"Aburame-san, can we see this 'insect' you've been talking about?"
"Of course."
Tetsumaru immediately performed the Summoning Jutsu. With a puff of smoke, a plump firefly appeared. Its six slender legs trembled slightly under the weight of its heavy body, and the bioluminescent gland at the tip of its tail flicked with a pulsing, eerie blue-green glow.
"This is my strongest ninja insect: the Mushroom Bug."
Tetsumaru patted the insect's back with pride. On its thorax was a circular symbol composed of three small fan-like shapes—the universal warning for radiation.
In Konoha, there were two notorious outliers when it came to naming things. One was the rising star Minato Namikaze, whose jutsu names were long, chuunibyou, and had absolutely nothing to do with what the technique actually did.
The other was Aburame Tetsumaru. His names were extremely short and blunt, lacking even a hint of majesty. In fact, they were usually borderline ridiculous.
Maybe he wants his enemies to die of laughter?
Pfft. Someone in the crowd couldn't hold it back, but no one turned to look. They were all too busy staring at the bug's underwhelming, almost pathetic appearance.
Then, hearing the name "Mushroom Bug"—a name with zero intimidation factor—the tension broke. The single snicker triggered a wave of collective laughter that filled the room.
For once, Orochimaru didn't use his tongue to lick his lips; instead, he massaged his temples with his fingers. "How... exactly does this 'Mushroom Bug' fight?"
"You send it to the enemy," Tetsumaru replied calmly. "And then it self-destructs."
Nara Shikato interjected, "Can you give us a demonstration? Just so we know what we're working with."
Tetsumaru shot the idea down immediately. "Absolutely not. The Mushroom Bug is too powerful and my stock is too low. I can't waste one on a trial."
"You... you're being a bit..."
Tetsumaru adopted an "accept it or leave it" expression. "It is what it is," he said indifferently. "Trust me and we use it. Don't trust me, and we find another way."
He knew he couldn't back down here. His status was shifting from a mere "employee" of Konoha to a powerhouse guardian of the borders. It was necessary to let the village leadership get used to his independent streak now, or the headaches would be never-ending later.
The Jonin began to murmur among themselves. This strange insect was an unknown variable, but every other plan was a guaranteed failure. Still, asking them to put their lives on the line based on a frail-looking firefly was a tall order.
This was the defining moment for a leader—a test of both judgment and prestige.
Slowly, the chatter died down. Every eye in the room turned toward Orochimaru, who sat in deep thought. Even the older generation of shinobi waited for his final word.
Orochimaru looked up and stood from his stool. He walked directly into the center of the clearing. The firefly was weakly fluttering its wings, trying to ward off Jiraiya, who was poking at it curiously with a kunai. Ignoring the middle-aged goofball, Orochimaru leaned in and whispered to Tetsumaru, "Is the power truly that great?"
Tetsumaru's answer was firm. "Immense. If I am within a thousand meters of the blast, I will die."
"Good."
Orochimaru raised his voice. "I trust the Aburame Jonin. We will proceed with the operation centered on the Mushroom Bug."
"Shikato-senpai, I'll leave you and Tetsumaru to hammer out the specific tactical plan. All preparations must be completed tonight. The operation shall be named..."
Tetsumaru suddenly chimed in, "Operation: Planting Mushrooms. It's the only name that fits."
Orochimaru rolled his eyes. Every Jonin in the room followed suit.
"Fine," Orochimaru sighed, his composure slipping just a fraction. "Everyone else, get some rest. We initiate 'Operation: Planting Mushrooms' at dawn. Pffft... hehehe." Despite his annoyance, even Orochimaru couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle at the name. The rest of the Jonin joined in, the tension finally breaking into genuine laughter.
The plan for "Planting Mushrooms" was simple: launch a standard offensive like they had for the past two weeks to drive the Rock ninja back into their tunnels. Tetsumaru would sneak in with the vanguard, summon the Mushroom Bug at a strategic point deep within the mountain, and then trigger the detonation.
At the crack of dawn, the Konoha shinobi assembled at the foot of the mountain. Inside a trench they had excavated themselves, Nara Shikato went over the final details.
"The Aburame Jonin has emphasized this repeatedly," Shikato said, his voice grave. "Once he gives the retreat signal, everyone must withdraw at maximum speed. No hesitation. No delays."
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "If you are too slow, you will die."
"Understood!"
To ensure the success of the feint, Jiraiya would lead the charge. According to Shikato's estimate, the Iwa ninja might just retreat into the mountain the moment they saw him coming.
