Mission Conflict

Scorch Release Pakura was Sunagakure's elite beauty of a Jonin.

Because she often showed off her smooth, bare back, she was also known as "Beautiful Back" Pakura.

With her Kekkei Genkai, Scorch Release, she had already gained some renown in the Ninja World.

However, Pakura was still relatively young, and her strength had yet to reach its peak.

It would not be until the Third Shinobi World War that she truly came into her own.

By then, Pakura would have grown into a Kage Level powerhouse, earning great merit in battle several times and receiving commendations from the Fourth Kazekage Rasa.

She would become a hero of Sunagakure, deeply revered by all.

But her end would be tragic.

Unable to keep fighting Iwagakure and Kirigakure on two fronts, Sunagakure's higher-ups betrayed Pakura, making her a sacrifice to bring the war with Kirigakure to an end.

As Qingshui recalled what he knew about Pakura, he walked up to the Three Little Ones and shielded them behind him.

By then, Pakura had already subdued Okubo Yahiko, who had tried to escape, in just a few swift moves. She then handed him over to the three Suna Ninja who had arrived to keep watch.

They were Pakura's subordinates and looked a few years older than the Three Little Ones.

Clearly, Pakura and her group were also on a mission.

Qingshui didn't know Pakura's subordinates. He looked at her solemnly and asked,

"Pakura, why are you interfering with our mission?"

Pakura wasn't surprised that he knew who she was. She had experienced this sort of thing many times before.

Instead of answering Qingshui right away, she first looked over the Three Little Ones, a flicker of surprise on her face.

She had just seen the Three Little Ones working together to fight Okubo Yahiko, and was surprised that they were so capable at such a young age.

Their talent put them among the very best, even in Sunagakure.

They were surpassed only by her and Rasa, who were around the same age.

Both she and Rasa had mastered a Kekkei Genkai, and ordinary geniuses would be no match for either of them.

Only then did Pakura look at Qingshui. When she saw his Konoha Forehead Protector, her cool expression shifted slightly.

Just as Qingshui had realized that recognizing Pakura might make things troublesome, Pakura thought the same upon recognizing him as a Konoha Ninja.

Once two great Ninja Villages were involved, it was no small matter.

"Our mission is to capture this man alive."

After Okubo Yahiko's crimes came to light, a noble of the Land of Wind had put out a mission through Sunagakure to capture him alive.

One of the noble's concubines had lost her family to Okubo Yahiko.

After she repeatedly pleaded with him, the noble had promised to capture Yahiko alive and torture him thoroughly to avenge her.

Out of respect for Qingshui's status as a Konoha Ninja, Pakura offered an explanation.

Yes, she was only giving him that courtesy because he was a Konoha Ninja.

Unlike the already-renowned Pakura, Qingshui was still a nobody.

He had fought Hanzo just two days earlier, but word of it hadn't spread yet, and few people knew about it.

Pakura was clearly unaware of the fight.

So she thought that offering an explanation was already a generous gesture. If Qingshui knew what was good for him, he would take his people and leave.

But that was only what she thought. Qingshui didn't see it that way.

Before, he would have simply abandoned the mission in this situation.

But he had grown stronger now. Was he still supposed to put up with this?

No way!

Qingshui answered firmly, "What a coincidence. This man is also a target of our mission, and we have to kill him!"

Pakura thought Qingshui was being unreasonable.

She wasn't yet powerful enough to make people abandon their missions unconditionally, but someone like Qingshui should at least have given up when he ran into her.

Unless Konoha had hidden one of its true powerhouses nearby.

In fact, Pakura had been puzzled by the unusual group of four from the start.

The reason was that the Three Little Ones weren't wearing Forehead Protectors, which meant they weren't Ninjas yet.

Under normal circumstances, non-Ninjas couldn't accept missions.

So Pakura had a theory: Konan and the other two were young geniuses whom Konoha was secretly training.

This mission was meant to give them practical experience.

That meant Qingshui was probably just their public-facing captain, while a powerful Ninja was hidden nearby to protect them.

Of course, it was only a guess.

To test it, Pakura spoke again with confidence and pride.

"If you know who I am, then you should know you stand no chance against me."

Her three subordinates looked at her with admiration and agreement. Not one of them thought she was wrong.

After she spoke, Pakura stared hard at Qingshui, watching for the slightest change in his expression.

But Qingshui only gave a dismissive laugh. Before he could say anything, Konan spoke up first.

"What makes you think you can say that? Big Brother Qingshui is really strong!"

"Exactly! I don't think you're a match for Big Brother Qingshui. If you don't want to get hurt, you'd better hand our target back!"

Yahiko, who had already been won over by Qingshui, quickly chimed in.

In the Three Little Ones' eyes, Qingshui was strong enough to fight the "Demi-God" Hanzo.

How could someone who looked about the same age as Qingshui possibly be his match?

With their limited experience, they naturally knew nothing of Scorch Release Pakura's identity or reputation.

"What a bunch of ignorant kids. Teacher Pakura is a famous Scorch Release Ninja. That Qingshui you're talking about could never beat her."

"These people aren't even wearing Forehead Protectors. They're obviously still Ninja Academy students. How could they know how formidable Teacher Pakura is?"

"Big brother, you'd better give up on your mission. If you anger Teacher Pakura, you'll get hurt, even if you're a Konoha Ninja."

Pakura's three subordinates weren't about to let Konan and Yahiko insult her without a response. They fired back at the two.

Soon, the children were arguing among themselves.

Pakura didn't care about a bunch of kids squabbling. Her attention stayed on Qingshui.

She had assumed Qingshui was acting tough because he had a hidden Konoha powerhouse backing him up. But his dismissive laugh had made her doubt that theory.

After all, if he were relying on someone powerful behind him, Qingshui shouldn't have reacted like that.

Had she been wrong? Was this guy simply arrogant and ignorant?

Qingshui had no idea what Pakura was thinking. He stopped Konan and Yahiko from continuing to argue with her subordinates, then turned to Pakura.

"Since you're Suna Ninja, I don't want to make this a bigger problem. Just hand our target back, and you can leave safely."

Pakura nearly laughed in anger when she heard that.

She was the renowned Scorch Release Ninja, yet an ordinary Konoha Ninja was looking down on her.

"In that case, let's settle this with our skills."