Aburame Tetsumaru, a Jonin and one of the "Three Great Aburame," had a decent reputation and solid strength—but that was the extent of it in the eyes of his peers.
Among the eighty-plus Jonin present, most were confident that they were no weaker than Tetsumaru. To them, the idea of him being assigned a mission second only to the White Fang in scale was utterly ridiculous.
As Orochimaru continued to issue orders in his raspy voice, the Jonin exchanged silent, skeptical glances. They didn't voice their protests immediately, largely because none of them actually felt they could take on a task of that magnitude themselves.
A defensive zone stretching 150 kilometers deep and over 300 kilometers wide? It was absurd. It vastly exceeded the range of any standard sensory ninja. How could a four-man squad possibly hold that much territory? It was questionable if they could even monitor it, let alone defend it.
Tetsumaru's biggest claim to fame was his record for protecting his subordinates; his caution was as legendary as his hatred for high-mobility missions.
Wait... surely not...
Nara Shikato's brow furrowed. Orochimaru had assigned such an outrageous mission because he was certain Tetsumaru could complete it, just as he was certain the White Fang could handle his equally exaggerated guerrilla assignment.
If that was the case, it meant Orochimaru had realized a year ago that Tetsumaru possessed a specialized, overwhelming talent for defensive warfare. He had moved him from the high-mobility Rain theater to the defensive-focused Land of Rivers for a reason—and yet, a year had passed with Tetsumaru remaining in total obscurity.
If this was true, then Mitokado Homura's incompetence as a commander was truly beyond words.
Forget it. Orochimaru is in charge now. Let's see just how powerful a 'specialized' Aburame defense can be.
As the strategy meeting drew to a close, Orochimaru offered a final word of emphasis.
"The key to this campaign lies with all of you. Only when your efforts have secured the opening for victory will I deploy the main army to crush the Sand in one blow."
"Therefore, I am counting on you."
"Sir!"
The Jonin responded in unison. The Chunin and Genin allowed to audit the meeting could only bow their heads in respect; they had no standing to respond to the Commander.
With the meeting adjourned, everyone began to move out. The Land of Rivers camp became a ghost town. A few Earth and Fire Style ninjas remained behind to demolish the structures, ensuring the site wouldn't fall into the hands of bandits.
The camp, nestled in the mountains and forests, had been chosen for its defensive viability. When Konoha was on the offensive, however, it was a logistical nightmare, forcing supply lines to detour over a hundred kilometers.
The moment Orochimaru arrived, he had decided to abandon the site. He had only tolerated it this long because building a new camp was a massive expenditure of resources.
Team 121 moved in a standard diamond formation. Inuzuka O acted as the vanguard, while Tetsumaru brought up the rear to anchor the squad. They moved at high speed toward the north, quickly crossing into the heart of the Land of Rivers.
The environment changed drastically. Moving from the plains into rugged mountains, the squad avoided the valley floors—where an ambush would leave them with no escape—and the ridgelines, where they would be too easily spotted.
They stuck to the "military crest" of the hills. This way, any attackers would have to face them head-on or strike from below, while enemies on the other side of the ridge would be unable to see them.
The formation shifted to a "snake line." O remained the scout, Tetsumaru moved to the second position, and Uchiha Hiro held the rear.
Since entering the Land of Rivers, three Scythe-Mantises had joined the group. They served as pack mules, carrying the squad's heavy gear to free the ninjas for combat. To keep them safe, Tetsumaru positioned them directly in front of Hiro.
Along the way, signals flared into the sky repeatedly. Some were Konoha ninjas signaling "In Position," others were Suna alarms, and they even spotted two messenger hawks taking flight.
The atmosphere of a Great War was thick. It had undoubtedly drawn the eyes of the entire world, and every capable nation would have sent spies to monitor the outcome.
Anyone capable of launching a messenger hawk was a high-value spy. If they weren't too far off, Tetsumaru led his team to hunt them down. They successfully intercepted two enemy squads belonging to the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Mist.
The Mist ninja was a Jonin whose swordsmanship was savage and whose Water Style was exceptionally fluid. Enhanced by the humid environment of the Land of Rivers, his jutsu were terrifyingly powerful. In the clash, one Scythe-Mantis was killed and two others were injured. O's dog even ended up with a "bald spot" on its head from a close shave, though the humans managed to escape unharmed.
