In the consciousness space, Shiraishi Gisei and Shiro stood face to face.
"What did Grandpa Shuichi mean about the ability to control the Butterfly Seeds?"
"I don't want to tell you."
"You..."
"Well, you are the clan head after all. The Butterfly Seed you raise is naturally special, which means I am special."
"What do you mean?"
"Simply put, my rank is higher than theirs. I can order other Butterfly Seeds to restrain their hosts."
Gisei stared at him and shouted, "Why didn't you say something like this earlier?! I worked so hard to develop the Cursed Seal just to control others!"
"You didn't ask me!"
"I asked Mei to develop the Cursed Seal! Didn't you realize what I meant?"
"Lady Mei told you that you could use the Butterfly Seeds, but you insisted on the Cursed Seal."
Gisei was dumbfounded. "What exactly is your problem?"
"Can't I have a problem with you?"
"Get it straight, I am your father! Don't forget who raised you to be so fat!"
"Hehe."
Black lines practically popped up on Gisei's forehead. He grabbed Shiro and started shaking him vigorously. "Just spit out whatever other abilities you have! All at once!"
"I can use most of the abilities Lady Mei possesses."
Shiro's words made Gisei overjoyed. "Can you also use that ability to manipulate life force?"
"No."
Gisei threw him aside in annoyance. "Useless!"
"You will lose my heart if you act like this."
"What good does getting your heart do me?"
"There are many benefits. For example, I can help you develop ninjutsu. If you are willing to hand your body over to me, I can also fight for you. I am definitely stronger than you!"
"Hand my body over to you? Why do I feel like I'm raising a Tailed Beast in my body?"
"What is a Tailed Beast? I can only say that after gaining a consciousness form, my soul is no worse than a human's."
Gisei had intended to leave, but he turned back upon hearing this sentence.
"Your soul is no worse than a human's... meaning if you wanted to, you could take over my body at any time?"
"Hehe, here we go again. Your paranoia is too severe; that's why I didn't tell you!"
Gisei's face darkened. "Make it clear! What exactly is going on with you guys?"
Shiro shrugged helplessly. "We are a life community. I won't harm you!"
"I'm tired of hearing that. Give me some new words!"
"Fine. We are a parasitic species that relies on human flesh and blood to grow. That is what a 'life community' means."
Gisei stared at him dead on. "If I die, you won't die. What kind of bullshit life community is that?"
"You are my father. What father wishes for his son to die?"
"Your personality is simply too terrible!"
Shiro blinked at him innocently. "I told you long ago, everything I have comes from you. Personality and such are naturally the same as yours."
"So?"
"So scolding me is equivalent to scolding yourself."
Gisei was almost so angry he could spit blood. Without saying a word, he wound up and threw a left hook.
Shiro didn't give an inch and threw a right hook in return.
With a loud bang, both of them covered their faces and started cursing in pain at the same time.
"You just said I was your father, and now you actually hit your father!"
"The father is a disappointment, so the son has no choice but to place righteousness above family."
"..."
After exiting the consciousness space, Gisei still wore a bitter expression of deep hatred.
Everyone in the basement looked at him with strange expressions.
Anna Takemoto looked concerned. "Are you okay?"
Gisei gritted his teeth, deciding to have a good "communication of feelings" with Shiro after he got back.
"I'm fine." Gisei looked at the clan heads and asked, "What exactly do you mean by asking me to restrain the heirs?"
Shuichi Takemoto huffed grumpily. "Why do you have so many questions? Hurry up and get to work!"
Gisei shrugged helplessly. Anyway, he wasn't losing anything.
"Ninpō: Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!)
After summoning Aki, Gisei ordered, "Go get a few Butterfly Seeds. I will summon you again in five minutes."
Aki then released the Summoning Jutsu.
After doing all this, Gisei narrowed his eyes and began to size up these white-haired old men.
He hadn't noticed before, but now that they mentioned Butterfly Seeds, he saw it.
Every one of these old guys looked so ancient—simply identical to Shuichi's condition.
Did all these old guys raise Butterfly Seeds?
They should be people from the same era as his grandfather, so was it his grandfather's doing?
Using Butterfly Seeds to control the heads of ninja clans attached to the Butterfly Users?
And they actually wanted him to control their heirs as well. Is there something wrong with these people's brains?
Five minutes later, Gisei used the Summoning Jutsu and summoned five Ninja Butterflies.
After getting the Butterfly Seeds from Aki, he had these Ninja Butterflies start setting up a barrier.
At this moment, Shiro's voice rang in his ears.
"I can help you do this kind of thing, you know. Using Lady Mei's ability to manipulate physical changes."
Gisei's face turned black. After releasing the Summoning Jutsu, he asked Shiro in the consciousness space, "How do I do it?"
"It's very simple. Just stay here."
Gisei looked thoughtful. "You want to manipulate my body?"
"Of course."
Gisei simply crossed his arms, wanting to see how Shiro would handle it.
Shiro left the space, and Gisei's physical body suddenly began to twitch strangely.
His mouth was still muttering to itself, "First time coming out, I'm a bit unused to it!"
Shiro controlled Gisei's body to take two steps, but his legs went weak for some inexplicable reason.
Then he lay on the ground and began to wiggle forward strangely...
Anna opened her mouth, covering her face, unable to bear looking at this scene.
The others looked at "Shiraishi Gisei" wiggling on the ground, staring at each other in dismay, their expressions turning strange.
"What happened to this kid?"
"How did a perfectly fine person become... like a worm?"
In the consciousness space, ever since Shiro left to control his body, Gisei sensed something was wrong.
It was as if he had a God's-eye view, able to clearly see every move of his own body.
Seeing Shiro controlling his body to wiggle on the ground like a maggot, Gisei immediately covered his eyes, emitting unconscious groans. It was too humiliating.
Fortunately, Shiro's abnormality only lasted for half a minute. After that, he returned to normal.
Several clan heirs, including Anna and Aonobu Kawai, walked forward.
Shiro extended a hand and tapped on their bodies. A hole automatically appeared on their chests, and the Butterfly Seeds slowly crawled in.
"Secret Technique, Sōsei no Jutsu!" (Twin Born Technique!)
After everything finished smoothly, Shiro returned to the consciousness space. Gisei strangled his neck and roared, "You bastard, how can I go out and face people now?!"
Shiro said awkwardly, "I wasn't quite used to it the first time. This situation definitely won't happen again in the future."
Gisei stared at him fiercely. "There definitely won't be a next time!"
"That's not necessarily true. In the future, you won't be able to live without me."
After exiting the consciousness space, Gisei saw the strange gazes of everyone around him and immediately covered his face.
It was truly too humiliating.