Chapter 37: Forged in Hunger
As consciousness fully returned, it was immediately overwhelmed by a single, all-consuming sensation.
Hunger.
An unprecedented, hollowing, ravenous starvation that felt like a black hole had opened in the pit of his stomach. Shinra's vision swam with phantom green lights. At that moment, if a person had stood before him, his primal instincts might have seriously considered them a potential meal.
BOOM!
With a sound like a small explosion, Shinra, who had been lying flat on the ground, vanished. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared in the storage room of his small house, standing before the large icebox. His movement was pure instinct, a blur of speed that left the air cracking in his wake.
Due to his monstrous appetite and the need for massive protein intake after training, Shinra's home was always stocked with at least a week's worth of food. He didn't bother with cooking.
He tore the lid off the icebox, grabbed a haunch of raw meat the size of his leg, and sank his teeth into it. He devoured it, gobbling chunks whole. Bones were no obstacle; his powerful jaws crushed them to paste, and he swallowed everything. The sound was bestial.
Within minutes, the entire week's supply of meat was gone. Not a scrap, not a shred of gristle remained.
Only then did the gnawing void in his gut recede to a manageable roar. The terrifying weakness faded. His body, which had been drawn and withered after the metamorphosis, visibly plumped back up as he ate, muscles regaining their firm, powerful contours.
It was then that Shinra's eyes, clearing from the hunger-fog, noticed the destruction. A large, crater-like depression was smashed into the wooden floorboards of his main room, splinters radiating outward.
"Could it be… I did that just now? When I jumped up?" he muttered, surprise washing over him.
He had been operating on pure instinct. He hadn't consciously used a shred of chakra or the Tremor-Tremor power. That crater was the result of raw, unadulterated physical force.
"Damn… Is this still my body?" He flexed a hand, marveling at the terrifying potential power now coiled within his sinews and bones. The change in his heart was the most profound. It now beat with the slow, deep, titanic rhythm of a hydraulic press, a powerhouse of vitality utterly unlike a normal human organ.
This breakthrough was a rebirth. A forging.
Elation surged through him, tempered by caution. He began to move slowly, then with increasing speed, testing his limits within the confined space—a gentle push against the wall, a careful squat, a controlled flex of his fingers. He had to relearn his own strength, or he'd accidentally bring the whole house down around his ears. As dilapidated as it was, it was still his home.
The results of his self-assessment were staggering. His raw physical strength and his chakra reserves had both exploded, easily tripling from their already formidable pre-breakthrough levels. Even his spiritual energy, the source of his Observation Haki, felt sharper, more expansive. His muscles were denser, his bones felt like forged steel, and he'd gained a noticeable inch or two in height.
Once he'd achieved a basic familiarity with his new limits, impatience took over. He needed to test this power, to feel its full extent.
He shot through the window like a silent arrow, a shadow under the bright moonlight, heading straight for his familiar training grove by the creek.
Whump!
The peaceful silence of the woods was shattered by a deep, concussive thud. Birds erupted from the canopy, and the earth trembled lightly.
In the distance, a tree—thick enough that it would take two men to encircle it—exploded. Not just snapped, but exploded into a cloud of shredded splinters and pulverized fiber.
Shinra stood before the devastation, his fist still extended. Before, the concussive shockwave from a casual punch might extend a meter. Now, the visible wave of force had traveled five meters before impacting, and the power behind it was more than triple what it had been. One punch had turned ancient hardwood into dust.
Yet, staring at the empty space where the tree had stood, Shinra felt not satisfaction, but a rising, restless thirst for more. This wasn't his limit. This was just him playing.
His dark eyes, reflecting the cold moonlight, swept across the clearing and settled on a new target. A small, rocky hillock rose at the edge of the training ground, a natural formation of solid stone about the size of a large house.
A spark of wild excitement, a flicker of the inherited battle-madness from a lifetime on the seas, ignited in his gaze. A fierce, eager grin spread across his face.
The hill looked like a challenge.
And Shinra was in the mood to answer it.
He sank into a low stance, his right fist drawing back. This time, he wouldn't just use his new flesh. He would combine it. Chakra, white and vibrant, surged down his arm, mingling with the innate, world-quaking power that slept in his blood. The air around his fist began to waver and distort, not with heat, but with the promise of utter annihilation.
The night held its breath.
(End of Chapter)
✨Enjoying the story? You can support me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/MizuSan
✨ Patreon members get early chapter access, bonus content! 🥰
🎉 Plus, I'll release 1 extra chapter for every 5 reviews!💎 Or grab 1 bonus chapter for every 50 Power Stones you send my way! 🥳
🌊 Let's reach 20 Patreon members to unlock 5 extra chapters together!