When Sora reappeared, he was already standing outside the small apartment where Hoshimi lived.
The light in the apartment was still on. Seeing this, Sora sneered.
"Still awake at this hour? Is he studying that hard?"
Entertainment in the Ninja World was scarce, especially for children attending the Konoha Ninja Academy. When Sora had been young, he too had gone through a phase of relentless effort.
At that time, he had dreams—foolish dreams of strength and freedom. But later he learned that all his efforts had been nothing more than a cruel joke.
A single word from the higher-ups could shatter a man's future, leaving him trapped forever in the shadows, unable to escape.
Since then, Sora had come to despise diligence.
He hated those who still believed they could defy fate through sheer effort. To him, such people were nothing but delusional fools. Those who didn't understand the cruelty of destiny were not qualified to call themselves true ninja.
Through the apartment window, he could see a small silhouette moving under the light.
Rather than admiration, a dark amusement filled Sora's heart.
What a pathetic little fool, he thought.
At this age, he's already branded with the Caged Bird Seal, isn't he? A member of the Hyuga Branch Family—does he not understand his own fate? What's the point of all this training? To become a better dog for the Hyuga Main Family?
He remembered what he'd read in the boy's intelligence file.
"I heard this kid's parents were tortured to death by the Main Family," Sora murmured coldly. "They tried to research a way to break the Caged Bird Seal. He probably doesn't even know that yet. If I told him… would that push him into despair?"
For a moment, Sora considered it. But then he dismissed the thought with a shake of his head.
There was no point. The boy wasn't worth the trouble.
Just another branch family child with no real talent—not even qualified to be recruited.
Even if he possessed the potential to fall into darkness, the Caged Bird Seal made him useless to organizations like Root.
All things considered, the boy was nothing but trash.
"It's absurd that Lord Orochimaru would even show interest in such a worthless thing," Sora muttered. "How could garbage like that possibly survive the integration of Hashirama's cells?"
Still, the name was on his assignment list, and since he was already here, he decided he might as well complete the task.
"Well," he said, smirking, "it won't take much effort to collect this one anyway."
After abandoning all unnecessary thoughts, Sora silently formed hand seals.
A swarm of Parasitic Insects poured out from his body like a living shadow and dispersed toward the apartment. They crawled through tiny openings—cracks, vents, and window gaps—slipping into the building without a sound.
He had practiced this infiltration method dozens of times.
Even Hyuga Jonin with their Byakugan had failed to detect him when he did it right.
This time would be no different, he thought confidently. After all, his target was just a child—a first-year academy student.
But moments later, something unexpected happened.
Before he even had time to confirm success, a strange sensation rippled through his connection with his insects.
As an Aburame Clansman, Sora's body and mind were linked with his insects through chakra. He could feel their emotions—fear, hunger, pain—almost as if they were his own.
And now, through that connection, he felt it clearly.
They were terrified.
That primal fear—an instinctive response to a natural enemy—froze him where he stood.
A heartbeat later, his connection with them was abruptly severed.
All at once, every one of his insects inside the building was dead.
There was only one possible explanation for such a thing, and Sora's blood ran cold.
Impossible.
His instincts screamed danger. Years of experience taught him that when faced with the unknown, the best move was to retreat. He immediately prepared to vanish into the night.
But before he could move, a tall figure wearing the exact same mask as his own appeared silently behind him.
A low, hoarse voice whispered, "Since you're already here… why don't you stay?"
Every hair on Sora's body stood on end.
He was about to react when the same voice spoke again, closer this time—right behind his ear.
"Be good. Don't move… or something bad might happen."
A cold, sharp point pressed against his back, right where his heart should be.
He didn't need to look. He knew what it was.
Anyone else might have panicked at having their vital point held hostage, but Sora merely narrowed his eyes.
He was not an ordinary ninja. His body was special—transformed by the Insect Sealing Technique.
Most of his internal organs had been replaced with chakra insects long ago.
