Chapter 46: The Frenzied Mikoto and the Legendary Insect

After leaving Yugao's room, Shishou headed to Mikoto's quarters. Seeing Itachi's overwhelming power had been a heavy blow to Mikoto, who had desperately wanted to prevent a battle between her sons, Itachi and Sasuke. Now, more than ever, she needed comfort.

As Shishou slid open the shoji door and entered Mikoto's room, he saw her sitting outside in the small courtyard gazebo, gazing blankly at the moon while dressed in a beautiful kimono. Shishou approached her and gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Don't worry, I'm here for you," he reassured her.

Mikoto didn't speak. Instead, she held onto Shishou tightly, pulling him down with her and initiating a passionate kiss. In that moment, words were unnecessary.

Perhaps it was to release the stress, or perhaps to please Shishou, but Mikoto was incredibly wild that night.

The next morning, the sunlight woke Shishou from his slumber. He raised his head, seeing the room in complete disarray and Mikoto's serene, beautiful face close to his. They were wrapped together in a large, warm kimono. Shishou couldn't resist stealing a kiss from the sleeping Mikoto. The memories of the previous night brought a satisfied smile to his face.

Without disturbing Mikoto, Shishou activated his system to check on the status of the Phosphorous Worms.

[Phosphorous Worm: Epic nano-poison insect, reproduces by consuming the cellular structure of living organisms. Once exposed to air, it will not survive for more than thirty minutes.]

The information on the Phosphorous Worms was brief, but their capabilities had greatly improved with six evolutions.

Firstly, they no longer needed to parasitize living hosts. Secondly, their survival time in the air had extended to thirty minutes. Together, these changes transformed the Phosphorous Worms dramatically.

Shishou tested them by commanding the Phosphorous Worms to consume a newly bred Healing Worm. After consuming it, the Phosphorous Worms transformed to mimic the Healing Worm's appearance.

"Hmm, it can mimic the form and basic abilities of the Healing Worm but doesn't inherit its healing capability," Shishou concluded. "Looks like the Phosphorous Worms can only simulate the physical form, not special abilities. If they could mimic abilities, they'd be too powerful."

Satisfied with his findings, Shishou checked the insect space, his expression falling.

"No way, there's so few left..."

Seeing that only a tenth of the Phosphorous Worms remained post-evolution, Shishou felt disheartened. Each evolution consumed exponentially more energy. Seeing a 90% reduction this time made him realize that the next evolution might take a very long time.

Just then, the system chimed in:

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully evolving an epic insect species six times.]

[Insect Space +3]

[You have received a Newbie Random Insect Pack, which will randomly provide one mother insect of a random species level.]

[Cultivate an epic or higher-level insect species to the next evolution stage to unlock further insect space and random insect packs.]

A small golden box appeared in front of Shishou. He picked it up and examined it closely, finding it to be just an ordinary box.

"Good morning," Shishou greeted as Mikoto stirred and opened her eyes.

Mikoto, feeling a bit groggy, took a moment to remember the events of the previous night. Normally, she never allowed Shishou to stay the night. Blushing deeply, she covered her face, recalling her wild behavior.

Seeing Mikoto's shy expression, Shishou couldn't resist kissing her again. This time, she responded to him.

A few minutes later, as Shishou's actions became more daring, Mikoto, eager to avoid another round of passionate entanglement, noticed the small gift box in Shishou's hand and asked, "What's that? Is it for me?"

Before Shishou could explain, Mikoto untied the ribbon and opened the box. A semi-transparent, ghostly blue insect that resembled a cross between a butterfly and a moth flew out.

"So beautiful..." Mikoto whispered, mesmerized by the insect.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the legendary insect species: Nine Nether Silkworm]

[Nine Nether Silkworm: A legendary insect species from the Underworld, cannot reproduce but can produce eggs with various effects. Extremely rare and valuable!!!]

Hearing the system's announcement, Shishou was momentarily stunned. He didn't fully grasp the insect's use, but the words "extremely rare and valuable" and the three exclamation marks were clear enough. Anything defined as extremely valuable by the system was bound to be extraordinary.

Without hesitation, Shishou placed the Nine Nether Silkworm into the insect space. He then turned to Mikoto, his eyes filled with affection.

"Where did it go? And the box disappeared too," Mikoto remarked, noticing both the insect and the box were gone.

Shishou didn't answer, instead kissing her passionately. The two of them continued until noon, when Mikoto finally managed to free herself from Shishou's embrace and made her way to the training room under the curious gazes of Izumi and Yugao.

Shishou, meanwhile, returned to Konoha. After feeding the Phosphorous Worms with the snake corpses from the scroll, he began to study the Nine Nether Silkworm in detail.

Through repeated observation and testing, Shishou confirmed that there was no specific method to cultivate the Nine Nether Silkworm. It wasn't a native insect of the ninja world, and there was no mention of it in his family's insect compendium.

Although Shishou's Mangekyo Sharingan could accelerate its growth, the chakra and physical toll were too great. Thus, he decided to leave it in the insect space for autonomous growth, just like his other insects.

With this arrangement, Shishou could focus more on his other plans.

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