Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 19 Encounter with Takigakure Ninja

Is it tracking? Probably not. Judging from the chakra reactions, it should be one Chunin and three Genin.

Aburame Shisei decided to go and take a look. After leaving a clone in the woods, he quickly entered the forest and headed in the direction from which the chakra had moved.

Before long, he arrived at his destination. Looking down from the tree, he saw a woman and three men resting around a campfire. All four were dressed as Takigakure ninjas and wore Takigakure headbands.

The leader was a burly man in his thirties, presumably the captain of the squad. The other three were two men and one woman, all of whom were genin.

They ate around the fire, and set up many makeshift traps around it.

They were originally from Takigakure Village.

Aburame Shicheng lowered his guard slightly, retreated a few hundred meters away along the same route, and then swaggered towards the camp.

It wasn't until he was within 200 meters that the female ninja in the group sensed something. She immediately called out to the others, holding a kunai and looking into the distance, "Captain, Naoto, there's a tree. Someone is approaching. There's chakra on him. He's probably a ninja."

Upon hearing this, the other three immediately became alert. It wasn't until Aburame Shisei emerged from the woods, smiling and waving to them that they remained on guard.

Hi, long time no see!

Regardless of whether you know them well or not, given Takikawa Hide's personality, you should just say hello first.

The entire village of Takigakure has at most two or three thousand households and only six or seven hundred ninjas. Even if not everyone knows each other, people in the same village will recognize each other after meeting a few times.

The boy named Naoto was taken aback when he saw who it was, then he put down his weapon, ran over, and hugged Aburame Shisei tightly, laughing heartily, "Takikawa-nii, it's you! I almost didn't recognize you after all these months!"

"There's a tree, the captain, and Sister Chuncao. He's a ninja from our village, and he graduated in the same year as me."

With a straight man's assurance and the man's face indeed being familiar, the group naturally lowered their guard and put away their weapons.

Aburame Shisei politely pushed the man away, patted him on the shoulder, and joked with a smile, "As a ninja, you have no vigilance at all. If I were someone else disguised using a transformation jutsu, you would be in big trouble if you pounced on me like that."

"How could that be? How could I mistake your face?"

Naoto continued to put his arm around Naoto's shoulder, but suddenly felt that Naoto's back was a bit wider and his height was a bit taller, so he had to stand on tiptoe to put his arm around Naoto.

"Takikawa-kun, what did you eat outside? You seem more muscular and have grown taller."

He compared himself to Ayame Shicheng and found that the other woman was already half a head taller than him.

Looking closer at that face, although it was still as sunny and gentle as before, it was much more mature than before, and the features were more defined.

"Alright, we can catch up later. I went through a lot of trouble to get back this time."

Aburame Shisei patted him on the shoulder again, then walked up to the Chunin and said seriously, "Genin Takikawa Hide greets senior!"

The middle-aged ninja nodded slightly with a stern face: "Sato Yoshisuke, the Chunin leading the team, Naoto's captain."

The female ninja stepped forward and introduced herself: "Jiri Chuncao, the sensory ninja in the team."

The youngest ninja in the group also came over, smiling: "My name is Yuki. I didn't expect to meet you here, senior. I graduated two years after you. I was neighbors with Natsumi-senpai. She used to teach me shurikenju and mentioned you too."

Summer sounds like a girl's name, so it seems like she's an old acquaintance of Takikawa Hide.

"I see. Is Xia Ri... alright?"

Seeing his reaction, everyone showed interest, and even Sato Yoshisuke, who had sat down again to add firewood, couldn't help but prick up his ears.

"Hmm?" You Shu scratched the back of his head and smiled wryly. "She's a good person, but a few weeks ago, she got together with her squad leader."

"Oh, congratulations to her, she's found someone she can rely on so quickly."

Naoto quickly interjected, "Everyone, please don't misunderstand. Takikawa already has a fiancée. He and Natsumi are just friends."

He had intended to clarify, but the others' eyes lit up even more, especially Chuncao, who wanted to immediately pull Naoto aside to ask for details.

At this moment, Yu Nu Zhicheng interrupted, saying, "Gentlemen, I'm still protecting a merchant caravan over there. I've been away for a while, and I'm a little worried about it. Why don't we go to my camp together?"

The others looked at the captain, and Kisuke nodded, saying, "Alright, let's go together then."

Along the way, Naoto kept talking to Aburame Shisei.

With him around, Aburame Shisei easily integrated into their group. Before long, he learned about Takikawa Hide's general background, his acquaintances, and their personalities from Naoto's words.

At that moment, Naoto suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "By the way, Takikawa-kun, what are you doing here? Wasn't your caravan mission to the Land of Fire?"

Yu Nu Zhicheng was prepared. Upon hearing his question, her smile faded, and her expression darkened slightly.

"The escort mission... was originally to escort a caravan to the Land of Fire, but an accident occurred at the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire, where we were attacked by wandering ninjas. The caravan's guards suffered heavy casualties, and I was separated from the group. On the way back to the village, we encountered Ryuji Ida's caravan being extorted by ronin, so I stepped in to help."

He spoke of it casually, but those who listened felt heavy-hearted.

Was it really just scattered?

The younger ones, Ariyuki and Naoto, might not understand yet, but Haruka and Kisuke knew very well that the others might not be able to come back.

"I see." Naoto didn't think too much about it and just nodded sheepishly. "The border has been rather unsettled lately. Was the place where you were attacked in those hills east of the Land of Grass?"

"That's right. Naoto knows about that place too?"

"I know more than that," Yuuki couldn't help but interject, his tone indignant. "There's been a group of Iwagakure ANBU members active nearby recently, supposedly hunting down Konoha rogue ninja. We Takigakure didn't participate, but we've been dragged into it too."

Naoto added, "It's not just Iwagakure; ninja squads from the Land of Earth also frequently sneak across the border into the Land of Waterfall. In addition, the number of ronin and samurai fleeing the war is increasing, making the country increasingly chaotic."

"Is it that serious?" Aburame Shisei continued to probe.

"It's very serious," complained a tree, chewing on a blade of grass. "Those landowners and minor nobles are harassed every day. Their estates are being looted and their manors burned down. They have no choice but to hire us to patrol regularly and clean up those troublemakers. We're on a mission from the lord of the big city ahead."

"The city lord's request?" Aburame Shisei asked, following their train of thought.

Naoto recounted the events in detail: "The lord had previously hired a group of wandering ninjas as guards, but it turned out to be a case of letting wolves into the house. Those people not only ate and drank for free, but also groped the lord's women and even occupied his villa. The lord could no longer tolerate it, but dared not take action himself, so he came to us."