Chapter 36.3- One Thousand Hands

“We did.” I replied, saying nothing more.

“And you didn’t bother poisoning it?” She asked.

“Shiba’s insects have left a nasty enough surprise for anyone with a chakra network who dares to drink the water”

“What kind of surprise?”

“Tiny, nearly microscopic bugs that eat chakra to grow. At rest, they’re the size of dust mites. When consumed by someone with as much chakra as a Jounin, they could grow to the size of dogs” I said with a shrug. The rest of the circle suddenly seemed to turn a little bit green at the thought. I couldn’t judge them, that sounded like a terrible way to go.

“Well, the sounds sufficiently morbid. Now we have to move on to the next stage of the plan.” Shika said.

“They know about our presence here” Inukuro cut in with a glance at both myself and Shika.

“They were always bound to. We have to move on with the plan.”

“The plan, the plan, the plan. I’m tired of talking and planning. Give me something to hunt” His teeth were sharp.

Instead of answering him, Shika’s gaze snapped to Shiba, “You’re enabling him again”

“He made a good enough argument. How could I refuse?” The Aburame replied, not deigning to give any details to let the rest of us in on whatever was going on.

“Well, he’s your problem now”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here” He seemed a step away from snarling at Shika. His canine partner by his side had begun to growl with warning. Instead of looking worried at the possible threat to her safety, Shika just seemed to be irritated.

“Go kill an Iwa patrol or whatever. There should be a few of them circling trying to look for us. Kill the ones farthest away from our location. Shiba, Uraume, go babysit him”

“Oi” Before he could turn to Shika to say whatever was on his mind, Shiba was pushing him out from behind. In no time, they had crossed he threshold and began climbing their way out of the hideout.

“What the hell was that?”

“I’m surprised you don’t know. Guess you’re too busy killing Kage and being an all-round S-rank badass to keep up with what the rest of us get up to.” Shika was pulling at her hair now. Neither Choni nor Inoken were willing to meet my gaze as I tried to question them.

“The mutt is an addict” It was Uzume who spoke, and all eyes snapped top her.

“Uzume” Izuku hissed, trying to hush her.

“What? What do you mean?” I asked, no one else seemed to want to say anything.

“Can someone just explain what is going on before I run insane?”

“You know how every team has some sort of combination jutsu right?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Uraume’s psycho of a sensei wanted to see if the Aburame insects could produce pheromones that would interact with Inukuro’s Inuzuka biology. He succeeded. One of Shiba’s insects can secret a hormone that accelerates Testosterone production and increases the potential of his muscles to take in Chakra and be enhanced. He gets much stronger, but a lot more aggressive and confrontational.”

“Of fucking course Danzo would be involved” I whispered to myself at her words.

“That kind of power…drawbacks or not, it’s addictive as all hell.”