Under the cover of night, Kazuyama flew through the air in Sage Mode. There was no need for the Transparent Escape Technique—thanks to the Snake Princesses' invisibility, it was redundant.
He and Chōmei were relying on insect vision to locate enemy positions. The darkness posed no obstacle to their sight.
"Kazuyama, the enemy is pretty spread out. Are you sure this'll work?"
"No problem. As long as I mark the coordinates, the explosions will handle the rest."
Kazuyama carried a Katsuyu on him for communication with Tsunade.
"Katsuyu, I'm counting on you for the rest."
"Understood. But are you sure the coordinates you gave me are accurate?"
"Absolutely. My vision's top-notch, and besides..."
Kazuyama smiled slightly. One of the strongest traits of Senjutsu chakra was sensory perception—he could detect nearby ninja even without insect vision. Still, he wasn't familiar with the Kamizuru Clan's chakra signatures, which made him a little uneasy.
"Hmph! You slimy slug—are you underestimating Kazuyama, or are you looking down on Ryūchi Cave?"
"Chakra sensing is nothing to us. We don't make mistakes."
"Just report to Tsunade properly, or I'll toss you off right here."
Tagitsuhime, the most hot-tempered of the Snake Princesses, finally revealed her aggressive side.
Katsuyu ignored her completely and moved to relay information to Tsunade.
...
Soon, the slugs began slowly closing in on various Iwagakure squads.
It was deep into the night. Most Iwagakure ninja were resting. There were patrol units, but none of them had any idea of the disaster creeping toward them.
The Katsuyus approached silently, stopping a few meters away from the outermost tents as a patrol unit passed by.
Once the patrol moved on, they resumed their approach.
Suddenly, one of the slugs froze—shocked by what it saw. A dense swarm of bees. But something was off... these bees radiated killing intent. What kind of bees gather nectar filled with hatred?
"Don't be surprised. This is the Kamizuru Clan's forbidden jutsu. This entire ambush operation is aimed at these bees."
"Next, we just need all the slugs in position."
"Katsuyu, you can detonate the tags on your own, right?"
Floating in the air, Kazuyama communicated with the Katsuyu on his shoulder.
Katsuyu nodded. After splitting, each clone had its own chakra, which made triggering the explosive tags easy.
"Good. How many clones aren't in position yet?"
"About half... Wait, something's wrong..."
Katsuyu's voice suddenly shifted. She had seen something strange. As the slugs entered the poison bee territory, the bees began to stir—buzzing to life and circling the area.
"Did they detect me?"
"That can't be. Even if they were made by a forbidden jutsu, how could bees... No, wait... it's their sense of smell!"
Kazuyama's expression changed—he'd miscalculated.
Ryūchi Cave's Senjutsu could mask chakra signatures, but not scent. Insects' olfactory senses were another matter entirely.
If only he'd used his upgraded Kekkei Genkai, the Transparent Escape Technique. Damn it!
"Charge! Everyone, move now! Even if you're not in position, it doesn't matter—detonate!"
"We've been discovered! It's time to strike!"
"I'm attacking too!"
"Snake Princesses—support me!"
Kazuyama began absorbing natural energy rapidly, building up power.
Below, clouds of poison bees surged into the air. The other slugs, seeing this, accelerated toward the camp.
The Kamizuru shinobi who controlled them also sensed that something was off and turned their attention toward the front of the camp.
"Something's wrong..."
"What could provoke such a reaction from the poison bees..."
"Aburame insects? No... what is that?"
The Kamizuru Clan Head, Yabee, was communicating with the queen of the poison bees.
His face darkened when she responded: they couldn't see the threat—only sense it through scent.
That one line was all it took for him to realize—this was very bad.
The next second, a flash lit up in his vision.
The Katsuyus carrying explosive tags began detonating.
The blast triggered a chain reaction, and countless crimson lights erupted in the darkness.
"Boom!"
"It's a Konoha ambush!" Yabee shouted.
But it was too late. The blast's shockwave tore through the swarm of poison bees, scattering them in all directions.
Ninjas in the camp rushed out at the sound, only to be greeted by even more Katsuyus, each carrying explosive tags.
The explosion dispersed the cloaking natural energy, revealing a massive number of Katsuyus. Just one glance had Yabee stunned—there were too many.
Even for someone like him, who commanded thousands of poison bees daily, this was alarming. Because in his eyes, these weren't slugs—they were all walking bombs.
"Boom!"
The explosions didn't stop. At that moment, the Poison Bee King suddenly looked to the sky. Yabee followed his gaze.
"Someone's up there!"
"They can fly?"
"Damn it—the hive!"
Yabee raised both hands toward the sky. Amid the thunder of explosions, countless poison bees surged upward, their venomous stingers glowing with a deadly light.
The blasts finally woke the rest of the Iwagakure ninja, and in an instant, the Land of Grass became an inferno.
"Damn it! Defend! Defend!"
"Boom!"
Their shouts were drowned by yet another blast.
Though these were elite Iwagakure ninja stationed in the Land of Grass and the explosions were intense, the damage wasn't fatal—at least not to them. The initial wave had caused chaos, but they quickly began to regroup.
However, the poison bee swarm suffered devastating losses. The shockwaves and heat tore through their ranks.
Realizing this, Yabee launched a direct attack at the sky. In his mind, this entire ambush had to be the work of that bastard above.
"Kazuyama, straight ahead! The bees have locked onto us!"
"I know!"
Kazuyama formed hand seals in rapid succession, Senjutsu chakra surging wildly inside him.
"Hmph! It's just a swarm of bees!"
"Sage Art: Five Flood Dragons Annihilation!"
As he completed the tiger seal, Kazuyama's figure revealed itself, his vertical pupils blazing with fire.
The three Snake Princesses emerged behind him, their presence casting an eerie glow across the night sky.
"Tsk, tsk... You've already developed your own Sage Art?"
"Kazuyama truly is the genius Ryūchi Cave hasn't seen in ages."
"Five Flood Dragons Annihilation? But there's only four of us with him, isn't there?"
One after another, the Snake Princesses spoke—marking the moment the Sage Art was unleashed.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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