That's the Queen! This is a major event for the Chimera Ants.
As an ant species, reproduction is a trait that has long been ingrained in every Chimera Ant's heart. It's just that, due to the presence of the King, the original Chimera Ants did not possess reproductive capability, so to increase their numbers they could only do it through modification. The modified Chimera Ants do have the ability to reproduce, but their reproductive success rate is extremely low. This is essentially the Chimera Ants' only drawback: naturally low fertility. Especially after the Queen's death, almost no Chimera Ant retains natural reproductive ability.
However, with Chimera Ant modification in hand, this isn't too big a problem.
So who is the Queen? What kind of person is she? They all cared very much.
Although the Queen might not have as much influence as the former Queen, she wouldn't be far off. After all, that's the King's woman. Who would dare not listen to her?
They actually paid even closer attention to this matter, but that doesn't mean no one objected to Pitou being Queen.
After all, Pitou's current strength was far inferior to before. Regarding the choice of Queen, many Chimera Ants believed she needed to be excellent—and strong—only then could she bear even more excellent and powerful offspring, and only then could the Chimera Ants flourish.
But all these opposing voices fell silent when they saw Meruem's expression. Call it dictatorship or call it tyranny—once Meruem nods, who in the entire Chimera Ant army would dare utter a second opinion? Especially after the so-called "coup" by Orell, Shacan, and Pouf, no one dared raise objections to anything Meruem agreed to.
Meruem now held absolute control over the Chimera Ant army. Even if he ordered them to die, they would have to obey.
So after Meruem personally announced it, no one dared offer any other opinion.
Thus Pitou naturally became the Chimera Ants' first Queen.
What? You're asking whether Pitou, as Queen, will do shameful things with Meruem? I can only say you're overthinking it. Not to mention Pitou's body was only recently reborn and is in no condition. Most importantly, from the neck down can't be described, so we'll set that aside for now because it's still early.
Several months had passed since Konoha suffered the Konoha Crush planned by Orochimaru and the Sand. The whole continent entered a brief period of peace again. Although three years later the entire world would fall into its greatest crisis, things were peaceful for now.
It's hard to understand why the other three of the Five Great Villages didn't strike at Konoha and the Sand at their weakest. The Third's death and the clash between Konoha and the Sand left them both gravely wounded, which was the best time to pull Konoha off the pedestal of the strongest of the Five Great Villages.
As for the Mist of the Land of Water—forget it. After the Bloody Mist policies under the Fourth Mizukage, controlled by Obito, they were left in shambles. Once Obito was done, he washed his hands of it.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen once had such a great name—yet they fled or died. The two great bloodline clans, Yuki and Kaguya, were wiped out entirely, and bloodline clans like the Hozuki were almost all exterminated. The Mist, once second only to Konoha, instantly plummeted to barely a notch above the Sand. A living example of crashing themselves.
They'd only just recovered a tiny bit.
And now the entire Land of Water was being locked down and suppressed by the Chimera Ants to the point they could barely breathe. The Mist were truly unlucky—targeted by two boss-level figures one after the other.
But the Rock and the Cloud are different. Those two villages had no issues at all. You could understand the Rock's Tsuchikage Onoki, a man in his later years, wanting to be conservative. But the Fourth Raikage was in his prime. Back then, they almost fought Konoha over a pair of Byakugan, and now, facing Konoha at its weakest, they did nothing. That's puzzling.
Maybe it was Tsunade's superior political skill.
Which brings us back to Konoha. Although Naruto didn't accompany him, Jiraiya still brought Tsunade back. Honestly, if not for Dan, those two—already in their fifties—would have become a couple long ago.
Jiraiya's feelings for Tsunade are no joke—decades of devotion, even choosing never to marry. Not everyone can do that.
Speaking of Tsunade, you have to admire her skill. She practically revived a wreck of a Konoha. Though far weaker than before, they at least maintained their place among the Five Great Villages.
But Tsunade also had a headache over Root's recent conflict with the Uchiha—who had returned after three years away—and their overt and covert struggle.
You don't need to say much about Danzo—an elder of Konoha, in control of the Anbu within the Anbu that is Root. Although Root had been weakened after the Uchiha Massacre Night, their numbers were only slightly smaller than the Anbu under Tsunade, making Danzo a real power in the upper echelons of Konoha.