In the last engagement, Jiraiya's combined jutsu with his giant toad had scoured half the mountainside, inflicting heavy casualties. The Rock ninja would likely prefer the safety of their tunnels over facing "The Mad Demon" in the open.
As the sun rose, six hundred elite Konoha ninja began their ascent from the west, using the long shadows of the morning for cover.
They reached the first known tunnel entrance without incident. It wasn't until an Iwa sentry spotted the mass of Konoha shinobi that the alarm was finally raised.
Jiraiya watched the signal flare rise just dozens of meters away and grumbled, "The Rock is getting sloppy. I feel like if we just pushed a few more times, we could take this place conventionally."
"No need for some weird firefly that looks like it's about to kick the bucket," Jiraiya complained as he knocked the signal flare out of the sky with a shuriken before silencing the sentry with a well-placed kunai. "Where's that Aburame kid? Where's Tetsumaru?"
"I'm right here, Jiraiya-sama." Tetsumaru flickered out of the shadows near the tunnel entrance. "Please keep up the pressure out here, but do not enter the tunnels."
With that, Tetsumaru dove into the darkness.
"Kid's got moves, and he's definitely got guts," Jiraiya laughed heartily. "Alright, this Great Sage will provide you some cover!"
Jiraiya's hands blurred through seals. With a massive cloud of white smoke, Gamabunta appeared on the battlefield. Jiraiya leaped onto the Toad Boss's head and roared, "Bunta! Oil!"
"Jiraiya! Next time call Gama-ken! This place is too damn high!" Bunta grumbled loudly, but he still complied, spewing a massive torrent of toad oil toward the mountain heights.
Jiraiya held a seal and exhaled a thin, concentrated jet of fire.
Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!
A wall of roaring inferno ignited the mountainside. The Rock ninja inside screamed in panic: "Jiraiya is here! The Mad Demon Jiraiya has arrived!"
"Retreat! Everyone into the tunnels!"
"Don't fight the Mad Demon in the open! You'll be slaughtered!"
Jiraiya laughed. It was exactly as Shikato had predicted. The Iwa ninja were voluntarily retreating into their holes, making the job much easier.
The charging Konoha ninja rejoiced, taking positions at various entrances and pouring massive-scale jutsu—Water Style and Fire Style—into the vents to keep the Iwa ninja pinned deep inside.
Deep within the mountain, Tetsumaru found his mark. He didn't summon the bug immediately; instead, he commanded his swarms at the base of the mountain to begin their ascent.
Once he confirmed the swarm was nearing the battlefield, Tetsumaru meticulously leveled a small section of the tunnel floor, creating a flat platform. Only then did he calmly summon the Mushroom Bug and set it down.
He stood up and directed several Camouflage Butterflies to mask the bug's presence. Moments later, the vanguard of his insect swarm surged past the hidden platform, a black tide of chitin rushing deeper into the tunnel system.
Tetsumaru smiled. With a literal sea of insects attacking them, the Rock ninja would be far too busy to go hunting for a tiny, hidden firefly—assuming they even knew what to look for.
Even though the Five Great Villages were riddled with each other's spies, the Mushroom Bug was a secret known only to Tetsumaru until last night. There was no way the intel could have reached the heart of Akagi Mountain this quickly.
Tetsumaru exited the tunnel at high speed and fired the agreed-upon signal flare. The Konoha shinobi, seeing the light, immediately began a frantic descent.
They ran against the tide of the incoming swarm. It took nearly two minutes to fully pass through the sea of insects. Many ninja were awestruck; the scale of this swarm easily exceeded a hundred thousand.
Confusion began to spread among the retreating troops.
"Jiraiya-sama! Is the plan still a blast? Or is the 'Giant Insect Squadron' just going to eat them all?"
"Yeah, Jiraiya-sama, should we go back in and support the bugs?"
In truth, Jiraiya was just as confused. With a swarm of this magnitude, was a demolition even necessary? Was Orochimaru pulling a fast one on him? Was "Self-Destruction" just code for "Insect Infiltration"?
But Jiraiya chose to trust his teammate. He shouted over the din, "The plan hasn't changed! Don't hesitate! Fall back to the safe zone immediately!"
On a raised earth-style platform at the foot of the mountain, Orochimaru was also startled by the size of the swarm. He knew Tetsumaru tended to be "extravagant" with his resources, but this was something else.
He was more worried about a Konoha ninja seeing the bugs, misinterpreting the situation, and foolishly charging back in to "help."
"Can't you ever just do things normally? You have to cause a scene every single day," Orochimaru muttered.
