Higashino Shinichi VS Karura

The moment of the final match had finally arrived.

The setting sun was slowly sinking behind the massive rocky mountains on the outskirts of Sunagakure, dyeing most of the sky a scorching, somber orange-red.

The afterglow gilded the enormous circular arena with a thick layer of gold, stretching the shadows of the two figures within long across the ground.

The stands buzzed with noise, the clamor nearly lifting the scorching air that had baked all day.

Expectation, speculation, and cheers for support wove together into a surging ocean of sound.

Inside the arena, two figures stood silently facing each other.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the ninja serving as the referee for the final match did not appear immediately, unlike the referees in previous rounds.

"I've watched your previous matches..." Karura spoke first, her voice gentle, her gaze falling on Shinichi with a complex emotion bordering on apology. "Your battle with your teammate... it was truly astonishing. That posture of burning with all your might for your beliefs is admirable."

Her expression was less like a ninja about to fight for life and death against an opponent, and more like a gentle, quiet older sister next door.

"Your previous match must have drained you considerably, right? A showdown like this might not be fair."

"It's just..." She lowered her eyes slightly. "I have a reason I must win. I'm sorry."

Her words were sincere, revealing the conflict within her heart. For the village, for the Kazekage's orders, she had to win.

"Senior, you flatter me." Shinichi shook his head slightly, his expression calm and focused. "Standing here makes us opponents. Please don't hold any reservations. Senior, please... do your utmost."

"Let's put the conversation on hold for now."

Just then, a cool, crisp female voice rang out in the arena without warning, cutting through the slightly unusual atmosphere between the two.

The moment the voice sounded, a tall figure appeared between them like a ghost.

She was a young female ninja from Sunagakure, with a well-proportioned, tall build and skin that was surprisingly fair for someone from a desert people. Her black hair was neatly tied up, with only two strands of hair in front, dyed a striking orange-yellow, adding a touch of brightness and unruliness to her cool temperament.

Her appearance was extremely abrupt. Except for a few perceptive or sharp-eyed experts in the stands, almost no one saw how she entered the arena, as if she had been standing there all along. This eerily fast speed instantly silenced the scattered murmurs inside and outside the arena.

Pakura?

Shinichi's gaze sharpened, surprise flickering in his mind.

The newcomer's appearance matched the information he knew, but he hadn't seen how she cut into the arena at all. His vision only barely caught a blurry afterimage that seemed to merge into the air, faster than the scope of a normal Body Flicker Technique.

Could it be that this world's Pakura, besides Scorch Release, also mastered Swift Release?

A thought flashed through his mind.

"So fast!"

In the stands, Jiraiya was one of the few who could barely track that fleeting trajectory. He subconsciously compared her in his mind to his beloved disciple, Minato Namikaze, who was also famous for his Body Flicker Technique and speed.

"Lord Kazekage," the Third Hokage said with a chuckle, taking a puff of his pipe, his gaze falling on the tall figure with orange-and-black hair in the arena. "This should be the genius ninja who has risen to fame in your village in recent years—Pakura of the Scorch Release, correct? Seeing her today, her reputation is well-deserved. Her speed alone is truly astonishing."

The Third Kazekage's expression remained calm, but the slight upward twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed a hint of unconscious pride. "Lord Hokage flatters me. Pakura does have some talent in speed and ninjutsu, but she still needs more refinement."

Inside the arena, Pakura seemed oblivious to the conversation in the stands.

Her gaze swept flatly over Shinichi and Karura, devoid of any extra emotion, as if she were merely carrying out a routine task. In a clear, businesslike tone, she announced:

"I am the referee for this final match, Pakura."

"The final match—now—begins!"

The moment Pakura's cool voice fell, Shinichi's figure suddenly blurred. Clutching his longsword, he turned into a black trajectory that tore through the air, launching a direct, swift, and fierce Iaido charge along the straightest path, aimed straight at Karura.

However, although Karura disliked conflict, her reaction was by no means slow. After all, her raw strength was right there.

She didn't even need to form hand seals. With a slight movement of her slender fingers, the scattered sand on the ground instantly responded, coalescing and shaping into dozens of sharp-edged sand Shuriken. With a shrill whistling sound, they spread out like a precise net, covering the first half of Shinichi's charging path!

Shinichi's charge showed no sign of stopping, but his body made incredibly subtle shifts and turns mid-dash, like a fish weaving through dense reefs, letting most of the sand Shuriken graze past his clothes by a hair's breadth.

The few he truly couldn't avoid were precisely deflected by his swinging Katana. The blade clashed with the sand grains, kicking up puffs of yellow dust.

In that single dodge and charge, the distance between them closed again!

Such speed, such agile footwork!

I can't be careless!

Karura's gaze sharpened. Her palm waved lightly toward Shinichi's position.

More sand from the ground surged up like soldiers obeying a king's command, coalescing in the blink of an eye into a giant sand palm large enough to cover half the arena. Its five fingers spread wide, carrying a heavy momentum that blotted out the light and crushed everything, and slammed down fiercely at Shinichi!

Shadows instantly fell, and the force of the wind pressed down, making it hard to breathe.

Shinichi's eyes were sharp as blades. Chakra exploded beneath his feet, and his speed increased by another notch beyond its limit!

But he didn't retreat. Instead, he charged forward at an even faster speed, from a more cunning angle, diagonally and boldly to the side!

Almost at the very last moment when the giant sand palm's five fingers snapped shut with a dull impact, he slipped through the narrow, almost nonexistent gap between them with breathtaking precision!

At the same time, in the midst of his high-speed movement, his hands had already completed the hand seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball, far larger than the usual size, spewed from his mouth, like a falling miniature sun, carrying terrifying heat that distorted the air. It cut through the sand dust and blasted straight toward Karura's main body, which seemed to have no time to dodge.

Yet, Karura's expression remained calm. Or rather, she had no need to dodge at all.

Just as the blazing fireball closed to about three meters in front of her, the grains of sand on the ground rose with startling speed, as if alive and sentient.

Boom!

A thin but extremely sturdy sand wall shot up in an instant, like a massive ancient shield, standing firm before the fireball.

The fireball slammed into the center of the sand wall, exploding into a sky full of flowing flames and black smoke, scorching the wall's surface pitch-black with a terrifying sizzling sound, yet it ultimately failed to break through.

The shield stood unmoved, and behind it, Karura's hem wasn't even stirred by the heat.

The first exchange was completed in a flash, so fast that many spectators hadn't even reacted.

Karura waved her hand again, and another wave of sand surged from the side like a yellow waterfall, carrying an overwhelming momentum as it crashed toward Shinichi, who had just landed.

Shinichi took a deep breath. Relying on his extraordinary speed and precise control over his body, he wove nimbly through the gaps in the sand wave's assault and the relentless barrage of sand cones and sand spears, dodging and weaving like a tenacious petrel in a storm, narrowly escaping encirclement time and again, stubbornly closing the final distance between them step by step.

The next several rounds became almost a repetition and intensification of the same pattern:

Shinichi kept breaking through the gaps in the sand sea's attacks, closing the distance to the limit, then unleashing fierce sword slashes, explosive taijutsu strikes, or ninjutsu bombardments from tricky angles.

Meanwhile, Karura stood firm at the center, controlling the endless sea of sand with her will. The sand shield always appeared at the most critical moment, in the most suitable shape and thickness, at the most needed position.

All of Shinichi's attacks—whether physical blade strikes and fists or Chakra-based flame attacks—were blocked, absorbed, and neutralized.

Offense and defense as one, unhurried and composed.

The flowing sand, as if an extension of her will, formed a seemingly unassailable absolute domain.