Chapter 157: Unexpected
In the Land of Water, in the sea area admist a labyrinth of oceanic isles, a mystifying island remains cloaked in a fine, ever-present mist. Here, waves, like relentless performers, crashed against the rocky shores that led to several mountains sheltering the island.
Yet, amidst this atmospheric serenity, a horrendous creature emerges with a sudden, cryptic unveiling.
As the waves recede, a serpentine presence comes into view. A creature of unfathomable origins, adorned with two bony, crescent scythe-like claws, emerges from the ocean's depths amidst the crashing waves. Its spiky dorsal fins protrude menacingly, hinting at the primal power concealed within.
Adeptly, the creature anchors its claws into the rocky cliffs with preternatural grace. Defying gravity and earthly logic alike, it ascends, scaling the rugged precipices with an unearthly determination.
Upon reaching the solid ground, the sea creature's upper body gradually rose upright, droplets of water cascade off its scaly, armored plates. Its gaze fixed upon the rocky expanse before it, obscured by the thick fog of war.
Yet, there was no hesitation. The creature slithers forward, navigating through the thick shroud of mist with an eerie elegance, akin to a snake searching for its prey with calculated intent.
But an unexpected surprise awaited the creature. As if orchestrated by fate itself, the island's secrets are guarded fiercely.
A sudden shift in the misty haze betrays an unexpected fiery menace. Molten lava surges forth, an infernal torrent coming from the mist-obscured world before it. The serpent-like creature finds itself engulfed, its existence waning and incinerating within the lethal embrace of the fiery deluge.
In its final moments, it caught a glimpse of a vague vision - a silhouette concealed within the mist, standing amidst the molten cascade, and vaguely revealed was her tall, alluring figure with a top knot adorning her head. Yet, any other features of this unearthly beauty were veiled by the thick mist.
In his secluded base, situated next to a shimmering pool, Shino intently watched the final recording of his first scout's exploration on the newly discovered island. "Well, isn't this an unexpected surprise. Finding her guarding this rocky area confirms that this island is Kirigakure. Unfortunately, the Hydolysk was discovered rather quickly… is this a coincidence?"
The Hydolysk, a mutated version of his hydralisk zerg strain, had been developed in conjunction with the sea monster research from the Kaima Capture mission. It was sent out to explore and scout the vast ocean during their developmental phase.
The ocean's expanse and unwelcoming inhabitants had made it a slow process, and it wasn't until now that there was results. Now, the first contact with the Land of Water had made everything easier.
However, encountering the boss right from the start was unexpected. Shino couldn't tell if it was mere coincidence or if there were other underlying reasons.
Nevertheless, it was a trivial matter. Shino knew that not everything would go as planned; the unexpected was an inevitable part of life. Just like this encounter, and just like...
His gaze drifted downward, captivated by the sight of serene layered blue hair tied in a bun, adorned with a large light blue paper flower. His attention then fixed upon Konan's neutral expression, her eyes devoid of fierceness, replaced by a hint of coquettish glint as she displayed a technique she had honed through observing his weaknesses during their training sessions.
Now, Shino couldn't help but acknowledge Konan's technique because it was true efficiency to the max, and he already couldn't hold back, ready to cash out on this potential stock he had invested lots of effort in.
Without hesitation, he placed his hands on her soft blue hair, one hand firmly grasping her bun as he pumped up the momentum. Konan's eyes widened slightly as parts of her face started to peel off like paper.
"Konan," Shino grunted, causing the peeling paper to briefly halt before merging back. Konan's amber eyes exchanged a glance with Shino before gradually shutting her lavender eyelids. However, Shino could still sense her diligent movements that fueled his efficiency, clearly ready for his pump and dump scheme.
Thus, the stock price soon rose to the peak and Shino sold his stock and raked in the cash, rewarding his top employee with a bonus for her diligent assistance. Stepping back, he admired the sight of Konan opening her mouth, holding her accumulated bonus as she conveyed her gratitude in silence, feeling a sense of disbelief at the situation.
Konan, who had once harbored a fierce rebellious attitude towards him, had fallen much faster than anticipated. Both Shino and Karina had expected the process to take longer, but Konan's inherent realist personality allowed her to swiftly come to terms with her situation after discovering the wider universe mentioned in the database.
Since then, she had become one of Shino's most dedicated employees, efficiently managing the zerg army assigned by Karina, optimizing logistics, and leveraging her knowledge of industrialization to enhance productivity and generate income. She put the plundered oil supply from the Land of Wind to good use and even dispatched zergs to gather her stash of explosive tags.
Even Karina had quelled her initial jealousy towards the new member, willingly entrusting tasks to Konan to free up time for her own studies with Shino. As if that weren't enough, Konan voluntarily attended extra lessons to study his weaknesses, learning alongside Karina with enthusiasm.
Now, Konan had truly become an irresistible money-printing machine, contributing immensely to their cause.
As Konan gracefully swallowed her bonus with a neutral expression, her fingers danced, coyly sliding the black fabric to the side. Shino caught only a brief glimpse before Konan's lower body burst into pieces of white paper, fluttering towards him. Her upper body, donning her revealing navy blue dress, gradually rose up, allowing her arms to wrap around his neck.
