A new joke was circulating within the Aburame clan: Aburame Eiji had been talked into becoming a "muffled gourd."
"That's impossible. Eiji is the biggest chatterbox in the clan. Who could possibly talk him into silence?"
"It's unbelievable."
"I thought it was a prank too, but he's genuinely changed."
"Really?"
"For real."
"Who's that powerful? Don't get me wrong, I just want to know who it is so I can stay as far away from them as possible."
"Aburame Tetsumaru—the guy who pioneered the External Giant-Bug Style."
"Impressive. As expected of our clan's genius."
This strange topic didn't spread far; the Aburame cared deeply about their privacy and wouldn't discuss such quirks with outsiders.
Meanwhile, the reputation of the "Three Heroes of the New Generation" was growing, though the gap between them was becoming apparent.
Aburame Shige was the oldest and the first to make a name for himself. Using the clan's Rinkaichu as a base, he had quickly cashed in on his talent to become an outstanding Jonin of the Hidden Leaf.
Then there was Aburame Tetsumaru. He had been famous since childhood as a genetic anomaly—his height, chakra reserves, and insect-control talent didn't seem Aburame at all. After a long period of silence following his graduation, he finally burst onto the scene with his Giant-Bug style. Following the "Giant Insect Squadron's" performance in the war against the Sky Ninja, he had become one of Konoha's most renowned tactical geniuses.
And the third...
Aburame... what was his name again?
"Do you remember the third member of the Three Heroes?"
"I don't. Do you?"
"Forget it. He's the youngest and hasn't done anything spectacular yet. We probably just forgot him because he lacks any notable achievements or unique jutsu."
"Hahaha, you're probably right."
The two Aburame ninjas walked away chatting, completely failing to notice a clansman sitting on a rock nearby, dazed and chewing on a blade of grass.
Aburame Shibi let out a deep, melancholy sigh. "Shige-ge and Tetsumaru are amazing, sure... but I'm not bad either. Why does everyone keep forgetting me?"
As the elites of the various shinobi clans were summoned by the Hokage to the northeastern theater, the Third Raikage began to feel the pressure mounting.
The Hyuga were a nuisance. While he could take them down with a single punch, they always managed to land a hit on him. The "soft" Gentle Fist didn't feel like much at first, but after being poked a dozen times, it started to genuinely hurt.
The Uchiha were even more annoying. They'd stare at him with those glowing red Sharingan, making it nearly impossible to land a clean hit. They were masters of Fire Style, shurikenjutsu, and paper bombs; though they couldn't break his defense, the Raikage found it incredibly embarrassing to finish every battle with his clothes burned off.
But the absolute worst were the Aburame. All they did was throw clouds of bugs at him. It was hard to find a solid human to punch. While the tiny insects couldn't bite through his skin, they were constantly trying to crawl into his ears and nostrils. They were a bigger headache than the Uchiha.
Moreover, the tactics of these bug-users triggered a bad memory. Years ago, he had gone to the Land of Bears to steal—no, investigate—the Hidden Star Village's "Star" and their Peacock Method. Before he even reached the village, he encountered a bug-user who had just killed a Magnet Release ninja from the Sand.
A Magnet Release corpse was a rare prize, so the Raikage decided to play the "vulture." He had intervened, hoping for an easy kill and a free body.
Instead, he'd spent half the day failing to kill the guy, eventually exposing his own location and being forced to retreat. It was one of the few failures the Third Raikage had suffered since taking office, and it had stayed with him, a thorn in his side.
"Tell me," the Raikage grunted, "with all these bug-users Konoha is sending, do you think that guy is here too?"
The Kumo Jonin, Genji, was taken aback. "Who are you talking about, Lord Raikage?"
THWACK.
"Ow!"
"Four years ago! In Bear Country! The Konoha ninja we fought while trying to snag that Magnet Release body!" The Raikage raised his fist again, annoyed. "Remembered yet?"
"I remember! I remember!" Genji frantically rubbed the massive lump on his head. "Hiss... but the bugs they're using now are different. The scale is completely different."
"Idiot. Haven't you read the intel on the Sky Ninja?"
"The 'Giant Insect Squadron'? Oh! Right. The ninja who developed that Swarm Control technique... what was his name? I remember now—Aburame Tetsumaru."
