Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 37 Appointment

The food of light bugs is very simple; they only need some fluorite—stones that contain slightly radioactive substances. However, the light they produce is not radioactive, making it a unique superpower.

Aburame Shisei looked at the basement, which was now as bright as day. He no longer had to fumble around in the dark, which made the place seem like some kind of gloomy and terrifying dungeon.

He also discovered that this light can cultivate some plants to release oxygen, relieving the oxygen supply pressure on the airborne insects.

After successfully establishing the first layer of the insect hive laboratory, Aburame Shisei was finally able to stop and rest.

On the tenth day since becoming a Chunin, the leisurely days have finally come to an end.

When Morita Nakato came to his house again, he said to him, "Takikawa Chunin, this is your new appointment. You are required to become the Chunin leading the team."

"Oh, time flies so fast? It feels like I haven't had many days of rest."

Oil Girl Zhicheng was sitting in the yard washing vegetables.

Since his fiancée broke up with him, she hasn't come back. Therefore, he has been cooking all his meals himself.

Seeing him wearing an apron and with steam rising from the pot in the kitchen, Morita joked, "Takikawa-kun, you're not young anymore. It's about time you found a mistress for your household."

Aburame Shisei responded with a smile: "It's a pity that Chie broke up with me many days ago. It's a real shame, considering the atmosphere was quite nice at the time."

"Oh, what kind of atmosphere is it?" Morita asked with great interest.

Aburame Shigeaki smiled and waved his hand, letting the matter drop: "That's all in the past. Morita Chunin, did you come here today to assign me a mission?"

Hearing him bring up serious matters, Morita said solemnly, "Not really, it's mainly about letting you choose your next teammates."

As he spoke, he handed over a list containing three documents.

The first two are named Ataku and Ryohei. Similar to Shisei Aburame, they are the only remaining members of the team.

The last one is a newly graduated ninja this year, a fifteen-year-old boy named Twelve Leaves. The boy has dark skin and an ordinary appearance, but a steady personality. His father was a ninja in the village, but died early, and he was raised by his mother alone. Therefore, he was sensible from a young age and often helped with farm work.

Aburame Shisei glanced at them and shook his head. The three members were all ridiculously weak. Only Twelve Leaves had a little talent, mainly because they had just graduated and hadn't been corrupted yet, but that was about it.

He didn't want to be too obvious; he just wanted to slack off. With teammates like that, there's no way to slack off.

If he is unharmed but all his teammates are killed in battle, it might be okay once or twice, but if it happens too often, it will inevitably arouse suspicion.

So it's better to resolve this once and for all by choosing a suitable teammate, preferably one who doesn't have much reservations about him and allows him to relax and let his guard down.

"Aren't there any other team members?" Shisei Aburame asked.

"Takikawa-kun, this is putting me in a difficult position," Morita sighed, looking troubled.

Yu Nu Zhicheng immediately took out a wad of banknotes from her pocket and quietly stuffed them into his hand.

"This isn't about money."

He then took out a small piece of gold and placed it in the other person's hand.

This was what he had earned with banknotes over the years. After all, banknotes would depreciate significantly at the start of a war, while gold would appreciate in value. So, theoretically, gold was more useful than money. And indeed, that proved to be true. With this piece of gold, Morita finally relented.

"Takikawa-kun, considering our good relationship, I'll help you out this time, but only this once, and never again."

"Haha, don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this." Aburame Shicheng immediately made a promise, almost swearing to heaven and earth.

At this moment, Morita took out two more documents, and he actually knew the people in both of them.

One of them was the group that went on a mission a few days ago. One of their members had to retire due to injury and disability, which created a vacancy.

However, if he is transferred to that group, his authority will be reduced, and it will be impossible for him to serve as the team leader, because the original team leader, Aoki, is still alive.

"Summer, has it really returned?"

"I've seen this girl at your door before. What do you think? Want to join this team?"

Aburame Shisei shook his head and said, "No, Natsumi and her captain Aoki are a couple. I don't want to interfere and become a third party."

"Hehe, so what? Takikawa-kun, you don't understand. You only feel a sense of accomplishment when you grab something yourself."

Aburame Shisei smiled, but remained silent inside. He turned to the next page, which happened to be about Naoto and the others.

Judging by the time, they should have returned a few days ago. The extra three days might have been delayed by something, or perhaps they took on another job in the meantime.

"Has this team returned as well?"

Morita shook his head and said, "No, but it will probably take a few more days to receive their message. But I can assure you that all three are healthy and unharmed."

This sounds a bit like planting a flag.

"Let's go with this team. I'm good friends with their captain, and I'm also quite familiar with the team members."

"Indeed, Naoto has grown up quite well, it's just a pity that he hasn't made enough contributions. Otherwise, I might have been able to give him a Chunin application form after he came back this time."

Aburame Shisei couldn't help but ask again, "Isn't the village enough Chunin?"

"Sigh!" Morita sighed. "The external war is escalating. The Iwagakure and Konoha are practically at war in the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass."

Although our Land of Waterfalls has always maintained neutrality, our borders have been frequently harassed recently, which seems to be a test by the Land of Earth.

The village's leadership seemed determined to stay put and protect themselves, and many ninjas were asked to reduce their outings and take on high-risk missions.

I estimate that the village will likely be placed under lockdown soon, and the days ahead are probably going to be tough.

Was it tough? Probably only for those ninjas.

After all, the village is self-sufficient, with enough to eat and drink, and even daily necessities are supplied regularly by merchants.

The only ones who would find it hard to endure it are probably the ninjas who like to drink, eat meat, gamble, and relax in brothels.

Not long after Morita left, Shisei Aburame returned to his room and fell into thought again.

Sure enough, the comfortable life wouldn't last long. If he wanted to continue living like this, he needed to acquire enough intelligence to calmly deal with various emergencies, or to adjust his future development direction and change his response strategy in time.

It seems we can't conserve the remaining raw energy; we must research and develop insects more suitable for camouflage and surveillance to gather intelligence and information.