Chakra Affinity

"I'll do my best, Lord Star Shadow!"

Natsuhoshi nodded readily, smiling with ease. Taking Ryan on as a student meant she could stay in the village more often and spend precious time with her son.

"Oh, right—check Ryan's chakra nature too. And while you're at it, see if he's capable of using the Peacock Secret Technique," the Third Star Shadow added. Of course, even if he hadn't said it, Natsuhoshi would have done so. After all, Ryan had absorbed a massive amount of chakra from the Star and showed no signs of side effects. If he could use the Peacock Technique, that would be the ideal outcome. The village's other advanced jutsu might not match Ryan's chakra nature as well.

After bidding farewell to the Third Star Shadow, Ryan followed Natsuhoshi out of the office.

Out on the grass just beyond the headquarters, Ryan stared in awe as Natsuhoshi formed a hand seal and—whoosh!—brilliant purple chakra wings bloomed from her back, radiant and shimmering.

Before he could even say a word, Natsuhoshi scooped him into her arms, her chakra wings flapped once, and they lifted into the sky.

The rushing wind blew past them in fierce currents, but it only exhilarated Ryan. He could feel an immense flow of chakra circulating through his chakra network—it was invigorating, mesmerizing. He couldn't wait to get to the training field and truly examine how much his body and chakra had changed. After all, Natsuhoshi had arrived the moment he woke up—he hadn't had time to check his condition.

"Sister Natsuhoshi, aside from the Peacock Technique, does our Star Village have any other jutsu?" Ryan shouted over the wind, glancing up at her gentle face.

It was a question he'd wanted to ask for a long time. The original series had shown so little of Star Village that it almost felt like they only had that one technique and nothing else.

"Of course we do," Natsuhoshi replied with a soft smile. "Though we can't compare to the major villages, the First Star Shadow was very powerful. He left behind quite a few jutsu and secret techniques."

Ryan nodded thoughtfully. He'd heard a bit about the First Star Shadow from Akahoshi—it was said he was nearly Kage-level before the discovery of the Star, so it made sense that he would've created or collected some high-level techniques.

"However," she added, "the First Star Shadow's primary affinity was Lightning Release, so most of the advanced techniques in our village are lightning-style. The rest were gathered during his travels through the ninja world, so there aren't many. Unfortunately, lightning users are rare in our village, and the few that do exist tend to lack talent. That's why Star Village has never been known for its lightning-style jutsu."

That explained a lot.

Ryan suddenly understood why those jutsu had never gained fame. Lightning and wind users—outside the Lands of Lightning and Wind—were uncommon. Given how small Star Village was, the chances of producing a natural genius with those affinities were slim. So even if they had powerful jutsu, they lacked people who could wield them properly.

The gap between small and large villages wasn't just about numbers. Big villages had an endless stream of new blood, always ready to replace losses—even in full-scale war. Losing a few elite jonin hurt, sure, but it wouldn't cripple the entire force. In contrast, a small village losing a single top-tier shinobi might never recover.

Flying was fast. Before long, Natsuhoshi had carried Ryan to the skies above the Star Training Grounds. Ryan gazed down into the massive crater below—scorched, blackened stumps and dead, barren earth spread as far as the eye could see.

The radiation from the Star had completely ruined the land. No, it wasn't as devastating as nuclear weapons from his previous world—but it had still turned this once-thriving area into a dead zone.

They landed in front of a wooden training lodge, with a large "★" character carved boldly into the wooden façade.

"This is where you'll be living from now on," Natsuhoshi said, releasing him and giving him a pat on the back. "You'll also watch over the Star. It may be a useless rock now, but it's still our village's symbol."

"Okay!" Ryan nodded. He didn't have a home anyway, and this was far better than crashing in random caves like he had right after transmigrating.

"Here," she said, pulling out a small white slip of paper from her ninja pouch. "This is a chakra paper, used to test your chakra nature. Just channel a little chakra into it—if it gets wet, you've got Water; if it burns, it's Fire; if it crumbles into sand, it's Earth; if it tears, that's Wind; and if it wrinkles up, that's Lightning… Of course, I'm hoping for Lightning!"

Ryan took the paper and looked at it skeptically. "This little thing tests chakra? It doesn't look any different from regular paper…"

"Stop goofing around!" Natsuhoshi lightly flicked his forehead. "This stuff is made from special materials—it's expensive. Now hurry up and try it!"

Ryan nodded. His chakra reserves now rivaled—or even exceeded—Natsuhoshi's, but his chakra control was still raw and clumsy. He was like a poor man who suddenly won the lottery: rich overnight, but unrefined.

Still, this task was simple enough. He took a deep breath and channeled a small amount of chakra into the paper, focusing intently.

All at once—the paper wrinkled, then burst into flames, and then split cleanly into two pieces—all without burning his hand.

Ryan's eyes widened.

"Haha! Three elements—Lightning, Fire, and Wind! That's amazing!"

His little face lit up with joy. These three were all highly offensive chakra types—especially Wind, Naruto's own affinity from the original series. How could he not be excited?

"Th-three affinities?" Natsuhoshi stared in shock at the ashes in his palm. She could hardly believe it. The boy she'd once recommended on a whim to the Star Shadow had turned out to be a born prodigy.

Even Ryan had doubted his own eyes at first. Natural triple-affinity shinobi were extremely rare. Most multi-affinity jonin had only two elements naturally; the third was something they developed through long-term training, and it was never as strong as their primary elements. As for those who could use all five elements… well, Ryan had dreamed of it, sure—but this body wasn't chosen for bloodline excellence. It was just a suitable vessel selected by the Dimensional Seal. He was already counting his blessings.

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