The Raikage lowered his fist and stroked his beard. "Exactly. Him. Go. Send everyone to gather intel on Aburame Tetsumaru. The moment his location is confirmed, tell me. I'll deal with him personally. He won't escape this time."
Seeing the Raikage stroke his beard instead of clenching his fist, Genji breathed a sigh of relief. This meant he was safe from further bludgeoning. "Yes, Lord Raikage! I'll arrange it immediately."
With the arrival of so many elite Jonin at the Leaf's Eastern Front, it was impossible to deploy them as standard units because there simply weren't enough Chunin and Genin to fill the ranks. After a discussion at command, a new "Mobile Squad" organizational structure was established.
Tetsumaru was assigned to a Mobile Squad—or rather, an Aburame Squad, as all four members, including himself, were from his clan.
Other Jonin were grouped similarly, paired with their own clansmen whenever possible to minimize the friction of working with strangers.
Of course, if ninjas had been teammates since their Genin days, that took priority. Unfortunately, among the 109 Jonin gathered here, only five had been part of the same squads in their youth.
Most Jonin were "lone wolves." Their former teammates either hadn't kept up with their growth, remaining at the Chunin rank, or were no longer among the living.
The Jonin were organized into twenty-seven Mobile Squads. Nineteen were spread thin along the long battlefront, while eight were tasked with tracking the Raikage's movements, ready to intercept him at a moment's notice.
The mission of these Mobile Squads was to act as a rapid response force, heading to the site of any Cloud incursion at top speed.
If they could handle the situation, the battle ended there. If not, they would signal for further reinforcements, guiding more Mobile Squads to the location. For a squad composed entirely of Jonin, the only thing they shouldn't be able to handle was the Third Raikage and his "A-B Combo." Thus, the signal for help was essentially shorthand for: The Raikage is here.
As the Mobile Squads, including the Aburame Squad, began their patrols, the Cloud's offensive was immediately blunted.
A squad of four Jonin was a terrifying force. Whenever Kumo launched an attack, a single Mobile Squad arriving on time was enough to force them onto the defensive. If two squads arrived, they would launch a pincer attack.
Kumo's raiding parties rarely contained more than four Jonin. In the shinobi world, being outnumbered at the elite level is a death sentence. To use a modern metaphor: it's like two armies clashing, but one side has significantly more tanks. The side with the tanks naturally holds the advantage.
Homura Mitokado was highly satisfied with the Mobile Squad tactics. Now, it was just a matter of seeing if they could contain the Raikage. If they could, the war was as good as won.
On the third day of the new strategy, the Raikage arrived.
The intel Tetsumaru received stated that the Raikage wasn't working with B this time. He had hidden himself among a Cloud raiding party. When the first Mobile Squad arrived to intercept, he struck like a lightning bolt, killing two Hyuga Jonin in his opening salvo.
Before the second Mobile Squad could even arrive, he had slaughtered the remaining two Hyuga and crushed the Konoha battalion that had called for help.
The Raikage used a relentless, high-pressure tactic, completely suppressing the Hyuga squad to the point that they couldn't even fire off a secondary distress signal before being wiped out.
The Cloud ninjas even disguised themselves as Leaf ninjas, staging a fake battle to "fish" for more reinforcements.
Fortunately, the second Mobile Squad to arrive was a "Ino-Shika-Cho" team paired with an Inuzuka Jonin. Their scouting and analytical skills were top-tier.
The Inuzuka Jonin detected the overwhelming scent of fresh blood, while the Nara Jonin noted that the sounds of battle weren't intense enough for a clash of that scale. Judging that the front had already collapsed, they fired the secondary distress signal and immediately retreated.
Seeing the signal, the Raikage realized his bait had been spotted. He ordered the Cloud ninjas to drop their disguises and continue the offensive, while he personally set off to hunt down the ninjas who had sounded the alarm.
This specific battle led by the Raikage resulted in several gaps in the Leaf's defensive line, forcing another retreat.
Konoha lost seven Jonin in the clash, including the Inuzuka Jonin from the second squad and two Jonin commanders from the garrison.
The defeat undid much of the progress from their previous victories. Morale in the Eastern Army plummeted, but the members of the Mobile Squads didn't lose heart. They were all battle-hardened Jonin.
Some were even eager for a chance to test themselves against the Raikage—mostly the Uchiha, who wanted to see just how strong they really were.
