The Pinnacle of Kenjutsu

The key lay in this: Pakura was still a traditional ninja!

And traditional ninjas all had to obediently form hand seals!

Although the power scaling in the later stages of the Hokage era was terrifyingly inflated, with those monsters just clapping their hands and summoning whatever they wanted, at least at this point in time, right as the Third Great Ninja War had just erupted, everyone's style hadn't gone that far off the rails yet.

Pakura's Scorch Release, though a Kekkei Genkai, still required hand seals—she had to first form seals to summon the special floating fireballs.

As for subsequent manipulation and tracking, that could be done through mental control, which was also why Pakura could dual-wield kunai in battle.

But now, the enraged Pakura hadn't conserved her Scorch Release; she had already used up all the fireballs she'd summoned earlier.

Unfortunately, Shiba Seika's successive retreats had inevitably bred a hint of contempt in her, and driven by fury to annihilate the enemy before her, she ultimately made the bold choice to not retreat during this critical Scorch Release cooldown!

She merely hid her hands behind her back, briefly concealing her kunai, thinking that would fool the Rain Ninja brat in front of her.

Little did she know, Shiba Seika had been locking one hundred and twenty percent of his attention onto her the entire time!

With such absolute focus and close observation, how could Shiba Seika possibly miss such a crucial opening?

A skill cooldown and still not retreating?

Shiba Seika kicked off the ground, instantly switching from retreat to advance, his entire demeanor undergoing a dramatic transformation in the blink of an eye!

Like a blade drawn from its sheath, fangs bared!

Just as Pakura formed the first seal behind her back, Shiba Seika's blade had already cut through the air and slashed toward her face!

Time seemed to slow in that moment as Pakura's pupils dilated in shock!

She hastily abandoned the hand seals, flicking her fingers to hook the kunai back into her grip, raising it to block the short sword that came slashing like thunder!

She thought that would resolve the crisis, but she hadn't expected Shiba Seika to twist his wrist, angling the blade to slide along the kunai and continue toward her neck!

Pakura scrambled to bring her other hand up as well, barely managing to push Shiba Seika's blade aside at the last critical moment.

But it still wasn't over!

The blade tore through the air, pulling back a little distance, then swiftly slashed back again, strike after strike, sparking a chain of flashes against Pakura's kunai.

The overwhelming pressure left Pakura no chance to form hand seals, forcing her to desperately parry with her kunai while stepping backward.

In the span of six or seven strikes, Pakura's expression had lost all trace of its earlier boiling bloodlust.

Her anger cooled rapidly, replaced by shock, and then even by an indescribable terror and dread!

Because this relentless, suffocating swordsmanship instantly evoked the deepest nightmare in her memory—and in the memory of all of Sunagakure's younger generation!

How could this be? Pakura thought in horrified disbelief. How could anyone replicate that man's Kenjutsu?!

The Kenjutsu of the man nicknamed White Fang!

She didn't want to recall it, nor did she want to admit it, but this sharp, fang-like pressure was so familiar that she couldn't fail to recognize it!

The former Konoha White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, had carved his own legendary record against Sunagakure in battle!

One man, one blade, cutting down Sunagakure's then-field commander, Jonin Chiyo, etching eternal pain into the hearts of Sunagakure's younger generation.

White Fang's swordsmanship was strikingly distinct and direct—it was that suffocating pressure!

Because White Fang excelled at Kenjutsu, and almost exclusively at Kenjutsu; though he knew some ninjutsu, his skill in it was far inferior to his swordsmanship.

White Fang knew that once he fell into a ninjutsu exchange with an opponent, he would completely lose his advantage.

So every time he swung his blade, he never gave his opponent a chance to free up their hands to use ninjutsu!

Extreme suppression, relentless assault, suffocating rhythm!

In more flattering terms, one could praise this swordsmanship as precise as interlocking gears.

In Sunagakure's smear campaign, one could denounce it as berserk as a rabid dog on the attack.

In any case, during the Second Great Ninja War back then, Sunagakure had tried countless methods and finally concluded: when facing White Fang, use ninjutsu early!

Either stop him from closing in, or stop him from drawing his blade—otherwise, you'd never get to form a single seal!

Such a profound memory, worthy of being written into Sunagakure's Ninja School textbooks—how could Pakura ever forget it?

But she didn't understand: wasn't that man already dead? Their village's spies had spent months repeatedly confirming that news!

Besides, this was the Land of Rain, not the Land of Fire!

Pakura couldn't comprehend it!

But by now, terror and dread had eroded her heart, leaving her without the confidence to vaporize the enemy before her.

Shiba Seika quickly sensed this!

He cautiously pressed the attack for a few more strikes until he confirmed that Pakura had completely lost her will to counterattack, then tossed out a paper kunai, swiftly pulled back, and used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat in an instant!

He was already close to his limit.

He was no Konoha White Fang after all, and he had only been practicing the system-given swordsmanship for a few days.

Killing a water-level Jonin from Kusagakure was no problem, but taking down a elite from a major village like Pakura was still beyond his reach.

Fortunately, he had handled it calmly enough, maintaining a high level of suppression before exhausting himself, channeling at least seventy percent of White Fang's essence in those first few seconds.

He had thoroughly intimidated Pakura!

After he exhausted his three tricks and had almost nothing left, Pakura had already been frightened by the shadow in her own memories, nearly losing all will to fight.

This wave was successfully letting Shiba Seika show off!

But outsiders clearly didn't know the inside story.

Just now, when they saw Shiba Seika suppressing Pakura and forcing her back step by step, the Sunagakure Captain was almost terrified!

Now seeing the two separate, with Pakura showing no intention or action to pursue, he became furious instead.

"Pakura, what are you doing?!"

During the battle, the Sunagakure Captain couldn't keep watching Pakura the whole time—Konan's Paper Butterflies, Paper Spears, and Exploding Tags also put heavy pressure on him, so naturally he hadn't noticed the peculiarity of Shiba Seika's Kenjutsu.

Looking at the result now, he assumed without question that Pakura was slacking off for failing to take down a mere Rain Ninja brat!

He didn't reflect at all on how he himself was pinned down and unable to move by a mere Rain Ninja girl.

Shiba Seika seized the opportunity to decisively gesture to his teammates again—

Konan, take Ajisai, we're pulling out!

This wave, they'd already gained one Puppet Master from Sunagakure; there was no need to stubbornly fight to a conclusion here.

He was a steady poison strategist, only seeking the most reliable means to bury his opponents, never chasing the thrill of battle or a destined showdown.

When it was time to retreat, he retreated, go back to call for backup, and come back another day to take care of this group!

But just before leaving, facing Pakura's pale-faced interrogation, "Why do you know that man's Kenjutsu?!"

Shiba Seika only smiled faintly, not forgetting to plant a poisoned seed as he left.

"Want to know? When you're alone, find a chance to open the Paper Shuriken I just tossed you—the answers you want are all inside.

Just make sure your teammates don't find out, or you might really have no way out, tragic hero lady."

If that seed could sprout, Shiba Seika might not even need to call for backup to bury this squad of Suna ninja!