"I'm home."
The house was always spotless, not because her mother was a diligent housekeeper, but because every Aburame Clan home was basically like this.
Controlling Insects for cleaning was the most basic of basics.
Her mother, in her mid-twenties, was Miki's only living relative. Her grandparents had died during the Sengoku period, and her father had died in the First Shinobi World War in Konoha's twelfth year.
Her mother, Yumi, was an ordinary Chunin. Her talent as a Shinobi was not outstanding. To raise Miki, she had retired many years ago and now ran a small inn.
Outside, the night had grown dark. Yumi, accustomed to Miki's late returns, gently said, "Welcome home. I'll warm up dinner."
"Mm."
She merely nodded, a little distant.
It wasn't that she disliked this woman; Miki respected Yumi as her mother. However, even though Miki looked like a child, she wasn't one.
Miki had never opened her heart to Yumi, so it naturally appeared that they weren't very close.
And Yumi, a first-time mother, not only lacked experience but also possessed the typical introverted personality of the Aburame Clan, making her quite at a loss when it came to dealing with Miki.
Therefore, at the dinner table, there was no usual conversation between mother and daughter. Yumi just quietly and gently watched Miki.
After dinner, Miki returned to her room. After leaving the door ajar, they each got busy with their own things.
Evening was Yumi's reading time. The only Ninjutsu scrolls in the house had been read over and over many times.
Since she began to speak, Miki had consciously learned to read and write. Now, she had no trouble with reading, and she had already mastered the contents of the scrolls.
Her father's meager inheritance was pitifully small. As a Jonin of the Village, he had no extra Ninjutsu apart from a few family secret techniques and the basic Three Body Technique.
The clan's secret techniques themselves were extremely versatile, making extra Ninjutsu unnecessary. But even so, Miki couldn't help but sigh at the situation.
Miki really wanted to learn Shadow Clone to achieve her goal of a cheat code.
But there was simply no way to learn Ninjutsu.
Unless...
"Show my value for investment, huh?"
She played with the scroll in her hand for a while. For Miki, the most valuable part of it was her father's insights on using Insects. As a reference, it could save Miki a lot of detours.
This secret technique, in summary, was to endure and hide while deploying insects.
It contained many practical techniques for lowering one's presence.
The very first sentence was a phrase bolded by her father:'Silence is golden.'
Most of the clan members were like this, embodying the spirit of the Konoha Shinobi Clans.
It suited Miki's taste quite well.
Hmm, a person of few words but fierce action.
But once an enemy found them, it was basically game over.
Her father had died this way; according to clan members who returned, he was accidentally cornered on the front lines.
Setting down the scroll, Miki picked up a book she had bought. It wasn't a Ninjutsu-related book, nor a novel to pass the time, but textbooks on subjects like math, science, and chemistry, as well as miscellaneous essays, geographies, and local customs.
Among them, Miki memorized the biology book the most. During breaks from reading, she would occasionally check on the movement of her insect swarm to relax.
Many of the newly bred insects were still in a confused state, not knowing what to do, though some had already started building nests.
So, has it succeeded a little bit?
No, in order, it should be a nuptial flight first.
Those that were digging holes and building nests were pretty much eliminated.
And reading continued until her mother's alarm clock called her to bed.
Miki's day officially ended. The next day, she went to work as usual—no, to class.
Waking up and walking her commute, the tired expression under her mask, showing she hadn't had enough sleep, wasn't something people would worry about noticing.
By the time she reached class, Miki was already very late. Although there was no concept of morning self-study in the Ninja Academy, Miki was still the last one, almost arriving just in time.
Subtly, the usually noisy classroom fell silent for a moment when Miki arrived. A moment later, these children started making noise again as if nothing had happened.
Children are really so innocent. She was disliked by most of the class.
The reason was simple: because of the insects on Miki's body, which mostly evoked feelings of fear and disgust.
Because of the Insects, Miki could even smell the subtle scent in the air, which was pheromones released by the human body.
Insects could keenly detect these chemical molecules, but most couldn't identify them. However, Miki could mark and identify them one by one through the Insects, building a pheromone information database.
Once it was mostly complete, Miki would announce it to the clan, establishing a communication channel unique to their clan.
In fact, the clan had similar ways of utilizing this, but it was still at a very crude, superficial level.
It was a simple method of information transfer achieved by the concentration of pheromones left by Insects.
The children in the class unconsciously released the scent of fear, an instinctive, physiological inability to accept Miki.
As she walked to her seat, the children nearby subtly widened the distance between themselves and Miki.
So sometimes Miki really disliked this sensitive side of herself, but Miki had a big heart, unlike a child's, that had been tempered by the harshness of society, so she had no interest in playing house or friendship games with them.
This was good, it was quiet.
Essentially, Miki was not a cold person. Rather, she considered herself quite warm, cheerful, and lively.
When the teacher arrived in class, the lesson began as usual. The initial cultural classes were not complicated. Many children in the class couldn't read or write; most from commoner families were in this situation. Not only reading and writing, but even arithmetic required counting on fingers. Teaching these children took a lot of effort from the teacher.
Especially that white-haired boy named Jiraiya; not only did he lack a foundation, but he was also very clumsy.
He often caused all sorts of jokes and was the class clown, though the teacher was on the verge of tears.
That being said, whether it was Tsunade or others, most treated him like an incompletely evolved monkey.
Over a month, all that was taught was this kind of material. Geography, history, and civics were all covered, and it was no weaker than the vague elementary school curriculum she remembered, only stronger.
Because it was a six-year graduation system, without middle or high school levels, the large amount of knowledge made the curriculum especially tight. If one fell behind, it would be very difficult to catch up. Although there were no such signs yet, Miki keenly observed this based on the curriculum schedule.
Culturally, the school's teaching was a cramming method. They didn't expect these children to have excellent cultural knowledge, so only truly smart people could keep up with the pace, and those who fell behind would be mercilessly eliminated.
And Miki hadn't seen any courses with Shinobi characteristics that she had envisioned. However, the school did arrange one physical education class every day, which was just running and doing exercises.
Through these simple exercises, one could easily distinguish the children's foundations and potential.
After some time, her deskmate, Tsunade, took the lead in Taijutsu thanks to her family's teachings.
And thus, she successfully claimed the position of class overlord.
She basically beat everyone she could, and the children in the class were well-behaved under Tsunade's intimidation.
However, the troublemaker Jiraiya, whether he was big-hearted or thick-headed, tirelessly provoked Tsunade.
Miki, however, understood it clearly: a child's infatuation.
Tsunade was simply too beautiful. Although there were a few other pretty girls in the class who were no less attractive than Tsunade, due to her status as the Konoha Hime, she was tacitly considered the class beauty by the boys, and many liked her.
Although Jiraiya was clumsy, he was not actually the class's dead last. Despite his poor foundation in Taijutsu, he could still rank in the middle, which showed his potential was not low.
It should be noted that this class could be considered this year's elite class, basically composed of children from various Shinobi Clans.
Given his lack of foundation, Jiraiya's performance was very commendable.
Even though his academics were weak.
The true dead last was a cute, girl-like fellow named Hiruko.
Because of his appearance, he was often bullied by the boys in the class.
And Tsunade, the Konoha Hime and class leader, was not yet kind and gentle enough to stand up for others.
Therefore, after some time, he became very gloomy and basically withdrawn.
Besides these, a few other classmates also caught Miki's attention.