Chapter Text
Use long-range combat to exhaust Pakura's chakra, then finish with the Coral Water Cannon Technique.
The tactic worked.
Yagura thought to himself.
Should be fine now, right?
He watched for several seconds, confirming Pakura hadn't fled and had truly lost the ability to move.
Yagura emerged from the darkness, approaching slowly, every sense alert.
The wound where the high-pressure water jet had pierced Pakura's shoulder ran deep. The iron-rust smell of blood hung thick in the air.
In just moments, her right arm and the left hand pressed against the wound were soaked red.
Seeing Yagura walk toward her, Pakura clutched her shoulder and struggled to her feet, lips curling into a mocking sneer. "Heh, finally willing to get a little closer?"
Yagura paid no mind to her hostile tone.
They'd just fought with intent to kill. This verbal jab was far gentler than Scorch Release.
Yagura was troubled over how to handle Pakura.
Kill her? Or...
His steps slowed, then slowed again. He gazed at Pakura with hesitation.
As the distance between them shrank, the hostility and killing intent in his stance and eyes grew weaker.
What was he planning?
Yagura's footsteps stopped one meter away from Pakura.
This female hero of Sunagakure had a story steeped in tragedy.
Her hands were stained with Mist ninja blood. The Fourth Kazekage and Sand's high council crowned her a hero of Sunagakure.
All at the behest of the Fourth Kazekage and Sunagakure's leadership.
For the good of Sunagakure.
Her life was sold as a gift to Kirigakure without her knowledge, traded for peace between the villages.
In the Fourth Shinobi World War, after being revived by Kabuto using Impure World Reincarnation, she went on a killing spree to exact revenge on Sand and Mist.
On the battlefield, she encountered her own student.
Witnessing her student's growth in combat, Pakura ultimately chose to give the Allied Shinobi Forces a chance.
In the end, as Impure World Reincarnation was released, her soul ascended.
"Hey, brat, what's with that look?" Pakura frowned, interrupting Yagura's recollection. Her voice could have frozen steel. "Pitying me?"
Yagura cast aside the plot details about Pakura. The water blade in his hand pointed at her. "Well, you lost, Pakura."
Pakura glanced at the exquisitely shaped, razor-sharp water blade. No panic showed on her face, as if she'd already accepted reality. "How do you plan to deal with me?"
Her hand kept a firm grip on her kunai.
If Yagura made any sudden move, she wouldn't hesitate to pierce her own neck.
Since Kirigakure implemented its closed-border policy, any foreign ninja captured within the Land of Water faced only one fate.
Having every technique extracted by the intelligence division, then execution.
"Well, if you could surrender, that would be best. I personally prefer that route."
Yagura gave a helpless smile. "Unfortunately, you won't make that choice. And Kirigakure would never accept a Sand hero whose hands are soaked in Mist ninja blood."
He was conflicted.
As a Mist ninja, as a shinobi, he should kill Pakura.
"Honestly, I really don't want to kill you."
Pakura's brow furrowed deeply.
She couldn't understand how Yagura could think this way.
Was this something a ninja would say?
But it was true. She felt no killing intent from Yagura.
And Yagura wasn't lying.
Precisely because she trusted her ability to detect a brat's lies, Pakura found this absurd.
She watched him silently, slipping her hand into her ninja tool pouch.
Perhaps in the future, you'll still die the same way, sent by the Fourth Kazekage as a bargaining chip.
The Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, the value king, would never disappoint.
Confidence settled in her chest.
Yagura took a deep breath and made his decision. "Agree to one thing, and I'll let you go."
"Want to know Sunagakure's secrets? Bloodline limits? Puppet techniques?"
Pakura scoffed, swapping the kunai hidden behind her back for a smoke bomb. "Sorry, but I'm no coward who sells out her village to cling to life."
"Ask you about those? I might as well ask what scandals the Third and Fourth Kazekage have."
Ahem. Getting off track.
"From now on, don't come to the Land of Water again. Don't accept missions that conflict with Kirigakure. And above all, don't kill a single Mist ninja."