The Jonin was exceptionally clever and decisive. Noticing something was off, he tried to retreat without warning, momentarily catching Tetsumaru off guard.
However, the Secret Technique: Domain Field Barrier was no joke. Tetsumaru easily identified the Mist ninja's signature within the river. He put in the effort to run the man down, and eventually, the four ninjas and their remaining insects cornered him. Tetsumaru finished him by literally punching him to death in the water, blow by blow.
To avoid future losses against high-tier ninjas, Tetsumaru summoned more Scythe-Mantises to replace the fallen and injured ones.
Between the frequent skirmishes and the difficult terrain, it wasn't until noon the following day that Team 121 reached a valley at the center of their designated zone.
Under the scorching sun, 117 giant insects had already gathered. Tens of thousands of standard insects swarmed around them, busy feeding the giants, providing water, cleaning their carapaces, and excavating tunnels for shelter.
The three Genin stared at the bustling, chaotic scene, their mouths agape. However, the anxiety they had felt during the journey finally began to dissipate.
They had audited the meeting and Nara Yoshito had been the first to realize the scale of the task. He had spent a lot of breath on the road explaining to the other two that they were responsible for a zone hundreds of times larger than any other squad's.
Whether it was O's bluntness, Hiro's pride, or Yoshito's cleverness, all of them had wilted under the weight of the mission. How could four people do the work of a hundred squads?
Seeing the sheer numbers in the valley, they finally understood. It made sense why they were given such a mission—their teacher had over a hundred Scythe-Mantises at his beck and call. That was a combat force comparable to a hundred veteran Chunin.
With that kind of "manpower," the mission was actually possible.
The realization made Yoshito even more nervous. He began biting his thumb, his mind racing to figure out how to best utilize this "Zerg Legion" to complete the mission.
Tetsumaru directed two Scythe-Mantises to drop their gear. As they did, six more Mantises, covered in forest camouflage, emerged from the distance to join the main swarm. Standard insects immediately swarmed them to provide medical care, cleaning, and food.
Tetsumaru then cast the Summoning Jutsu, bringing forth four giant insect hives to release more specialized bugs, led by the Burrowing Worms of the Mining Zerg. They immediately set to work excavating a massive subterranean base.
Next, he performed a rapid-fire sequence of summoning. In a continuous billow of white smoke, he summoned thirty-six large and medium-sized hives. Uncountable numbers of large insects slowly crawled out.
These insects looked as if they had just finished pupating; their shells were white, pale green, or pink—soft, translucent, and trembling as they moved.
For the past year, Tetsumaru had mostly performed escort or construction missions. He hadn't needed a massive army, which had led his students to believe his combat style was that of a standard Taijutsu/Ninjutsu specialist.
Keeping insects in a state of hibernation within hives has a limit; too long, and they die in large numbers. Tetsumaru had developed a "Hibernation plus Pupation" method. By sacrificing the ability to fight immediately upon summoning, he gained an incredibly long "standby" time and increased the hive's capacity by thirty percent.
He didn't actually know how long they could stay in this state. So far, they had been on standby for seven months without any signs of decay.
The next step would be "Frozen Pupation." If he could store them as frozen pupae that only resumed development after being summoned, he could strip the life-support systems from the hives entirely, increasing capacity by another thirty percent.
Beyond that lay "Controllable Pupation," where the hive itself was just a giant pupa filled with nutrient fluid, capable of developing into tens of thousands of different insect species or a few giants on demand.
When he reached that level of technology, he would be a literal God of the Swarm—he would finally see the outline of the Creator.
Two hours later, all the insects finished their molting. Under Tetsumaru's command, they took to the sky or scurried into the brush, fanning out to scout the terrain and prepare for the massive infrastructure projects ahead.
The defensive mission would officially begin in five days and could last for weeks. He needed a robust infrastructure; even with his skills, he couldn't monitor a zone this vast empty-handed.
On the way there, he had already done the math. From this central location, extending 100 kilometers east and west and 70 kilometers north and south, he would build a total of five Broodmothers.
