Chapter 45: Special Evolution

"It seems a single Manda was sufficient," Shishou thought. "But that's not surprising. Manda is one of the top serpents in Ryuchi Cave, possessing immense chakra. It makes sense that just one would be enough."

Shishou didn't choose to evolve his insects immediately. Instead, he moved to the other snake corpses and used a storage scroll to collect them, along with a portion of Manda's remains. He wasn't about to let all that energy go to waste.

Evolving the Phosphorous Worms would drastically reduce their numbers, so he planned to use these snake corpses to feed and breed them back. The scroll he used was one he had obtained while impersonating Orochimaru and stealing from Danzo. It still contained several Uchiha Jonin corpses.

Storage scrolls were extremely rare and couldn't simply be bought, no matter how much money one had. Shishou only possessed this single scroll.

After storing the remaining snake corpses, Shishou walked towards Orochimaru's abandoned experimental base. Despite Orochimaru having abandoned it, Shishou hoped to find some valuable resources.

Entering the main hall, Shishou frowned at the sight of numerous corpses scattered around. Orochimaru was truly ruthless, ensuring no loose ends before leaving.

"Well, better not let them go to waste," Shishou muttered, releasing some Phosphorous Worms to consume the bodies.

"This must be the lab where he experimented with cursed seals," Shishou noted, observing the horribly mutilated experimental subjects. Finding some documents on the cursed seals, he allowed his worms to devour the corpses completely.

He then turned his attention to the insect space within his system.

[Phosphorous Worm, epic insect species, has evolved five times, now ready for further evolution.]

[...]

[Please select the evolution path]

[Evolution 1: Increased Toxicity]

[...]

[Evolution 4: Increased Speed]

[...]

[Ding! Evolution 7: Special Evolution, Mimicry (Insect Type)]

[Mimicry (Insect Type): Allows Phosphorous Worms to imitate the appearance and basic abilities of other insect species they have consumed.]

Hearing the long-awaited system notification, Shishou felt a surge of joy. A special evolution had finally appeared again! And it was the highly practical mimicry skill.

Without hesitation, Shishou chose Evolution 7.

[Selection successful. Phosphorous Worms have evolved successfully.]

[They have been placed in the insect space for continued cultivation. Once a sufficient number is reached, further evolution will be possible.]

"Now I just need to wait for the Phosphorous Worms to complete their evolution," Shishou thought happily as he exited Orochimaru's base. "Once they do, I can proceed with the lottery."

By evening, Shishou had returned to his residence in Fire Source City. After enjoying a nice bath, he headed towards Yugao's room. He hadn't forgotten how she had wiped Manda's slime on him earlier. She definitely needed some proper discipline.

Just as he reached her door, he saw Yugao coming from the bath, drying her purple hair. Seeing Shishou at her door, she tensed up and glared at him.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

Shishou smiled without answering, pulling out the Grass Cutter Sword he had bought the previous day and fiddling with it as he walked into her room.

He's definitely up to no good!

Yugao followed him in, unable to resist the allure of the sword despite her instincts telling her to keep her distance from Shishou.

"What are you planning?" Yugao asked, her eyes fixed on the sword.

"You failed the mission in the Land of Grass," Shishou began. "And failure means punishment, as we agreed."

"Have you punished Mikoto and the others?" Yugao retorted.

"Of course," Shishou replied, recalling how he had punished Mikoto in her skimpy ninja outfit. The thought made him feel warm.

"Even Izumi?" Yugao pressed.

"No, she accompanied me to the Land of Demons afterward, which balanced her record. No punishment necessary," Shishou explained. Of course, the main reason was that he hadn't decided how he wanted her to cosplay yet.

"Hmph," Yugao snorted. "So how do you plan to punish me? Beat me up?"

Knowing she couldn't avoid it, Yugao glared at Shishou, remembering the scolding she got after taking his Grass Cutter Sword.

"Here," Shishou said, handing her a box. "Put this on."

"What kind of outfit is this?" Yugao asked, puzzled but compliant, as she entered her dressing room.

A moment later, she emerged, face red, and threw the box at Shishou. "You pervert!"

Pervert? How am I a pervert? Heaven knows he had given her a perfectly normal cosplay outfit, a long white dress resembling Athena's from Saint Seiya.

"Oops," Shishou said, looking into the box and realizing his mistake. "I grabbed the wrong one."

He had accidentally given her a more provocative outfit meant for a later phase of their "punishment" sessions.

"This is the right one," he said, handing her the correct box. "It's just a simple long dress."

"Hmph, pervert," Yugao muttered, but took the box and went back to change.

When she came out wearing the dress, Shishou's eyes lit up. The outfit suited her perfectly, matching her hair and beauty.

"Beautiful!" he exclaimed.

"Hmph, pervert," Yugao repeated, but her tone was softer.

"Here, take this," Shishou said, handing her a golden staff. It wasn't real gold, just painted to look that way.

Yugao hesitated but took the staff. Under Shishou's direction, she stood on a table, raised the staff high, and declared, "For love and justice!"

Click!

Shishou quickly snapped a photo. Phase one, complete!

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