Naruto: I have an attribute panel

Chapter 457 Stealing the House

"Oh?" Taiyi's smile deepened, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

He scrutinized the firefly from head to toe, his gaze seemingly possessing a tangible penetrating power, trying to see right through him. "A similar secret technique? That's interesting."

Itachi exchanged a glance with Eta and Yami, and suddenly understood.

No wonder this Star Ninja was so nervous; it turns out the scene might involve their village's unique ninjutsu.

Taiyi took a step forward, his tone still calm, yet carrying an undeniable air: "Lord Yinghuo Xing, since we have this connection, would you be willing to take us to your village to see for ourselves? Perhaps there we can find more clues, clarify the truth as soon as possible, and clear your village's name."

He deliberately emphasized the word "innocent," revealing the domineering nature of the Great Ninja Village.

Upon hearing this, Firefly felt a deep sense of unease.

This is simply shooting yourself in the foot!

If he had known that Konoha was sending such a formidable figure with such terrifying investigative abilities, he would have been better off pretending to know nothing and letting Konoha investigate on its own, while Hoshigakure would have remained completely ignorant.

The words have already been spoken, and it's impossible to take them back now.

reject?

He had no doubt that if he dared to say "no," the seemingly gentle "white death god" in front of him might take more forceful actions on the grounds of "obstructing the investigation" or "suspected cover-up."

By then, the situation of Hoshigakure will only get worse.

He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, his voice trembling slightly: "Okay—alright."

However—Lord Tai, please believe me, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with my Star Ninja Village!

Although the village's secret techniques have similar effects, their practitioners are strictly controlled and would never dare to go out and attack Konoha ninjas! Please—please investigate thoroughly!

At this moment, all thoughts of face and restraint were forgotten. Firefly's only thought was to calm Taiyi down, avoid conflict, and minimize any potential negative impact on the village.

"Of course. We in Konoha act with evidence." Taiichi nodded, giving him a preliminary assurance. "Then please lead the way."

The group followed the Firefly Star towards the depths of the Bear Kingdom, towards the natural barrier known as "Death Valley".

Along the way, in order to ease the almost stagnant atmosphere and to salvage some impression, Firefly took the initiative to introduce the local customs and culture of Star Ninja Village and Bear Country.

He particularly emphasized the Death Valley that encircles the country, his tone unconsciously tinged with pride.

"—This canyon is perpetually filled with highly poisonous miasma, extremely corrosive, and difficult even for birds to cross. It is precisely because of this natural barrier that our Bear Kingdom has been able to maintain its independence between the Wind and Earth Kingdoms, avoiding direct contact with the flames of war. Any large-scale army attempting to cross it will inevitably pay a heavy price."

Firefly pointed ahead at the increasingly dense, ominous yellow-green mist.

The three children, on their first mission away from the village, and seeing such a peculiar and treacherous landscape, listened with great interest, their eyes filled with curiosity. Jiang Tai even craned his neck, trying to see what lay deep within the miasma.

However, Taiichi and the Nine-Tails on his shoulder clearly weren't focused on explaining the Firefly Star from the moment they approached this area.

Taiyi's gaze swept across the canyon, landing on the misty distance, his brows furrowing slightly.

The Nine-Tailed Fox also abandoned its lazy demeanor, its ears perked up, its nose twitched slightly, and its crimson fur seemed to fluff up a little, as if it was about to stand on end.

Taiyi's unusual behavior finally caught the attention of the incessantly chattering Firefly.

He stopped talking and looked in the direction Taiyi was staring at, but could see nothing but a vast expanse of yellow fog.

"Lord Taiichi, is there a problem?" A sense of foreboding rose in Firefly's heart.

Taiichi didn't answer immediately, remaining in his gazing posture, pointing towards a certain direction deep within the mist, his tone carrying a hint of confirmation as he asked, "Hotaru Star, if I'm not mistaken, Hoshigakure is roughly in that direction, right?"

Firefly nodded without hesitation: "That's right, that's the direction. Lord Taiichi knows the location of our Star Ninja Village so well?"

He was somewhat surprised, but more than that, he felt uneasy about being noticed by someone powerful.

Taiichi's expression gradually shifted from inquiry to a complex look that mixed pity and seriousness.

He continued gazing in that direction and slowly said, "Then you'd better hurry back. Your village seems to be under attack, and the fighting—is quite fierce."

"Wh-what?!" Yingxing was struck as if by lightning, her whole body jolted, and she almost jumped up.

His eyes widened, the color draining from his face in an instant, replaced by disbelief and terror. "Lord Taiichi, you—you're not joking, are you? How is this possible! The miasma of Death Valley—"

"Miasma is not a panacea," Taiyi interrupted him, his voice steady yet carrying an undeniable certainty.

He spread his outstretched fingers into a palm, his palm slightly facing the direction of Xingnin Village, as if receiving signals in the void that ordinary people could not perceive.

"Very intense chakra fluctuations, of varying natures, at least four to five powerful chakras colliding violently. Distance—approximately twenty kilometers."

Twenty kilometers! That's exactly the straight-line distance from here to Hoshinen Village!

The last shred of hope that the firefly had was utterly shattered.

"Lord Taiichi, I'm sorry, I have to go back now and can't stay with you any longer."

After saying that, he didn't wait for Taiyi's reply and began to form hand seals.

The Peacock's Winged Magic

Pale purple chakra surged from Firefly Star's body, condensing into two pairs of chakra wings behind him.

He then leaped into the air without looking back, attempting to fly across Death Valley.

"Uh, isn't it said that even birds can't cross the river?" Jiang Tai muttered softly.

"It's not that it's impossible to cross, he flew over there himself soon enough, didn't he?" Yamei replied unhappily.

"Teacher, what about us?" Itachi looked at Taichi, his eyes filled with eager anticipation.

"Haha, of course we have to go check it out. Our mission target might be inside."

Taiichi laughed heartily, looking at the firefly that was still climbing higher, unsure whether he was laughing at its ignorance or simply happy.

Firefly can fly, and so can Taiyi, who can fly even faster.

Chakra materialized on his back, and a pair of wings materialized out of thin air, more real than the empty wings of Firefly Star.

Three Vajra chains extended from behind and wrapped around the three little ones' waists several times.

"Hold on tight, we're about to take off."

Taiyi gave a word of advice, and the air around him began to swirl and surge. A powerful wind blast lifted the group of people higher and higher.

Firefly flapped its wings rapidly in the air, its speed constantly increasing. It wasn't that it didn't want to bring Taiyi and the others over, but Death Valley was over a thousand meters wide, and it was already difficult for it to fly over alone. Bringing another person would be too much of a burden for it.

He had only flown halfway when he sensed something was wrong; it seemed like someone was approaching from behind.

Firefly turned around in surprise, and what he saw almost caused his chakra to become disordered, and the wings that had been gathering on his back nearly dissipated.

In the blink of an eye, Taiyi, along with the three others and the fox, had overtaken him and surpassed him.

"Firefly, you're too slow. Do you need me to give you a ride?"

This kind of subtle showing off is the most hurtful. Taiyi's question made Yinghuo Xing feel like he had swallowed a fly, but thinking that the village was still under attack, he had no choice but to nod and ask for help.

"Thank you so much, Taiichi! I'm incredibly grateful!"

The wind whistled in my ears.

Firefly was tied to Taiyi's waist with a Vajra chain and dragged behind him like a kite.

Fortunately, he had already formed wings, so he could at least control his flight posture, unlike the three little guys below who could only curl up in a ball.

He strained his eyes, trying to see through the increasingly thick yellow-green miasma below to get a clear view of the village's condition.

As he drew closer, he gradually noticed something amiss while flying high in the sky. In the distant horizon, towards the village, a plume of black smoke was drifting in the sky—smoke from burning houses.

"Lord Taiichi—faster—please—" Firefly's voice was torn apart by the wind.

Taiyi did not answer, but his chakra wings on his back suddenly vibrated, and the airflow around him extended outward, increasing his speed once again.

Nine-Tailed Fox perched on Taiyi's shoulder, its vertical pupils narrowed into slits by the strong wind, and its tail swished impatiently.

"A strong smell of blood—and the smell of death." It whispered in a voice only Taiichi could hear, "A lot of people have died. The guy who did it—his chakra is pretty strange."

Taiyi nodded slightly, his gaze sharp as lightning, piercing through layers of mist and locking onto the clearing in the distance—the location of the Star Ninja Village.

In front of the forbidden tower in Xingren Village.

This place was originally the most sacred and solemn square in the village, used for important ceremonies and the practice of the Peacock Technique. Now, however, it has been transformed into a battlefield.

The flagstone ground was riddled with craters from various ninjutsu attacks, leaving behind charred marks, deep furrows, raised stone pillars, and burning ruins.

