Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 220

The faint, shimmering radiance was difficult to describe in words. Even calling it a pale lavender hue discernible by human perception felt somewhat inadequate.

As Shikamaru gazed at the peculiar colors, they seemed to respond as if through some form of telepathy, immediately retreating into the juice of the tomato.

"Wait a second!"

Shikamaru stopped Ino and Chōji, who were about to leave, and asked, "Did you see that just now?"

"See what?"

"It looked like there was something inside the tomato."

Shikamaru's words instantly frightened Ino, who exclaimed, "It better not be a bug! Gross! I just took a bite out of it!"

But Shikamaru shook his head immediately. If it were just a bug, he wouldn't be so puzzled or surprised.

"It wasn't a bug, but I can't quite describe what it was. Maybe some kind of colored gas or something?"

"Colored gas?"

"You're imagining things, Shikamaru."

Both Ino and Chōji denied seeing anything unusual. Despite their skepticism, Shikamaru persisted, determined to examine the tomato they had thrown on the ground. Just as he bent to pick it up, a sound of hurried footsteps came from the road.

Ino and Chōji stepped onto the main road and saw a kunoichi from Hoshi running from the direction of the training grounds toward the village.

Upon seeing them, the kunoichi immediately said, "Someone has stolen the village's star! Sumaru is chasing them now!"

Hearing this, Ino and Chōji sprang into action. After all, their mission was to protect Hoshi's precious star.

"Shikamaru! Hurry up!"

Although deeply curious about the strange glow in the tomato, Shikamaru prioritized the mission and abandoned the tomato to join Ino and Chōji in providing support.

Hoshi's chakra, honed through training with the star, was highly distinctive. Even genin could sense their comrades' star chakra within a certain range.

Following the kunoichi, whose name was Hokuto, the trio quickly caught up with Sumaru.

At that moment, Sumaru was confronting a ninja at the edge of a cliff in Valley of Death. The thief was a lone ninja wearing a gas mask that obscured their face.

In the ninja's hand was the first star—a meteorite that had fallen to Earth two hundred years ago.

This was the first time Shikamaru and his companions had seen the meteorite up close. A pale purple glow, almost steam-like, shimmered across the surface of the hollowed-out meteorite.

As for the thief, there were no identifiable markings or headbands on their attire that could indicate their allegiance.

However, the village had earlier identified the culprits behind the destruction of their second star as being from Kumo. Naturally, this thief was also assumed to be a Kumo ninja.

"Destroying the other star wasn't enough for you? Now you're trying to steal this one too?" Sumaru shouted angrily at the thief.

However, the ninja remained silent, standing on the cliff's edge without making any move to attack or flee.

This behavior made Shikamaru slightly suspicious. If the thief had intended to escape, they wouldn't have waited for the reinforcements to arrive.

At this point, Ino had already made her assessment: "These Kumo ninjas must have destroyed the second meteorite to lure the village's jonin away. Now they're taking advantage of the weakened defenses to steal the first star."

Ino's reasoning seemed logical enough, but Shikamaru couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

At that moment, the ninja who had been stealing the meteorite finally made their move.

"Kujaku!"

The unique secret technique of Hoshi was unleashed, stunning everyone present.

Wasn't this supposed to be a Kumo ninja? Why were they using Hoshi's secret technique? 

There was no time to dwell on that question. The opponent had already made their move, and Sumaru wasn't one to back down. He performed the same hand seals.

"Kujaku!"

Two chakra wings, resembling a peacock's fan, unfurled behind the two combatants. One pair glowed brilliantly, reaching skyward, while the other appeared dim and feeble. The difference in power was evident at a glance.

Even so, Sumaru refused to give in and directed his chakra wings to attack the thief on the cliff.

Like the tail of an animal, the chakra wings lashed out toward the thief, but the opponent's chakra wings countered effortlessly. With a single sweep, they completely dispersed his attack.

Before he could process the shock of his instant defeat, the enemy's wings morphed and darted toward his forehead. In an instant, Sumaru lost all consciousness and collapsed.

