Chapter 21.2 : Worm's Evolution!!

The night passed.

When Kagetsu woke up and went to check on the worm, he saw that it had returned to normal. While its skin was still a bit darker, it no longer had that glossy, pitch-black color. The black spikes had retracted, making it look soft and harmless again.

As Kagetsu approached, he could once again sense the worm's joyful and affectionate emotions. The previously chaotic chakra had settled down, and the wild, uncontrollable natural energy from the night before had faded away.

Instead of immediately undoing the curse seal, Kagetsu used Medical Ninjutsu to carefully inspect the worm's body.

Everything seemed fine.

Placing his hand on the worm, Kagetsu summoned the panel connected to the worm and himself, curious to see if any new changes had occurred on it.

---

[Panel Information]

[Name: Unknown Larva

Quality: Blue (You've chosen an evolutionary path for it. Once it's fully developed, it will cocoon and evolve to the next stage.)

Traits: Plain and ordinary, but with a strong life force, exceptional adaptability, and excellent potential for modification.

Skills: Crawl, Eat, Spin Silk, Size Increase (Hidden), Needle Storm!

Evolution Path ①: Power of Nature (Can absorb the surrounding natural energy, and digest it within. The natural energy will cause its life to evolve and transform).

Effect: Not visible yet.

Split Body: It has a natural appetite and can digest everything it eats. If it cannot digest something, or gets too full, it will split into separate bodies to take on the burden.

Evaluation: How much it grows depends on the skill and feeding of its caretaker.

Conclusion: For now, it's just a worm with slightly better combat ability, though it still doesn't hold much potential.]

As he looked at the words on the panel, Kagetsu immediately noticed something different. Compared to the previous panel, this one not only had updated data but also included new entries: "Evolution Path" and "Split Body."

The first entry proved that the worm was on a path of evolution through the power of nature. It could absorb and accumulate natural energy to advance and evolve its life force.

This sounded somewhat like the path taken by the high-level summoning beasts from the Three Sage Regions.

The second entry, "Split Body," completely solved the issue of the worm being too greedy or eating something that upset its stomach. With this new trait, Kagetsu could feed the worm more recklessly in the future.

At least he no longer had to worry about feeding it something that could overwhelm it and cause it to break down.

Was this change a result of the evolution brought about by the power of nature? Or was it the worm's own body sensing danger and evolving in response?

Kagetsu couldn't figure that out yet, but it didn't stop him from taking the remaining chunk of meat from Jugo's transformed body, which was filled with natural energy and had been specially preserved, and offering it to the worm once more.

The familiar scent of the meat seemed to trigger the worm. It squirmed back a little, as if recalling the discomfort it had experienced after eating it yesterday.

However, under Kagetsu's reassurance and insistence, the worm hesitated for a moment before finally opening its mouth. Its jaw, lined with sharp teeth, latched onto the meat aggressively, tearing into it and gulping it down.

Then, nothing happened.

The natural energy flowing within the worm remained calm, without the uncontrollable, explosive surge that had been there before. Other than its color darkening, almost turning black, there was no further transformation in the worm's body.

In fact, under Kagetsu's watchful eyes, the worm's body slowly started to shrink, becoming slimmer and more elongated. By the time morning arrived, the worm had lost about a quarter of its size, almost like it had gone on a diet.

When Kagetsu poked it with a kunai, the worm's skin felt just as tough and resilient as before, but there was now a slight slickness to its surface, as if it had been coated in oil.

Even using a high-concentration chakra scalpel, cutting through its skin had become much more difficult.

Combat Mode!

Kagetsu wanted to test the worm's combat abilities now. He sent a command through their chakra connection, and the worm immediately stood up on the ground.

It looked like a small, bare tree trunk.

Suddenly, dark needles shot out from under the worm's skin. As the worm spun its body, those black needles followed its movements, firing in all directions.

After just one wave of needles, Kagetsu immediately used his Shadow Imitation Technique to stop the worm in its tracks. The worm, sensing it was restrained, didn't struggle and quickly retracted the needles back into its body. It then lazily lay down. Once the Shadow Imitation Technique faded, the worm crawled to Nara's feet, affectionately rubbing against his legs.

Kagetsu bent down and used his chakra-infused hand to pull out one of the black needles from the ground.

The needle contained the toxins accumulated inside the worm's body. If someone got pricked without any protection, it could be extremely dangerous for most ninjas, especially if there was no antidote available.

Moreover, if natural energy was used to enhance the needle, even some of the more well-known ninjas would be caught off guard if they didn't dodge it in time. The natural energy would make the black needles even more powerful.

Kagetsu gently patted the worm's head, praising it. After raising it for a few years, this once-timid worm, always afraid of being eaten by birds, had finally gained some combat strength. It could now be considered a proper ninja beast.

At the same time, Kagetsu began to imagine something. If the worm's digestion and absorption abilities could reach the level of devouring and assimilating other traits, could he possibly enhance it with more genomes?

For example, the Wood Release. 

Could the worm's digestion and division abilities withstand the devouring and assimilation properties of the Wood Release?

Kagetsu thought for a moment and decided to set aside the tempting idea for now. Starting with something so intense might upset the worm's body. What if it couldn't handle it and got sick?

After all, Orochimaru had plenty of bloodline limits and various other materials for experiments. There was no need to rush. The current situation didn't require him to go to the battlefield or face any immediate dangers that would need him to increase his combat power.

For now, it was better to gain more reputation and status before thinking about how to pursue these tempting ideas.

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