"Alright folks! Move along the bridge, I'll keep the gas away." Shiki casually announced.
Under the eyes of the shocked Hoshigakure shinobi, the caravan began slowly advancing towards the bridge.
'Shadow Clone Jutsu'
Shiki quickly created two clones to more easily cover the whole length of the caravan during the crossing and activated his jutsu.
'Wind Release: Great Breakthrough' X3
Keeping a soft but steady omnidirectional push of air, the boy and his two clones cleared the gas from the caravan's surroundings, allowing it to advance without issue.
For security's sake, the Hoshi shinobi requested that the impromptu bridge be destroyed after the crossing which Shiki obliged, using his Earth Tearing Palm to crumble it.
And so, with the village head's permission, the Daikin Merchant Group's caravan became the first to actually enter Hoshigakure proper.
This village had been one of Shiki's targets during this trip, more specifically, Hoshigakure's claim to fame, their "Star".
A meteorite that fell from the sky roughly two centuries prior, give or take. Its mysterious properties and the training method created by the first Hoshikage to take advantage of them, were the source of the village's high pride and misplaced confidence to the point of arrogance.
The Star naturally emitted some sort of radiation that could alter and "enrich" a shinobi's chakra if they trained it in a specific way while in its proximity.
Firstly, the trainee's chakra would gain the ability to solidify and form chakra constructs far more easily than other shinobi through a specifically developed set of techniques collectively known as the Mysterious Peacock Method.
It was named as such due to forming a plume of chakra behind the user that resembled a peacock's spread tail feathers when in use.
The trainee's chakra would also turn a pinkish purple color.
More importantly however, this exposure to the radiation would forcefully increase the potency of their chakra as well as their capacity.
There were, however, limits.
The so-called Star Training had an extremely high mortality rate with the only distinction being how long it would take to kill the trainee.
If the Star truly allowed shinobi to raise their chaka capacity and potency endlessly, Hoshigakure would have long dominated the world or been destroyed for holding a treasure too great for them.
Hoshi's low numbers were, perhaps in part, due to this which would lead to the ban of Star Training enacted by the current and Third Hoshikage.
That very title showed the misplaced pride and arrogance of Hoshigakure.
Their leader was recognized as a Kage only within their own village but it was just a joke for the rest of the world.
But, regardless of the limitations of Star Training Shiki was very interested.
More specifically, he was interested in the potential show by who he considered the sole success story of the training, shown in the original series, Natsuhi.
She was the only one to complete the Star Training, receiving the greatest boost to her powers, while also not being affected by the backlash at all.
Even her husband, another supposed success story, ended up weakening over time, dying of sickness.
The poor results and high mortality rate shown by Star Training made other villages dismiss it, even if Hoshigakure was always paranoid about others wanting to steal their precious Star but Shiki wondered . . .
Maybe the problem was not in the Star itself, or even the training method, but in the trainees?
In the boy's opinion, there were two possible explanations for the gradual, or sometimes rapid, physical deterioration experienced by shinobi that undergo Star Training.
One was radiation poisoning. While the Star's radiation might bring benefits, it was possible that they were a poisoned gift and Natsuhi was simply the only one whose body could adapt.
The second possibility was that the quantity and potency of the enriched chakra began exceeding the trainees' physical limit.
In other words, their chakra grew so powerful and plentiful that their poor physical talents simply could not keep up.
Of course, it could also be a little bit of both.
But all of this made Shiki very, very interested.
What was the limit of chakra enhancement if the body could be prevented from breaking down?
Could the training method be improved to produce better results?
Would his already extremely potent chakra actually benefit from the Star's radiation?
There was also the short distance flight ability shown in the series as well as the reincarnation ninjutsu that allowed one to act in soul form for a short period after their physical death.
All these things floated around the boy's mind and he was eager to investigate, especially with his new and improved sensory package.
That is correct!
Ever since realizing Benihime had him totally beat in the sensory department, Shiki had been determined to improve his ability in that area.
Thankfully, ever since those revelations, Beni had stopped attempting to hide her stalking tendencies, shadowing and observing the boy every waking moment.
While it was somewhat uncomfortable, the little girl had also been extremely proactive about explaining the details of her abilities, even allowing Shiki to run tests, all this despite her heavy ambiguity when sharing her ability with the group.
Shiki didn't have to be a genius to figure out she had some sort of fixation on him but since it proved extremely helpful in improving his own abilities, he was not going to complain.
Right now, Benihime could no longer stealthily observe Shiki without him knowing, even if he could not yet hide his sensing from her either.
But even if Beni could still detect his probing, it was now even more stealthy and hidden from others.
After carefully analysing the Shuigan's powers of perception, Shiki was able to fuse his Kukyo - Five Senses, Kukyo - Sixth Sense and his Enlightened Mind's Eye into a new technique he simply called, Nirvana Art: Kukyo - Seven Senses.
Dreadfully unimaginative but he tended to like such direct and descriptive names.
Like its direct name implied, it was an extension of Kukyo, the technique that relied on his Hollow nature to manage his mental state, hide his thoughts and intentions, deaden his emotions and grant him perfect control over his body and chakra.
Seven Senses was a perfect blend of chakra enhanced five senses of Touch, Hearing, Smell, Taste and Sight, combined with the Sixth Sense which was a sensor's ability to map out their surroundings with their chakra as well as detect and read the chakra signatures of others.
This combination allowed Shiki to tap into his cosmic intuition, the higher form of perception provided by his True Body of the Trikaya, his reincarnation trait born of enlightenment, thus birthing the Seventh Sense.
Keeping his mind operating on that highest level was highly draining still but even the combined Six Senses were far more powerful than before from gaining the characteristics of Enlightened Mind's Eye without Shiki needing to fall into deep meditation.
So even without the Seventh Sense, the boy could spy much better, sense ambushes, predict actions, read emotions and intent, etc.
Shiki could map out his surroundings with perfect detail in every direction, taste things in the air, see chakra like a dojutsu, hear across vast distances and read emotions through voices, read an individual's status in great detail through touch, track chakra signatures through scent, etc.
As for the power gained by adding the Seventh Sense on top . . . That would become clear when the time he needed it arrived.
All this to say, Hoshigakure would soon have no secrets to Shiki. The boy even had half a mind to return to Roran and check whether his enhanced senses could pierce into their sealed secret areas.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -