Untitled

"Wind Release: Gale."

Pakura gathered wind-nature chakra and exhaled a fierce gust.

But the steam was far denser than she'd expected, and the gust dispersed only a little of it.

That was enough.

She could now make out the black silhouette of the Konoha brat.

Moonlight spilled over the forest.

Pakura leaped high into the air, directing the orange-red energy balls to surround him.

"Storm Release: Torrent Lightning!"

"Brat, let's see how much chakra you have left!"

Scorch Release was a nature transformation produced by combining wind and fire chakra, while Storm Release combined lightning and water. He could barely make the two cancel each other out.

But in reality, Byakuya was at a disadvantage.

If not for the fortunate and timely, substantial increase in the quality of his chakra, he would have died long ago under Pakura's Scorch Release.

Against Pakura, who was nearly at Kage Level, Byakuya could only rely on the cover of night just to escape!

"Damn it, am I really going to die here?" he thought furiously. Think of something. Come on, think of something.

The Shadow Clone fleeing in the other direction had been killed, and its memories returned to him.

"Was the one hunting me Pakura's clone?"

Judging from the strength displayed by the two Pakuras, the one in this direction was clearly much weaker.

That gave him an opening.

"Water Release: Water Wave."

"Storm Release: Torrent Lightning."

He once again fended off the orange-red energy balls of Scorch Release, generating another vast cloud of steam.

Byakuya estimated how much chakra he had left...

"Boy, letting your guard down in the middle of a fight is very dangerous."

Even Pakura's clone was far too strong!

He had no time to react at all. Byakuya's hands formed seals in a flash, and before her kunai could slash across him, he shouted, "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

It was the Water Release: Water Formation Wall developed by Second Tobirama Senju.

The substantial increase in chakra quality had also given Byakuya more chakra to work with.

Water surged and curled like a waterfall, forming a barrier that protected him from every direction.

Pakura struck the rushing water with her kunai and was sent flying by the tremendous impact.

She was stunned. "That's the defensive Water Release Ninjutsu, Water Formation Wall? No, wait... yes, I remember now. Konoha has a special Water Formation Wall developed by Second Tobirama Senju. How does this brat even know that technique?"

Byakuya couldn't hold out for long. As soon as he forced Pakura to retreat, he immediately dispelled Tobirama's version of the Water Formation Wall and fled toward the Land of Fire.

Pakura's face darkened. For a moment, she wasn't sure whether she should keep pursuing him.

The situation within Sunagakure was still unstable. Rasa had yet to eliminate the scheming people who held power. If killing this Konoha brat provoked Konoha's retaliation, things would turn ugly.

She had begun gathering intelligence about Konoha's defenses now so that, once Sunagakure's situation was barely stable, she could immediately mobilize the Sunagakure Ninja to attack Konoha and divert the internal tensions that were about to explode.

But that was for the future, not now!

"No. I have to kill him. Once this brat grows stronger, Sunagakure will face even greater pressure from Konoha. I won't allow that to happen because of me."

A ninja sent by Konoha to the Land of Rivers to root out spies had died. Who killed him was obvious. Even if he died at the hands of his own people, they would still claim publicly that the Sunagakure Ninja had killed him.

"After him!"

Pakura cast aside her doubts and raced after Byakuya.

Several minutes later, the dense steam had thinned a little more.

Only then did Byakuya's real body, holding his breath behind a tree, dare to move.

There was hardly any chakra left in his body—perhaps a little over ten percent.

The massive chakra expenditure had long since pushed his body and mind past their limits.

He had his Fate Grid to thank for boosting his stamina, vitality, chakra reserves, and chakra quality. It had let him keep going even when he was at the end of his rope.

He chose not to burn through more chakra to dash ahead at full speed.

Instead, he moved cautiously through the complicated forest terrain, heading in the opposite direction from the Land of Fire.

Pakura might assume he was desperate to return to Konoha and intercept him along the way. If he headed unexpectedly toward the Land of Wind, he might have a chance to survive.

He didn't know how long he had been walking through the forest.

Every rustle of leaves put Byakuya on high alert.

At last, a little light began to seep into the dim forest, which was shrouded by the thick canopy.

Byakuya climbed inside a dead tree that had fallen many years ago.

The trunk was hollow. He curled up inside and sat down.

He really couldn't go on.

Every part of his body hurt, and he was mentally exhausted.

When Byakuya opened his eyes again,

he shoved a Military Ration Pill into his mouth and chewed.

Some of his stamina had returned, and he had recovered about forty percent of his chakra.

"No. I should wait longer. Who knows if Pakura will go berserk and search the forest once she realizes that was another one of my Shadow Clones?"

"Stay hidden. If I keep hiding, I'll live. I'm no match for her right now. There's no need to take a risk."

After eating more than a dozen Military Ration Pills, Byakuya drifted back into a heavy sleep.

When he woke again,

"Eighty percent of my stamina is back, and I have sixty percent of my chakra."

He took out the remaining Military Ration Pills and ate them one after another.

This was no time to save rations. The sooner he recovered completely, the better his chances of escaping Pakura.

After the fight they'd just had, Byakuya knew she was out for blood.

He wasn't sleepy, and his mind was clear, but he still forced himself to close his eyes and rest.

Sleep was the best way to restore his body.

"If I had the Akimichi Clan's Three-Colored Pills, I wouldn't have been chased into such a miserable state."

It seemed night had fallen.

Listening to the insects chirping and the faint roars of beasts outside the hollow tree, Byakuya waited until his stamina, mental energy, and chakra had fully recovered. Then he leaped out and raced toward the Land of Wind.

He planned to take a long detour.

Byakuya had no idea how furious Pakura was.

She caught up with that Shadow Clone and poured out her chakra without restraint, desperate to kill the Konoha brat as quickly as possible and prevent anything else from going wrong...

But trouble found her anyway.

After the explosion, it looked as though Byakuya had been reduced to nothing, but Pakura sensed with absolute clarity that it was another Shadow Clone.

Damn that Konoha brat—he'd mastered the Shadow Clone Technique to perfection!

Just how afraid of dying was he?!

She searched for Byakuya's real body, but couldn't find him.

Pakura dispelled her Shadow Clone.

As she examined its memories, she punched the nearby boulder to pieces.

It still wasn't enough to sate her anger.

She unleashed Scorch Release: Extreme Steam Killing and rampaged through the forest, destroying everything in her path.

She didn't know whether she was venting her anger or hoping to kill the Konoha brat by sheer luck.

At that very moment, Byakuya was sound asleep inside a hollow tree.

Pakura now faced three choices.

First, she could wipe out every Konoha ninja in the Land of Rivers, but that would do nothing to change the bigger picture.

Second, she could return to Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, report the intelligence to the village leaders, then send someone to infiltrate Konoha and gather information.

Third, she could stay in the forest—or wait along the road to the Land of Fire—and ambush the Konoha brat.

She considered the three choices from the perspective of the Kazekage and ultimately had no choice but to pick the second.

She would return to Sunagakure, report everything that had happened, and continue placing spies in Konoha.

"I hope that Konoha brat doesn't grow up without a hitch. Otherwise, it'll be the worst possible thing for the other ninja villages."