Fuguki gripped the Samehada, its bandage-wrapped form resting heavily in his massive hands. At over two meters tall, his imposing frame exuded a suffocating pressure.
Wielding Samehada, he was widely recognized as the strongest among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Previously, six of the seven legendary swords had been confiscated by Danzo, leaving Kirigakure without its famed swordsmen. Even Fuguki himself had been significantly weakened.
But after paying a hefty price, Kirigakure successfully reclaimed these long-standing weapons from Danzo's grasp.
Now, with Samehada back in his hands, Fuguki felt unstoppable again.
He grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, his presence as terrifying as a demon returning from the depths of hell.
"You pathetic wretch, abandoned by your own people! Today, you'll kneel before my blade!"
With a cruel laugh, he swung Samehada toward his target.
The bandages unraveled, revealing jagged barbs that turned the blade into a living weapon—shredding everything in its path like a monstrous saw.
The lingering mist in the air was effortlessly torn apart by the razor-sharp spikes.
Fuguki charged at Pakura like a frenzied berserker, launching a relentless assault.
Pakura, clutching her wound, had no intention of engaging directly. She retreated swiftly, dodging each strike with nimble movements.
Though Fuguki was overwhelmingly powerful, his large frame made him slower than Pakura.
His Samehada cleaved through one massive tree after another, but he failed to land a decisive blow.
Moving like a phantom, Pakura weaved through the battlefield, while from her fingertips, bright orange flames flickered to life.
She pressed them against her wounded arm, cauterizing the injury to stop the bleeding.
A blackened scar marred her otherwise flawless, porcelain-like skin.
Yet, she paid it no mind.
Her heart was consumed by betrayal, sorrow, and fury.
Getting out of here—uncovering the truth—was now her only goal.
Suddenly, a dark figure emerged from the mist.
This time, the one attacking was none other than the "Prodigy of the Ninja Blades," Mangetsu Hōzuki.
His title came from his extraordinary talent.
After Kirigakure reclaimed its swords, Yagura Karatachi, the Fourth Mizukage, sought to strengthen the village's forces. He reinstated the selection process for the Seven Swordsmen.
Mangetsu was the brightest star of the new generation.
In mere moments, he mastered nearly all the swords—except Samehada and Executioner's Blade.
Because of this, he was known as "The Prodigy Beloved by the Ninja Blades."
Now, he stood before Pakura, wielding the Hiramekarei, a bizarre twin-blade infused with concentrated chakra.
The weapon glowed with a spectral blue light, as though it were ablaze with ghostly flames.
With a powerful swing, he brought the twin blades crashing down.
This time, Pakura did not flee.
Instead, she used a sudden maneuver—pushing off a tree branch, she twisted mid-air and plunged toward the ground.
Dodging Mangetsu's strike, she landed gracefully, her hands forming a series of seals at lightning speed.
"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
She unleashed her signature jutsu—one known for its devastating efficiency.
Immediately, Scorch Release chakra surged from her body, pouring out of her tenketsu points.
In an instant, several floating, orange-red fire orbs formed around her.
The moment these fireballs appeared, they created vacuum pockets in the mist surrounding them.
This was precisely why Kirigakure was determined to eliminate Pakura.
Her Scorch Release had an overwhelming advantage against Water Release, making her a direct threat.
Under Pakura's precise control, the fireballs shot toward Mangetsu Hōzuki at an astonishing speed—like ghostly flames dancing in the darkness.
Mangetsu quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A surge of water rose up, forming a thick, protective barrier in front of him.
Against an ordinary Fire Release attack, this would have been the perfect counter.
Unfortunately for him, this was Scorch Release—the Water Release Killer, a Bloodline Limit feared for its sheer destructive power.
The moment the fireballs made contact, the frontmost two evaporated the water wall instantly.
And the rest continued their relentless charge.
With no other option, Mangetsu was forced to retreat, weaving between the trees in a desperate attempt to dodge.
The orange-red fireballs struck the trees, instantly draining them of moisture, reducing them to lifeless husks.
The terrifying power made Mangetsu's eyelids twitch.
