I Said They'd Come Begging Me

At this moment, Hidden Cloud truly had no time left.

Judging by the battle reports being sent back, Hidden Cloud ninja were dying in the Heavenly White Mountains every minute, every second.

Though the Third Raikage was known as the strongest Raikage, even he struggled to stand alone against the siege of over ten thousand ninja.

Onoki had originally intended to swallow up the Third Raikage and Hidden Cloud. After being provoked by Sora like this, he had completely gone mad, launching attacks against them without regard for cost or consequences.

The higher-ups finally realized it too late.

Sora, who had long anticipated this, was leisurely stretching his body, now filled with tailed-beast chakra, while instructing Samui and Pakura in his courtyard.

"Those so-called little clown tricks of yours were utterly ridiculous. Aside from arousing the enemy's interest, they were completely useless—a sword that gets villains excited."

"A master once said that true ninja should play to their strengths, avoid their weaknesses, and find their own path."

"Not blindly listen to whatever their teacher says. That's the behavior of an idiot."

"Pakura, you too. Listen carefully."

Pakura's Iron Armor Seal had already been removed by Sora in the courtyard.

It was not because Sora wanted her to do anything. Rather, without chakra reinforcement, Pakura simply could not endure his whipping with his physical strength.

At Sora's instruction, she now demonstrated her strongest technique.

"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"

A blazing fireball shot from Pakura's hand and crashed onto the open ground before her.

The scorching heat instantly evaporated every trace of moisture in the earth, leaving behind a hole in the ground. Sora shook his head at the sight.

"The essence of your Scorch Release is a fusion of wind and fire nature transformations. Its defining trait is 'instantaneously evaporating moisture.'"

"Yet, constrained by your rigid preconceptions of established ninjutsu, you have developed only this level of offensive technique."

"Then what do you think I should do?" Pakura asked, somewhat unconvinced.

Scorch Release was an exceptionally rare kekkei genkai. Though it was a bloodline limit of Hidden Sand, there were very few inheritors.

Moreover, her former teachers had all told her that one perfected move was enough to conquer the world, that skill was not about quantity but mastery. As long as one fully learned and mastered a single technique, that was already outstanding.

"If your chakra were sufficiently vast, then whatever you did would be correct. But do you have that level of chakra?" Sora asked calmly.

Pakura's expression froze.

"Since you don't, you must make good use of every strand of chakra and bring out its greatest value."

"First, in terms of shape transformation."

"A sphere has a limited attack range. In my opinion, you could develop multiple forms such as rays, clouds of mist, and shields, using them to bring out Scorch Release's high-temperature properties."

In truth, the kekkei genkai and release techniques of this world were like the fruits in that neighboring pirate world.

What mattered was how one developed them.

The greater one's imagination regarding kekkei genkai and release techniques, the more comprehensive the abilities one could develop.

For example, the Chidori Kakashi taught Sasuke had been continuously developed into all kinds of techniques—Chidori Current, Chidori Blade, Chidori Sharp Spear—and in the later stages, even Kirin, which could draw upon the natural power of heaven and earth.

All of those were the results of constantly developing a release technique.

Of course, if you had the Young Master's chakra-ton reserves, then forget I said anything.

"Scorch Release can be considered strong or weak. Its only defining trait is high temperature!"

"Look past the surface to see the essence. Once you understand its core trait, our possibilities become much broader."

"By compressing chakra into rays, you can achieve long-range, precise eliminations similar to Dust Release."

"By dispersing chakra, you can create a dry, high-temperature mist or field containing Scorch Release chakra, continuously evaporating the moisture on enemies' skin within its range, disrupting their breathing, weakening their stamina, and suppressing them through the environment."

"You can form a shield of rapidly rotating high-temperature airflow around your body, combining defense—evaporating incoming attacks such as water streams and poisonous mist—with close-range lethality, since contact immediately causes dehydration."

"You could even attach Scorch Release chakra to weapons, allowing ordinary attacks to carry an 'evaporation' effect. Even a graze could be fatal!"

"Of course, that only covers combat. You can also develop it in other directions. For example, in medicine, Scorch Release's high-temperature properties could be highly effective at sterilizing and disinfecting. You could even try influencing the weather, come into contact with Sage Mode, fuse other natures to develop a kekkei tōta, and so on..."

As they watched Sora speak so eloquently, Samui and Pakura were completely dumbfounded.

Did you have Scorch Release, or did I? Why did it feel like you understood it better than I did?!

The two women exchanged glances. Only now did they truly feel Sora's extraordinary brilliance and terror.

Pakura and Sora had only known each other for a dozen or so days. Before that, Sora had never even heard of Pakura's existence.

Yet after only those brief dozen days of contact, Sora had already formed a rough idea of how to develop Scorch Release.

What, did he gain experience from drilling every night?

"In short, if you want to develop your Scorch Release, the key lies in chakra control, then expanding into shape transformation, environmental control, tactical integration, and special applications."

"As long as you can bring these areas to their limits, then in the future, you will become a top-tier ninja capable of controlling the battlefield environment, efficiently eliminating powerful enemies, and possessing unique tactical value."

"Its potential is enough to reach Kage level, or even higher!"

"I-I understand..."

Pakura nodded, seeming to understand but not quite.

But at this moment, her thoughts were not focused on the development of her Release techniques. Instead, they were fixed on the man before her.

Looking at the tall man before her, her heart had never stirred like this before.

Not only did this guy possess a perfect body, he also had such a meticulous heart.

His nightly whippings were downright violent, yet his understanding of her had silently reached such an astonishingly detailed level...

The flutter in her heart made Pakura's gaze toward Sora grow increasingly heated.

"Th-then what about me?"

Samui gathered her courage and asked.

As Sora spoke at length, he had laid out Pakura's future direction of development and even the possibilities for developing her kekkei genkai.

But what about her?

"You?"

Sora clicked his tongue, his gaze lingering for a moment on Samui's increasingly prominent assets.

He truly did not think Samui had the potential or ability to become an exceptional ninja. With a figure like that, wouldn't she be better off staying by his side as a little secretary...

"Mm... You should first refine your chakra and build a solid foundation..."

"Sora!"

Suddenly, an aged cry interrupted the conversation between the three.

One old and one young figure appeared outside the courtyard.

Seeing the two of them, Sora raised an eyebrow slightly, then smiled at Samui and Pakura beside him as though no one else were present.

"I told you they would come begging me."