Chapter 129: The Grand Council of Aburame Tetsumarus
Tetsumaru had initially called for a ten-day deadline, but in the end, he granted them fifteen. As the primary core of the Swarm, there were simply too many things he had to manage; once a schedule was set, it was difficult to adjust.
The Shadow Clones in the Bio-Armor division even found the time to construct a hexagonal, flat box—a high-fidelity replica of an oversized Guyver Unit container. When the real Tetsumaru saw it, his mouth couldn't help but twitch.
He stepped forward and gave the giant box, measuring 1.4 meters on each side, a gentle kick, his heart filled with a strange nostalgia.
I really miss this... I wonder when I'll be able to shrink it down to its actual size?
"Let's begin," Tetsumaru said, pressing the central switch on the Unit container.
Artificial cells surged out, enveloping his body. The neural filaments of the Eye of Truth took command, followed by the electrical calibration, control, and the secretion of the protein armor.
This time, the weapon systems were fully integrated. The wrist blades, sonic emitters, jet bugs, and wing bugs were molded as a single piece with the protein armor, vastly improving the suit's structural integrity and durability.
The equipping process went off without a single hitch. The subsequent field tests were equally smooth; the Bio-Armor's physical strength reached nine tons, and its average movement speed was fifty percent higher than the previous Attached Insect Limbs version.
Furthermore, the defensive rating of the protein armor was significantly higher than the chitinous insect shells. Its only real drawback was that its "explosive" peak power wasn't quite as high as the older model, but the value of a suit that didn't need to be replaced after a single burst was far greater.
In short, this was a piece of equipment ready for deployment. It fundamentally met Tetsumaru's requirements for self-preservation.
"There are three issues to resolve before we can officially start mass production," Tetsumaru concluded during the final review. "First: we need to fully program the 'cell-taming' process into the Eye of Truth. Doing it manually is too prone to error, and Shadow Clones don't have the chakra overhead to afford mistakes."
The Shadow Clones exchanged looks and agreed. This was a straightforward coding issue; they could have it fixed shortly.
"Second: we need to integrate the Eye of Truth and the artificial cells into a single biological unit."
"That's a bit more difficult," one clone noted. "But it's solvable. It's just a matter of time."
"Correct. But the production volume of the Eye of Truth is actually the biggest bottleneck."
"I'll handle the mass production of the Eyes through a different project," Tetsumaru said, taking that burden upon himself. "Third: we need a way for Shadow Clones to safely extract chakra from the Bio-Armor. Any leads?"
"None. Actually, we've run into a major problem."
"The chakra gathered by these artificial cells is... unique. It's fine when the cells use it for their own functions, but the moment we try to siphon it, it causes Woodification."
Tetsumaru's face paled. "Senjutsu chakra?"
The Shadow Clones nodded in unison. "It almost certainly is."
"And you guys are all still standing here in one piece?"
"We used Mantises for the experiments. You think we'd just test it on ourselves?"
"Fair point. I'm not that stupid, even when I'm a clone."
The Tetsumarus discussed the issue for a long time but couldn't find a solution.
"Let's take it slow. As long as we keep trial-and-error running, we'll find a way to absorb Senjutsu chakra eventually."
"Exactly. The scientific method might be slow, but as long as the direction is right and we persist, we'll get results."
"The existence of Hashirama Senju is proof enough. Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu can be mastered, and Katsuyu's chakra can be absorbed."
"Once we solve this, doesn't that mean we've effectively mastered Senjutsu?"
"Exactly."
"And then, Wood Style."
"Yes, yes!"
A clone suddenly interjected, "So, can we finalize the name for the armor? What do you guys think of 'Guyver-1'?"
"In your dreams."
"I kind of like it."
"I think 'Katsuyu-Go' is more appropriate."
Even though they were all the same person, when it came to naming rights, the Tetsumarus had surprisingly fierce disagreements. In this arena, even the authority of the "Main Body" was flimsy.
After a heated debate, they eventually settled it via rock-paper-scissors. The official designation for the first version of the Katsuyu Bio-Armor was Bio-Armor Unit 1.
