Biomass Everywhere

In the vast expanse of the Land of Wind desert, where the scorching sun reigned supreme and the wind whispered tales of ancient secrets, a small lizard scurried across the scorching sand dunes.

Its sleek scales glinted with a touch of iridescent green as it sought nourishment amidst the unforgiving landscape.

Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting creature, danger lurked just beneath the shifting grains of sand.

Suddenly, as if summoned by some unseen force, a scorpion erupted from the arid ground. Its stinger, dripping with venomous potency, struck the defenseless lizard, injecting a lethal dose of poison into its veins.

The lizard convulsed, its life force fading away with each passing second until it finally succumbed to the toxic invasion.

Yet, before the scorpion could claim its victory and feast upon its prey, a disturbance rattled the desert floor.

Like a thunderclap, the ground split open, revealing a massive zerg drone. Towering above the lifeless reptile and the defeated scorpion, the monstrous creature flexed its claws, as if taunting them with its indomitable strength.

With calculated precision, the zerg drone scooped up the vanquished scorpion, its mighty claw reducing the arachnid to a mere husk.

The lizard, slain by the other, was also not left behind. The drone began to descend back into the sandy depths. The desert sands swallowed the disturbing scene, erasing any evidence of the struggle that had unfolded mere moments ago.

The zerg drone traversed the labyrinthine tunnels that snaked beneath the Land of Wind desert. Its chitinous exoskeleton scraped against the rough walls, a symphony of eerie echoes reverberating through the dimly lit passageways. It moved with a purpose, its single-minded determination evident in every mechanical twitch.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of subterranean travel, the zerg drone arrived at its destination - a hidden cave nestled within the bowels of the earth. The air within the cavern was heavy with the stench of decay, a putrid reminder of the countless lives that had met their end within its sinister embrace.

The zerg drone carefully deposited its hard-won spoils atop a grotesque mound of decaying corpses. The sight was chilling - a horror scene frozen in time. The bodies, in various stages of decomposition, formed a grotesque tapestry of death. The drone's appendages danced over the rotting flesh, as if paying homage to the fallen.

Just as the zerg drone turned to depart, an unnatural disturbance rippled through the ground. The air crackled with anticipation as the cavern floor gave way to a gargantuan zerg drone. Towering over its smaller brethren, it exuded an aura of malevolence, its gaping maw a black void hungry for souls.

Out from within the colossal creature's shadowy depths emerged a figure clad in a tattered trench coat. It was Kano, Shino's persona for external activities.

His dark eyes, brimming with malice and amusement, scanned the eerie cemetery before him. His slender fingers deftly retrieved scrolls from the depths of his coat, their intricate seals pulsating with hidden power.

Kano moved with an otherworldly grace, his steps echoing through the chamber as he traversed the sea of corpses. Each seal he meticulously placed upon the scrolls unleashed a wave of chakra, sealing away the soon-to-be biomass within its confines.

With each completed seal, the cavern seemed to tremble in acknowledgment, as if whispering the count of the harvest to the wind.

As the last scroll was sealed, Kano's lips curled into a wicked grin. "Onwards to the next location."

His ride arose from the ground, devouring all traces of existence, leaving a blood-stained cavern where drones mechanically continued to deposit new harvest.

Meanwhile, Temari and Kankuro strolled along the bustling streets of the Sand Village, their eyes trained on their younger brother, Gaara. Freshly returned from a mission, the trio made their way through the familiar sandy paths, their footsteps lost amidst the murmurs of the villagers.

As they walked, their ears caught fragments of conversations drifting through the air. Worried voices lamented the scarcity of creatures that once thrived in the desert.

The village's hunts had grown increasingly unsuccessful, leaving the residents anxious and disheartened. Food wasn't an issue, but the lacking harvest of poisons from poisonous creatures was detrimental to many ninjas.

As if that wasn't enough, even the Daimyo had used this as an excuse to lodge a complaint with the Sand Village, further tightening their already dwindling funds. The weight of the villagers' concerns settled heavily upon Temari's shoulders, casting a shadow of unease upon her features.

Kankuro, ever the voice of reason, attempted to assuage his sister's worries. "Don't fret, Temari. It's probably just a temporary lull in the desert's ecosystem. These things happen from time to time. Plus, the village's main food source is imported from other countries anyways." he offered, his tone laden with optimism.

Temari glanced at him skeptically, her fan strapped securely to her back. "I hope you're right, Kankuro. But it seems more than just a coincidence. Although not a lot, the desert has always provided for us, but now it's as if nature itself has abandoned us. I'm not too worried about the food problem, but the dangerous creatures are one of the Sand Village's natural barriers against foreign enemies. With them dwindling..."

Gaara, walking a few steps ahead, seemed lost in his own thoughts. His jade-green eyes, usually unreadable, flickered to the side as he raised his hand.

Instantly, a swirling cyclone of sand materialized, engulfing a minuscule bug that had unknowingly strayed too close. The sand tightened its grip, reducing the insect to nothing more than a mere memory.

The siblings paused, their attention captured by Gaara's display of power. The weight of the moment hung in the air, the silence broken only by the sound of sand grains cascading back to the ground.

Temari's voice broke the stillness, laced with curiosity and concern. "Gaara, is something bothering you? Your control over sand has always been remarkable, but lately, it feels... different."

Gaara turned to face his siblings, his gaze intense and introspective. "I can feel the pulse of the desert. It's troubled, just like the villagers. The creatures that once thrived here, their numbers dwindle. The desert itself is suffering, and I can't ignore its call."