But soon, a heavy realization settled in—he was surrounded.
At some point, Pakura had maneuvered behind him, hurling more fireballs straight at him.
"Evaporate, you damn Kirigakure ninja!"
Though she resented her own village for betraying her, Pakura harbored no sympathy for those trying to kill her either.
Feeling the scorching heat rushing toward him, Mangetsu had no choice but to channel chakra into his twin blades, hoping that a powerful counterattack could stop Pakura's assault.
Luckily for him, Fuguki arrived just in time.
"You fool from the Hōzuki clan! Your Hydrification Technique is useless against this woman."
The Hōzuki Clan's secret technique, Hydrification, was a near-absolute defense against physical attacks.
But Scorch Release was its natural weakness. If even a single fireball hit him, his liquefied body would be instantly evaporated.
However, Samehada wasn't afraid.
Fuguki swung his massive sword, smashing into the incoming fireballs.
Each time Samehada made contact, it absorbed the chakra within the fireballs, neutralizing their power before swatting them away.
Thanks to Samehada's ability to drain chakra, these attacks posed no real threat to it.
After deflecting several fireballs, Pakura suddenly lunged forward.
Then, her entire body swelled up before exploding into a massive surge of Scorch Release flames!
Fuguki had no time to dodge—his only option was to raise Samehada in front of him, using its chakra-draining properties as a shield.
After all, this was the same creature that could absorb a Tailed Beast Bomb in the original story.
If it could handle that, a few Scorch Release explosions were nothing.
Sure enough, under Samehada's protection, Fuguki emerged unscathed.
The only consequence was that the bandages wrapping Samehada had completely burned away, leaving the sword's true form fully exposed.
"Hah! If that's the best you can do, you're no match for Samehada!" Fuguki sneered triumphantly.
But in his hands, Samehada writhed in discomfort—it clearly disliked Scorch Release attacks.
To be precise, it had an aversion to absorbing any fire-based techniques.
Though it could still siphon the chakra, the heat itself caused it pain—after all, at its core, Samehada was still a fish, and direct exposure to fire was agony.
Fuguki, however, failed to notice—or perhaps he simply didn't care.
To him, Samehada was just a weapon.
The moment he neutralized the explosion, he hoisted Samehada onto his shoulder and charged after Pakura again.
Mangetsu followed close behind, his eyes filled with desire as he stared at Samehada.
On the other side, Pakura, using her Scorch Release Clone to stall the enemy, pushed herself to the absolute limits of her speed.
She refused to die here.
She still had to return, uncover the truth, and take revenge.
She couldn't afford to fall here!
With that unwavering determination, she sprinted forward, desperately trying to escape the oasis.
But unfortunately, a wave of enemies appeared ahead, shattering her hopes.
Countless kunai shot out from the trees, each one locking onto her with deadly precision.
"So they're trying to drain my chakra? How cautious."
Pakura clenched her teeth.
Even though they had a clear advantage, they were still playing it safe.
They weren't giving her even the slightest chance to survive.
If Yagura knew what she was thinking, he'd probably tell her to thank a certain old man from Konoha.
It was that man's lessons that had taught Yagura to be so methodical, so cautious.
He wasn't taking any risks—not after what had happened last time against Konoha.
But no matter what, there was no room to dodge in the face of such an overwhelming barrage of kunai.
Even if she didn't want to, she had no choice but to burn chakra for defense.
More fireballs materialized around her.
But instead of launching an attack, they formed a defensive barrier, intercepting the incoming kunai.
Pakura didn't counterattack.
She had only one goal: escape.
But Kirigakure had gone through far too much effort—there was no way they'd let her go.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Mei Terumī made her move.
Her elegant hands came together in a swift sequence of seals—using a jutsu that normally required a long preparation time with effortless grace.
The mist and water in the forest converged into a massive, snarling water dragon, roaring as it lunged at Pakura.
"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
Pakura commanded her Scorch Release orbs to intercept.
The moment the two forces clashed, the reaction was violent.
The searing flames swallowed the water dragon, instantly boiling away the surrounding trees into brittle husks.
But there was no sign of victory on Pakura's face.