Even more shocking were the bloodstains.

Dark red, bright red, and even eerily purple blood was splattered on the stone slabs, walls, and broken ninja tools.

Severed limbs and fragments of internal organs were scattered all over the battlefield. Some corpses, not yet fully cooled, lay in various contorted positions, their empty eyes staring at the sky shrouded in black smoke.

Of the village that once had more than eighty people, only about thirty are still alive.

They gathered before the heavy gates of the forbidden tower, their backs pressed against the last line of defense. Each of them bore wounds, their eyes filled with fear, anger, and a despair on the verge of collapse.

Blocking their way was Jonin Natsumi Hoshino.

This usually gentle and strong female ninja was now half-covered in blood. Her right arm hung limply, clearly broken, and there was a deep, bone-revealing cut on her left cheek. Blood flowed down her neck, soaking her collar.

Yet she remained standing, her chakra struggling to maintain a pale purple aura around her.

Behind her stood the equally scarred third-generation Star Shadow Night Star.

The old man was in even worse shape. He slumped to the ground, leaning against a pillar of the tower, a clear palm print dented into his chest, his clothes charred and torn. His breathing was weak and rapid, his face ashen, and each cough brought up a mouthful of blood.

There were only three people standing opposite them.

But they are like three insurmountable mountains.

Red Star stood at the very front. His face wore a mixture of fanaticism, resentment, and cruel pleasure. Pale purple chakra surged around him, more concentrated and solid than any of the Star Ninjas present.

On his left and right sides, Kakuzu and Hiruko stood like two silent gatekeepers.

Their cold eyes swept over the remaining people as if they were livestock waiting to be slaughtered, without any pity.

"Night Star," Red Star spoke, his voice hoarse with excitement, "I warned you long ago. Hand over the 'star' to me, let me lead Star Ninja Village to true strength. But what did you do? Stubborn, short-sighted, guarding the star like a treasure, refusing to use it on the most talented person!"

He spread his arms, and the chakra behind him condensed into a giant bear that roared in unison. The silent shockwave caused some of the injured to vomit blood again.

"Look at this now!" Red Star's voice suddenly rose, filled with resentment. "These deaths, this bloodshed, this despair—it's all your fault! You betrayed my talent! You forced me to this point! You killed them!"

"Damn it—" The Third Hoshikage Yoruichi struggled to raise his head, his turbid eyes fixed on Red Star, each word dripping with blood, "Red Star—you cultivated the Peacock Mystic Technique—your mind has long been twisted by the stars—cough cough—I stopped you because I didn't want you—to become a monster who only knows power—and I didn't want the village—to be destroyed in your hands—"

"Monsters?" Red Star laughed maniacally. "Power is everything! With power, who would dare call us a small ninja village? With power, those big shots from the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth would finally look at us with respect! Instead of cowering in this gas canister, barely clinging to life like this!"

He abruptly stopped laughing, his gaze sweeping across the trembling ninjas behind Xia Rixing like a venomous snake.

"And you?" His voice was seductive. "Do you still want to be buried with this senile old man and this dying woman? Surrender. Kneel down, admit that I am the true leader of Star Ninja Village, and offer me the stars. I might spare your lives. I might even—let you share in the power of the stars!"

silence.

A suffocating silence.

Only the suppressed groans of the wounded and the crackling of the still-burning flames in the distance could be heard.

Xia Rixing clenched her teeth, making a grinding sound. She knew how tempting Hongxing's words were to her companions who were already on the verge of collapse.

Sure enough, a commotion began to break out in the crowd.

Another Jonin, Hokuto, was also pale, but overall he was in much better condition than Natsumi and Yoru.

At this moment, his eyes flickered intensely. He looked at the critically injured and dying Third Hoshikage, then at the three men radiating murderous intent, and finally his gaze fell on his trembling hands.

"I—I don't want to die—" Beidou murmured, his voice not loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent square.

Xia Rixing turned her head sharply and shouted, "Beidou! You—"

Her words stopped abruptly.

Because BeiDou moved.

Instead of charging towards the enemy, he lunged at the Third Hoshikage who was slumped on the ground!

"I'm sorry, Lord Hoshikage!" Hokuto's face was contorted with a desperate will to survive, his kunai aimed straight at Yoru's heart. "I want to live!"

"Stop!" Xia Rixing's eyes were bloodshot as she tried to stop them, but her severely injured body and the distance made it impossible for her to act in time.

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