Shigeo Aburame spent an entire night synthesizing all the Wood Release parasitic bugs in his body into Sage Insects.
The prolonged and intense work didn't leave his body fatigued or his spirit weary.
Thanks to the nourishment from the Sage Chakra fed back by thousands of Sage Insects, all his aged and damaged cells were repaired, restoring him to his peak condition.
Even his appearance reverted to that of his most youthful and robust 18-year-old self, leaving him radiant and brimming with energy.
Moreover, with the disappearance of the Wood Release parasitic bugs, the Wood Release chakra in his network also vanished, replaced by an exceptionally gentle Yang-type chakra.
This chakra, generated from his own cells and influenced by the Sage Chakra from the Sage Insects, had some unique qualities.
Through this chakra, he could use Wood Release ninjutsu, the Aburame Clan's parasitic bug secret techniques, and even medical ninjutsu.
Of course, using medical ninjutsu would require him to first learn it. Tsunade would make an excellent teacher—he could seek her guidance when he had time.
For now, picking up the Aburame Clan's parasitic bug techniques seemed more practical.
If he could avoid it, Shigeo truly disliked engaging in close-combat, hand-to-hand battles or flamboyantly deploying Wood Release techniques.
It was too flashy.
Most importantly, it wasn't prudent.
In any battle where attention was drawn, no matter how powerful someone was, there was always a risk of death—even someone as mighty as Hashirama Senju wasn't exempt.
Madara Uchiha once remarked that no matter how grave Hashirama's injuries were, he would recover instantly.
This "sealless self-healing" was something Shigeo could also achieve.
However, he understood that sealless self-healing didn't miraculously heal wounds but achieved rapid recovery by forcing cells to divide at an accelerated rate.
While such an ability offered immense advantages on the battlefield, even turning the tide, it came at a significant cost to the user.
Anyone with basic biological knowledge knew that the cells in various tissues of the human body had different numbers of divisions—some more, some fewer.
For example, skin cells could divide about fifty times in a lifetime, while brain cells might only divide once.
Thus, every activation of sealless self-healing undoubtedly consumed one's lifespan in advance, akin to drinking poison to quench thirst.
Hashirama Senju's early death was likely due to excessive use of this ability.
To avoid following the path of the First Hokage, the best course was to minimize injuries during battle.
As an insect manipulator, Shigeo believed he should fight discreetly and elegantly by controlling parasitic bugs, not by exchanging blows or brute strength with opponents.
This mindset grew even stronger after obtaining the Sage Insects.
In Shigeo's view, with Sage Insects and an extended lifespan, he was on a completely different level compared to other ninjas.
The difference was like that between jade and stone, porcelain and clay pots, or a Rolls-Royce and a Wuling .
The value disparity was too great—even a minor injury in a fight was a loss!
With this thought in mind, Shigeo depleted the stock of Nagato's cells in his secret cultivation chamber to synthesize tens of thousands of Blood Bugs, storing them in his body for regular use.
Simultaneously, he began considering the synthesis of new types of bugs.
During his previous battle with Orochimaru, the weaknesses of ordinary parasitic bugs were exposed when faced with poisonous fog attacks.
Not only poison, but parasitic bugs also displayed fragility against various ninjutsu.
In battle, relying solely on numbers wasn't a viable strategy—it was wasteful and easily countered, leaving him in a passive position.
Could this problem be resolved?
The answer was yes.
When Shigeo distributed Blood Bugs to his subordinates, he discovered that he could still control these bugs.
If he wished, the Blood Bugs, which had been feeding chakra moments earlier, could destroy the host's network and blood vessels in the next moment.
Shigeo realized he had overlooked an attack method—**parasitism!**
If bugs could enter an enemy's body, the opponent's life would no longer be under their control.
The only issue was how to achieve this.
Directly swarming the enemy head-on was clearly infeasible.
That approach would result in heavy losses, and some enemies couldn't even be approached directly.
Otherwise, parasitic bugs would just drain their chakra, making parasitism redundant.
Therefore, bugs designed for parasitic attacks needed to possess both **stealth** and **destructive power**.
Shigeo recalled a junior in his clan, Aburame Torune, who had nano-sized venomous insects called *Rinkaichū*.
These bugs could only exist within living cells and reproduced by destroying them. When the host died, these insects also perished.
Shigeo felt that these were precisely the bugs he needed.
Although *Rinkaichū* were venomous, this posed no real issue.
Sage Chakra from Mount Myōboku was immune to all biological toxins, so the venom of *Rinkaichū* was naturally ineffective against him.
As for Konan and Shigeo Aburame, Shigeo already planned to share Sage Insects with them upon returning home, so he wasn't worried about the poison harming them.
However, while outside, he would have to wear gloves to prevent accidental harm.
Throwing off his gloves during battle might even add a sense of ceremony.
"Haha!"
As Shigeo entertained this thought, he couldn't help but laugh. By the time he came to, he realized he was already at his doorstep.
The gate to the courtyard was open, revealing Shigeo Aburame controlling a swarm of parasitic bugs, chasing after multiple clones of Naruto Uzumaki, who was leaping around in disarray.
Each clone that was caught burst into white smoke with a "poof" before disappearing.
Clearly, these were all shadow clones.
When the clones were all gone, the real Naruto clutched his head and shouted,
"Shigeo, stop… Stop your bugs, I give up!"
"Hehe, no way!"
Shigeo's face was full of mirth as she gently adjusted her pink sunglasses.
"Naruto-nii promised to train with me all day—it's not even noon yet!"
Despite her words, she did stop the bugs, ceasing the pursuit.
Seeing this, Naruto collapsed to the ground, waving his hand repeatedly.
"No more… I'm almost out of chakra. I can't keep going."
"Really?"
Shigeo squinted slightly, then nodded with a smile.
"Alright, then I'll go find Sasuke-nii this afternoon. Since he's joined Father's Special Police Force, he must be stronger, right?"
"That's not true at all!"
Naruto shot up with a "whoosh," pounding his chest firmly.
"I'm the strongest! You don't need to find that stuck-up Sasuke. I'll train with you!"
"Oh?" Shigeo raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not forcing yourself, Naruto-nii?"
"Of course not!"
Naruto's expression turned determined.
"I've promised to train with you all day. Keeping my word is my ninja way. Let's go!"
With that, he got into position to use the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu again.
Seeing this, Shigeo sighed helplessly as he entered the courtyard, addressing the two.
"Alright, Naruto, take a break. And Shigeo, don't use Sasuke to provoke your brother. Don't treat family like outsiders. Recall your bugs and come with me."
"Yes, Father!"
Shigeo immediately complied, following Shigeo obediently.
After taking a few steps, she glanced back and stuck out her tongue at Naruto.
"Bleh!"
Naruto: "…"