At this thought, Gisei suddenly asked Shiro, "Can other Ninja Butterflies evolve too?"
Shiro nodded. "Of course. But that's only speaking theoretically. In practice, it's impossible."
"Why?"
"A human's lifespan can support two butterfly species at most. Any more than that, and they won't live past forty. Thanks to Lady Mei replenishing your vitality, raising four is no problem for you."
"However, even with that, it'll be difficult for you to live past fifty unless Lady Mei replenishes your vitality again."
Shiro pointed a finger at himself. "In fact, I'm already a massive anomaly. In the entire Ninja Butterfly clan, aside from those few clan leaders, almost no one is stronger than me."
"As long as you keep living, I will become stronger and stronger with time. If I eventually become an existence like Lady Mei, you will also become a complete anomaly among humans."
"We are a shared life form. We complement each other. I think you shouldn't doubt this anymore."
Gisei nodded, exhaling as if a heavy burden had been lifted. "If you become an existence like Mei, what will you do to her?"
Shiro tilted his head, looking puzzled. "What would you do to your own mother?"
Gisei sighed. "If one day one of us—either Mei or me—had to die, who would you help?"
Shiro's expression turned serious. "Even if you are different species, even if your thoughts and methods differ, is there really a life-and-death conflict between you and Lady Mei?"
Gisei looked grim. "She keeps forcing me to do things I don't want to do. And not only that, I feel like she has an even bigger conspiracy in the works."
Shiro shook his head. "Your thinking is wrong. Sometimes, when you take a leak, I see you deliberately aim at ants. Why?"
"Because ants are weaker than you, so you pee on them. If an ant were a hundred times bigger than you, would you dare to do that?"
Gisei's face darkened. "Why use pissing as a metaphor? That's disgusting."
"I just want you to clearly recognize how atrocious your actions towards ants are. You are the disgusting guy here. If you become strong enough, Lady Mei will naturally change her attitude."
"This is the immutable law of nature: the weak are prey to the strong."
"Besides, Lady Mei has always been helping you. She even said that after you help her, she'll change her attitude. The current you is just far from ready."
Shiro looked at Gisei with undisguised contempt. After finishing his lecture, he even flipped him the middle finger.
Gisei's face grew even darker. He didn't want to argue with a bug about philosophy anymore.
"When I fused with you just now, I realized that you don't know what favor Mei wants me to do either. What's going on with that?"
"Lady Mei didn't tell me. Naturally, she knew that sooner or later we would fuse, so she kept it to herself."
Gisei looked thoughtful. "From what you're saying, someone has done this before?"
"Three of your past clan leaders have done it. Our fusion was far from perfect, by the way. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been interrupted by a beast's roar."
Gisei stared at Shiro, suddenly revealing a strange smile. "When I fused with you, my sensory abilities were abnormally strong, and your chakra was available for me to use. I haven't tested the other abilities yet. Want to go for round two?"
Shiro smacked his lips, looking thoroughly uninterested. "You pervert, are you lusting after my body?"
Gisei's smile froze, looking like he had just swallowed a fly. "If you can't speak human language, shut up. You're just a bug. Steamed, braised, or deep-fried—pick one."
Shiro chuckled twice, clapped his hands, and three more consciousness bodies appeared in the mental space.
Gisei looked at the four Shiros standing in front of him. His eyelids twitched, but he said nothing.
"Originally, I planned to fuse after you died, but I've decided to do it now. You don't have any objections, right?"
Gisei made a strange face. "Fusing so early... will it affect me?"
"Your chakra control might drop a bit in your normal state, but as long as you fuse with me like we just did, your control will actually increase."
Gisei nodded. He was actually curious to see how Shiro would fuse with his three kin.
Shiro looked excited. He suddenly vanished, and the other three Shiros disappeared with him.
In the mental space, only Gisei's consciousness body and four large cocoons remained.
Suddenly, three tentacles burst from the largest cocoon and stabbed directly into the other three.
The tentacles began to pulse rhythmically, as if they were feeding. Gisei watched with a frown.
What the hell is this thing? A tentacle monster?
Truly disgusting.
Speaking of which, raising a thing like this inside his body... could he really still be considered human?
Thinking of this, Gisei quickly shook his head, throwing all the strange, existential thoughts out of his mind.
The three cocoons being sucked were visibly shrinking, while Shiro's cocoon was getting bigger and bigger.
Curious, Gisei extended a hand to sense what was happening inside the cocoon.
Apart from a mass of chakra, there was only some flowing liquid inside. He couldn't feel the shadow of a butterfly at all.
Gisei withdrew his hand with a frown. He couldn't understand the world of bugs, especially Shiro's type.
"I'll say it again: you are not allowed to treat me as a bug anymore!"
Shiro's voice, sounding angry and embarrassed, echoed through the mental space.
Gisei laughed awkwardly. "By the way, aren't you in a cocoon state now? Why is there nothing inside besides some disgusting liquid?"
"You're the disgusting one! I can't leave you right now anyway, so why should I maintain a physical body? A spiritual body is enough."
As soon as Shiro's words fell, the other three cocoons suddenly made a soft cracking sound and shattered.
Gisei hurried over to inspect them, wanting to pick up the fragments, but as soon as he touched them, they turned into dust.
Shiro's consciousness body reappeared, wearing a satisfied expression.
Gisei noticed that Shiro's form seemed somewhat different from before, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly where the change was.
"Didn't Lady Mei tell you to raise more butterfly species? Wait until you develop the Star Sucking Great Art, then keep raising them. They taste good."
Gisei's face turned black. "You say it so lightly. So my vitality isn't worth anything, is it?"
"When the time comes, you can just absorb other people's vitality. Would you still care about that kind of thing then?"
Gisei pinched his chin. "That's true. But since you've fused with the other three now, will my vitality consumption be reduced?"
Shiro nodded. "Rest assured, I won't touch your current vitality. You have about thirty more years of lifespan, so you need to hurry up. I'll help you, too."
Seeing Gisei nod, Shiro added, "Also, give the chakra you absorb in the future to me first. I'll help you filter it once before you seal it into your acupoints. That way, it won't affect you negatively."
Gisei gritted his teeth. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Shiro put on a very innocent expression. "You didn't ask."
"I feel like you should have taken the initiative to tell me about something this important."
"Understood. We'll be good partners in the future."
Shiro smiled and extended his hand.
Gisei reached out and took it.
The two fused together once again.