Hoshigakure
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about not uploading for the past few days. Life's been Crazy. Anyway, my schedule should be more regular now so look forward to it.
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We arrived at the border to the Land of Bears around mid-day. Much like its anime appearance, there was a ravine, filled with yellow-colored poisonous gas surrounding the village and acting as the south-eastern border of the Land of Bears with the Land of Mountains and the Land of Earth.
Honoka, Jugo, Masami, Haku, and I were all stumped on how to cross it. I could throw one of my Bone Kunai to the other side and FTG us over, but since we were trying to be diplomatic, infiltrating the inner defenses of the village like that wouldn't be advisable, plus I didn't want the daughter of the Kazekage to know I had such a broken jutsu.
After about five minutes of walking the parameter to the ravine, several Hoshi anbu arrived at our location. They were far easier to detect than their Konoha counterparts, but their chakra intensity was no joke. It seems all of the anbu have completed the Star Training because they flew over the ravine using the wings variant of the [Mystereous Peacock Method].
"State your business, Shinobi of Konoha and Suna!" One demanded. He was wearing a rabbit mask with the standard anbu gear, though theirs had purple details which differ from Konoha's typical red.
"Greetings, anbu of Hoshigakure. I am Honoka Uzumaki, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village. The Hokage sent us to meet with your Hoshikage and deepen the alliance between our two villages." Honoka said as she walked in front of us. "We have hired a Suna Chunin to act as our guard and guide on our journey."
After a moment, all but one of the Abu dropped their guard a little. It wasn't exactly formal, but it was well known that Hoshigakure and Konoha were allies and that a war may be coming in the near future. The only anbu who didn't drop their guard was one with lilac purple hair and light blue eyes.
"Please wait one more minute then. We will inform Lord 3rd Hoshikage." The rabbit masked anbu said as two of the others flew back across the ravine.
While not quite tense, it was still an awkward few minutes between Team 6 and the Hoshi anbu. I took the chance to take a peek at the anbu's chakra levels with my Byakugan. Thankfully, after a certain point in my [Yin Strengthening Method] training, the veins which show when the Byakugan is active disappeared. I suppose that was to be expected, since the Tenseigan doesn't show those veins, but I was still surprised when it first happened.
All of the anbu were of mid-jonin level back in Konoha, meaning they were all just a touch weaker than Leaf anbu. This greatly surprised me, since I had assumed that smaller villages had weaker shinobi, but I suppose that isn't the case for this village. I could also see that all of the anbu had something akin to chakra-network cancer. These must be the effects of the training since I have never seen or heard of anything like it before.
After a while, an old man roughly as old as the Third Hokage Hiruzen arrived. He wore the standard Kage outfit with white and purple colorings and the Kanji for Star on this hat. He had a brown mustache and beard, though they were close to greying. He seemed to be rather relieved when he saw us, though his face appeared neutral.
"Greetings shinobi from Konoha and Suna. My name is Ginhoshi. As the Third Hoshigakure of the Village Hidden in the Stars, it is my honor to welcome you."
...
It took us only a minute or two to reach Hoshigakure. I have to say, it is closer to a small hamlet than one of the Great Elemental Villages like they are aspiring to become. There were only about a thousand people in total, while only around a hundred were shinobi. Some minor clans back in Konoha outnumber them. They have about the same numbers as the Nara clan if I remember correctly.
We were led to a small three-storied mansion in the center of the town which was smaller than the Senju residence we normally lived in. After walking up the stairs to a large meeting room, all but one of the anbu left us to guard the village's borders while Ginhoshi and our team began the meeting. Honoka sat in front of us while Masami sat to the side. Jugo, Haku, and I all sat in a straight line behind Honoka and allowed her to speak.
"As we said before, Lord Hsohikage, we were sent by the Hokage to deepen ties to this village in preparation for the upcoming hostilities between Iwa and Konoha." Honoka began as she reached within her bag and removed a sealed scroll. The rabbit masked anbu grabbed the scroll before unsealing it. He read it silently and looked it over for possible fuinjutsu traps and saw nothing, so he passed it to Ginhoshi.
Ginhoshi read the letter and was silent for a long while before looking towards me and then back to Honoka. "Is it true that this young man has a solution to our problems with Star Training?"
"I do not know for certain, Hoshikage-sama, but I do know that Lord Hokage believed that his clan's secret arts would help stabilize the training you do and make it less lethal," Honoka replied.
"Hm," Ginhoshi thought to himself. He must have been weighing his options. On one hand, if he worked with us and allowed me to refine the [Mystereous Peacock Method], his village would rise to prominence as it wouldn't lose over half of its Genin to the method and they could use it to their fullest extent. On the other, his village was already being targeted by smaller villages who wanted to steal the star, and by Iwa who had made more demands to break their alliance with Konoha or 'face the repercussions'. Additionally, this would mean handing out their most valuable technique to a ninja from another village. Sure it was their ally, but once they had the technique, all they would need was to steal the star, and then they could leave Hoshigakure out to die while Iwa attacked.
