Scorch Release Backlash! Pinning the She-Devil to the Ground

Pakura had no intention of wasting words on Qian Ye.

Four bright white fireballs suddenly swelled in midair, carrying heat intense enough to warp the air as they hurtled straight at Qian Ye's face.

Qian Ye's scalp went numb as he poured chakra into his legs.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

He stamped the ground ten times in rapid succession, turning into an afterimage as he forcibly shifted five meters to the left.

Boom!

A huge crater exploded where he had been standing. The rocks in the ground melted into scorching lava, and flying fragments grazed Qian Ye's cheek, searing a bloody mark into it.

"Dodge?" Pakura floated in midair, her hands rapidly forming seals. "In this box, let's see where you can run!"

The space inside the canyon had already been cramped, and the Four Violet Flame Formation sealed off every side.

With a flick of Pakura's finger, more than a dozen smaller fireballs converged from all directions, cutting off every possible route of escape for Qian Ye.

With nowhere to evade, Qian Ye could only draw his revolver and fire twice at the two leading fireballs.

The bullets pierced through the fireballs, barely dispersing some of the heat, but they could not stop the fireballs from closing in.

A wave of heat rushed over him, curling and scorching Qian Ye's hair.

Three minutes.

Orochimaru had said he only needed to hold her off for three minutes.

But not even thirty seconds had passed, and Qian Ye already felt like he was about to be roasted alive.

"I'll fucking take you with me!" Qian Ye gritted his teeth, pulled out three Explosive Tags, and prepared to tie them to kunai for a head-on clash.

Just then, Pakura suddenly let out a muffled groan in midair.

The dozen fireballs that were about to strike Qian Ye abruptly froze in the air.

Qian Ye paused, then looked up.

Pakura's face had turned terrifyingly pale. Her body swayed violently in midair, and the chakra barrier she had maintained around herself collapsed on the spot.

She suddenly clutched her chest and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Before the blood could hit the ground, the heat radiating from her body evaporated it into a cloud of crimson mist.

The fireballs floating throughout the canyon lost control and crashed into the violet flames on both sides one after another, setting off a chain of violent explosions.

Pakura fell straight out of the air.

With a dull thud.

She slammed into the scorching sand, curling into a ball as she convulsed in agony.

Holding the Explosive Tags, Qian Ye stood where he was and did not dare move.

What was this woman playing at?

A fake surrender?

A ploy to gain sympathy?

Qian Ye cautiously took two steps forward, his revolver steadily aimed at Pakura's head.

As he drew closer, Qian Ye finally saw Pakura's current condition clearly.

Her backless combat uniform had been soaked through with sweat, while large patches of exposed skin had taken on an eerie dark-red hue.

That red had not come from being burned by fire.

It was seeping out from beneath her skin.

The moisture on her body was evaporating at a visible rate. She had shriveled noticeably, and her breathing came in ragged gasps like a broken bellows.

"Cough, cough..." Pakura spat out another bloody mouthful of saliva. It hit the ground with a sizzle and was quickly baked dry.

Qian Ye recalled the black booklet Orochimaru had given him the night before.

It contained a passage on chakra nature conflicts.

A Bloodline Limit combining wind and fire possessed immense power, but it was extremely prone to backlash.

If the user forcibly overextended their chakra, the fire nature would overwhelm the wind nature, scorching the meridians with high heat and causing the moisture inside the cells to evaporate on its own.

So this was Scorch Release's hidden flaw!

Qian Ye suddenly understood.

No wonder Sunagakure's upper ranks had so readily sold Pakura to Hidden Mist as a political bargaining chip in the original story.

Those old foxes, Rasa and Ebizo, must have known about this flaw long ago.

A ticking bomb that could suffer backlash at any moment and burn itself to ash, in exchange for a ceasefire agreement with Hidden Mist—politicians would consider that an incredible bargain.

Qian Ye looked at Pakura rolling around in agony on the ground, his finger resting on the revolver's trigger.

If he pulled the trigger now, this she-devil who had shattered Hidden Leaf's right-wing defensive line would die on the spot.

Twenty-three Sunagakure shinobi, plus a berserk Shadow Level powerhouse.

That achievement alone would be enough for him to swagger through Hidden Leaf.

But the next instant, Qian Ye's gaze fell on the violet flame formation trembling all around them.

The Scorch Release chakra inside Pakura was still running wild.

If she died here, that out-of-control heat might not immediately fade away.

If her Scorch Release went berserk in one final burst before death, then inside this sealed box, Qian Ye would be turned into a dried corpse along with her.

Besides, a dead Pakura was merely a military achievement.

A living Pakura, however, was Sunagakure's hero—a bargaining chip that neither Chiyo nor Rasa could easily abandon.

Intelligence, a hostage, a crack within Sunagakure.

Every one of those was worth more than a corpse.

Qian Ye took a deep breath, lowered the gun barrel, and finally put the revolver back into his Ninja Tool Pouch.

"You bitch!"

Qian Ye stuffed the Explosive Tags back into his pouch and strode over to Pakura.

Sensing someone approaching, Pakura forced herself to lift her head.

Her normally proud eyes were now bloodshot.

"Hidden Leaf dog..." Pakura gritted her teeth, her voice hoarse beyond recognition. "Get lost... or I'll burn you with me..."

Qian Ye rolled his eyes.

"Ma'am, you're about to roast yourself into jerky, and you're still talking tough?"

Qian Ye crouched down and reached for Pakura's shoulder.

The moment he touched her skin, Qian Ye sucked in a sharp breath.

Hot!

It was like touching a red-hot branding iron.

Pakura struggled desperately, trying to throw off Qian Ye's hand.

"Don't touch me!"

The remaining chakra within her instinctively tried to retaliate, and a weak flame flickered in her palm.

Qian Ye did not indulge her. He grabbed her wrist with his other hand and forcefully pressed it to the ground.

"Stay still!"

Qian Ye shouted as he mobilized the water-nature chakra he had only recently tested.

Though he had little chakra, Orochimaru's notes had greatly refined his control.

Water-nature chakra flowed from Qian Ye's palm and was forcibly injected into the meridians in Pakura's wrist.

Sizzle!

A plume of white smoke rose from Pakura's wrist.

The instant the water-nature chakra entered her meridians, it was immediately met with a fierce counterattack from fire-nature chakra.

Cold sweat broke out on Qian Ye's forehead.

This woman's chakra was too overbearing.

Qian Ye immediately changed tactics.

Rather than confronting it head-on, he dispersed his water-nature chakra into countless tiny threads, letting them slowly travel along the inner walls of Pakura's damaged meridians.

Water nourished; wind dispersed heat.

At the same time, Qian Ye mobilized wind-nature chakra and, working together with the water nature, barely formed a miniature cooling cycle inside Pakura's body.

Pakura's violently struggling body froze.

The excruciating pain that felt as though it would burn through all her internal organs actually eased slightly.

A cool sensation spread from her wrist throughout her body, and her parched meridians received long-awaited nourishment.

She stared at Qian Ye's face only inches away, shock filling her expression.

"You... what are you doing?"

Qian Ye held Pakura's wrist down, pouring water-nature chakra into her as though it cost nothing.

Pakura gasped from the pain and instinctively tried to pull her hand back.

"Let go!" Pakura gritted out, weakness lacing her voice.

"Like hell I will!" Qian Ye pressed down harder, using his knee to pin her wildly kicking leg and hold her against the ground.

"If you keep struggling, your meridians will burn through, and you'll be crippled for the rest of your life!"