The Mist Village ninja had been reduced to dry corpses, stripped of every drop of moisture under the Scorch Release.
Sand ninja either fell pierced by water bullets or crushed internally by Water Release techniques. Blood flowed freely, staining the deadly torrent crimson.
In just one instant, everyone except Pakura—deliberately left alive by Kei Yamanaka—was silenced.
This horrifying scene was exactly what one would expect after a brutal clash between rival ninja factions.
With just minor adjustments,
and some fine-tuning of the details at the scene,
it wouldn't be hard to fool any future investigations.
"How did you use Scorch Release?"
Minato Namikaze looked at Pakura—the sole survivor—knowing she had been set up as Kei Yamanaka's scapegoat, so he let it slide.
What puzzled him, however, was this:
Pakura's body should have been controlled by Kei through the Heart-Disrupting Technique.
How could someone else still perform jutsu using her body?
According to previous intelligence reports, the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques allowed for seizing control over another's body,
but even less skilled clan members couldn't normally execute ninjutsu through the controlled body.
To achieve that, one would need exceptional mastery of Yin Release, enough to sever the target's consciousness from influencing their chakra flow.
And since chakra itself is a fusion of spiritual and physical energy,
cutting off the target's awareness from affecting their own chakra
is actually far more difficult than simply taking over an enemy's body!
Even more importantly,
normally, any jutsu a controlled person can perform must also be known by the controller.
Plus, the target must possess the required chakra nature for that technique.
Pakura herself did know Scorch Release. But Kei Yamanaka…?
There's no way he learned Scorch Release too, right?!
"Through prolonged practice, certain techniques become muscle memory—ingrained in the body's reflexes. With just a little guidance, the body completes the rest automatically."
Kei offered a concise explanation of the principle behind it.
Ultimately, Pakura's proficiency with Scorch Release—especially her signature jutsu, [Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder]—was extremely high.
He simply mimicked the sequence of hand seals she used,
and then the body's reflexes kicked in before the brain could issue commands, completing actions it had performed countless times before.
"Muscle memory…body's reflexes…"
Minato nodded slowly, deep in thought.
"Minato, adjust the scene traces again. Make sure nothing's out of place. I'll handle her."
Kei instructed Minato,
then led Pakura—who glared at him with open hostility and murder in her eyes—toward a nearby derelict civilian home.
Yin Release was the power to manifest the intangible—bringing form to the invisible.
As a manifestation of pure mental energy, it could achieve feats that seemed impossible to ordinary minds!
Manipulating the five senses, crafting hyper-realistic illusions, sensing chakra from afar, probing memories, controlling other bodies, transmitting emotions and perceptions, damaging mental states, destroying consciousness...
Even rewriting another's memories!
As the sole bearer of the rare 'World Traveler' skill listing in all of Konoha,
Kei Yamanaka's mental strength was beyond imagination.
With such an immense amplification of his spiritual power, the [Purple] Skill: Yin Release Master also possessed a force beyond ordinary comprehension.
Take memory alteration as an example.
As far as he knew, currently across the entire ninja world, no one besides himself could actually accomplish this!
Even Shisui Uchiha—who would later awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and master the ultimate dojutsu Kotoamatsukami—could only influence willpower, not full-fledged memories!
Within the Yamanaka Clan, Hayato Yamanaka's mastery of their secret techniques was second only to that of Kei Yamanaka.
Last year, he had attempted once to alter someone's memory.
The target died instantly, and Hayato himself suffered backlash from the Yin Release—nosebleeds from all seven orifices, severe mental trauma, and two months spent bedridden.
So, this technique of modifying others' memories—
Was something only Kei Yamanaka could currently perform!
Laying Pakura gently onto the bed inside the small hut,
Kei Yamanaka formed one-handed seals. The power of Yin Release quickly seeped into her mind.
He intercepted fragments of ninja memories she had read while serving in the Analysis Team, pulling them from her memory palace.
Stitching together fragments, he rewrote Pakura's backstory, turning it into one where she had been sent by Konoha to infiltrate Sunagakure as a child.
He even inserted scenes of clandestine intelligence exchanges.
Completing the transformation by implanting fabricated spy memories.
Next, he focused on rewriting her memories of the day—erasing all traces of himself and Water Gate, shifting all blame onto the now-dead Fuguki Suikazan.
Kei Yamanaka began the final steps, carefully forming hand seals with both hands.
He activated the Memory Sealing Technique passed down by Kushina.
After performing an extensive and intricate series of hand seals, he gently placed a hand on Pakura's forehead, temporarily sealing away all those modified spy memories.
He deliberately left a small opening in the seal, ensuring that it would gradually unravel over the next one or two years.
The human brain has remarkable self-repair and self-reconstruction capabilities when it comes to memories.
Once those memories appeared to be "restored,"
Pakura would come to fully believe in the spy identity implanted in her mind.
"This isn't better than Subconscious Mind Manipulation Jutsu?"
Wiping sweat from his brow, Kei Yamanaka wore a satisfied smile.
The Uzumaki Clan's Memory Sealing Technique could conceal its presence entirely within the brain—far more reliable than that invasive, needle-piercing-brain method used in Subconscious Mind Manipulation!
Even if Pakura returned to Sunagakure and the village investigated her using secret techniques, they wouldn't discover anything unusual!
[Ding~ Major alteration detected in a supporting character's destiny path. Slight interference detected in world line progression. Reward: Keyword Draw Opportunity x1, Keyword Gift Opportunity x1.]
"You stingy bastard!" Kei nearly rolled his eyes at the system notification.
He'd gone through so much trouble—rewriting memories, applying advanced sealing techniques, converting the future Hero of Sunagakure into a Konoha spy—
And the reward was exactly the same as simply killing Fuguki Suikazan?!
He grumbled internally, dissatisfied for quite some time.
But the system stayed silent, as if deaf to his complaints.
Eventually bored, Kei clicked his tongue in disinterest.
He directly activated Keyword Draw, using up the two newly acquired Keyword Draw Opportunities.
[Congratulations, Kei! You've obtained the blue skill listing [Water Release Mastery] and the white skill listing [Smiling Welcome].]
[Water Release Mastery] (Blue): Years of rigorous training have allowed you to precisely master the nature transformation and shape transformation of Water Release ninjutsu. Efficiency increases when learning, researching, refining, or creating Water Release techniques; release speed, power, and effects of Water Release techniques are enhanced.
[Smiling Welcome] (White): Permanent changes to facial muscles and nerves—whenever your expression shifts, it automatically turns into a smile. Slightly increases approachability, but also increases the likelihood of depression.
"Whoa—blue skill listing!"
Kei Yamanaka's expression lit up the moment he saw the blue skill listing he'd drawn—[Water Release Mastery].
The exhaustion from overusing Yin Release to alter others' memories vanished in an instant.
Don't underestimate blue skill listings.
Take Danzo Shimura as an example—he was Tobirama Senju's disciple and a member of the Kage's elite guard squad.
He worked tirelessly his entire life,
Yet his greatest ninjutsu achievement was only Wind Release Mastery.
And now, with just a simple Keyword Draw, he had gained an ability that even a gifted ninja could only achieve through a lifetime of effort.
So what's there to complain about?
Without hesitation,
Kei Yamanaka decisively chose to activate the [Water Release Mastery] ability.
As for that throwaway white listing—[Smiling Welcome]?
Hmph. Who smiles all the time, seriously?
And ends up depressed too?
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