Temari and Kankuro exchanged perplexed glances. What nonsense is their brother up to now? He's been different ever since he came back from Konoha. Well, it seems to be better than before? So, let's not worry about it.

Kankuro's brows furrowed, his concern mirrored in his voice. "Whatever you say, Gaara."

Temari nodded, her resolve firm. "You're right, Gaara. We cannot ignore any signs. Let us gather information, speak to the other ninjas, and delve into the depths of the desert. Maybe unraveling this issue may help you gain the recognition of the others."

As the wind whispered ominous secrets through the streets, the Sand siblings embarked on a path that would lead them deep into the heart of the cause. Will they be encountering an enemy that may perhaps change their fate? Who knows, but the decision is in the hands of one man.

Inside the confines of their secretive base's nursery room, Shino's eyes were fixed on the blank holographic screen before him, disappointment etched across his features. The once steady signal had faltered, disrupted by the ever-vigilant sand boy.

"Still so vigilant, I really can't underestimate this future Kazekage." Shino's fingers caressed the nascent larvae in front of him, their writhing forms pulsating with untold potential, before turning his attention to Karina, dancing amongst a tapestry of holographic displays, her ladybug necklace swaying with each captivating motion, as if possessed by an unseen rhythm that synchronized with the enchantment of her movements.

Shino's tone remained steady as he inquired, "What is the progress of our biomass and gene harvest?"

Karina, her gaze unwavering, delivered her report with a mixture of pride and deep warning.

[Shino, the gene bank had expanded exponentially, its repository now brimming with genes, enough for us to fortify the durability of our base. Additionally, we unlocked a couple new zerg units such as the zergling and many others are on the precipice of completion, previously only lacking some rare species. The once limited gene bank is no longer a hindrance, opening the floodgates to new developments for the zerg army. However, there are still some restrictions to our development.]

"Oh?" A glimmer of intrigue danced in Shino's eyes as he welcomed the challenge, his patient demeanor concealing a hunger for the secrets that lay dormant in the depths of her forthcoming explanation.

[First, we are restricted by our calculation power. As the zerg army grows, the required power to manage and command them grows correspondingly. Although Karina had tried to mitigate this issue through the creation of our new zerg supply unit, this is only a temporary fix. If these new supply units are wiped out, our zergs will run amok unless we order them all to hibernate. The only way to have a true firm control over the zergs is the growth of our own spiritual prowess, which in turn enhances our computation power...]

A faint furrow marred Shino's brow before he shook his head, a wry smile tugging at the corners of his lips, for even in the realm of reality where stakes ran high, some echoes of the RTS game logic reverberated into reality, still applying its effect on his zergs.

Once the formidable zerg army had expanded to a certain size, further expansion required more 'housing space' or max population capacity. For the Zergs, that essential 'housing space' was in the form of a basic unit, the Overlord – a flying supply depot, its exorbitant price and extended breeding time in reality contrasting the game from which it emerged, exchanged for its heightened performance and capacity.

Fortunately, akin to the elusive cheats found in games, reality allowed the player to 'hack' the confines of 'housing space' by applying their own personal power. In this case, it would be Shino's spiritual energy and the computation power of his hive mind, aka the system.

Needless to say, the growth of his spiritual energy and his system would result in a growth in the maximum zerg capacity he could control.

Karina had already divulged the method to augment the power of the system or hive mind: a journey of assimilating souls.

On the other hand, spiritual energy growth was the true challenge. The Naruto world wasn't an immortal cultivation world, where any random protagonist can coincidentally acquire some fortuitous inheritance or chance encounters that can grow their spiritual energy.

Within the definitive rules of the ninja world, the spiritual power capacity was a mystifying talent intricately woven into the fabric of one's very existence, predetermined from the moment of birth, and while a faint glimmer of hope lingered in the potential for incremental growth during the natural progression from childhood to adulthood, the boundaries of their limits, like celestial decrees etched in stardust, remained resolute and immutable.

Some ninjas were born with heightened senses, wherein the Uzumaki and Uchiha clan stood as exemplars, many born gifted with heightened spiritual power that transcended the ordinary mortal realm, while others were languished in the realm of mediocrity for life.

Yet, even those blessed with exceptional spiritual power would find their power constrained, unable to unlock the depths of their latent abilities, unless guided by the right methods.

A good example would be Naruto. It's clear he was born with formidable spiritual prowess, evident since a young age, allowing him to fearlessly use the Multiple Shadow Clone technique without succumbing to its feedback and becoming crazy.

As his journey unfolds, he ventures forth to learn the immortal arts – a method for ninjas to reach the pinnacle of combat prowess in this world, but an indispensable prerequisite was a strong spiritual perception. Otherwise, one will not be able to harmonize nature energy with physical and spiritual energy to use sage mode.

On the other hand, an ill-fated example would be the original Karin, a haunting embodiment of untapped potential who hadn't learned the immortal arts.

Without immortal arts, she found herself consigned to the role of a mere supporting role, her heightened senses relegated to the confines of a sensory ninja, resulting in the vast reservoirs of her untapped spiritual capacity remaining idle and neglected.

In a profound twist of destiny, Karina had now been assimilated by the unfathomable hive, allowing her unimaginable potential to be harnessed, the full extent of her spiritual power being utilized by the system as a wellspring of computation power, even more so than Shino himself.

But even though this was the case, a disheartening truth cast its shadow upon Shino and Karina: it wasn't enough, their growth demanded more. And if Shino wanted to grow his or Karina's spiritual power, it was a daunting task.

Why? Because...