But the Uchiha didn't have as many people; still, each was a high-end combatant at jonin or above. There were even many elite jonin—their high-end force crushed Root. Most importantly, per Jiraiya's recounting, they had a clan head who completely thrashed a powerhouse of Itachi's level.
Even if all of Root attacked, they might not be able to handle that kind of opponent. That level of powerhouse isn't something you beat with numbers alone.
Tsunade could only remain neutral, since in essence she didn't like either side.
The Senju and the Uchiha were originally enemy clans. Though things improved after joining Konoha, asking a Senju to like the Uchiha—tough sell. As for Danzo—no comment. Tsunade never liked that gloomy fellow. Especially after learning that when her teacher died, he hid and refused to help—she despised him even more.
Tsunade's ideal outcome would be for those two factions to kill each other off.
But following the Uchiha clan's reentry into Konoha, they seemed like a different clan—no longer cold and arrogant like they owned the place. Instead, they began befriending multiple clans.
Add to that their extraordinary generosity and a clan head fond of public "performances," and they actually attracted a small group of Konoha's minor clan shinobi. Relations with several mid-to-large clans also improved a lot, including the Uchiha's former dead enemy, the Hyuga.
Compared to Root, which the Hokage constantly suppressed, the Uchiha grew stronger by the day. Danzo fumed, but it was useless.
They now numbered only a few dozen. Many clans no longer viewed them so hostilely. Just like the once-glorious Hatake and Senju—population base matters.
Finally, it's worth noting that, as in the original, Orochimaru sent the Sound's four top fighters—the Sound Four—to tempt Sasuke. Unfortunately, those four decent shinobi were casually taken out by members of the Uchiha.
That wasn't because Orochimaru was stupid; he was just unwilling to accept it. He couldn't abandon the Sharingan just because the Uchiha had returned, could he? He'd put so much work in early on, and most importantly he didn't think anyone else's body was acceptable.
And after Sasuke learned Orochimaru had once had an arm hacked off by Itachi's genjutsu, he became even less interested in Orochimaru.
Why choose Itachi's defeated foe over the clan that crushes Itachi?
Under Uchiha Musashi's guidance, Sasuke would only become even stronger than in the original.
As for Naruto, he was being taught by both the Golden Silkworm Gu and Uchiha Musashi. Though they're essentially the same person, Naruto's daily progress was no less than Sasuke's. In just a few months, the rapid growth of these two children of this world left the Uchiha clan's shinobi a bit overwhelmed.
Coach! GM! Hurry up and ban the hackers!
After bringing Tsunade back, Jiraiya suddenly disappeared—summoned back by the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku—and hadn't been seen since.
"Your Majesty, in another week we can take the Land of Water's daimyo's mansion." One of the Chimera Ant Twelve Stars, Yishe, made his report to Meruem on the throne.
By "take," he didn't mean a violent occupation, but a silent replacement of the Land of Water's upper ranks—from the daimyo down to the generals—without arousing a hint of suspicion.
If you ask why not use violence—Meruem could do it in a day. But would that mean preparing to go to war with the other four great nations? Start the Ninja World War early? That wasn't Meruem's goal. Even if the daimyo were mascots, the people beneath them didn't see it that way. How would the villages view that?
And not just the daimyo's mansion—the Chimera Ants had also infiltrated much of the Mist's leadership. Many Chimera Ants had become high-level officials within the village. Their speed of rise was jaw-dropping.
But the ninja world is a place where the strong rule, with little room for political machinations. And how many families had been shattered by the ninja world's wars? In such circumstances, the Chimera Ants' development was blisteringly fast, unlike their previous stealthy growth in small nations to avoid detection.
Now the Chimera Ants had sealed off the entire Land of Water. With no restrictions, each day, a swath of land in the Land of Water was quietly devoured.
The Mist had once done similar lockdowns during the Bloody Mist policies, so the other great nations weren't suspicious. In fact, many took a schadenfreude stance—human nature at its worst.
By the time the daimyo's mansion and the Mist's upper echelons realized something was wrong, it was already too late.
They had no ability to stop what was happening—not even to plead for a reprieve.
(End of Chapter)
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