The insect eyes opened, and Gekko Chizan carefully examined the people before him.
Including Kitsuchi, there were a total of fifty men. Tch tch, not a small number.
And by the looks of it, the number of Jōnin among them wasn't low either.
But the most important one was still Kitsuchi himself. The combination of his strength and Earth Release.
While he was observing the Iwagakure group, Kitsuchi stepped forward to the front of the formation and began distributing orders.
"This mission is extremely urgent. Otherwise, we wouldn't have returned from the front lines."
"Tsuchikage-sama has ordered us to swiftly eliminate the snake and insect disasters plaguing the Land of Earth. The two disaster sites closest to us aren't very far away."
"We'll divide into two squads. One will go to handle the snakes, and the other will deal with the insect plague."
As soon as his words fell, the fifty-man squad instantly split into two groups.
Just as Gekko Chizan had noted, there were five Jōnin in this team, with the rest all being Chūnin.
It was clear Ōnoki was truly determined to eradicate the calamities in the Land of Earth as quickly as possible.
"Move out!"
Under the cover of night, the two squads quickly split and advanced separately.
Seeing this, Gekko Chizan couldn't help but smirk and mutter:
"They even divided their forces, tch tch... too bad that won't stop me."
"Summoning Technique."
With a light release of chakra, the Black Mamba appeared once more, its two large eyes glaring at Chizan.
"What did you summon me for?"
The sudden voice startled Chizan so much he nearly tumbled right off the tree trunk.
Once he steadied his nerves, he hurriedly asked:
"Wait a second—you can talk now?!"
The Black Mamba rolled its eyes mercilessly, though they still gleamed with gratitude. Its tone was cheerful as it explained:
"All thanks to you. Because you summoned me out so many times, Snake Princess-sama specifically gathered some natural energy for me. Now I can talk, and my speed has also become much faster than before."
Chizan was dumbfounded. So this was actually done for his convenience? A normal Black Mamba—no, a messenger Black Mamba—now enhanced. Well, it was fine. This way, communication would be much easier.
"Alright, so tell me—why did you call me?"
"Is there a mission? Let me tell you, last time when you said 'huge,' I spotted it instantly."
"That belly was so fat, no doubt about it—it was enormous!"
What? Belly???
Chizan immediately felt something was wrong and quickly demanded:
"I said 'huge' as in breasts, breasts! You idiot—where did you deliver it?"
"The one with huge breasts is obviously that blonde, Tsunade! My god... no... it feels like the heavens are about to collapse..."
The Black Mamba flicked its tail dismissively and said:
"Nonsense. 'Huge' refers to body size. That fat guy from Konoha, the one with the big kanji 'FAT' written on his stomach—I looked at everyone, and his build was the biggest."
"Absolutely no mistake."
Chizan was left speechless. Too tired to argue, he simply placed his hand on the snake's body. In a flash, the Flying Thunder God's seal appeared on its scales.
The Black Mamba was instantly displeased.
"What did you just scribble on my beautiful scales? Huh—did you even insult me just now?"
Chizan: This thing's a chatterbox too! Which bored Snake Princess came up with this?!
Ichikishimahime: "Achoo! Huh? Who's thinking about me?"
"Go follow that group over there. Don't expose yourself. Just keep tailing them."
"Understand?"
The Black Mamba nodded its head, then asked:
"Just follow them?"
"Yes. Just shadow them. Whatever you do, don't get spotted."
Without another word, the snake darted off. Just as it had said, its speed had indeed improved again.
Chizan only saw a blur pass by, and when he looked again—the snake had vanished.
"This guy really is fast. Fine. Since the Black Mamba's on the move, it's time for us to act too."
Activating Transparent Release, wings unfurled from his back, and Chizan flew in the direction of Kitsuchi's squad.
From the sky, he looked down at the exhausted Iwagakure shinobi running below.
"Up ahead... hmm..."
"Insects, huh..."
"Talk about bad luck."
As the location had been set up by him personally, Chizan immediately recognized that the place ahead was the insect disaster zone.
A nest teeming with poisonous bugs.
When the Iwagakure unit arrived at the site, Kitsuchi showed not the slightest hint of panic. Instead, he shouted toward the rear of the formation:
"Your turn. This is better handled by your clan."
"Hehehe, rest assured, Kitsuchi-sama. With our Usuryu clan here, it's nothing more than a bunch of bugs."
The Usuryu clan?
Chizan's eyes widened. So Kitsuchi had thought of that?
Poison against poison?
Using the Usuryu clan's hornets to counter the plague insects? Damn, if they succeeded, then all his efforts would be ruined.
No way—he couldn't let them succeed.
"Chizan, those are hornets! Big ones too—my god, that's huge."
"Huh? Why do I feel like I've seen these before?"
Chōmei, ever fascinated by insects, piped up when the massive hornets appeared below.
"Yeah, we've dealt with their clan before—they use hornets. Looks like they're trying poison against poison."
"Using insects to fight insects... damn it, how could I have forgotten about the Usuryu clan of Iwagakure?"
"Prepare for battle. We can't let them succeed."
The moment the Usuryu summoned a swarm of giant hornets, Chizan knew if he didn't act, the swarm would definitely suppress the plague insects.
Thinking fast, he casually hurled several kunai toward the ground.
Hidden by the night, they should have been undetectable.
Or so he thought—but reality took him by surprise.
Suddenly, Kitsuchi snapped his head upward, eyes blazing as he shouted:
"Something's falling!"
"Stay sharp!"
"Earth Release: Rising Earth Spear!"
In an instant, the ground surged upward into countless stone spikes. Under Kitsuchi's precise control, they interlocked to form a wall of jagged stone.
"Clang!"
The kunai clattered against the barrier with a crisp ring.
"It's kunai! Captain, there's an enemy above us!"
The others spotted the fallen kunai and raised the alarm.
"Hmph. The old man always told me—no matter the battlefield, never forget to watch the skies. You never know when a flying shinobi might ambush you."
"Looks like today, our opponent isn't just a bunch of insects."
Chizan was at a loss for words. Damn, this guy's really sharp, huh?
But then he thought it through and let it go. After all, Kitsuchi was one of the future captains of the Fourth Great Ninja War. His strength did live up to the name.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo