Chapter 126: Exhausting Everything

Yamanaka Inoichi, the top henchman at the root, the right hand of Danzo Shimura for his wicked deeds, known as the ruthless Insect Master.

When a swarm of bloodthirsty army ants suddenly appeared in the desert without reason, Yamanaka Nonou immediately knew it was Inoichi— that terrifying man, cold to his own kind and reserving all tenderness for his insects.

Danzo Shimura’s emphasis on this mission far exceeded Nonou’s expectations.

...

“They want to wear us out to death...” Shiraki murmured as he looked at the stagnant sea of ants.

Killing them with just a bunch of ants was unrealistic.

The secret insect controller's target was the camels. Once the camels were killed, they would have no choice but to continue on foot. Traveling through the desert on foot was exhausting, especially since they had already strayed from the oasis and supplies were at their limit.

Previously, Maki had estimated that riding camels to Loulan would take seven days. Now with the camels dead, walking would likely double the time—if even their strength held out.

Shiraki felt like he had underestimated the situation.

“Who exactly are they... why would enemies appear in the death desert?” Maki furrowed his brows in frustration.

“If the ants are controlled by someone... could it be the Yamanaka clan from Konoha?” Yegura’s intuition was sharp; after all, the Yamanaka clan was the most renowned insect manipulators in the shinobi world.

“Damn it! Why is someone from the Yamanaka clan here! Bastard, I knew you had ill intentions all along! There’s no treasure— it’s all a lie! Your real goal is to kill our tailed beast host, isn’t it!” Maki grabbed Shiraki’s collar, eyes blazing red as he roared.

“Are you an idiot? The Sand Village was already losing. Why would I waste energy coming here to mess with you? To make you starve? To stop you from bathing?” Shiraki shoved Maki away forcefully.

“I’ve always thought you were suspicious,” Yegura said, conjuring a small fireball at his fingertip.

“I’ll kill you!” Fufū, hair disheveled, formed hand seals, and both groups suddenly bristled with murderous intent.

“Don’t start infighting... the enemy will be delighted to see us tear each other apart. We need to find a way to overcome this together,” Fufuku spoke slowly, trying to soothe tensions.

“How? Fifteen days without food—how could we possibly reach Loulan!” Maki, though pausing his attack, remained furious.

“We might as well go back and kill them directly. They must have enough supplies on them,” Yegura also thought infighting was foolish; it would only lead to mutual destruction, and then the Konoha people would swoop in.

“The Konoha folks aren’t fools. They want us to die of exhaustion; they won’t fight head-on. Unlike you poor bastards who can’t even afford sealing scrolls, they’re probably drinking chilled cola and eating instant noodles while laughing at us,” Shiraki retorted sarcastically.

“You!” Yegura’s eyebrows knitted in anger, nearly sparking a fight again.

“Let’s move... wasting energy here is pointless. We might as well take a gamble,” Maki shook his head. Under the circumstances, what else could they do but keep going? If luck was on their side, they might even encounter a camel caravan from Loulan.

Shiraki opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. They all knew the Konoha people wouldn’t let them reach Loulan unchallenged; they would strike when they were weakest.

“Lord Fufuku, I’ll carry you,” Maki adjusted his pack and approached.

Afei had long been unable to support Fufuku walking. The desert was a deadly wasteland for him; the sun would parch him into a dried carrot in moments. He could only hide under Shiraki’s hair to sleep.

...

“No, if you carry him, you won’t last five days. Let Kakazu carry him instead—he doesn’t need to eat or drink,” Shiraki suggested.

“But he wants payment,” Kakazu didn’t mind earning some extra cash. His chakra reserves were immense, and walking without fighting barely consumed any chakra.

“...” Maki paused, then self-deprecatingly said, “Money is the most useless thing in the desert. If I could, I’d pay a million ryo for a pot of clean water.”

“Water Release: Water Spring Technique.”

“You said it,” Kakazu formed hand seals.

Glug, glug...

Kakazu’s fingertips seemed to open a faucet, producing a pouch of clean water.

Maki was stunned, hesitating too long to pay.

“Don’t be like that. We’re counting on you for the upcoming battles. Using Water Release in the desert is a huge chakra drain,” Shiraki shook his head.

The shinobi world still obeyed the law of conservation of energy. Ninjustu essentially borrowed nature’s power. To use Water Release in a waterless desert, it requires many times more chakra to gather moisture molecules from the environment. Kakazu could probably only produce a few pouches before his chakra core was utterly drained.

“The heart can be replaced after we leave the desert. Opportunities for extortion like this don’t come often,” Kakazu grumbled.

...

Everyone fell silent.

Kakazu extended tentacles from both hands, wrapping them around the skeleton of a camel in the ant swarm. With a sharp tug, the bones clattered together, forming a skeletal cage that looked ghostly and ominous, like a dark magic Buddha.

Only... having a venerable monk sit inside a cage of bones felt a bit eerie.

Fortunately, Fufuku wasn’t a narrow-minded man. He sat in the white bone cage without hesitation, chatting with Kakazu about life’s philosophies and the many things worth cherishing beyond money—like love.

The group pressed on through the night, continuing their deadly journey.

...

Shortly after Shiraki and company left, a man cloaked entirely in black rode a giant scorpion into the army ant mound. He took a black gourd from his back, formed hand seals, and muttered to himself:

“Children... still hungry, aren’t you? Hold on a little longer; a feast awaits.”

The tide of bloodthirsty army ants swarmed up the scorpion’s legs and into the black gourd, leaving none behind.

“Lord Ryoma, do we really intend to wear them down until they have no strength left? The leader ordered us to ensure the safety of the shrine maiden.” More people appeared—three others cloaked in black robes.

“These enemies are formidable; we cannot afford the slightest carelessness. The shrine maiden is rigorously trained and will find a way to survive until the end,” Yamanaka Ryoma pushed up his sunglasses, releasing reconnaissance insects to track the residual scent in the air.

...

This was the third day.

“I swear... I will never... come back to this godforsaken place...” Shiraki trudged through the sand dunes, each step sinking into the soft sand, making progress doubly hard.

Fine sand had penetrated his boots completely. No matter how uncomfortable, he was too tired to empty them—soon enough they would fill again.

No one responded. Everyone was conserving what little energy they had.

...

On the fifth night,

The group gathered in a circle, watching the last sip of water in the final pouch.

“This is the last,” Maki said, lips pale and cracked. “From tomorrow, we’ll have no food at all.”

“Stop talking... just divide it,” Shiraki shivered, cupping a tiny bowl.

Maki nodded and opened the water pouch.

All eyes burned fiercely on the opening, afraid even a single drop would spill.

Each bowl contained a shallow layer, yet it felt infinitely precious.

“Lord Fufuku... drink some water,” Maki poured his share into Fufuku’s bowl.

“My old life is not worth lamenting...” Fufuku parted his lips with difficulty.

“No need to say more,” Maki nearly forced the water into Fufuku’s mouth.

Even Fufū, who didn’t need food or water, was struggling. Her clay-like body cracked under the sun’s relentless heat. She hid her face, ashamed to be seen, lifting her veil to secretly sip water. Shiraki caught sight of the cracked skin beneath and felt a complex swirl of emotions.

Holding the precious water gently, Shiraki carefully cradled a withered Afei, who had become a soft, dry bundle, and fed him little by little.

“Kid...” Afei barely had the strength to speak.

“Shh... don’t talk. I thought of a joke. I’ll tell you once we reach Loulan,” Shiraki smiled at him.

Nonou sighed, never expecting such a cold-hearted man to have a gentle side.

Yamanaka Ryoma... can’t you just end this quickly?