Using these five hives as hubs, he would then build 29 Signal Relay Stations (outposts with only transmission capabilities). This would allow his secret technique signals to blanket the entire zone. Using Sky-Patrol Dragonflies as relay points, he could achieve command and control over a swarm numbering in the tens of millions across a 300-kilometer radius.
A swarm of ten million... Tetsumaru glanced toward the direction of Konoha. That shipment should be on its way.
For the next three days, Tetsumaru led his students on a frantic trek, building signal stations everywhere. His Shadow Clones, meanwhile, handled the construction of the Broodmothers. After three days and nights of continuous labor, Team 121 finally returned to the center of the zone.
The three Genin had first been terrified by the sight of over a million insects, then dragged through a non-stop construction marathon until their eyes were glazed with exhaustion.
Tetsumaru had done it on purpose.
The sight of a million insects—a literal nightmare for anyone with even a hint of trypophobia—had clearly frightened the children. That wouldn't do. For the next several weeks, Team 121 would be living and fighting surrounded by millions of bugs. They had to get used to it.
So, he pushed them for seventy-two hours straight, always accompanied by a swarm of tens of thousands of insects. Eventually, the kids were too tired to be afraid. Even Nara Yoshito was now fast asleep, sprawled out right in the middle of a pile of insects.
Tetsumaru looked at his three snoring students and left with a smile.
The five Broodmothers and 29 signal stations allowed him to monitor large-scale movements over 200 kilometers away. A dragonfly spotted a Konoha transport team entering the zone, and the information was relayed through the stations to the central hive. Tetsumaru received the message in just seven minutes.
He initiated a connection, linking his vision to the dragonfly through the relay network. He confirmed it was an Aburame clan transport team.
They were still 170 kilometers away. The Land of Rivers terrain was difficult; the actual winding path they'd have to take could be several times that distance. It would take them at least three days to arrive.
Given that it had only taken them three days to get this far from Konoha, Tetsumaru decided to go out and meet them. Most of the supplies they were carrying wouldn't need to be brought to the central base anyway.
At nightfall, Tetsumaru reached the transport team. The leader was an Aburame ninja, and the two confirmed each other's identities through their Kikaichu.
The team had already unloaded the supplies and lit bonfires for dinner. The leader, Aburame Eiji, sat with Tetsumaru by a private fire, the two "brothers" talking as they ate.
"You've got quite the ego these days, kid," Eiji teased. "One word from you and I'm out here doing manual labor."
"Ha. Like I've never helped you haul gear before."
"Tch. I usually ask for a single parcel. You? This is an entire convoy—two hundred carts of cargo." Eiji looked around warily before leaning in. "What kind of mission are you on that needs this much? And why did the Hokage personally order me to make this trip? It's crazy."
Tetsumaru held his bowl in his left hand and pointed to the ground with his right.
"From here, stretching west to the border of the Land of Wind," he said, turning his hand over and clenching his fist. "A zone 150 kilometers deep—that's my defensive theater."
"Are you kidding me...?"
Eiji stared in shock for a long time before muttering, "Unbelievable. This is insane. Do you have a grudge against the Hokage, or did you offend Lord Orochimaru?"
After another silence, Eiji's voice grew urgent. "You're going to die, you know that? Once the Sand finds out, the Kazekage will bring thousands of ninjas to crush you. How are you supposed to hold that?"
"With these two hundred carts of cargo."
"Two hundred carts of 'Large' insects. 1.4 million adults, 260,000 pupae, and 70 million eggs."
"With those 70 million eggs, I can get a hatch rate of about 25% in the wild. Even if half of those die during development, I'll still have at least eight million large insects. Added to what I already have, I'll have over ten million high-grade ninja insects in this zone."
"I made a deal with Lord Orochimaru. If I'm attacked by the Kazekage's main force, I only have to hold for five days. That will give him enough time to encircle and annihilate the Sand army."
"How many bugs do I have? Ten million."
"Ten million!!"
"Even if the Kazekage's jutsu hard-counters me, and even if he brings thousands of ninjas... it'll still take them at least five days just to kill ten million bugs."
Tetsumaru finished his explanation and proudly downed the rest of his soup, his "bottoms up" posture making it look like he was drinking fine wine.
He was still three years away from the legal drinking age. That meant even after the war, he still wouldn't be able to drink in public. It was truly frustrating.
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