Snacking on a Star When There Was Nothing Else to Do

Pakura and Samui followed Sora through twists and turns until they arrived back at his home.

Sora's residence was not located in the bustling center of Cloud Hidden Village. On the contrary, his house stood at the very edge of the village.

Back then, the Six Paths Bloodline clan grounds had naturally occupied the most central area of Cloud Hidden Village.

But after Gold Horn and Silver Horn's rebellion, to calm the emotions of the other villagers, the clan grounds had been relocated to the village's southeastern corner.

However, due to Sora's exceptional talent, the village had already assigned him a new residence when he became an ANBU squad captain.

Sora had simply never moved in.

He liked living with his mother.

That had been a true "home."

After the Eight-Tails disaster, the entire clan grounds had been reduced to ruins, and Sora had become utterly alone. The Third Raikage had repeatedly offered to let Sora live in the Night Moon clan grounds, but Sora had refused every time.

He had rebuilt a residence atop the original ruins.

Unfortunately, this "home" no longer felt like a home.

Then, after clashing with the higher-ups, Sora had left Cloud Hidden Village within just a few years.

"So this is Lord Sora's residence."

Samui curiously looked over everything inside.

This place was one of the village's forbidden zones. She had always wondered what secrets were hidden within, never expecting it to be Sora's home.

The spacious compound seemed rather desolate. There was neither much furniture nor decoration, and it lacked any trace of life.

What stood out, however, was that along one side of the otherwise utterly empty house, black boxes had been stacked all the way up the wall.

"These are... huh?!"

"Gasp..."

Seeing the boxes filled with cash and banknotes, Samui froze in place, while even Pakura wore an expression of utter shock.

There had to be at least several hundred thousand ryo in banknotes in each box.

And there was a whole wall of these black boxes?!

My house had bare walls. I was so poor that all I had left was money.

"Take them." Sora grabbed the black boxes and tossed two to each of them. "We'll go buy daily necessities, clothes, furniture, appliances, and everything else later. Buy the best of everything."

"Also, remember to buy ingredients for tonight. Let's start with high-protein food for thirty people."

"O-Okay."

Samui nodded somewhat stiffly.

Pakura, meanwhile, held the two boxes of money with a helpless expression.

As one of Hidden Sand's higher-ups, she had naturally seen large sums of money before, but seeing it did not mean she had ever spent it.

Before Rasa took office, Hidden Sand's poor commercial economy had made the villagers quite frugal.

Someone like Pakura, who had devoted nearly her entire life to Hidden Sand, spent her mission rewards only on necessities and ninja tools, saving nearly all the rest.

Having several million suddenly thrown at her to buy household supplies truly left Pakura at a loss.

The two left the house.

Samui led Pakura toward the bustling shopping district in the village.

Meanwhile, Sora entered his bedroom and took out the stone he often played with from his ninja tool pouch.

"There's not much chakra left, is there?"

Feeling the chakra contained within the stone in his hand growing weaker and weaker, disappointment appeared between Sora's brows.

It had been nearly ten years since this star, which he had seized from Star Ninja Village, came into his possession.

For the past decade, he had continuously absorbed the chakra within the star to temper his body.

He had thought that this extraterrestrial meteorite, which Hidden Star Village had worshipped for over a century, would last a little longer even if it could not compare to the Dragon Vein or a Tailed Beast.

Yet recently, Sora could clearly sense the decline of the chakra contained within the star.

This thing would not last much longer.

Once its chakra was exhausted, it would become no different from a broken stone by the roadside.

Sora played with the star in his hand for a moment, then suddenly exerted force in his palm.

Crack!

With a soft sound, the meteorite treasure that Hidden Star Village had preserved and worshipped for over a century was crushed to pieces in Sora's hand.

Then, he actually opened his mouth wide.

He tossed all the fragments into his mouth and began chewing them in huge bites.

Bzz!!

Sora swallowed the shattered star, and in an instant, a surge of deep-purple chakra erupted from within him, wrapping around his entire body.

This chakra was extraordinarily intense and immensely vigorous, dark purple in color. It actually looked extremely similar to a Jinchuriki entering a partial Tailed Beast transformation.

And that was not all.

As this chakra surged forth, an intensely scorching, almost burning sensation began to rise from within his body, as though molten lava were searing him from the inside!

"Ahh~"

A blissful sound escaped Sora's mouth, like the exhale after downing a full cup of fine wine.

More than two hundred years ago, the First Star Shadow had obtained this meteorite from beyond the heavens in Bear Country. He had unexpectedly discovered that it contained immensely powerful chakra, and by relying on the star's power, he created the Peacock Mystic Art, established the original foundation of Star Ninja Village, and proclaimed himself the First Star Shadow.

But everything in the world had two sides.

The star did indeed contain formidable chakra, but even more terrifying were the radioactive elements hidden within it.

That was right.

This so-called star was actually like a nuclear power plant.

As long as one absorbed its chakra and remained in contact with it for an extended period, their body would be eroded by those radioactive elements, gradually weakening until it could even prove fatal!

The Third Star Shadow of Hidden Star Village had discovered this.

Thus, when Sora came to seize it and he sensed Sora's terrifying strength, not only did he not stop him, he even handed it over willingly.

He also clearly explained the dangers involved to Sora.

But Sora had completely ignored the Third Star Shadow's words.

For five years, Sora had been constantly absorbing the chakra within the star.

And now, he had even swallowed it, attempting to digest it completely!

If the Third Star Shadow saw such behavior, he would probably consider Sora a madman.

Bzz...

Intense radiation and turbulent chakra continuously battered Sora's body, but he paid them no mind.

To him, this level of pain was practically no different from an itch. His endlessly regressing Six Paths bloodline was almost completely immune to this degree of radiation.

As the star's chakra emerged from his body, a layer of blood-colored flames rose over its surface.

Heroic Intent!

The burning blood flames seemed to use the star's chakra as fresh fuel. The star chakra spilling from Sora's body was quickly reabsorbed and fused into him.

If anyone had been present, they would have discovered that Sora's nearly perfect physique had been tinged with a faint purple glow.

Even the blood flowing through his veins was no longer crimson, but carried a trace of violet.

However, that purple hue was fading at a visible rate.

In less than half an hour, all abnormalities had vanished.

Sora slowly opened his eyes and clenched his fist.

Feeling the enhancement to both his chakra and physique, a trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes.

"Only this much? Forget it. It's just a rock, after all."

"Next, I'll use you instead."

Sora's gaze fell upon the Amber Purifying Pot.

For the truly good stuff from Naruto's canon, one still had to look to the Tailed Beasts!