Well, next time you set foot in the Land of Water, you'll probably be sent here by the Fourth Kazekage.
By then, you'll die sacrificed by the Kazekage and Sand's leadership, an even more unjust death.
I've already told you not to come to the Land of Water. If you get revived by Impure World Reincarnation after dying in the future, don't go blaming Mist.
Pakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why?"
"Don't ask so many whys. Just take it that I find you agreeable!"
Yagura stepped back twice, his gaze flicking away and back. "If you feel indebted, next time we meet, you can wear that outfit of yours inside out for me."
My outfit, inside out?
Pakura's thoughts overloaded, led along by this Mist child.
The young, beautiful female Sand ninja seriously considered what her cool, backless outfit would look like worn inside out.
Backless, so inside out, what would be exposed would be...
"Lewd little brat!"
Realizing she'd been teased!
Pakura cursed in shame and fury. "So young and already learning bad things!"
"Eheh."
The brat who said he'd let her go made no further moves.
He kept a safe distance, maintaining basic vigilance against counterattack.
Pakura offered cold advice. "Brat, you're too naive. You're not suited to be a ninja."
Was it because of this child's age?
After graduating, Pakura had only seen such naivety in her own students.
Yagura shrugged. "Maybe."
In the original story, wasn't Naruto Uzumaki naive too? He later became the strongest ninja in the shinobi world.
On the contrary, those who prided themselves on cold-bloodedness,Zabuza at the start, young Kakashi, Obito later—all got talk-no-jutsued in the end.
Wanting to let Pakura go, yes, there's a part of me that's rather naive.
But since I dare let you go, it's largely because of that value king in your village.
The dismissive smile on Yagura's face was interpreted by Pakura as him not taking her advice to heart.
"Your demands, I may not be able to fulfill them."
After saying this, Pakura found herself ridiculous.
She'd just lectured Yagura not to be naive, yet here she was, naively wanting to keep her promise to him.
"Which missions are assigned to me is often the village's decision. I can only guarantee I won't actively accept Mist-related missions."
As for specific missions, you may not even know.
"Ah, is that so?"
FENGFENGGGGGGGGG!
A hatchet hurtled at the back of Pakura's head! The sound of splitting air roared!
Yagura saw it. His body moved faster than thought, leaping past Pakura.
Water converged. A water blade formed instantly to parry the short axe!
Deflected!
Landing from the impact, Yagura's hand went numb from the overpowering force on the axe blade.
Recognizing the attacker's face, Yagura urged her in a low voice. "Go. I'll handle this."
The newcomer roared in fury. "Yagura Karatachi! Do you know what you're doing?!"
"I know perfectly well, Uncle Tsukusa."
Yagura signaled with his eyes at the gravely wounded female Sand ninja.
Since he'd decided to spare Pakura, he could only see it through to the end.
Ha. Feels a bit like Chen Gong facing Cao Cao at Lu Boshe's house.
Pakura glanced at Tsukusa Yairo, saw the bloodstains on the two genin behind him, and understood her teammates had most likely already died.
Her mission had failed. Staying here held no meaning.
She looked at Yagura one last time. "Thank you."
Without lingering, she turned and fled in the opposite direction.
Narrowly escaping with her life.
The water blade deflected Tsukusa Yairo's thrown short axe back again. This time, without the hasty block, it was much easier.
With no worries behind her, Pakura swiftly escaped into the unseen darkness.
Tsukusa Yairo reeled back his short axe, forcibly suppressing the rage to cleave Yagura in two with Kabutowari. "You let Pakura of the Scorch Release go!"
"Yes."
Yagura couldn't deny the established fact. "Our mission is complete. Pakura fled heavily wounded, her two teammates are dead, her mission failed."
"Pakura's life is mine. How to deal with her is my prerogative."
Seeing Tsukusa Yairo, Yagura was furious, deliberately stressing his words to confront him head-on. "Uncle, you're late by more than just a little."
I fought her for this long just now. Where were you?
And now you show up to pick the fruit?
Have you no shame?