Chapter 98: At Least Worth an Oscar!

"Great Goddess of Wisdom,"

"I hope you can bless me with a special evolution!"

"Yes, Eris's chest is padded..."

Shishou played with a joke, then began the evolution of his Phosphorus Bad Bugs.

[Phosphorus Bad Bug, Epic Insect Species, Six Evolutions Complete, Ready for Evolution]

[...]

[Please Choose Evolution Direction]

[Evolution One: Enhanced Toxicity]

[...]

[Evolution Four: Enhanced Speed]

[...]

[Ding! Evolution Seven: Special Evolution, Devouring]

Hearing the long-awaited system prompt, Shishou's heart leaped with joy as he began to check the ability description for Devouring.

[Devouring: Enhances the devouring capability of the Phosphorus Bad Bugs, doubling the energy gained from devoured organisms]

Double the energy gained from devouring! This would halve his evolution burden and make it easier to gain the power of bloodlines.

Shishou's eyes lit up as he chose the special evolution.

[Choice Successful, Phosphorus Bad Bugs Evolution Complete]

[Placed into Insect Cultivation Space for further development. Once they reach a certain quantity, they can continue evolving]

Seeing the Phosphorus Bad Bugs in his insect cultivation space enter a dormant state, Shishou nodded.

"Hmm?"

Taking a step, Shishou suddenly felt that his body was much heavier than before. It was as if his weight had doubled!

Of course, it made sense. The Phosphorus Bad Bugs that devoured Anko's Sage energy, the ones that devoured Two-Tails' chakra, and those that devoured Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Cloak were all placed into his body for dormancy.

No wonder he felt heavier!

Although the weight of the Phosphorus Bad Bugs was negligible, the sheer number of them added up.

However, these bugs contained massive amounts of Tailed Beast chakra, and Shishou planned to use them to feed the newly evolved Phosphorus Bad Bugs.

Why not just use them for himself?

Because, for now, evolving the Phosphorus Bad Bugs to the legendary species and extracting the rewards was his top priority.

"Suddenly craving grilled squid..."

"Wonder if this Eight-Tails tentacle can be grilled and eaten."

"This tentacle is so big, probably needs a few people to finish it."

Examining the tentacle and finding no issues, Shishou put it back into the storage scroll, mumbling to himself.

Then, he turned his attention to the Firefly Larvae and Healing Bugs.

Both had undergone several evolutions over the past few months but had not seen any special evolution, so Shishou left their care to the insect cultivation space.

Creak!

Returning to his bedroom, the overweight Shishou lay on his bed, causing it to creak under his weight.

"It'll be fine in a day or two."

He reassured himself and didn't bother checking the time, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

After staying home for two days,

Shishou's Phosphorus Bad Bugs finally completed their evolution, with their numbers halved.

[Phosphorus Bad Bug: Epic Nanotoxic Insect, reproduces by devouring the cells of organisms. Exposed to air, they won't survive beyond forty minutes]

The survival time in the air increased by ten minutes, which was nice!

Shishou noted that each evolution increased all attributes of the Phosphorus Bad Bugs to some extent.

Letting the Sage energy-infused Phosphorus Bad Bugs continue to rest, Shishou gathered the bugs that had devoured the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails into his left hand.

Then, he started having the newly evolved Phosphorus Bad Bugs devour the old ones containing Tailed Beast energy for reproduction.

The fully Tailed Beast form chakra of the Two-Tails and the partial chakra of the Eight-Tails were enough to trigger another evolution for the new Phosphorus Bad Bugs with Devouring ability.

A few minutes later,

The newly evolved Phosphorus Bad Bugs had met the criteria for another evolution.

After devouring the old Phosphorus Bad Bugs, Shishou initiated the next evolution.

[Phosphorus Bad Bug, Epic Insect Species, Seven Evolutions Complete, Ready for Evolution]

[Please Choose Evolution Direction]

[...]

Perhaps because he didn't pray this time, Shishou didn't see any special evolution options, leaving him slightly disappointed.

Subsequently, Shishou chose to continue enhancing their survival ability.

Although the Phosphorus Bad Bugs could now survive forty minutes in the air, they were still vulnerable to ninjutsu attacks.

A single Fire Release or Lightning Release could decimate a swarm of his Phosphorus Bad Bugs.

The Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Armor, with its full-body electric current, rendered Shishou's bugs useless.

Phosphorus Bad Bugs were like cancer cells—invincible inside a host but weak outside.

Thus, Shishou aimed to improve their survival against ninjutsu attacks, striving to make them formidable enough to devour anything.

With these adjustments, Shishou felt much lighter.

Now, only the Sage energy-infused Phosphorus Bad Bugs were dormant in his body, adding negligible weight.

"Judging by the time, it's been over a month since my last meeting with the Third Hokage."

"Time to provide new Akatsuki intel."

With this in mind, Shishou vanished from his spot.

At noon,

After a disguise by Mikoto, Shishou, as his alias Mr. Lurigan, arrived at Konoha's gate, ready to report 'newly acquired' Akatsuki member information to the Third Hokage, while also intending to study basic genjutsu.

Naturally, Shishou wasn't meeting the Third Hokage in his office but rather in Konoha Plaza.

Informing Konoha's two gatekeepers, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki,

Shishou quickly received an invitation from the Third Hokage, who also agreed to meet in the plaza, understanding Shishou's wariness of Danzo.

Given Danzo's recent actions, the Third Hokage couldn't argue with the caution.

And with Danzo's role in ROOT, the Third Hokage couldn't easily oust him from Konoha's leadership.

Especially after Danzo voluntarily handed over his savings and properties in Konoha to compensate for his actions, making it even harder for the Third Hokage to remove him.

At Konoha Plaza, the Third Hokage greeted Shishou with a warm smile:

"Mr. Lurigan, it's been a while."

Shishou looked around, confirming Danzo wasn't nearby. It wasn't that he feared Danzo, but he wanted to make a show of remembering Danzo's previous actions, giving him leverage in the upcoming discussion.

Handing the Third Hokage an envelope, Shishou smiled.

"Hokage-sama, here's the new intel on Akatsuki."

The Third Hokage, smiling, accepted it.

He was very pleased with Mr. Lurigan's efficiency, providing new intel on Akatsuki within a month.

Opening the envelope, the Third Hokage's smile faded, replaced by a heavy sigh and a look of pain:

"So, it's Uchiha Itachi, a defector... I didn't expect him to join Akatsuki."

Watching the Third Hokage's reaction, Shishou maintained a neutral expression but internally ridiculed him.

Back then, Itachi entrusted Sasuke to you before massacring his clan and joining Akatsuki with Obito.

While you might not have known he joined Akatsuki initially, you should have figured it out after Obito's appearance.

Yet, you can still act so heartbroken.

Tsk tsk tsk, such acting skills, truly beyond words.

At least worth an Oscar!

Note: pretending you didn't see the wrong chapter