However, before he could hit the ground, the thief ninja used a Body Flicker Technique to catch him, preventing him from falling.

This gesture made Shikamaru raise an eyebrow, a subtle smile forming on his lips.

Nearby, Hokuto rushed forward, hoping to rescue her comrade. But she too was struck on the forehead by a sudden flick of the chakra wings and fainted instantly.

In mere moments, the cliffside was left with only the thief and Shikamaru's team of three.

"This enemy is seriously strong—at least jonin-level, given how easily they dispatched those genin. What do we do, Shikamaru?" Ino and Chōji were tense and on high alert, but Shikamaru, hands still casually stuffed in his pockets, began walking toward the thief with a calm and confident smile.

"Hey! Shikamaru!" Ino called out, alarmed.

Ignoring his teammates' protests, Shikamaru spoke up. "You know, we don't necessarily have to solve this problem through combat. After all, our mission is to guard the star in the village."

"But if the one stealing the star happens to be someone from the village, that's a different story, isn't it?"

"Isn't that right, Natsuhi-sama?"

Shikamaru's words made the thief visibly flinch. After a moment of silence, the ninja slowly removed their gas mask.

Beneath the mask was a beautiful woman with chestnut-colored hair.

"You're a ninja from another village. How did you figure out my identity?"

With those words, the thief admitted to being Natsuhi.

"It was more of a coincidence, really," Shikamaru replied. "Yesterday, I overheard villagers talking about seeing you in the forest. That made me curious, so I asked Akahoshi about you."

"Akahoshi said you had died ten years ago during an attack by foreign ninja. But from the way he reacted, I got the feeling the story wasn't that simple."

"Then there's the fact that you just used Hoshi's secret technique. You've been holding back against the village's genin, especially against Sumaru."

"The only person who fits all those details is you, Sumaru's mother, and a former Hoshi ninja whose fate has been unknown."

Shikamaru's string of deductions left Natsuhi stunned. Even Ino and Chōji, accustomed to Shikamaru's brilliance, were surprised by how events were unfolding.

It turned out that the one stealing Hoshi's meteorite was none other than one of its own.

"There must be more to this story," Shikamaru said solemnly.

"This is not the place to talk. Follow me."

Under Natsuhi's guidance, Shikamaru and his team followed her to a concealed spot in the forest, bringing along the unconscious Sumaru and Hokuto.

Her hideout was located on the opposite side of Valley of Death, within the borders of the Land of Fire. For years, the Hoshi ninjas had never discovered her location.

Beneath several large boulders lay a stone chamber that served as her hiding place. Inside, there were simple living facilities, and at the center, a conspicuous giant stone coffin stood out.

Using her chakra, she opened the coffin's lid, and Shikamaru and the others glimpsed what seemed to be a dried corpse inside.

Placing the stolen meteorite from the village into the coffin, Natsuhi closed it again.

"This is my husband, Sumaru's father. He passed away a year ago," she explained.

Ino and her teammates clasped their hands together in prayer before the coffin. Then they placed Hokuto and Sumaru on a bed as Natsuhi began recounting her story.

Ten years ago, Natsuhi and her husband, Hotaru, did not die fighting enemy village ninjas. Instead, they were attempting to steal the village's star.

The truth was that the village's Mysterious Peacock Method shortened lifespans and harmed the body. Many of Natsuhi and Hotaru's childhood training companions had died one after another from practicing with the star, leaving only the two of them to grow into adulthood.

Thus, the couple decided to steal the star to put an end to this harmful practice.

However, during their escape, the village's Third Hoshikage caught up with them. Surprisingly, he admitted he also disapproved of the Mysterious Peacock Method and promised to end the practice during his term as Hoshikage.

Choosing to trust him, the couple returned the star to the village.

To ensure no one could restart the Mysterious Peacock Method in the future, the Third Hoshikage requested that they stay nearby and monitor the village's developments. Natsuhi and Hotaru agreed and built a secret hideout near Valley of Death.

Before long, the Third Hoshikage fulfilled his promise and discontinued the Mysterious Peacock Method.