While everything was progressing steadily, the real Tetsumaru suddenly collapsed.
Because the swarm possessed zero independent judgment and the Shadow Clones were all buried in their respective projects, it took over ten hours before Tetsumaru regained consciousness.
He assessed his condition. The sensation was hauntingly familiar; the cause of his blackout was the recent, continuous return of "Sealed Shadow Clone" soul fragments from the Sea of Souls.
Previously, the soul returns had been manageable. Most clones provided almost no experience or feedback beyond a vague confirmation of death.
But this time was different. It had knocked him out cold for ten hours. If this had happened in an unsafe area, he'd be dead. What if it happened in the middle of a battle?
It was too dangerous. He had to solve this.
But since he'd already paid the price of the blackout, he decided to see exactly what kind of experience was powerful enough to drop him in one hit.
Tetsumaru logged into the Sea of Souls, but strangely, he didn't enter the usual space. Instead, he entered a bizarre, groggy state—another dream?
No, it was another life.
His soul light had plunged into a different soul sea, luckily intertwining and merging with a newborn soul, finally being born into a new world.
Skipping past the boring and awkward infancy, Tetsumaru awakened his memories and learned his new name: Angela von Altenburg, the third child of a minor German noble family in the Altenburg region.
It was Earth. Specifically, Germany in 1931.
The thought of the global catastrophe that would sweep the world in eight years filled him with a sense of impending doom. To escape the coming war, he displayed superhuman intelligence and self-control, becoming a world-renowned child prodigy.
After skipping multiple grades, he enrolled in the Chemistry department at the Humboldt University of Berlin in 1938. He was eleven years old.
The following year, his mentor was persecuted and forced into exile in the United States. Tetsumaru was overjoyed; he abandoned everything to follow his mentor across the ocean, arriving in the only country that would remain largely untouched by the war's devastation.
From then on, Tetsumaru focused entirely on his studies. To fill his own knowledge gaps, he double-majored in Metallurgy.
Although those of German descent had a few uncomfortable years starting in 1939—being monitored and followed—they at least weren't sent to internment camps en masse.
By the end of World War II, the eighteen-year-old Tetsumaru was already a minor celebrity in the worlds of chemistry and metallurgy.
Afterward, he followed the Marshall Plan back to Europe to participate in reconstruction. He shuttled between Europe and the U.S., absorbing every scrap of chemical and metallurgical knowledge he could find, participating in the construction of a dozen major steel projects and massive chemical industrial bases.
In the 90s, as Europe and the U.S. began to scale back heavy industry, he dived headfirst into his "Motherland" in that world, participating in several massive projects. Accustomed to a slower pace, the sheer speed of development nearly worked him to death, but he finally understood how that place was able to skyrocket twenty years later.
In 2006, a zombie outbreak began in Japan. Only then did the 79-year-old Tetsumaru realize that the world he lived in wasn't a "real" parallel Earth, but a world from a zombie story—likely a Japanese manga.
But he was too old. He had no interest and no physical ability to explore the so-called "plot." Shortly after, he died.
I see. Eighty years of complete life experience, especially in the "soft" sciences—chemistry and metallurgy—that he previously knew nothing about. No wonder it had knocked him out.
The burden of an entire lifetime was terrifying, but the benefits were astronomical. "Altenburg" had spent a lifetime focused on heavy industry and chemical engineering; he understood every link in the industrial chain.
Accepting this experience meant that, quite literally, Aburame Tetsumaru now had the ability to build a complete heavy industrial system within a single year—a shinobi version, integrated with swarms and ninjutsu.
The risk was high, but the profit was higher. He couldn't give it up.
Tetsumaru quickly created a massive batch of sealing light-spheres to stabilize his mind. After firing off hundreds of them, he logged out.
Back in reality, Tetsumaru summoned every Shadow Clone in the Land of Tea. Over two hundred clones crowded into the hidden Grand Conference Room.
Tetsumaru announced his blackout and the acquisition of Angela von Altenburg's lifetime of experience.