To him, the term vital point no longer applied.
"Idiot," he muttered with contempt. "Getting that close to me was your biggest mistake. Die!"
A cruel grin crossed his face as he unleashed his counterattack.
A black tide of Parasitic Insects erupted from his body, flooding the area within three meters.
"Secret Technique: Insect Sphere!"
This was one of his most powerful sealing techniques.
Once deployed, the swarm automatically hunted its target, devouring both chakra and flesh until nothing remained.
Tens of thousands of insects.
Tens of thousands of tiny, merciless killers.
At this distance, there was no room for escape.
The enemy behind him held a weapon and had only one free hand—no time to form hand seals, no chance to cast elemental ninjutsu.
In Sora's mind, the outcome was already decided.
Any second now, he'd hear the muffled screams of another fool being eaten alive.
But those screams never came.
Instead, a wave of terror flooded back through his chakra link.
It wasn't his fear—it was his insects'.
Panic. Despair. Death.
He had felt it only once before, long ago, when his swarm had been completely annihilated by a high-level Fire Release technique.
And then, pain—white-hot agony.
Sora looked down in shock.
A black, glowing hand had pierced straight through his abdomen.
Ordinary weapons couldn't harm him. Even blades and kunai were useless—his body could transform into insects at will, allowing him to disperse and reform without damage.
But this hand was different. It wasn't just cutting him—it was burning him from the inside out.
He could feel it clearly: his precious insects, the ones living within his body, were being consumed like dry leaves in a fire.
"What… what is this?!" he gasped, horrified.
That dark energy wasn't mere chakra. It was something far more sinister, something that devoured.
His opponent—Hoshimi—stood calmly behind him, his expression cold and detached.
The technique he had used was one he'd long since mastered: Spirit Devour, a B-Rank Ninjutsu derived from his unique Chakra Refining Technique.
Through Spirit Devour, Hoshimi could absorb an enemy's chakra to restore his own reserves—and, within limits, even expand his chakra capacity.
For most ninja, it was a powerful and efficient technique.
But for Hoshimi, who had already integrated Hashirama cells, the jutsu's benefits were limited.
His natural recovery speed was so fast that he rarely needed it anymore.
In fact, he usually left the technique to his shadow clones, who used it simply to maintain their existence longer.
Still, what he hadn't expected was that this same jutsu would have a unique effect against the Aburame Clan's insects.
Their parasitic chakra signatures were weak and unstable—perfect fuel for Spirit Devour's absorption process.
To Hoshimi, it was as if he were surrounded by thousands of tiny chakra snacks.
Within seconds, the entire swarm disintegrated—each insect reduced to dust and scattered to the wind.
Yes, dust. That was no exaggeration.
Sora's eyes widened in disbelief. His knees trembled.
"How… what kind of ninjutsu is this?!" he demanded, his voice trembling between anger and terror.
But Hoshimi didn't bother to answer.
Expressionless, he shook the lifeless remains of insects off his arm.
Then he looked down at Sora, who was still struggling weakly, and said in a cold, indifferent tone:
"If you really want to know… go ask the Sage of Six Paths in the afterlife."
In that instant, the black energy flared once more, and Sora's body convulsed violently.
The glow spread through his veins, his insects shrieking silently in his mind before vanishing completely.
A faint wisp of smoke escaped from his mouth as the last of his chakra burned away.
Moments later, silence filled the alley.
The only sound was the whisper of the night wind brushing against the rooftops.
Hoshimi stood still for a long time, staring at the fading ashes on the ground.
Then, with a soft sigh, he turned and disappeared into the shadows, leaving nothing behind—not even the scent of battle.
And so ended another nameless intruder's life.
To the world, Sora had simply vanished.
To Hoshimi, he had been nothing more than another obstacle—one more body on the long, endless road of survival.
But somewhere, deep inside that quiet apartment, the faint hum of chakra stirred once again.
A new power was awakening—one that even Sora's dying eyes hadn't fully seen.
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