Pakura of Sunagakure

Too late.

The cave was winding and deep. San-Dan-Kun wouldn't make it out.

Byakuya's Shadow Clone chuckled softly. "Art is an Explosion. Drink!!"

Boom!

Boom!!

Explosions rang out one after another, deafening.

As the Shadow Clone dispelled, Byakuya's real body, outside the cave, couldn't help wondering: Did I just get lucky?

His plan hadn't been particularly thorough, yet San-Dan-Kun had still fallen into his trap.

Byakuya had also guessed why San-Dan-Kun had suddenly tried to run. The Shadow Clone hadn't proven that he was a shinobi from Sunagakure who'd come to meet him.

There were enough Explosive Tags buried to collapse the cave. To ensure San-Dan-Kun died inside, Byakuya sent another Shadow Clone to check, giving him several Explosive Tags as well.

Byakuya's real body remained hidden in its original spot. He had to guard against the possibility that San-Dan-Kun wasn't the only Sunagakure spy.

Rocks blocked the cave entrance.

Outside, the Shadow Clone pretended to panic. "Captain San-Dan-Kun? Are you in there? I heard the explosions and hurried over."

A faint cry for help came from inside.

The words were too muffled to make out, but the Shadow Clone didn't care whether he could hear them clearly.

He hopped across the rocks, found roughly where San-Dan-Kun had been buried, and stuck on two Explosive Tags before setting them off.

Once the dust settled—

"Captain!! Captain! I killed the person from earlier! Are you still alive?"

"Captain, you have to hang on! We'll get you out right away. Say something so I can find you!"

"Hey, Captain San-Dan-Kun? Say something!"

Twenty-odd minutes passed.

There was no further movement.

Byakuya had initially worried that the San-Dan-Kun buried in the cave might have been a Shadow Clone. But the panic San-Dan-Kun had shown when he realized he'd fallen into a trap had been unmistakable.

He dispelled the Shadow Clone.

He brought up the Fate Grid Panel for a glance, and finally put his mind at ease.

Heaven Rewards Diligence, Perseverance Leads to Success

Time limit: 4 days: Survive in the wilderness for four days (0/4)

Reward: Slight increase in vitality

Fate Choice 2: Establish yourself in the Anbu Training Department (Completed)

Reward: Major increase in chakra quality

That meant he'd successfully completed the second mission Root Organization had given him. All that remained was to return to the village and report in.

With Root Organization's intelligence network, they would naturally be able to determine whether he'd completed it.

The reward for Fate Choice 2—a major increase in chakra quality—had an immediate effect.

Before, his chakra had been enough to do one job. Now, the same amount could do more than one job, nearly two, and do them even better.

It was just as he'd guessed. The changes weren't limited to that, but now wasn't the time to investigate further.

"Found you. So this is where you were hiding."

"Scorch Release: Extreme Steam Killing."

The night suddenly brightened. A moment later, unbearable heat hit him, as if all the moisture in his body were about to be vaporized.

Several dazzling, orange-red spheres of fire spun around him, cutting off every escape route before converging and exploding. Aside from the rocks, the surrounding area looked as if it had been scorched by a wildfire, left barren.

A Konoha Ninja stood on a rock. He was clearly a man, yet spoke in a woman's voice.

"Nice use of the Substitution Technique. Are you a Konoha jonin? Well, looking at your build, you're no girl—but you're so small. You wouldn't happen to be a brat from Konoha, would you? Hah! San-Dan-Kun was stupid enough to get killed by a Konoha brat. What a joke!"

Byakuya appeared outside the area devastated by Scorch Release: Extreme Steam Killing, gasping for breath.

The instant the orange-flamed spheres had touched him, he'd barely managed to use the Substitution Technique in time.

Thank goodness his senses and reflexes were sharp. Otherwise, he'd be a corpse by now.

No, given the force of the Scorch Release explosion, he might have been melted into ash by the heat.

Byakuya rasped, "Scorch Release... Are you Pakura of Sunagakure?"