Soon, the fluttering paper condensed into two beautiful, toned legs, wrapping around Shino's waist, yet he could barely feel any weight as Konan was light as paper.
Then, Konan displayed her hole card with a poker face, skillfully using her paper ninjutsu to apply a warm squeeze as her interior brushed against him like flower petals.
With a knowing grin, Shino let his hands dance over the holographic screens, arranging his plans, confident that Konan would take care of the rest with her lithe, floating body.
Seeing Shino focused on work, Konan, who was bobbing up and down over the surface of the pool, diligently began to report, "Shino, most of the explosive tags I prepared have been collected. A good amount is in storage, while the rest have been disseminated to be installed on the army. I've also collected the technique scrolls stashed in the various Akatsuki hideouts and incorporated them into the database."
Raising a brow, Shino grinned as he observed the stains adorning Konan's alluring lips as she spoke, "I didn't expect you to be so willing to betray Akatsuki."
Seemingly not reacting to Shino's heated gaze, Konan calmly responded with a neutral expression, "I did not betray Akatsuki. My goal has never changed, and Akatsuki was the means Yahiko, Nagato, and I created to achieve it. But now, the possibility to achieve it is before my eyes. If that place can truly become a world of peace, I wish to establish a place for Akatsuki within it."
Shino's glasses glinted as he knew Konan was referring to his system space and the Kingdom of God Project he had planned.
The plan to turn his system space into a world where he dominates, ensuring peace and prosperity, was bold and still in its infancy, but it held a high possibility of being realized, especially with the models in the novels he had read and his eternal life span.
Konan had discovered this project within his system database, and it seemed to be one of the reasons for her change. A realist at heart, words alone couldn't sway her, but proof and power were things she could place her trust in.
Once Konan's trust was earned, she became devoted and willing to give her all.
Had Shino not refused to take Nagato's eyes, knowing he couldn't wield them without risk of his genes collapsing, perhaps Konan would have personally handed them over in exchange for Nagato's peaceful life within his system space.
A realist like Konan is scary, but her heavy weight on friendship was no joke.
However, with Shino's zerg factor also playing a role, this realist had now become loyally devoted to him. And perhaps she herself hasn't realized her change, accepting it as normal. This was the horror of assimilation.
Not long later, Karina strolled towards the pool, with Kurenai by her side. Seeing Shino still hard at work, Karina pouted cutely as she muttered, "Still working hard, my dear?"
As he enjoyed the intense throbbing below, Shino grinned, his gaze sweeping over Karina and Kurenai, both dressed in bikinis. "Almost done. You know Konan, she's very... efficient."
Taking his words into consideration, Konan maintained her neutral expression, but her speed picked up, soon squeezing and wringing him dry.
As she completed her report, Konan's lower body transformed into paper, and she gracefully glided down, letting her upper body hover above the pool. With remarkable proficiency, she quickly performed her cleaning duty before pulling back, her expression still neutral as she bowed her head slightly.
With a grin, Shino turned around and walked towards Karina and Kurenai, who awaited on their recliners.
However, just as Shino took a few steps, Konan's head sharply snapped up, fierce eyes staring in Shino's direction. A wave of paper rushed out from her body, adorned with patterns denoting explosive tags, and they lit up with a fiery glow!
The situation was completely unexpected, leaving no time to react! Shino's eyes shrunk as he felt a hand grasping onto his shoulders, fixing him in place!
BOOM!
"Shino!" Kurenai's red gaze sharpened, and she bounced up, ready to rush forward with a kunai pulled from who-knows-where, glaring at Konan.
But Karina held her back. Kurenai saw Karina shaking her head, "Konan is not our enemy."
As the fumes of the explosion cleared away, Karina gestured to a black piece of singed clothing scrap floating on the pool. Kurenai's eyes narrowed as she faintly recognized a red cloud pattern on it.
In the vast forest expanse, a distortion in space suddenly materialized, and a swirling gap appeared in the air. In the next instant, Shino was thrown out from the swirling space by a powerful hand.
As he fell through the air, Shino's gaze caught sight of the upper half of a man dressed in an Akatsuki robe, an orange mask with a swirly pattern covering his face, with only one eye hole revealing his Sharingan as he stared at Shino. The man exuded a leisurely aura as he mockingly waved goodbye to Shino before the rest of his body disappeared into the swirling spatial distortion.
Shino's glasses glinted as he performed a flip in the air, gracefully landing on a tree. He looked up, his eyes scanning the new location, which he found rather familiar. Following the road, Shino soon fixed his eyes upon the familiar village gates in the distance.
"No way..."
As if confirming Shino's thoughts, a large squad of Anbu appeared swiftly on the trees around him, surrounding him in all directions. Shino remained calm, his eyes scanning them as they stared back, vigilant yet unsurprised, as if they had anticipated his arrival.
Familiar faces soon appeared on the road and nearby trees. Shino's eyes narrowed as he recognized them one by one. "Kakashi... Guy... Asuma... Ino-Shika-Cho... Aburame, Inuzuka, Hyuga, Kurama..."
His gaze finally fixed upon a proud lady walking steadily towards him on the road, her green haori fluttering behind her as she cracked her knuckles. "And even the Godaime, Tsunade."
A low laugh escaped Shino as he adjusted his glasses. "Well, what a big welcome party."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone