Kagerō Village.
Gisei Shiraishi stood on a high peak outside the village, gazing down at the settlement below.
It wasn't a large place. By his sensing, there were only a few hundred ninjas inside. Even if he counted the ones out on missions, Kagerō Village probably had no more than a thousand ninjas in total.
Compared to the Five Great Nations, it was pathetic. There were no powerful individuals here to worry about.
Elite Jonin? Maybe a handful, if that. Sure, there might be some regular Jonin, but they weren't exactly threats. If Gisei really wanted to, he estimated he could wipe out the entire population in a single night.
Of course, he wasn't here to massacre the village. He was just here because his chakra tank was running on empty.
The chakra he had painstakingly stored in his acupoint seals had been constantly drained by sharing it with his substitute. Right now, only five acupoints on his entire body still had any chakra left; the others were completely dry.
Gisei wasn't naturally blessed with massive chakra reserves. If he didn't find a way to top up soon, he wouldn't be able to use any of his big moves later.
And he needed to be ready. His next stops were the Stone, Mist, and Cloud villages to kidnap people. Going in unprepared would be suicide.
He had already written off the Sand Village entirely. That godforsaken place was nothing but wind, sand, poor mountains, and treacherous water. The people were unruly, and honestly, there wasn't much worth stealing.
Sure, there might be a few strong individuals, but based on the plot he knew, they were all high-ranking officials. Trying to kidnap them would just cause a massive scene for very little gain.
Based on his intel, he already had his shopping list ready.
Cloud Village: Storm Release, Swift Release, Magnet Release.
Stone Village: Steel Release, Explosion Release.
Mist Village: Ice Release, Boil Release, and the Hydrification Technique.
Cloud and Stone didn't worry him much. As long as his main body stayed hidden, he was basically safe.
The Mist Village, however, was a bit concerning.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Madara Uchiha was likely hiding out there.
Thinking of that old pervert Madara, Gisei made a strange face.
Madara must be alive right now, but he should be ancient. Has his Rinnegan awakened yet?
If it hasn't, maybe I could bully old man Madara a little?
But if the Rinnegan is open...
Run. Run fast.
Wait... what am I thinking? Even Madara without the Rinnegan isn't someone to mess with!
Gisei quickly shook his head, throwing the suicidal thoughts out of his mind.
The waters of the ninja world were deep. With his meager ability, he was barely floating; if he drifted too far out, he might never make it back to shore.
Pushing aside thoughts of provoking Madara, he turned his attention back to the task at hand: absorbing chakra.
In the past, he absorbed chakra after killing people, but that was inefficient and slow. He didn't want to waste time.
That was why he targeted these minor shinobi villages. Their numbers couldn't compare to the Great Nations, but there were still plenty of batteries—er, ninjas—to drain. It guaranteed a high success rate with minimal risk.
Gisei looked up at the sun, shook his head, and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
He wouldn't start during the day. Better to wait for the cover of darkness. He didn't want the whole world knowing he could suck chakra dry like a vampire.
Low profile is key. especially when the main body is in the field. Caution, then more caution.
Late that night, Gisei returned to his perch.
As a hidden village, Kagerō naturally had guards, and plenty of them.
He thought for a moment, then summoned five Kage-level ninja butterflies.
"Summon the spirit butterflies with me. I want to hypnotize everyone in this village."
On his command, countless spirit butterflies poured out from his body. The other ninja butterflies joined in, adding their own swarms to the mix.
Dense clouds of butterflies rose into the night sky, drifting silently toward the village.
In less than fifteen minutes, the sky above Kagerō Village was blanketed by millions of butterflies.
The village ninjas quickly noticed something was wrong, but under the cover of night, they couldn't see exactly what was hovering above them. Searchlights swept the sky but found nothing; under Gisei's control, the butterflies skillfully avoided the beams.
Soon, hypnotic powder drifted down from their wings, carried by the wind into every street and home.
One by one, people began to collapse.
After waiting for over an hour to ensure everyone was deep under, Gisei finally gave the order. The spirit butterflies descended to feast.
At the same time, he entered fusion mode with Castle.
In this mode, his sensory range expanded, allowing him to detect any abnormal reactions instantly. If anyone woke up or resisted, he would have to kill them to silence the witness.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. The spirit butterflies flew back and forth like busy bees, transporting the stolen chakra to him.
Gisei had Castle filter the raw chakra before sealing it into his acupoints.
After working for over three hours, Gisei wiped the imaginary sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.
He hadn't been greedy. He only took about a third of the chakra from each ninja. It wasn't enough to kill them, and even if they felt drained when they woke up, they'd just assume they were tired or sick.
By the time they realized something was wrong, he would be long gone. And even if they traced it back to him, would a tiny village like Kagerō dare to bare its fangs at Konoha?
Besides, he didn't kill anyone. He was practically a saint.
...Alright, he did take some money while he was at it.
Not much, just a hundred million ryo.
He couldn't help it; his family was heavily in debt. If he didn't grab some cash, he wouldn't be able to put food on the table.
Sensing the chakra levels in his acupoints, Gisei sighed. After working for so long, he had only managed to fill a dozen acupoints.
He opened his map and scanned the area. The Flower Ninja Village in the Land of Vegetables caught his eye.
Five days later, Gisei gave the Flower Ninja Village the same treatment.
Unfortunately, this village was dirt poor. Gisei actually felt too embarrassed to steal their money, so he just "borrowed" a look at their secret techniques instead.
After reading them, he politely put the scrolls back.
To be honest, the Flower Ninja's techniques were actually pretty interesting.
In battle, they threw out chakra-infused flower seeds. Once they hit the soil, the seeds would instantly sprout, grow, and bloom, creating a sea of flowers that the user could manipulate to attack the enemy.
Petal shuriken, flower sword techniques, poisonous pollen—it was versatile stuff.
The core of their strength relied entirely on the quality of the seed, much like the Butterfly Users. If they cultivated powerful seeds, they were strong. If they used ordinary seeds... well, a Flower Village Jonin would probably get beaten up by a random Chunin from another village without landing a single hit.
Gisei pocketed some flower seeds. It didn't matter if the dates on the tree were ripe or not; he'd take a few whacks just in case.
Besides, the sea of flowers in Butterfly Habitat Valley was practically an ocean. Maybe he could find some rare breeds in there to experiment with.
Immediately after, the Hidden Frost Village got a visit too.
After that, Gisei found himself in a dilemma, torn between targeting the Artisan Ninja or the Waterfall Ninja.
Both were tricky.
The Artisan Ninja Village had complex business dealings with all the Five Great Nations. The internal situation there was messy, and if he wasn't careful, he'd be exposed instantly.
The Waterfall Ninja Village didn't have many ninjas, and very few strong ones, but they possessed two dangerous things: the "Hero Water" and the Seven-Tails.
The Hero Water could boost a ninja's chakra dozens of times over, but the price was their lifespan.
Gisei had zero interest in that suicide juice. The butterfly seed in his body already devoured his lifespan; drinking Hero Water on top of that? Did he think his life was too long?
As for the Seven-Tails...
Gisei frowned, wondering if there was a way to get his hands on it without bringing the world down on his head.