At the same time,
several hundred meters away from the main battlefield, in another relatively open clearing in the forest,
Pakura crashed hard into a thick tree trunk with a dull boom. The trunk groaned under the impact, splinters flying everywhere. She forced herself to endure the sharp pain in both arms and the churning blood in her chest, then kicked off the trunk with both feet, using the momentum to roll sideways and dodge.
Almost the instant she left that spot, Mikami Yuu's fist smashed into the place where she had just hit.
Bang!
A massive dent appeared in the hard trunk, with cracks spreading out like a spiderweb.
"Missed, huh…"
Yuu's strike missed, and he immediately twisted his body and lunged toward Pakura again.
Pakura was both furious and alarmed, but the numbness in her arms had yet to fade completely. She could only dodge in a sorry state while sweeping a flying kick toward Yuu's waist and abdomen, trying to force him back that way.
Pa!
Yuu's eyes and hands were quick. His palm accurately caught Pakura's ankle, and then he yanked backward, swinging her into the air. But Pakura's reaction wasn't slow either. The instant her body was lifted, she braced one hand against the ground for leverage, then used her other leg in a scorpion-tail kick, striking viciously toward Yuu's temple.
The kick came fast and fierce, strong enough to split stone!
At the critical moment, Yuu leaned back, raised his arm, and with the hand gripping Pakura's ankle, slammed her downward.
Bang!
Pakura was smashed hard into the ground. In the cloud of dust that burst up, she finally found a chance to use Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder. Surging flame formed a scorching palm shape and grabbed toward Yuu from a distance, only for him to dodge backward with a flash.
Taking that chance,
Pakura rolled up from the ground and quickly pulled away. Her chest rose and fell violently, and as she gasped for breath, she stared at Yuu with shock and disbelief.
"How is this possible… How did your taijutsu improve this fast?!"
They had exchanged blows briefly the last time they met at the border.
Back then, both sides could barely be considered evenly matched. Whether in taijutsu clashes or Fire Release against Scorch Release, although Pakura hadn't gained much of an advantage, she didn't feel she had lost out either.
And lately, because she had earned Chiyo's favor, Pakura had received quite a bit of guidance from her on combat techniques. She had thought she could defeat Mikami Yuu in one go and recover her pride, but from the very start of this fight, when she blocked with both arms, she had already been dragged into his rhythm.
That made Pakura feel both stifled and horrified.
What was going on?
Had Mikami Yuu not gone all out last time?
Or had he improved again in less than half a month?
The answer was…
Monster Strength.
Yuu had added Monster Strength.
Pakura herself wasn't a ninja famous for taijutsu. Although her level was decent, as a woman, her strength was still somewhat weaker than male ninja of the same age. In their last match, Yuu's taijutsu had only been slightly inferior to hers, while his swordsmanship had been superior. But now…
With Monster Strength reaching the Friendly stage, even a little force from Yuu made Pakura struggle to defend.
"That's enough warm-up."
Yuu lightly flexed his wrist, his calm gaze locking onto Pakura. "Time to get serious."
"…That's my line."
Pakura looked coldly at Yuu, pulled a kunai from her tool pouch, and as she charged forward with her body lowered, raised her free hand in front of her and mobilized the chakra inside her.
"Scorch Release… Linked Stars!"
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Yuu formed seals at the same time.
Although he hadn't used Water Release much lately, Water Wave had already reached over 80 affection, so when he used it now, it still had impressive scale. A surging flow of water formed a fan-shaped wave and slammed hard into the Scorch Release fireballs flying from Pakura's side.
Amid a teeth-aching hiss, the Scorch Release fireballs were not extinguished directly like ordinary flames meeting Water Release. Instead, they erupted in a violent chain reaction. Blinding white light tangled with water vapor, expanded, and exploded, forming high-temperature steam that shot into the sky and spread outward.
The steam cut off both sides' vision.
Pakura's heart tightened, and she instinctively halted.
Through the drifting white mist, she vaguely saw Mikami Yuu's form blur, then split into multiple illusionary bodies and water clones, encircling her from every side. Each one raised a blade, radiating cold killing intent and pressure.
"Shadow Prison Phantom Kill Formation—activate!"
Then,
as if recreating Minato's Spiraling Flash Super Wheel Dance Roar Type Three from moments earlier, Yuu's figure suddenly began moving. A silver storm formed as he flashed around the area within several dozen meters at high speed, using Hatake Swordsmanship to slash at Pakura!
Clang!!!
With only the first slash, Pakura felt sharp pain in the arm holding her kunai, her palm going numb.
Immediately after, a dense storm of blade-light swept toward her like wind and rain. Pakura had no time to breathe. Only by pushing her body to its limit and coordinating with the white-hot fireballs circling around her did she avoid being defeated outright. Even so, she felt increasingly powerless.
No!
Too fast!
If this went on, she would lose very soon!
Pakura gritted her teeth and squeezed her chakra desperately, forming more than a dozen white-hot Scorch Release fireballs that tightly circled around her body. They formed a ring, almost like a defensive circle of rotating fireballs resembling Truth-Seeking Balls.
Those fireballs spun like a revolving lantern, blocking Pakura's front, back, above, and below. Attacks from any direction could not pass through. Even getting close was enough to feel that blazing heat, as if it could instantly evaporate the water inside a human body.
"Scorch Release: Moonlight Bodyguard!"
"?"
Wait…
Scorch Release could be used like that too?
Yuu was a little speechless.
But to be fair, Pakura's response had been very timely. If she hadn't done this, she probably would have lost within ten moves.
Now that she had used Scorch Release like a Great Fire Wall, spreading it all around her, Yuu really couldn't get close for the moment. The two water clones he used to probe were both vaporized the instant they approached, giving him two layers of the A Cornered Army Must Win buff.
In that case…
"Let's try this technique."
Yuu used Substitution again to land, then rapidly formed hand seals.
"Snake—Dragon—Rabbit—Tiger…"
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Fwoosh—!
With a dragon's roar, a fierce and majestic dragon-shaped mass of orange-red flame surged from Yuu's mouth. White-hot streams of light flickered across its scales, and it carried the violent momentum of something that could burn everything to ash as it roared toward Pakura.
~~~
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