"Kid, you're pretty well-informed. You've even heard my name. But you killed San-Dan-Kun right under my nose. I have to kill you."

Pakura pulled off her disguise, revealing her true appearance.

Byakuya said, "I see. You were hiding among this guard unit to gather intelligence on Konoha."

"Oh? Interesting. What intelligence do you think I want?"

"Whether Konoha's forces are tied up on the Kumogakure and Iwagakure fronts, leaving our rear defenses weak."

In the original story, once Sunagakure learned that the heart of the Land of Fire was vulnerable, they'd launched a surprise attack without hesitation.

With his knowledge of the original story, it wasn't hard for Byakuya to guess Pakura's real objective.

Though Pakura would ultimately die because her village's leaders betrayed her, Byakuya would never underestimate her.

Byakuya continued, "I can tell you clearly that Konoha still has a large mobile force at its disposal. If Sunagakure dares to risk a surprise attack, you'll suffer heavy casualties. Not even Rasa, your village's current hero, could lead you to victory!"

"Kid, are you trying to cloud my judgment?"

"I can also tell you that Iwagakure and Kirigakure are both eyeing your village."

"You'd make a better negotiator than a Konoha Anbu. But everything you've said is common knowledge in Sunagakure. Well, well, my mercy has run out. Goodbye, kid."

She only had to move a finger.

An orange-red sphere of energy suddenly appeared in front of Byakuya. Only then did he see that it wasn't a fireball at all, but a miniature sun, compressed to an incredible degree.

Faced with an attack he couldn't withstand, Byakuya vanished.

Pakura quickly jumped down from the rock and closed her eyes to sense her surroundings. She faintly detected chakra disturbances in two opposite directions, east and west, already nearing the limit of her sensing range.

"Shadow Clone Technique." Pakura gritted her teeth.

After narrowly escaping with the Substitution Technique, the brat from Konoha had immediately used a Shadow Clone to hold her off.

To maximize his chances of getting away, he'd sent another Shadow Clone fleeing in the opposite direction.

Now the question was which one she'd pursue.

Pakura sneered. "Cute trick."

She used the Shadow Clone Technique too, sending a clone in each direction and chasing after them.

With the vast gap in strength, the brat from Konoha had no chance of escaping.

Byakuya was furious with himself. He didn't know any Earth Release techniques and hadn't even mastered the Earth nature transformation.

If he knew Earth Release, he could've used a Shadow Clone as a decoy, hidden underground, and waited for Pakura to leave. After luring her away, he could've climbed back out of the dirt.

"Kid, you can't get away."

Pakura's voice came from behind him.

The distance between them kept shrinking.

Lightning Release: Earth Flash, Water Release: Water Wave, and Storm Release: Torrent Lightning were all mid- to close-range techniques. They couldn't buy time from a distance.

He turned slightly and flung several kunai.

Pakura dodged them with ease without even slowing down.

"Scorch Release: Extreme Steam Killing."

Four orange-red spheres of energy closed in around Byakuya.

"Storm Release: Torrential Lightning Flash."

He opened his mouth and spewed out a vast torrent of lightning, like a river. Faster than the spheres, it split into four streams, like four little rivers of lightning, and homed in on the energy spheres with pinpoint accuracy.

Boom!!!

Explosions erupted in all four directions around Byakuya. The temperature soared, lightning flashed, and a thick fog of water vapor filled the air.

Seeing this—

He immediately adjusted the ratio of lightning to water in his Storm Release, making the water-nature chakra dominant.

Then he used Torrent Lightning again!

Pakura had no time to be surprised that the brat from Konoha possessed a Kekkei Genkai. Seeing lightning crackle across the bright blue torrent as it rushed toward her, she immediately countered with Scorch Release.

Water vapor shrouded the area.

But they could still just barely see each other.

They were already quite close. Otherwise, Byakuya wouldn't have been forced to use Storm Release.

"Water Release: Water Wave."

"Scorch Release: Flame Fire."

This time, the water vapor grew so dense that they could no longer see each other at all.