Tetsumaru's Shadow Clone, standing beside him, blinked innocently. "Huh? I didn't know about this either. The main body must have improvised. Don't look at me!"
Orochimaru didn't say another word. He realized then that his "fellow traveler" had truly chosen his own path. Tetsumaru had achieved a level of freedom that allowed him to sprint forward without hesitation.
A liberated Tetsumaru no longer suppressed his eccentricities, to the point where even his Shadow Clones had developed distinct, lively personalities.
To be honest, Orochimaru was a little envious. But he knew the weight of his own bonds—his teacher, Tsunade, the village, and even Jiraiya. With such heavy shackles, how could he ever be as free?
Ninja are fast. Within three minutes, the hundreds of vanguard shinobi had gathered at the base of Akagi Mountain. Tetsumaru, paranoid to a fault, dragged Jiraiya and Shikato along to count heads over and over again, terrified that some "hero" had stayed behind.
They counted three times over twenty minutes. By then, Tetsumaru's swarm had already smothered the fires and reached the summit, engaging the confused and desperate Rock ninja in a brutal melee.
Jiraiya led the participants to rejoin the main Konoha army. The ten-thousand-strong force was fully mobilized, standing in formation exactly five kilometers away from Akagi Mountain.
The rumors were flying.
"I heard the war ends today."
"Is it a swarm attack? I saw a massive cloud of bugs. I thought the 'Giant Insect Squadron' was in the Land of Tan?"
"Look at the summit! The bugs are already attacking!"
"Wow... the scale of that swarm is insane. Is the whole squadron here?"
Then, better-informed ninja spoke up: "It's not the squadron. It's their instructor, the Aburame Jonin."
"The 'Swarm Master' Aburame Tetsumaru! Look, look! That's him walking with Lord Jiraiya!"
Amidst the whispers, Jiraiya and Shikato reached Orochimaru's side.
Orochimaru scanned the horizon, a hint of dark anticipation in his eyes. "Everyone is accounted for. The distance is sufficient. Aburame-san... begin."
"Yes."
Tetsumaru didn't waste words. He sent a single mental command to the Mushroom Bug.
Deep in the tunnel, the Mushroom Bug received the signal. It flexed a specific set of muscles in its abdomen, pulling a pair of hooked claws that tore open a specialized sealing scroll. As the scroll drained the chakra from the bug's body, a heavy, dull-black metallic disk appeared, instantly slamming into two other slightly smaller metallic components.
The combined mass of the metal was now "critical." The neutrons radiating from its core could no longer escape into the surrounding air; instead, they slammed into neighboring nuclei.
Each impact caused a nucleus to split, releasing more neutrons. The numbers grew exponentially.
As the chain reaction reached its peak, a terrifying amount of energy was unleashed.
Before the eyes of ten thousand Konoha ninja, Akagi Mountain glowed.
A split second later, a flash of light so intense it rivaled the sun seared their vision. Everyone's eyes stung sharply, and tears began to flow uncontrollably.
Orochimaru, prepared for this, blinked and allowed a nictitating membrane to slide over his eyes, shielding them from the glare. The Aburame ninja, who wore their dark sunglasses as a matter of course, secretly thanked their clan traditions.
As the blinding light faded, a massive fireball—squashed and flattened by the weight of the mountain—erupted from the southwest corner. Simultaneously, every single tunnel entrance on Akagi Mountain began to vomit pillars of orange-red flame like the nozzles of a rocket.
The shockwave manifested as three distinct white rings of vapor, expanding outward with incredible speed. Rocks shattered and dust was pulverized wherever the rings touched.
The vapor rings vanished as they hit the valley floor, but the kinetic energy remained, transforming into a hurricane-force wind that swept across the plains. Seconds later, it slammed into the Konoha army.
The wind was so fierce that ninja instinctively hunkered down. Many were lifted off their feet and tumbled dozen of meters back, landing in undignified heaps.
As the fireball's brilliance dimmed, it turned a deep, angry red-black and began to rise. Molten rock and pulverized debris were sucked into the updraft, trailing behind the rising sphere of heat like a colossal trunk.
The ten thousand ninja stood frozen. They watched in absolute silence as a magnificent, terrifying spectacle unfolded before them—a level of raw, concentrated violence that defied everything they knew of the world.
However, if an old veteran from the founding era had been there, they might have felt more nostalgia than terror. After all, every punch from the First Hokage's Wood Golem carried roughly the same weight.
Tetsumaru pointed at the towering, red-and-black mushroom cloud hovering over what was once the Akagi Fortress and spoke softly.
"See? I told you. The name fits perfectly."
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