"I will handle the matter of Shisui Aburame with the utmost severity. He murdered Shinku Yuhi and his own comrades; his actions are beyond atrocious.
I have already signed an A-rank wanted poster for him. The bounty is set at twenty-eight million Ryo."
"Hiruzen, since that's the case, leave the task of purging the traitor to my Root," Danzo Shimura said, his voice ringing with self-righteousness.
Then, his tone shifted, revealing his true motive. "However, Root just lost a third of its manpower on the Northern front. I need to replenish our strength—ideally with high-potential elites."
"Danzo, you and I both know exactly why Shisui Aburame defected."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled a file from his desk drawer. "The heads and elders of several clans came to me yesterday. Your recent forced conscription of their kin has incited public outrage."
"In times of war, everything must serve the interests of the village."
"But there must be a method to it," Hiruzen countered patiently. "Danzo, I know you have sacrificed much for the village, but you cannot rush these things. Shinobi are human; they have emotions, and they have the right to choose."
Danzo let out a cold sneer. "Are you accusing me, Hiruzen? Don't forget, this happened with your tacit consent—the price of keeping Orochimaru from making early contact with the Root."
The office fell into a tense silence, broken only by a sharp knock at the door.
"Enter."
An ANBU agent stepped in and dropped to one knee. "Lord Hokage... the widow of Jonin Shinku Yuhi has passed away in the hospital. The child was born premature; the condition is stable, but long-term monitoring is required."
Hiruzen closed his eyes tightly. For the first time, true fury flickered across his face. Shisui Aburame had just added another orphan to the world's tally.
"Assign the best medical ninja. Ensure that the child survives at all costs. All expenses will be drawn from my private account."
"Understood." The agent withdrew.
"Hiruzen, you are still hesitating," Danzo pressed. "Look at the damage this boy has caused. If we don't eliminate him quickly, the other Great Nations will smell weakness. The fallout will only grow."
"He fled toward the West. I will notify Orochimaru and Jiraiya to track his movements at the border and resolve this immediately."
Sensing Hiruzen's shift in resolve, Danzo pushed further. "Regarding Orochimaru, I still believe he belongs in the Root. His talents should be used in the 'correct' way—"
"Do not speak of Orochimaru again," Hiruzen interrupted, his voice hardening into the command of a leader. "Danzo... I am the Hokage."
"You will regret this, Hiruzen." Stung by the familiar dismissal, Danzo slammed the door behind him.
Standing by the window, Hiruzen watched the sunlight hit the Hokage Rock. The three faces carved there represented responsibility and heritage.
But the weight of the Leaf was suffocating him; though only in his forties, the stress and his pipe had already begun to rot his lungs.
He took a deep drag of smoke and coughed. He didn't regret his decision regarding Shisui. Even if he could go back, he would choose the same path.
It wasn't just a cold calculation of pros and cons; the primary reason was that the boy simply did not possess the Will of Fire.
"Distribute the wanted posters," Hiruzen commanded the shadows. "Notify Orochimaru and Jiraiya. Execute the traitor on sight."
After two more hours of flight, Shisui Aburame landed by a waterfall.
This was the border of the Land of Fire. Seventy-five miles further west lay the Land of Grass, but he didn't plan to push on just yet.
In wartime, the Land of Grass was a combat zone with frequent patrols. He needed to rest and recalibrate.
The roar of the waterfall drowned out all other noise—a natural cloak. He released his Sensory Bugs, weaving an alarm network within a two-mile radius, before sitting down to pull out his rations.
The food pills tasted as foul as ever. He had left in such a hurry that he hadn't packed real food, only a few custom spices he'd prepared himself.
His chakra wasn't empty, but the continuous battles had drained him significantly.
As he waded into the water to catch some fish, Shisui muttered to himself, "So this is what it feels like to be alive. I almost forgot."
Eighteen years in this world. At age four, his memories had fully merged. An adult mind in a toddler's body, looking at a strange world and a stranger self—he had once thought it was all a dream.
Back in his previous life, he had been captivated by the "hot-blooded" spirit of the anime. But the reality of being a ninja was a sordid affair of doing whatever was necessary to achieve an objective.
He had felt a natural, bone-deep revulsion toward it.
At six, when the clan tradition demanded he turn his body into a hive, his instincts screamed in protest. It was then that he discovered his "Golden Finger."
The Evolutionary Petri Dish
Within his mind sat a unique space—a specialized Petri dish. By hunting living creatures, he could harvest energy to trigger "time acceleration," forcing the species inside to evolve at an impossible rate.
Size: About the size of a palm.
Bond: Highly integrated with his spirit.
Capacity: Limited to small insects, bacteria, or viruses.
Storage: Includes a "Stasis Space" where insects sleep. In this state, they require no food or chakra. However, once deployed in the real world, they must feed.
Unlike other Aburame, Shisui's body wasn't "hollowed out" by his insects because he kept his primary swarms in the stasis space.
Because he disliked killing, he hadn't used the dish much early on. It was only when the war started that he began using the chaos to collect corpses and harvest energy.
The Erosion Bugs, the Ghost Scorpions, the Stink-Blights, and these Aero-Bugs were all the results of his secret evolutionary experiments.
Buzzzzz—
A vibration erupted from his chest. The Petri dish was restless; the swarm was hungry.
The Erosion Bugs were his most successful mutation—a perfect replacement for the standard Kikaichu.
They could consume anything, but the drawback was their massive energy requirement. After a battle, they needed a heavy meal, or they would die off in droves.
"You're getting greedier by the day," Shisui whispered. "Don't worry. The scouting bugs are back. They've found a bandit camp nearby."