With his plans for the future taking shape, Peter returned to his home in Queens.
"Thank goodness, Peter! You're finally home! Would you like something else to eat?"
Aunt May poked her head out of the kitchen when she heard the front door opening. A warm, affectionate smile spread across her face.
Uncle Ben also rose from the couch, looking somewhat displeased.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous New York can be at night? You should've let me come and pick you up!"
Since Gwen had already explained over the phone that she and Peter were working on something important at Oscorp, Ben and May weren't particularly upset with him.
They were simply worried that something might happen to him on his way home.
Faced with their sincere concern, Peter felt a sudden warmth spread through his chest.
In his previous life, he'd lost his parents at an early age and spent many years living alone without anyone to depend on.
Having two people who genuinely cared about him was something he deeply appreciated.
Unable to restrain himself, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around both of them.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Ben, Aunt May. I promise I won't make you worry like that again."
His voice was filled with sincerity.
He wasn't the same half-grown teenager from the original story who was constantly arguing with his aunt and uncle.
After recovering the memories of his previous life, Peter's mental age was far beyond that of an ordinary teenager.
All he wanted was to take good care of these two kindhearted people and ensure that they could live comfortable, happy lives in the future.
The unexpected embrace and heartfelt promise left Ben and May momentarily speechless.
They'd been a little concerned that Peter might be going through a particularly sensitive stage of adolescence. If they scolded him too harshly, perhaps he'd become angry and start arguing.
Instead, his affectionate response brought a sting of emotion to their eyes.
Peter had always been a relatively easy child to raise.
And now, he was growing into a thoughtful young man who understood and appreciated their concern.
They couldn't have been more pleased.
After reassuring his aunt and uncle and wishing them both good night, Peter hurried upstairs to his bedroom.
The moment he closed the door, he issued a command in his mind.
'System, open the shop.'
A translucent display filled with an assortment of mysterious merchandise immediately appeared before his eyes.
The selection hadn't changed.
However, since he'd already purchased the Horse Talisman, only seven items remained.
Peter examined them carefully before quickly making his decision.
'System, purchase Makoto Kyogoku's Karate Expertise.'
Makoto Kyogoku was practically the pinnacle of combat strength in the world of Detective Conan!
He was a martial arts monster who'd reached superhuman levels through sheer physical ability and skill.
He'd defeated fifty knife-wielding gangsters with his bare hands.
Even while wearing a gas mask that obstructed his vision, he'd managed to catch every BB pellet fired at him and defeat all the bodyguards attacking him.
With only a few punches, he could shatter a marble pillar thick enough for a person to wrap both arms around!
He was practically a human version of Star Platinum from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
In the world of karate, even the famous senior disciple of the Elite Center from Love on Delivery would be fit only to polish Kyogoku's shoes!
Even Daredevil, who was renowned throughout the Marvel Universe for his hand-to-hand combat skills, would look like an amateur beside him.
Previously, Peter hadn't been particularly impressed by this product.
He'd even thought its price of 500 Sacrifice Points was somewhat excessive.
After all, when he'd still possessed the physique of an ordinary weakling, mastering Kyogoku's combat abilities would have required at least three to five years of dedicated training.
By then, it might already have been too late!
But his circumstances had changed.
Peter now possessed physical strength and reaction speed far beyond those of the original Makoto Kyogoku.
With a body like that, fully utilizing the martial artist's accumulated combat experience would be remarkably easy.
Furthermore, Kyogoku's karate techniques could become ten or even a hundred times more devastating when performed using Peter's enhanced physique.
Combining the two abilities wouldn't merely produce a result greater than the sum of its parts.
It would be more like one plus one equaling ten!
That was why Peter made the purchase without hesitation.
[Congratulations! You have obtained Makoto Kyogoku's Karate Expertise!]
[Remaining Sacrifice Points: 2,500]
The instant the notification appeared, an enormous flood of information surged into Peter's mind.
It was like a dam had burst, releasing an unstoppable torrent.
Countless images of combat.
The muscle memory accumulated through endless training.
Experience gathered from innumerable life-and-death confrontations.
Every fighting instinct, technique, and mental discipline that Makoto Kyogoku had developed was engraved directly into Peter's mind and body.
Almost unconsciously, Peter adopted a traditional karate opening stance.
The moment he moved, the muscles throughout his body produced a series of faint cracking sounds.
His strike tore through the air with astonishing force.
The resulting pressure was so powerful that it ripped a long tear through his bedsheet!
More importantly, Peter could clearly feel that his understanding of his own body had changed.
His control over his strength and his ability to coordinate his movements had improved by an enormous margin.
He was no longer a complete novice possessing nothing but brute force.
With a little time to adjust, he could become a genuine martial arts master!
Combining a physique superior to Captain America's with Makoto Kyogoku's extraordinary combat techniques, Peter felt confident that he could already be considered a miniature Captain America, at least with a little generous rounding.
He still had 2,500 Sacrifice Points remaining.
After thinking for a moment, he issued another command.
'Purchase Chakra Seed!'
For most ordinary people, this item would be of questionable value.
After all, chakra was produced by combining physical energy with spiritual energy!
That meant someone with a weak body and an ordinary mind would possess only a limited capacity to produce chakra, even after learning how to cultivate it.
Furthermore, the Chakra Seed didn't include instructions for performing ninjutsu.
Even if an ordinary person learned how to generate chakra, they wouldn't necessarily know the proper hand seals or techniques required to use it.
They'd be left staring helplessly at their meager supply of energy.
Its value for the price was rather poor.
But for the current Peter, the Chakra Seed was an exceptionally promising item!
He was a transmigrator with the memories and mental advantages of his previous life, and his body had been dramatically enhanced by the Lizard Serum.
His physical and spiritual energies were now dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of times greater than those of an ordinary person.
Consequently, the amount of chakra he could potentially produce might rival that of a member of the Uzumaki Clan!
And that wasn't even considering the Horse Talisman.
Normally, a ninja who exhausted their chakra too severely could die.
But the Horse Talisman's healing power could repair the cellular damage caused by Peter extracting excessive quantities of chakra!
In other words, not only would he possess enormous chakra reserves, but he could also replenish them repeatedly without worrying about the usual physical consequences.
He'd effectively discovered an exploit!
'Ladies and gentlemen, behold a human Tailed Beast!'
Peter could almost imagine himself leaning back smugly as he made that declaration.
Of course, someone might reasonably ask a question.
'Even if you have chakra, what's the point if you don't know any ninjutsu?'
The answer was simple.
Even without elemental ninjutsu, there were still techniques such as chakra-enhanced strength and the Rasengan!
The Rasengan was particularly appealing.
Developed by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and later made famous by Naruto Uzumaki, this A-rank technique required neither hand seals nor the conversion of chakra into an elemental nature.
All the user needed was sufficient chakra and the ability to manipulate its shape.
Once those requirements were satisfied, the technique could be performed!
It was practically tailor-made for Peter's current circumstances.
So what if he couldn't use elemental ninjutsu or perform complicated hand seals?
There was no problem in the world that couldn't be solved with a Rasengan.
And if one Rasengan wasn't enough, there was always the Big Ball Rasengan, the Big Ball Rasengan Barrage, or the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan.
Surely one of those would get the job done!
'Exchange points for the Chakra Seed!'
[Congratulations! You have obtained Chakra Seed!]
[Remaining Sacrifice Points: 2,000]