I'm Leaving, Don't Think of Me

His hands had long gone numb—withered as they were, how could there be any feeling? Only the joints between his forearms and upper arms throbbed with a needle-like pain. He hadn't gained a single advantage and had suffered severe injuries instead. What a loss.

Under normal circumstances, such injuries would require at least seven or eight days of recovery to be worthy of their severity. But now was wartime; he couldn't possibly return to face others with wounds this heavy.

Even if Tsunade herself treated him, the best she could do was restore basic mobility—he'd be forever barred from being a ninja. If he later healed such an incurable injury on his own, how would he explain it to those in the know?

So before returning, he had to completely heal his damaged arms.

"Beautiful lady, are you trying to kill your husband? If I hadn't run fast, I'd really be dead," Kaede couldn't help firing off a few loving greetings.

But in his mind: Scorch Release. Among the Sand Shinobi, the one with the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai should be her, right? Looks like she hasn't been assassinated by the Fourth Kazekage yet. What rotten luck, running into such a powerful bloodline ninja.

"Brat, if you've got the guts, don't run. Fight me head-on!" Just a moment ago, he'd used some kind of ninjutsu—its speed was unbelievably fast.

To buy time for healing his arm injuries and to give his Shadow Clone more time, Kaede once again squared off against Pakura.

During this standoff, he deliberately observed Pakura.

Her usually tied-up dark green hair now floated in the water. Using her long hair, she shielded most of the upper half of her body from view, denying someone the chance to appreciate the view.

"I'm afraid if I come over, you won't be able to handle it." Kaede's gaze never left Pakura, nor dared to leave. This woman's Scorch Release was too strong; just by approaching her fireball, the moisture in his hands had been completely evaporated.

Now that his hands were crippled, he couldn't form hand seals, couldn't even perform seal-less techniques like [Thunder Flash]. Only the Flying Thunder God, relying on his mental awareness to touch space nodes, could still be activated.

He had no choice but to fix his Sharingan on Pakura in the lake, ready to flash away at the slightest movement.

At first, Pakura didn't understand Kaede's words. But when she saw his lecherous gaze, she caught his meaning. "Pah—you filthy pervert. I didn't think the Uchiha Clan would produce a ninja like you. Do you dare leave your name?"

Those crimson eyes, the jet-black magatama, the sinister aura like a demon—they had already exposed Kaede's identity.

Kaede crouched down, hiding his hands behind his back. The power of the Divine Body Rune would emit a distinct golden light, sacred and inviolable, a force unlike anything in the shinobi world.

He couldn't let Pakura see such an anomaly.

Guiding the golden Divine Body Rune power accumulated in his body, he channeled it through his meridians to repair both arms. A faint golden glow rose from his arms, penetrating the skin but not spreading outward. His arms were visibly recovering.

From withered like an old tree, they gradually returned to fair, fleshed form. Enduring the maddening itch of the healing process, he said aloud, "If you want to know my name, at least introduce yourself first!"

Pakura shrank back in the water, not answering. She was trying to figure out how to deal with this Uchiha brat. The Sharingan was a troublesome bloodline.

Besides, if she got any closer to the shore, the shallower water would no longer cover her lower body.

Kaede picked up her clothes from the bank, tossed her the towel that was on top, and said, "Beautiful lady, if you want to chat, put some clothes on first. Remember your man's name—I'm Uchiha Kaede."

Pakura caught the towel. She didn't hurry to put it on but stared at Kaede's hand in surprise. He just used his hand to pick up the towel, didn't he? How is that possible? Shouldn't his arms have been burned by my Scorch Release? Or did I not actually hit him?

She was confused. The fight had been chaotic, and most of her attention had been on herself; she hadn't carefully watched this Uchiha brat.

Could I have fallen under a genjutsu again?

She remembered her Scorch Release had definitely hit someone.

"What, do you like letting your man see your body that much? I've already admitted it—your figure really is something~" Kaede teased again.

The sky was beginning to darken, the moon less bright than before. A hint of red appeared on the horizon—a sign that the sun was about to rise.

He sensed his Shadow Clone was approaching. The intel he wanted should have been obtained. It was time to leave. Now his boldness grew.

Pakura draped the towel over herself to cover her body, and that flash of deep white vanished. Kaede felt a pang of regret—why had he been so quick to hand her the towel?

She wrapped the towel tightly. With no more concerns, Pakura glared at Kaede as if she wanted to eat him alive. Her hands flew through hand seals, preparing to unleash a large-scale ninjutsu.

"Think carefully. Our fight just now has already interfered with the Barrier Scroll you brought. If you use a powerful technique now, you'll definitely break the barrier. Then you might not kill me, but you'll definitely attract a horde of Sand Shinobi. Are you inviting your fellow villagers to watch you bathe?" Kaede sat down calmly, confident Pakura would grasp the key point.

If she were discovered like this, not only would it be humiliating, but someone with ulterior motives might even pin a charge of colluding with Konoha on her.

Pakura's hands, mid-seal, froze instantly. Her face darkened as she bit her lip. "Damn brat, I won't let you off."

"Hahahaha, you're still beautiful even when you're angry."

A dark light flashed behind him—the Shadow Clone appeared.

"Alright, I should be going. Before I leave, how about I give you a gift?"

The Shadow Clone activated the Body Flicker Technique. Cold eyes, blood-red Sharingan, precise kunai throws—they sealed off the lake surface where Pakura was.

As a Jonin, such a small scene couldn't stump her. Quick-eyed and quick-handed, she caught one flying kunai, then 'clink-clink' deflected the rest of the kunai and shuriken.

Both of them deliberately refrained from using ninjutsu, as violent chakra fluctuations would destroy the barrier.

Kaede's Shadow Clone instantly appeared behind her, a kunai just a hand's breadth from the back of her neck. As a Scorch Release bloodline ninja, her taijutsu was only so-so.

She barely managed to use chakra from her feet to stir up a water current, dodging the kunai that was right at her neck.

The Shadow Clone's kunai sharply sliced through the towel covering her chest. Pakura fumed—couldn't he attack somewhere else?!

In a moment she didn't notice, Kaede's main body had used the water current as cover to sneak to her side. Just as the Shadow Clone cut the towel and Pakura reached back to cover herself, Kaede's main body burst out.

Now he was almost pressed against Pakura's body. His right hand, crackling with lightning, slammed onto her chest just above her collarbone. A lightning bolt mark appeared on her skin.

Faced with this situation, Pakura forgot everything else. Instantly, "[Scorch Release: Steam Kill]"—that fireball appeared again. The Shadow Clone blocked in front of Kaede, taking the damage and vanishing into white smoke.

Kaede had already activated the Flying Thunder God and left. Only his voice echoed in the air: "Beautiful lady, I'm off! Don't miss me too much. That gift I gave you—you'd better keep it well. That's my stamp on you. Make sure it stays forever."

The Flying Thunder God's mark never disappears.

The raging Scorch Release instantly evaporated the lake surface. The barrier shattered with a crack. Firelight illuminated the dark night. Pakura hurriedly swam back to shore and dressed.

"Damn it, Uchiha Kaede, I won't let you off." She found that her undergarment was missing. Hastily pulling on her outer clothes, the Sand Shinobi had already arrived.

Pakura's furious face instantly turned serious, becoming the Sand Shinobi's hero.