The clones, caught between shock and excitement, began a frantic analysis. They quickly reached a conclusion: Tetsumaru had fainted because his mental load was too high.
It made sense. Nearly three hundred active Shadow Clones, thousands of sealing spheres in the Sea of Souls, and the increasingly heavy soul light of Sakumo Hatake—it was a massive burden.
Usually, it wasn't obvious. It was like a weightlifter who can lift 200kg; they won't feel much while holding 150kg.
But a sudden soul return produced a memory flood like a sudden 70kg addition. It pushed Tetsumaru past his limit, causing his mind to crash.
He had to lighten the load. But whose load to cut?
The returning souls were both a burden and a harvest; he couldn't stop those.
The thousands of sealing spheres were the "cost" of future harvests; those couldn't be cut.
He wanted to cut Sakumo's soul light, but he didn't know how.
In the end, the only place to reduce the burden was the active Shadow Clones.
The simplest way was to reduce the number of clones, but every single one of them was busy with vital work. Cutting one meant stopping a major project.
The number could not be reduced.
Thus, the "External Avatar" project, which had been progressing slowly, was suddenly elevated to top priority. It was now a matter of urgency.
When the Bio-Armor clones explained the concept and the issues of the Avatar Project, the other clones were ecstatic. Which of them didn't want to exist for longer than a few days?
Once the Avatar project was complete, they wouldn't just be able to exist indefinitely; they could even experience Senjutsu and Wood Style.
"Open it! We must open the Avatar Project! Now! The faster, the better!"
"Correct! This is now the highest priority!"
Tetsumaru reminded them: "The Avatar Project needs manpower. The more people we have, the faster we go. I need everyone's consent to reallocate staff."
"No problem! I'll join!"
"Count me in too!"
"Me as well! My departure won't kill the Aerospace Plan. Move me to the Avatar team!"
The decision was passed instantly. The project was spun off from the Bio-Armor plan, with twenty clones assigned immediately. Tetsumaru's real body also joined the team, planning to remain in this lab permanently.
Additionally, the Heavy Industry Plan had to begin. Tetsumaru dispelled ten clones who were low on chakra and reformed them as the heavy industry research and construction team.
The first thing to be scrapped and rebuilt were those "fleshy pillar towers." Most were designed to extract metals and minerals from the earth. Designs he once thought were brilliant now looked like amateurish, inefficient garbage—and their pollution was horrifying.
They shouldn't have been emitting that much smoke. Once the redesign was complete, there would only be white steam and the purple mists used for spreading spores.
Next was the internal structure of the Broodmothers, especially that thousand-meter curved tower. It was a crude design he had forced out based on textbook knowledge.
He was like a child who didn't know multiplication and used addition to calculate a large sum. The answer was right, but the process was too complex and prone to error.
The Broodmother was the same. For nutrient and compound synthesis, it relied on the most basic chemical equations. Design flaws made the synthesis chains too long, with too many intermediate products and too many hazards.
To compensate, he'd had to keep expanding the internal space and thickening the walls, resulting in that thousand-meter monstrosity.
With a proper design from the start, 100 or 200 meters would be more than enough.
The chaotic "Grand Council" ended. Hundreds of Tetsumarus discussed their future "Avatars" as they departed for their various posts.
Just as Tetsumaru was about to dive into the Avatar Project, a group of farmers came looking for him, saying they had something vital to report.
Tetsumaru was annoyed, but he steeled himself to meet them.
If the Daimyo of Tea had sent someone, he would have ignored them. but if farmers came to him, he would listen. Farmers were terrified of trouble; if they steeled themselves to find him, the matter had to be serious.
At the very least, it concerned their lives or their year's harvest. Anything less, and they would have suffered in silence.
People like the villagers of Konoha, who dared to hire ninja to solve their problems, were a tiny minority—limited to Daimyos, wealthy merchants, nobles, and the residents of the Five Great Villages.
Farmers were not among them.
The lead farmer opened his mouth, and the words sent a chill through Tetsumaru.
"My Lord... everyone in Awaji Village has been slaughtered. It was done by foreign ninja."