Stepping on Your Left Foot With Your Right

He first carefully cleaned the wounds with disinfectant, keeping his movements as gentle as possible. Yet even unconscious, Pakura let out involuntary groans of pain, her body trembling slightly.

During the process, it was unavoidable that he would touch her smooth back and waist.

Pakura had an excellent figure. Her skin, firm and elastic from years of training, now carried an unhealthy pallor beneath the lamplight.

The contrast with her gruesome wounds created an indescribable visual impact.

But Zhen Yan had no distracting thoughts at the moment. All his attention was focused on how to keep her alive.

This concerned not only a human life, but also the system reward he had been looking forward to!

This was Scorch Release! Scorch Release!

Another bloodline limit—how could he possibly let it slip away?

He carefully cleaned the wounds, searched for and removed foreign objects embedded in her body, used a scalpel to treat damaged organs and tissue, then stitched her up.

He carried out every step with exceptional care and slowness, fine beads of sweat forming across his forehead.

This took more mental effort than any battle he had ever experienced.

The most crucial step was dealing with the internal bleeding and organ trauma caused by the deepest penetrating wound.

Zhen Yan knew conventional methods would struggle to work quickly. It was time to use his "trump card."

Mystical Palm Technique X1→Mystical Palm Technique X0

Without any buildup, a soft green chakra glow brimming with vitality lit up in his palm.

He immediately placed it slowly over Pakura's most serious back wound.

Like the most precise loom, the green light visibly repaired damaged tissue, stimulated cellular activity, and forcibly stabilized the life force on the verge of collapse.

Pakura's previously faint breathing finally became a little steadier and stronger.

Zhen Yan had originally worried whether the duration of this ninjutsu would be enough.

Unexpectedly, the two globes of light from the Mystical Palm Technique were like lamps illuminating the night, enduring without end.

Understanding immediately dawned on him: the chakra supply for this trial technique was equal to the total amount of his replicated chakra.

Moreover, when Zhen Yan fed in the chakra currently within his own body, the Mystical Palm Technique's glow grew even stronger.

So inputting chakra can sustain and strengthen these trial techniques!

That was truly wonderful news!

He had so much chakra. In the future, not only would these techniques possess considerable power, they could also be temporarily enhanced.

It was practically stepping on his left foot with his right and spiraling straight into the sky!

Only then did Zhen Yan finally let out a long breath, the tension in his mind easing.

With the Mystical Palm Technique's extended use, Zhen Yan could even see the injured areas healing rapidly.

The internal bleeding also swiftly diminished until it stopped completely.

Only then did he belatedly realize that nearly all of Pakura's fair, smooth back, along with parts of her waist and chest, had been exposed for treatment.

Those breathtaking curves and delicate skin were laid bare before his eyes without the slightest concealment.

Whoa! That figure is incredible!

Zhen Yan inevitably took another look, then shook his head and cleared the stray thoughts from his mind.

What am I thinking? I'm a doctor right now.

He calmed himself, picked up the clean bandages prepared nearby, and began Pakura's final dressing.

However, his movements were even more hurried than when he had performed the surgery.

At last, the layers of bandages covered that expanse of heart-stirring pale skin, and only then did Zhen Yan breathe a sigh of relief.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. Chakra consumption was secondary; the real problem was the exhaustion from maintaining such intense concentration.

"Her life... is safe for now."

Seeing Pakura's breathing settle, he relaxed as well.

He hesitated slightly, then placed a hand on Pakura's shoulder and opened his Mangekyo Sharingan.

While Zhen Yan was busy saving someone, a decisive purge was also unfolding in a secret underground base within the Hidden Mist Village.

Taking advantage of Mei Terumi and the others tracking down Suikazan Fuguki's whereabouts, Yagura Karatachi launched a lightning assault on his stronghold.

Battle erupted within the sealed underground facility, and it was exceptionally brutal.

"Yagura Karatachi! Do you think recovering means you can securely hold the Mizukage's seat?"

Suikazan Fuguki's corpulent body moved with agility utterly disproportionate to his size.

Wielding Samehada, wrapped in bandages, he charged forward with wild laughter.

"Let me show you why I was able to lead the Cipher Division!"

Samehada tore through the air, smashing toward Yagura with the savage intent to devour chakra.

Yet a cold smile appeared on Yagura Karatachi's face.

"Idiot."

He no longer held back. A dark red Three-Tails chakra cloak faintly emerged around him, and the powerful tailed beast chakra spread outward!

The previously ferocious Samehada began shaking violently, its blade-body covered in barbs suddenly bursting open.

"Argh!"

Suikazan Fuguki's arm was immediately pierced through!

Samehada broke free from him, making cheerful "wala, wala" noises as it rubbed itself against the Three-Tails chakra surrounding Yagura—the chakra that filled it with overwhelming familiarity and longing.

"What's going on?! Samehada! How dare you..."

Blood poured from Suikazan Fuguki's hand. He was both shocked and enraged; his greatest reliance had "betrayed" him at the critical moment!

That instant of vulnerability was fatal.

Yagura calmly seized the opportunity. Gripping his hooked staff, he lunged forward like a phantom.

"Splat—"

The sharp hooked staff precisely pierced Suikazan Fuguki's heart while his mind was in turmoil over Samehada's betrayal.

Yagura sneered. "You never fought me back then, so you don't even know where Samehada came from, do you?"

Suikazan Fuguki's eyes widened, and his massive body crashed to the ground, unable to rest in peace.

Until his death, he could not understand why Samehada, which had accompanied him for so many years, had abandoned him at the most crucial moment.

With Suikazan Fuguki dead, the battle swiftly came to an end.

The remaining Cipher Division members looked at their fallen leader, then at the Fourth Mizukage holding his hooked staff, his chakra terrifying enough to make their hearts tremble. Most chose to surrender.

Meanwhile, another group of Cipher Division members off to the side had already begun cheering.

They were all loyal to Yagura Karatachi, after all. Suikazan Fuguki had always made them kill their own comrades.

Many had been deeply repulsed by it. Now that he was dead, they naturally cheered in celebration.

Yagura's chakra cloak extended outward and fed some chakra to Samehada.

Samehada visibly swelled at a rapid pace, as though it had eaten its fill.

It even let out a burp before flopping onto the ground without moving.

Yagura picked up Samehada, glanced first at Zabuza, then casually tossed it to Kisame.

"You are better suited to this blade."

Kisame caught Samehada, and a surge of chakra flowed into him. The injuries he had just received healed in an instant.

Feeling the pulse from the blade, faintly resonating with his own chakra,

he opened his mouth, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. "Thank you, Lord Mizukage."

From among the Cipher Division crowd, a pretty female ninja with chestnut-colored long hair could not help but hurry forward.

She stuck out her tongue at Kisame. "Big Brother Kisame, we can eat together this time, right?"

Thinking of how he had nearly silenced the girl before him during their last mission, Kisame felt a shiver run through his heart.

Fortunately, fortunately, the Mizukage had stopped him.

"Sure."