He had to decide between his village's future survival and prosperity or to continue to guard the secrets of the Star and accept the consequences. His decision here would forever change the course of his village's future, so he decided to take a leap of faith.
"Very well. I am hesitant to do this, but I will ask the young man for his aid in this matter. If he is successful, I will agree to the terms laid out in the Hokage's offer." He said before turning to the anbu. "Rabbit! Go out and collect Natsuhi and Hotarubi. Tell them that their mission is over and they can reunite with their son." Rabbit simply nodded and vanished with shunshin.
"Thank you Hoshikage-sama," Honoka said as she bowed. All four of us bowed as well to express our gratitude.
...
...
...
After our meeting with the Hoshikage, Jugo, Haku, and Masami were given the rest f the day off. Honoka and I were guided by Ginhoshi to another location near the edge of the village. It was a giant grey ash coated crater with a small wooden dojo in the center. Nearby there was an L shaped building with sickly looking children coming out of it.
"The Star Training, as you know, reaks havoc on the body. It directly leads to the degradation of the Chakra Pathway System and even affects the mind of the user to a certain extent. It will sometimes make practitioners erratic, maniacal, obsessive, or even tunnel-visioned on completing a given task they deem important.
For most of our shinobi who take the risk to train, we make sure to direct their given task to 'Protect the Village' or 'Ensure the Village's Prosperity' to keep them loyal, but sometimes this can have disastrous effects. An example would be that a few years ago, two jonin attempted to steal the Star as they wished to 'Protect the Village' and the villagers from its harmful effects.
After that incident, I decided to stop the training for now because the risks weren't worth it. Unfortunately, because of the coming conflict, I had to restart the training. A lot of our shinobi were sneaking in and training improperly at night, so if they were going to train anyway, they might as well train under the guidance of experts to keep the effects to a minimum." He said as we arrived at the L shaped hut.
He opened the door to reveal around 20 sick and injured patients who were suffering from the backlash of the training. He definitely wanted to show me this to guilt-trip me into helping them, but I would have done so even before he pulled this stunt.
"I understand. I will start the process as soon as I am done here" I say as I walk inside. This shocks both Honoka and Ginhoshi. Honoka because she knows what I am about to do and still believes I only have a limited number of senzu beans, while Ginhoshi doesn't know what I am about to do at all.
I reach into my ninja pouch and retrieve some senzu powder. Over the course of the five years of training in the academy, I have refined the senzu powder using medical herbs and some spices. Now, when mixed with water, it tastes like an energy drink and heals injuries just as quickly as a normal senzu bean with less overall mass/percentage of senzu powder needed.
I mix the medicine into a large basin of fresh water at the end of the room before bringing out cups from my [Inventory]. I had also gotten a tattoo with a sealing formula on my right wrist. The sealing formula only creates a white puff of smoke when I add chakra, but to outsiders, it looks like a storage seal tattooed on me. I can now mask my use of [Inventory] with this as to not draw suspicion. Shizune was the one who came up with the idea while Honoka tattooed the seal. Tsunade wanted to do it at first, but Honoka asked her if she even knew of the right seal to use, which made Tsunade back down because she didn't.
After a minute of mixing in about a fourth of the powder, I began distributing it to the medical ninja of Hoshigakure who were curious as to what I was doing. They thought that no one was stupid enough to poison a bunch of dying people, especially in front of their Kage, so even without me saying anything, they understood it was medicine.
After a minute or so, all of the injured shinobi were now sleeping peacefully and the Hoshikage was stunned being informed by the other medical ninja that there was no sign of damage anymore. There was plenty of medicine left in the basin for everyone in the Village who had suffered from the Star Training to have some, effectively resetting their bodies to before their training. Honoka had a smug grin on her face the entire time while probably thinking something along the lines of 'That's right. Praise my student. Do you want to know who his sensei is? It's me!'
After a moment, the Hoshikage hurriedly walked towards me and grabbed my hands with tears in his eyes. "Thank you, young man! Thank you for saving my villagers! You have my eternal thanks. If there is anything I can do for you, anything at all, please say the word. Hoshigakure will be behind you the whole way!"
[Poker Face] activated as it sensed the large grin creeping up on my face, making me have an awkward look on my face for a moment. It probably made me seem uncomfortable for a brief moment, and my now calm facial expression made it seem like I was being kind when I said "Thank you for your offer Hoshikage, but I was just doing what I thought was right. There is no need for you to go so far".
Everyone in the room had tears in their eyes while Honoka was snickering to herself. I had just made myself seem like a benevolent savior, here to save them from their suffering, and I wasn't even done yet.
"Now that everyone is feeling better, I hope you can distribute this medicine to the others so that no one has to suffer again," I say with a smile. I thought it was corny that they were tearing up before, now that they are full-blown crying in happiness, it just makes me feel like an ass by manipulating them like this. 'This is too easy' I thought as the Hoshikage began ordering his ninja to deliver the medicine to all the other villagers.
...