Most, however, were busy gathering intel and discussing tactics, trying to analyze any weaknesses the Raikage had exposed in hopes of finding a way to defeat him.
The Aburame Mobile Squad was also having a meeting.
"It looks like the Mobile Squad tactic won't work on the Raikage."
"Not necessarily. The Hyuga were just a bad match for him."
"True. The Ino-Shika-Cho team managed to retreat safely. The Inuzuka only died because he was too impulsive; otherwise, they could have all made it back."
"What's the point? Our goal is to stall the Raikage, not run away from him."
"From the intel, the Raikage is incredibly strong, but it's his defense that's truly terrifying. Even an Inuzuka's combined secret technique didn't leave a scratch. We should focus on delaying his attacks rather than looking for a kill."
"Makes sense."
"The Raikage is fast and hits like a truck. Even if we use Kikaichu to slow him down, there's a huge risk. One mistake and we're dead."
"Then let's stack the deck. Everyone uses Insect Clones. Keep our real bodies as far from the battlefield as possible."
The other three Aburame looked at the speaker. As expected, it was Tetsumaru's suggestion. They all sighed and shook their heads in unison.
"Sigh... I guess it has to be that way."
"I never thought I'd see the day I'd be reduced to using Tetsumaru's 'shameless' tactics."
The last Aburame just sighed and said nothing.
Tetsumaru: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
"Then don't use them!"
"How could we? It's too useful. If we don't use it, we'll actually die."
"Exactly. 'What is face compared to life and death?' You said that, Tetsumaru. It's too logical to ignore."
The silent Aburame nodded vigorously.
"...Fine. You win."
The Aburame squad then engaged in a brief internal spat, throwing around terms like "thick-skinned," "wall-faced," "shameless," and "faceless." The atmosphere was surprisingly cheerful.
Once things calmed down, Tetsumaru raised a new point. "So, we have a way to stall the Raikage—shut up, you losers. But what then? We can't just stall him forever. We need a solution."
"Don't worry about that, kid. We're Aburame; in most cases, providing support is enough. If we did more, what would the Uchiha think? What would the Hokage think?"
"True. I have no rebuttal."
As the Aburame were bickering, a ninja with a strange expression walked over and handed them a new intelligence report.
The silent Aburame took it. He glanced at it, and his sunglasses literally fell off. He looked at Tetsumaru with a bizarre expression before passing the note to the next person.
Every Aburame who read the note had the same reaction. By the time the paper reached Tetsumaru, everyone was staring at him in a way that made his skin crawl.
He took the paper with trembling hands. One look, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. "Raikage... what the hell are you doing?"
The note read: The Raikage has carved a challenge into a boulder on the front line. It says: 'Aburame Tetsumaru, come out and face your death.'
At the bottom of the note was a postscript from the commander, Homura Mitokado: Urgently investigate this ninja's background and have him report to command for a briefing.
Well, that was it. Huge trouble. So much for a "vacation on the public dime." He had traveled a thousand miles just to put himself in the Raikage's crosshairs.
The messenger confirmed the target was correct. "It looks like I found the right man. Come with me."
Tetsumaru stood up dejectedly. "Fine. Let's go."
"Wait, wait! What's the rush?" His squadmates scrambled to stop him.
Tetsumaru was moved. "It's okay, guys—"
"Make sure he explains what's going on before he leaves! Otherwise, we won't be able to sleep tonight!"
"Exactly! He might not come back. What are we supposed to do then?"
The last Aburame nodded like a bobblehead.
Tetsumaru took a deep breath, forced a massive, strained smile, and said, "How about you come with me and I'll tell you on the way?"
All three Aburame shook their heads. "No way. Absolutely not."
"Look, for the sake of the clan, just give us the summary and then get going."
"Fine. Then you'd better pray I come back alive, or you'll never know the secret."
Hmph. Tetsumaru stormed off.
It wasn't until both ninjas had vanished that the three Aburame showed a look of genuine worry.
"Will he be okay?"
"He'll be fine. But let's send a message to the clan, just in case."
"Good idea. And let's write to Lord Orochimaru too. Tetsumaru told me earlier that if he was in danger, Orochimaru would save him."
"Really? That's great. Let's get to writing."
Watching this through his Domain Field Barrier, hearing their words, Tetsumaru felt a warm glow in his heart.
What a pain. Relatives like this are hard to give up on.
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