Pakura Captured (One more update tonight)

Yusuke drew the Incursio short sword, its tip angled toward the ground.

"Clang~ Clang~ Clang~"

The thirteen opponents stood their ground, forming a fan shape to surround the pair.

"You two are certainly good at running; you made it quite far in half a day."

"Hand over the intelligence, and perhaps I can grant you a slightly easier death."

Pakura gathered a fireball in her palm, hovering it in the air while three more fireballs orbited behind her.

Looking at the young woman's attire, Yusuke recognized the ninja before him; she had to be that perennial unlucky soul, Pakura.

As a hero of her village, she was betrayed by the Fourth Kazekage Rasa and sold to Kirigakure in exchange for a fleeting peace.

In the end, she was turned into a pincushion by the chaotic kunai and shuriken of Kirigakure ninja.

A flash of inspiration struck Yusuke's mind; the budding idea of creating an organization surfaced once more, finally taking shape.

He could recruit these "unlucky" ninja to establish his own Night Raid organization.

And for the Night Raid organization, he would start with Pakura.

"You are already surrounded by me."

"Pakura, right? Have you considered switching sides? Perhaps joining my organization."

Yusuke smiled, showing no trace of fear on his face.

"Heh, have you lost your mind from fear? How can the two of you possibly stand against the thirteen of us?"

"Attack!"

Seeing that her subordinates had surrounded the pair, Pakura issued a sharp command.

Yusuke hoisted his sword, and a surge of chakra pressure erupted from him.

Struck by the chakra intimidation, Pakura's body shuddered, and the fireball in her hand dimmed significantly.

"No, he is no ordinary ninja. His strength must have reached the Kage level."

"Retreat... retreat, run!" Pakura roared.

However, once the war had been ignited, it was no longer up to her to stop it.

The roles had reversed; the little lamb had shed its disguise to reveal the tiger beneath.

The surrounding Sunagakure ninja quickly formed groups of three and fled into the distance.

At this moment, whoever ran the slowest would be the one on the front line.

Yusuke's figure vanished from his spot, catching up to the crowd in a few blinks.

With his weak Kage-level strength—achieved even without using Sage Mode or the first stage of Incursio—dealing with these small fries was as simple as drinking water.

Cries of agony echoed incessantly through the forest, startling the birds into flight.

In less than two and a half minutes, only Pakura and one jonin remained alive.

"Clang~ Clang~"

Yusuke flickered in front of the two, shook the blood from his blade, and smiled, "How is your consideration coming along?"

This handsome smile chilled Pakura to the bone, much like an ordinary person meeting the gaze of a predator.

It was a smile Pakura would remember for the rest of her life.

She gritted her teeth and said, "You underestimate me. A Sunagakure ninja never surrenders."

Three fireballs began to rotate around her once more, and Pakura charged straight at Yusuke to engage in close-quarters combat.

"Interesting. You know you're facing death, yet you refuse to surrender? A fine spirit. I want you even more now."

Yusuke charged toward Pakura as well.

Hyuga Aya's mouth twitched upon hearing Yusuke's words: "That is... that is a truly terrible line."

She leaped forward to intercept the Sunagakure jonin who was attempting to flee.

"Until he gives the order, I won't let you leave."

"Byakugan, activate!"

She assumed her Gentle Fist stance and rushed toward the Sunagakure jonin.

On Yusuke's side, it was like a cat playing with a mouse; he nimbly dodged Pakura's techniques and evaded her attacks.

Pakura's forehead was covered in sweat, though not from excessive exertion.

It was because every time she tried to use the fireballs behind her for a sneak attack, Yusuke seemed to know her trump cards in advance, always managing to dodge ahead of time.

It gave her a sense of powerlessness, as if she were striking at cotton.

When Pakura attacked Yusuke again and was dodged, she left an opening in her defense.

"Five Elements Seal!"

Yusuke seized the moment, condensing chakra into his fingertips before pressing them directly against Pakura's dantian.

Pakura suffered a sudden, heavy blow and was sent flying backward.

Her smooth back slammed into a tree trunk, and a mouthful of blood instantly sprayed from her lips.

"Is there no escape left?"

Realizing her fate, Pakura's gaze hardened; she gripped her kunai and drove it toward her own head.

She had actually intended to destroy her own neural pathways.

"Even in death, you won't get a shred of intelligence from me!" she roared.

"Sigh, women like you are truly troublesome."

Yusuke sheathed his greatsword, flashed forward, and pinned her wrists above her head against the tree.

As their eyes met, Pakura's pupils constricted.

Then, with a series of sharp cracks, Yusuke forcibly dislocated Pakura's shoulders and jaw.

A whimper escaped her throat, but she stifled it by sheer force of will, glaring at Yusuke with unyielding hatred.

"You leave me no choice; you forced my hand."

Yusuke pulled out a rope and bound the restless young woman tightly.

It must be said, ever since his experience with the Amegakure ninja, he had become quite proficient at this.

With that finished, Yusuke looked toward Hyuga Aya, whose battle was also nearing its end.

The Sunagakure jonin had multiple chakra nodes severed by the Gentle Fist, rendering him unable to circulate his own chakra.

Now, he could only rely on taijutsu to fight Hyuga Aya.

However, trying to outmatch the Hyuga Clan in taijutsu was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Sure enough, with a loud thud, the Sunagakure jonin took another heavy strike to the abdomen, spinning through the air before crashing into a tree behind him.

After that intimate encounter with the trunk, the Sunagakure jonin rolled his eyes back and fainted.

"You wasted too much time, Aya," Yusuke remarked.

For once, Hyuga Aya didn't remain silent; she retorted immediately.

"If we're talking about wasting time, Captain, you spent far more on that woman."

With a cold expression, she ignored Yusuke and walked straight toward the unconscious Sunagakure jonin to tie him up as well.

Yusuke scratched his head tactically: "What's gotten into her?"

Forget it, never mind.

Yusuke took the intelligence scroll out from his robes again. Hyuga Aya looked over, noticing his intent to open it.

She urged anxiously: "What are you doing? Intelligence scrolls usually have seals; if you open it, it will self-destruct."

However, as Yusuke opened it, nothing happened—it was just a blank, ordinary scroll.

"As I thought, the real intelligence scroll is in his own hands," Yusuke sneered.

"Then that guy Inuzuka Go..." Before Hyuga Aya could finish, Yusuke interrupted her.

"He should be fine. Didn't we lure the enemies onto this route?"

"This size of a ninja squad is more than enough to pursue Miyazaki Kenta, that heavily wounded guy."

"They should have reached the rendezvous point at the stone mountain by now," Yusuke speculated.

Upon hearing this, Pakura's eyes filled with contempt: "Self-righteous fool. Do you really think everything is going according to your plan?"

This was the only chance she had left to mock Yusuke.

Yusuke sensed the location of his Flying Thunder God Kunai, and his brows furrowed deeply.

"Why isn't Go's position in the north? Why is he appearing... in the south?"

He looked at Pakura, noticing her look of disdain.

"Could it be... that you weren't the only squad pursuing us?"

Yusuke grabbed her by the throat, lifted her up, and asked coldly.

Pakura's face flushed red from the lack of air, yet she still maintained that look of scorn.

"Hmph!" Yusuke threw her to the ground. "I'll find out soon enough."

He walked over to the unconscious jonin and pressed his palm against the man's forehead.

"Ninja Art: Mind Reading Technique!"