After an hour or so, I was led to the dojo with the star. It was resting upon an eagle-shaped pedestal while emitting sinister purple chakra. "Here is the Star. The letter said you possess a Doujutsu and that I can leave you here with the Star Training manual and you will be able to fix it." Ginhoshi said as he handed me a rather ornate scroll.
"I will do my best Lord Hoshikage. If all goes well, I hope to complete my work in only a few day's time." I say as I shoot him a smile.
"Yes, please! I will prepare for you and your group the finest of banquets when you are done!" He said excitedly. Looks like my plan has worked. Because he sees me as so benevolent, he hasn't even left someone to monitor me. He excuses himself and Honoka says she will go with him to hammer out the details of the alliance while I work.
I unfurl the scroll and look at it for a few minutes. I am unsure how Minato knew that my [Yin and Yang Training Technique] and the [Mystereous Peacock Method] were so compatible, but now I see why he was so bold to ask me to do this mission. The two techniques are almost exactly the same with a few glaring differences.
The [Mystereous Peacock Method] doesn't circulate chakra nearly as efficiently causing it to damage the body and mind. It would also explain their chakra intensity since this technique also amplifies their chakra while sacrificing the increase of their chakra capacity. Once their chakra is intense enough, all that they do is use a heightened form of chakra control to shape it into the forms I saw in the anime.
If they want to create a dragon, for example, they use a similar method of shape transformation on their chakra that water release users use on the water to create the [Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu]. With this information under my belt, I get to work.
...
It's been roughly twenty hours since I began, and holy snot was I underestimating this jutsu. The guy who created it must have either been a genius like Minato or Kakashi or so incompetent it defies logic since the [Mysterious Peacock Method] incorporates multiple different aspects into the jutsu that I was able to dissect and separate to form formidable techniques on their own. I created 5 new jutsu from it, two of which were S-Ranked Jutsu which I will keep for myself, while I will give the other three to Hoshigakure to increase their favor even more.
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Genjutsu:
[Starlight Trance] Jutsu: Places the target under a genjutsu similar to Kotomatsukami where the target is convinced that what they are doing is of their own volition and not due to being controlled.
S-Rank (forbidden)
[Midnight Madness] Jutsu: Places the target under a genjutsu where they are unable to tell friend from foe. Additionally, will make the target frenzied, making them attack their allies similar to the [Mind Destruction] Jutsu of the Yamanaka Clan while also clouding their judgment to make it harder to break free.
A-Rank
Ninjutsu:
[Infernal Nighttime Dragon] Jutsu: Creates a large green Chakra Dragon Avatar (eastern design) out of Chakra similar to the Kurama Avatar or Susanoo. Due to the amplification effects of the user's chakra, any ninjutsu used from the Dragon's mouth will amplify as well, making even the user's normal C-Rank Jutsu like the [Great Fireball] Jutsu into S-Ranked equivalents like the [Great Fire Annihilation] Jutsu. Incorporates the [Heaven's Aura] effect into the jutsu and amplifies the protection to Susanoo levels, though not to the level of a perfect Susanoo.
S-Rank (Forbidden)
[Mysterious Phionex Method]: An upgraded variant of the [Mysterious Peacock Method] which doesn't damage the body and actually very slowly increases the user's chakra reserves over time, but nowhere close to the level of the [Yin and Yang Training Method].
A-Rank (Hiden)
[Heaven's Aura] Jutsu: Creates a veil of Chakra around the user that protects its user from harm. Not quite to the level of [Lightning Chakra Armor] but still good enough to block most projectiles such as kunai and shuriken.
A-Rank (Hiden)
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Needless to say, I became quite overpowered in a very short amount of time. I accomplished my goal of creating a chakra avatar with the [Infernal Nighttime Dragon] Jutsu and was even able to incorporate the mental effects in the original [Mysterious Peacock Method] into two OP genjutsu. Now it won't look so pathetic on my stats screen.
I pop a senzu bean just in case bathing in the Star's radiation causes me trouble in the future and walk out of the dojo. Haku is resting outside the dojo's door on a chair and gets up to greet me as I exit.
"Haruka-sama! How are you feeling? Have you finished your changes?"
"Yes, I have. Thank you, Haku. Hm? Where is Jugo?"
"Jugo and Masami-san have been exploring the town. They had met a child by the name of Sumaru who was willing to show us around. Strangely, he was rather moody and hostile to us before but today he is much more friendly." Haku says as she begins to ponder aloud.
'Ah, that's because, in the filer, he was hostile because his parents supposedly died fighting ninja from other clans. Though this turned out to be false since they were on a long-term mission to protect the Star they tried to steal. Now that his parents are back, he won't be as distrustful of outsiders anymore' I thought to myself.
Even though I only got my perfect memory after reincarnating here, Rob was nice enough to have me remember the plot of most of Naruto. Or maybe that was something the Reincarnation System gave me. Who knows?
"As interesting as that is, I think it is time to meet with the Hoshikage. I need to pass on the new jutsu after all." I say as I walk past her. Haku follows behind as we make our way to the Hoshikage's residence.