical sensation was uncomfortable—a cold emptiness settled in his body. Even if he was a clone with low chakra reserves, it was only smart to mask his chakra.

It also meant that he would be operating without chakra, barely enough to use chakra adhesion, until he reached the guarded entrance. He dropped from the building, soundlessly landing in the shadow of the building. He stuck to the shadows as he moved through the Aburame Enclave. He bypassed the main roads, even avoiding the ambient clouds of gnats near the lamppost just in case.

It would've been a slow affair if not for a Hyūga in his ear, efficiently directing him through the shortest path while being unseen by any accidental onlookers, like the guards that patrolled the streets of the affluent neighbourhood. He reached Shigeki's residence—an austere home surrounded by manicured rock gardens in all directions, as well as flowers growing all around the property.

Even though the Aburame clan didn't breed bees as part of their hiden jutsu, they had a reputation for being generous beekeepers and were world-famous for very high-quality honey. They had a big plot of land in the middle of their district that was full of flowers so that the bees could pick up pollen. It was absolutely stunning the last time he went there on a date. Inside the house, he followed Aquilla's direction with confidence that he could just walk through it like it was his own home without ever being seen.

Eventually, Takuma closed the door of the master study behind him and looked at the floor, where he found a reinforced iron trapdoor built into the foundation. It wasn't locked, but Takuma didn't touch it.

"Where are the bugs?" he asked, glancing around the office that was absent of the critters. According to Aquilla, the house was mostly bug-free. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The bugs that the Aburame bred were special because chakra was the main component of their diet. The clan members turned their bodies into hives because that was the best place to house the bugs while providing them easy access to chakra and being able to control them.

They knew how to keep and breed bugs outside of their bodies, which required resources in the form of food rich in chakra, which was more difficult to grow than normal crops, or the use of special fūinjutsu that could dispense chakra in a controlled manner while delivering it in a way that wouldn't make the bugs want to rip apart the seals to gain access to all the stored chakra, causing an unwanted boom in population.

The clan didn't turn their bodies into hives because of some fetish or twisted belief, but for practical reasons. Building external hives in a home wasn't feasible unless someone was willing to spend a lot of money on resources and the hassle that most people wouldn't want to bother with. If there were such a system in a house, it would be isolated to a single location. Aquilla's voice sounded in his left ear.

"There's a set of stairs under that trapdoor. The door at the bottom of the stairs has fūinjutsu on it… and is covered in a lot of bugs. Will you be able to bypass them?"

"I'd better," Takuma said as he retrieved a small canister from his person and used his other hand to lift the trapdoor, which was heavy enough that a genin would struggle to lift it fully. He ripped the pin with his teeth and threw the hissing and smoking canister down the stairs before closing the trapdoor. The great people at the research and development division had engineered a special compound that temporarily dulled and confused insect senses, including the olfaction that could detect pheromones.

It was perfect for the situation because the insects weren't going to die, and if they couldn't sense him, they couldn't do anything to him—be it alert others, attack him, or maybe even eat him alive. There was no guarantee it worked perfectly, but Takuma had planned for that possibility. After he was satisfied that the canister had discharged all of the gas, he stopped masking his chakra and pulled the trapdoor a crack.

The compound would've dulled the insects' senses so that they wouldn't be able to detect his chakra. He stuck a hand inside and began releasing chakra, weaving it with the smoke, something he was well familiar with how to do because of the Hidden Mist Jutsu. As soon as he felt his chakra saturate the smoke, he stepped inside and weaved hand seals to cast a very special genjutsu. His lieutenant clearance had unlocked classified ANBU research.

The village had long been locked in a silent arms race against its own inaugural clans, engineering methods to counter their bloodline and special jutsu. The research and development division had engineered specialised fūinjutsu and experimental materials capable of blinding the Byakugan—including the very compound Takuma was using now. They had even prototyped defensive ninjutsu designed to eject a Yamanaka from a victim's mind.

Decades of these countermeasures were ferociously guarded; the village leadership dreaded the fallout if these weapons ever fell into the hands of their enemy, yet they couldn't afford to stop developing them in case they were needed one day. Genjutsu was among the many topics of research, and Takuma had spent months studying their archives. He knew the essence of the illusion that could be used to throw an unprepared Inuzuka and their ninken out of sync.

He pored over academic papers detailing theoretical methods of casting illusions against dōjutsu like the Byakugan and Sharingan. He had consulted veteran interrogators from ANBU and Torture-and-Interrogation who had worked on creating mental barriers capable of protecting against a Yamanaka's probing.

Similarly, he studied how to cast a genjutsu on an Aburame's bugs with their tiny brains and senses vastly different from a human's—which was the main reason he had chosen to infiltrate instead of assigning it to someone who was experienced. He didn't need to create a complex reality; he simply fed their tiny, recovering brains a false sensory loop. To the beetles, the air would remain undisturbed, the temperature constant, no chemical reaction on their antennae, and the iron door they were protecting untouched.

Had an Aburame been actively commanding the swarm, the task would have been gruelling. But without a leader, the insects couldn't resist the illusion, leaving their already dulled senses completely at his mercy. Takuma slipped into the dark stairwell, closing the door silently above him. The underground bunker was a contrast to the traditional wooden home above. It was a sterile, well-lit laboratory. Glass terrariums lined the stone walls, humming with temperature-control seals.

In the centre of the room sat a massive drafting table covered in complex biological diagrams and scattered scrolls. His eyes darted over the open notes, unable to understand most of what was written. He quickly moved on and found a record cabinet that he roughly combed through until he found a file with the name of the bug. 「 Trial 83: The targeted chakra-pest (Variant Q) successfully demonstrated immunity to standard commercial pesticides. Maturation cycle accelerated to match spring harvest.

」 He turned the page. 「 Counter-measure development: The predatory beetle effectively consumes Variant Q. Breeding successful—predator lifespan capped at 28-31 days to ensure need for regular replenishment to maintain crop viability. 」 Takuma's jaw tightened. It was exactly as he suspected. A manufactured disease, designed to bleed the hard-working farmers on whom the Hidden Leaf depended for growing the raw material required to create so many of the tools of their trade. He clicked his tongue.

He couldn't use this document as proof to bring everyone involved down. As an ANBU, he didn't have many obstacles if he wanted to raid a place for gathering evidence, but the laws around protection of hiden jutsu were strict. If he tried to use the document as proof, it would be thrown out. The Aburame clan would claim that it infringed upon their right to protect their clan's core since Shigeki's home lab was undoubtedly focused on researching the clan's hiden jutsu.

In the Hidden Leaf, bloodline limits and hiden jutsu were considered of the utmost importance above most things. Using it openly would unite the clans against ANBU's "overreach." Unless he had something concrete, he couldn't get a procurator to issue a warrant to legally raid this place and then "find" the documents afterwards. He needed more, an unshakable reason to pierce the shield of law. Fortunately, he had it. Takuma looked down at the document.

He could use it for other reasons—locating the off-site breeding pits, uncovering and tracking the delivery methods, and digging up people other than Shigeki who were involved in this scheme. Takuma retrieved a storage scroll and sealed the documents in the file before tucking the mini-scroll securely inside his vest. It was in the bottom drawer, stuck with other files that seemed like they hadn't been looked at in ages.

It made sense; the pest and beetle had been in production for years, and Shigeki probably didn't see a need to refer to the file regularly. And if he found it missing that might be better in case the man panicked and made mistakes that Takuma could exploit. He took one last look at the laboratory before turning back towards the stairs where the bugs couldn't perceive him. As he closed the trapdoor, he snapped his fingers to release the bugs from the illusion. It was time to take it to the next stage.