Unfortunately, the peace was short-lived. Three years ago, the Third Hoshikage suddenly died unexpectedly. Akahoshi succeeded him as village leader and acting Hoshikage, and six months ago, he controversially reinstated Mysterious Peacock Method.

To prevent the village children and her son Sumaru from falling victim to the same fate, Natsuhi decided to steal the star again.

After listening to the entire story, Shikamaru and his team were deeply moved.

The Mysterious Peacock Method that granted great power came at the cost of physical harm. Indeed, there were no shortcuts in the path of training.

At this point, Shikamaru remembered the incident involving the destruction of the village's second meteorite. He asked, "Do you know anything about the second meteorite that fell in Hoshi?"

"Yes," Natsuhi nodded. "In fact, I was the first to see it that night."

"That night, I noticed a meteor heading toward the village and immediately used the Peacock Technique to chase after it."

"That star emitted light similar to the village's first meteorite, but its glow was unusual. I can't quite describe it."

Shikamaru quickly interjected, "Was it a kind of pinkish-purple, almost like a fluid glow that seemed alive?"

"Exactly! That's the color!"

Ino and Chōji were surprised that Shikamaru could describe it so precisely. After all, the three of them had been traveling together, yet only Shikamaru seemed to have noticed this detail.

Unbeknownst to them, Shikamaru was just a bit more observant than most—just a tiny bit.

Natsuhi continued, "I tried using my chakra to interact with the glow, but it resisted my chakra. I suspect that this meteorite cannot be used for Mysterious Peacock Method."

"After that, the villagers arrived, so I left."

Shikamaru nodded, piecing together the sequence of events.

"So, you weren't the one who destroyed the meteorite in the village?" Ino asked, starting to connect the dots.

"You don't know about that? I thought you had taken advantage of the village's weakened defenses to steal the meteorite."

"I did notice that many of the village's ninja had left, which is why I decided to steal the star. But I didn't know the reason behind it."

The conversation between Natsuhi and Ino sparked an idea in Shikamaru's mind, prompting him to ask,
"From where you're living, can you keep an eye on the movements around Hoshi?"

"More or less."

"Have you seen any Kumo ninjas or unknown individuals around Hoshi in the past few days?"

"Not to my knowledge."

Natsuhi's answer caused Shikamaru to fall deep into thought.

As a jonin who had been monitoring the village for the sake of stealing the first meteorite, Natsuhi's words were likely credible.
This meant that there had indeed been no Kumo or other foreign ninja approaching Hoshi recently.

Akahoshi's theory was incorrect.

Judging by Natsuhi's earlier reaction, she was genuinely unaware of the meteorite's destruction, and there was no reason for her to lie now.
This ruled her out as the one who destroyed the village's second meteorite.

It was also unlikely that Akahoshi staged the meteorite's destruction since he had sent out a large number of ninja to chase the so-called Kumo intruders.

Eliminating all other possibilities, the remaining explanation, no matter how improbable, had to be the truth:

The meteorite disappeared on its own!

Shikamaru's mind raced back to when he was eating tomatoes and noticed the strange glow in the tomato juice—the same color as the light emanating from the meteorite.

And on the first day he saw the meteorite, Shikamaru had observed that its size seemed smaller compared to the diameter of the crater.

Was the meteorite shrinking?

These peculiar phenomena led to a chilling conclusion that sent shivers down Shikamaru's spine. A deep sense of unease enveloped him.

Had the meteorite vanished? No, it hadn't disappeared—it seemed that its strange, otherworldly color, which shouldn't exist in this world, had seeped and spread elsewhere.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as ominous thoughts filled his mind. Fortunately, Chōji noticed the alarming expression on Shikamaru's face and snapped him out of it.

"Shikamaru, Shikamaru? What's wrong? You looked terrifying just now."

"Ah, no, I'm fine," Shikamaru replied, shaking his head. He didn't voice his concerns.

The dreadful hypothesis still lacked conclusive evidence—the puzzle was missing its final piece.

Just then, Natsuhi stood up.

"It's time to send them back," she said.

She gently stroked Sumaru's forehead, her eyes overflowing with the maternal love she had been suppressing for ten years.