Before long, Chōmei's voice rang out in the depths of Gekko Chizan's mind.
"Chizan, get ready. The scale powder I made will definitely attract plenty of good helpers."
"And I've already checked beforehand. Based on my senses, this area has a kind of very fine poisonous insect. They'll absolutely meet your needs."
Chōmei directly passed the scale powder to Gekko Chizan, who didn't even think twice before scattering it outward.
At the same time, he didn't forget to warn Tagorihime.
"Tagorihime, stand back a little. Don't get caught up in the scale powder."
"I don't even know if the scale powder Chōmei made this time has any side effects..."
The key problem was that Chōmei kept laughing, which gave Gekko Chizan chills.
"Alright..."
"Then I'll fly up..."
Tagorihime also felt something was off and immediately floated up, perching on a nearby tree.
As the scale powder spread, rustling sounds began to echo around them.
Soon, all kinds of insects gathered at Gekko Chizan's feet.
It nearly triggered his trypophobia on the spot.
Centipedes... scorpions... beetles... ants... all sorts of insects. Don't ask why there were scorpions—Gekko Chizan himself wanted to know!
"Dammit, Chōmei, take it easy! What the hell is this!"
"Ahhh! That centipede touched me! This is terrifying!"
"I can't take it! I can't! Hurry and let me fly!"
Chōmei couldn't stand Gekko Chizan screaming and wailing anymore, so he opened his wings for him, which at least reduced the noise a little.
But he had completely overestimated both Gekko Chizan and Tagorihime's tolerance.
As for the former, he was already on the verge of losing his mind. The latter's face had gone pale.
After holding back for a long time, Tagorihime finally muttered quietly:
"I hate bugs..."
"Especially when they're all swarming together..."
Hearing that, Gekko Chizan nodded furiously, showing no intention of saving Chōmei's face.
Chōmei felt extremely awkward, and could only snap at Gekko Chizan:
"Bugs are great! If only they were nutritious, I'd be ready to feast already."
"You don't get it! Bugs are beautiful, bugs are marvelous!"
The scale powder continued to spread, and the insects kept increasing.
Gekko Chizan felt that if he didn't stop this soon, he would completely break down.
"Chōmei! Enough! Enough!!"
"Don't go any further!"
Hearing Gekko Chizan's hysterical scream, Chōmei finally stopped.
Looking at the dense swarm of insects at his feet, Gekko Chizan felt utterly unsettled.
"Chōmei, hurry and organize these bugs for me."
"Have them go set up ambushes! Bite anyone they see, quickly!"
Using insects for ambush was part of the plan. After all, these creatures were tiny and hard to detect.
And among them, there were quite a few highly poisonous ones.
Enthralled by the scale powder, the insects, under Chōmei's command, began slowly pouring down toward the foot of the mountain.
But dozens of particularly unusual-looking beetles stayed behind.
"Hmm? Chōmei, what about these beetles?"
"Why are they still here?"
Chōmei chuckled and started giving Gekko Chizan a little lecture as he looked at the beetles.
"You don't know? Let me explain."
"These are tiger beetles, highly venomous insects. Their poison is lethal. A bite causes severe pain, muscle paralysis, difficulty breathing, and if untreated in time, death."
"I was laughing earlier because I spotted them."
"After all, I've only ever seen them a few times myself. You know how it is—even though Takigakure has lots of bugs, many kinds are still rare."
Gekko Chizan nodded and repeated the explanation to Tagorihime.
That left her slightly stunned. Such a poisonous insect?
Yet they didn't look dangerous at all.
Soon after, Chōmei gave another order, and the tiger beetles also dispersed.
In no time, these poisonous insects had spread along both sides of the road.
"Chizan, it's done. I've arranged everything."
"Good. On to the next."
Swarming snakes and insect plagues—two disasters unleashed by Gekko Chizan—began to spread across the important roads of the Land of Earth.
Gekko Chizan spent three full days on this. Apart from necessary sleep, he dragged Tagorihime along, flying around the Land of Earth as fast as possible.
All for the sake of spreading the two disasters in record time.
...
In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
Land of Earth. Iwagakure. Tsuchikage's office.
"Tsuchikage-sama, this is the fifth letter sent from the daimyo's estate."
"In the eastern mountains, another merchant caravan has been struck by disaster—again, a snake plague."
"The daimyo's estate demands we resolve these problems quickly."
An Iwagakure jōnin reported seriously to his Tsuchikage.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was a small old man. At over sixty years old, his whole body radiated the pressure of a powerful shinobi.
When he finished listening to his subordinate's report, his brow furrowed tightly.
"Snake plagues, insect plagues... five incidents in just a week..."
"Was this man-made? Or truly natural disasters?"
"Did we send people out?"
Puzzled, Ōnoki could only handle things cautiously.
The Iwagakure jōnin nodded, though his face looked troubled.
"We already sent people, but with manpower limited in the village, we only dispatched chūnin and—"
"Tsuchikage-sama! Bad news!"
Before he could finish, another anxious voice cut in.
Another Iwagakure jōnin rushed inside, holding a report.
"Speak! What happened!"
Ōnoki immediately sensed something was wrong and urged him to tell it.
But when he did, Ōnoki felt a headache pounding instantly.
"Tsuchikage-sama, the two squads sent to clear the snake and insect plagues have returned."
"Eight in total. Aside from two chūnin, six were genin. Five died, one was poisoned and has been taken to the hospital."
The office fell silent. Ōnoki floated into the air with his hands behind his back, his eyes glittering with thought.
"Send a message to the frontlines. Have Kitsuchi bring back a certain number of men and handle this personally."
"He must resolve the issue in the shortest time possible!"
"And also, find out exactly who did this! This old man will personally turn him to dust!"
"I don't want to see another letter from the daimyo's estate delivered to my office!"
Ōnoki's furious voice echoed through the office.
...
At the same time, in a village within the Land of Earth, Gekko Chizan was feasting heartily when he received a pleasant system notification sound.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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