If Mei had been hit, her body should have dried into a husk—but instead, she was completely gone.
That meant the one she had just incinerated was most likely a Water Clone.
Sure enough, the real Mei Terumī emerged from another direction.
"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique."
A thick, acidic mist poured from her red lips.
Everything it touched withered and corroded in an instant.
Faced with such a large-scale attack, Pakura had no choice but to fire back with Scorch Release.
She conjured a barrage of fireballs, raining them down on Mei like a meteor shower.
Thus, the two Bloodline beauties clashed head-on.
Neither side had a clear advantage.
While Scorch Release could evaporate the acidic mist, it was blocked by Mei's Lava Release.
Lava Release, being a thick, viscous substance, remained even after its moisture was evaporated, hardening into solid rock that sealed off Pakura's attacks.
And while her fireballs could counter the acidic mist, the mist covered too wide an area.
The moment her fireballs were blocked, the Boil Release mist would slip through the gaps, forcing Pakura onto the defensive.
With both of them constantly repositioning and launching techniques, the battle turned into a war of attrition.
The entire forest withered and rotted away.
Some trees were drained dry by Scorch Release, becoming lifeless husks.
Others were melted by Boil Release or completely dissolved by Lava Release.
Even Hashirama Senju would have been heartbroken to see the devastation.
But their duel came to a sudden halt the moment Yagura Karatachi appeared.
"Time's up."
His cold eyes gleamed with killing intent.
The only reason he hadn't acted yet was because he wanted his subordinates to wear down Pakura's chakra.
Now that she was weakened, he would end this personally.
It was time to show this pathetic Sand woman the power of a Tailed Beast.
As he unleashed the forbidden force within him, a wave of sinister, icy chakra spread like a dark tide.
Crimson chakra surged around his body, transforming him into something monstrous.
The hardened white bones of the Three-Tails began to manifest, the grinning skull forming as three thick, powerful tails rose behind him.
Between the jawbones of the beast, chakra of Yin and Yang Release rapidly converged, forming a sphere of pure annihilation.
This was the ultimate weapon of a Tailed Beast—
The Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Let's see how you handle the power of a Tailed Beast, miserable woman."
A cruel grin spread across Yagura's face.
The Tailed Beast Bomb fired like a cannonball, heading straight for Pakura.
The moment she sensed the imminent danger, she tried to escape—
But it was too late.
Or rather—
The blast radius was too massive.
"BOOM!"
A blinding light filled her vision, followed by a deafening explosion and a shockwave that blasted everything away!
The already rotting forest, devastated by the battle between the two Bloodline beauties, was now completely obliterated by the power of the Tailed Beast.
All that remained was a massive chasm.
The oasis had been valuable, sure, but since it was going to be returned to Sunagakure anyway, a little extra destruction didn't matter.
The aura of destruction left behind by the Tailed Beast lingered, refusing to fade.
By the time Fuguki and Mangetsu Hōzuki arrived, it seemed like the battle was already over.
Sensing the residual Three-Tails chakra, Samehada couldn't help but shiver with excitement, relishing the energy.
But Fuguki remained on high alert, his eyes scanning the battlefield with nervous intensity.
Because before this ambush began, he had received a special mission—
A mission issued by a certain untouchable figure.
If he failed to complete it—
Then Fuguki, leader of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, one of Kirigakure's high-ranking elites, would be in serious trouble.
Fuguki had never doubted that old man's ruthlessness and resolve.
Everything he said, he meant.
Thinking about it, Fuguki couldn't help but regret his choices.
Why did he ever agree to work with him?
But fate had not cornered him just yet.
Amidst the ruined battlefield, something moved!
Kirigakure's greatest threat, the Scorch Release user, Pakura, had not died immediately.
She was still alive—though gravely injured!
Even in this desperate state, her will to survive had not wavered.
She shoved away the rubble pinning her down and, as best as she could, crawled toward the outskirts of town.
Because her subordinates were still waiting for her!
Seeing this, Fuguki burst into laughter.
His massive body moved with unnatural agility, and he lunged forward, gripping his massive sword.
"Evil Scorch Release ninja—DIE!"
_
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