The battlefield exploded into a sea of blazing light.
To be precise, what Ren had unleashed was Great Dragon Fire Technique: Burning Embers.
Unlike the standard Great Fireball Technique, this was a far more advanced variation. While both techniques belonged to Fire Release, Burning Embers carried terrifying heat far beyond ordinary flames. Even though Ren had released it in haste, preventing the enormous dragon from compressing every flame into incandescent white fire, the shimmering white rings that coated each blazing scale were already enough to make any experienced shinobi's heart skip a beat.
The dragon roared across the battlefield.
Its fiery body twisted through the air like a living creature, devouring everything in its path.
Pakura's confident expression vanished instantly.
"What?!"
She hadn't expected Ren to possess another Fire Release technique of this caliber.
Without hesitation, she leaped backward, trying to widen the distance between them.
Unfortunately...
She had underestimated both the technique—and Ren himself.
The Great Fireball Technique could threaten an area of barely ten meters.
The Great Dragon Fire Technique was an entirely different monster.
Its blazing body stretched across dozens of meters while retaining remarkable accuracy, allowing Ren to guide the dragon directly toward his opponent rather than merely flooding an area with flames.
Under normal circumstances, Pakura's incredible speed might have allowed her to escape.
But Ren had already predicted exactly how she would react.
The instant the dragon left his mouth, his body dissolved into smoke.
Substitution Technique!
In the blink of an eye, Ren reappeared nearly fifty meters away—directly behind Pakura.
The moment his feet touched the ground, his hands blurred into another sequence of seals.
"Fire Release... Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
More than a dozen blazing fireballs erupted from his mouth.
Each one was the size of a basketball, burning with fierce orange-red flames as they shot toward Pakura from every conceivable angle.
Front.
Back.
Left.
Right.
Every escape route disappeared beneath an ocean of fire.
For the first time since the battle began...
Pakura found herself cornered.
Her eyes narrowed sharply.
There was no room left to retreat.
She swung both arms forward without hesitation.
The remaining Scorch Release spheres floating around her immediately compressed together, merging into a massive white corona that radiated heat comparable to a miniature sun.
The glowing sphere slammed directly into the incoming dragon.
BOOOOOOM—!!
The collision resembled two suns crashing together.
An earth-shaking explosion erupted across the forest.
The violent shockwave expanded outward like an invisible tidal wave, instantly scattering the thick steam that had filled the battlefield.
Trees bent violently.
Leaves disintegrated.
Grass blackened.
The earth itself cracked beneath the overwhelming heat.
Everything within hundreds of meters was blasted clean by the expanding inferno.
Even the air distorted.
The intense heat bent the surrounding light, creating shimmering waves that made the battlefield resemble a mirage.
Neither combatant escaped the consequences.
Although Pakura wielded Scorch Release and Ren specialized in Fire Release, neither possessed true immunity to flames.
The surrounding temperature skyrocketed.
Within seconds, it had risen by well over twenty degrees.
Sweat poured down both of their faces.
Pakura suffered the worst of it.
Standing closest to the explosion, she was struck squarely by the scorching blast.
Her cloak began to blacken.
The fabric along her back curled under the unbearable heat.
More importantly...
The perfect defensive formation surrounding her finally faltered.
It lasted only an instant.
But on a battlefield...
An instant was all Ren needed.
A silver flash erupted from the blazing smoke.
Clang!
The gleaming blade sliced through the inferno like the scythe of death itself.
Ren burst out from the collapsing wall of fire.
His white hair danced wildly in the burning wind, the tips singed by the flames.
Yet his expression remained calm.
Cold.
Focused.
His eyes resembled those of a lone wolf stalking prey across a frozen wilderness.
Pakura's pupils contracted.
"Damn it..."
She instinctively attempted to summon the remaining Scorch Release spheres around her.
She only needed one attack.
One opening.
One chance.
But Ren had already prepared for this moment long before launching his assault.
"Overload Pulse... Activate."
A violent surge exploded throughout his nervous system.
His heartbeat accelerated.
Electricity seemed to course through every nerve.
His muscles tightened with explosive force as his entire body entered a heightened state.
The world around him slowed.
Floating ash drifted lazily through the air.
Every twitch of Pakura's muscles...
Every flicker of her eyes...
Even the smallest movement of her fingers became perfectly clear.
It was as though time itself had begun moving in slow motion.
Meanwhile...
Ren moved faster than ever before.
Swish—!!
His blade disappeared.
Not because it stopped moving.
Because it moved too quickly for ordinary eyes to follow.
The silver edge slipped between two rapidly spinning Scorch Release spheres with impossible precision before carving straight across Pakura's shoulder.
A crimson line appeared.
Half a heartbeat later—
Blood exploded into the air.
"Urgh!"
Pakura's body trembled violently.
The slash was so deep that the white edge of her shoulder blade became faintly visible beneath the torn flesh.
Agonizing pain flooded her senses.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The instant blood flowed from the wound...
The sealing formula engraved along Ren's blade activated.
Like venom spreading through a victim's veins, the Binding Seal invaded Pakura's chakra network.
Her chakra flow froze.
Half of her body instantly became numb.
Even without the sealing technique, such a devastating wound would have crippled her fighting ability.
Now...
It became even worse.
The elegant ring of Scorch Release surrounding her finally broke apart.
That single hesitation sealed her fate.
Ren's sword transformed into a silver storm.
One slash.
Then another.
Then another.
Steel sang through the air.
Pakura desperately raised her kunai to defend herself.
Crack!
The weapon shattered under Ren's relentless assault.
Fragments scattered across the battlefield.
Before she could react, two more cuts opened across her body.
Another slash tore through her side.
Then—
Bang!
Ren drove his palm into her abdomen with explosive force.
The impact launched Pakura backward like a broken doll.
She slammed into the ground, rolled several times, and finally came to a stop amid scorched earth and shattered stone.
"Agh..."
Blood poured from multiple wounds simultaneously.
Her breathing became ragged.
Every attempt to move sent unbearable pain surging through her body.
The world spun before her eyes.
She couldn't even focus her vision anymore.
Footsteps echoed slowly across the ruined battlefield.
Ren approached without hurry.
His breathing remained remarkably steady despite the fierce battle.
"It ends here."
He quietly released Overload Pulse.
Only eight seconds had passed.
That was the sweet spot he had calculated through repeated experiments.
Activating Overload Pulse for less than fifteen seconds produced almost no meaningful side effects.
Perhaps a little soreness afterward.
Nothing more.
He could have continued.
The technique's maximum duration was forty-five seconds.
But that would have been wasteful.
Using the remaining time would severely exhaust his body, reducing his combat effectiveness for hours afterward.
Unless his life depended on it...
Efficiency always came first.
Ren gave his blade a casual flourish.
The blood slid cleanly from its edge before he sheathed the weapon.
Then he stopped beside Pakura.
She lay motionless in a growing pool of blood.
Sweat plastered loose strands of blonde hair against her forehead.
Her breathing came in shallow gasps.
She tried several times to rise.
Failed.
Even lifting her head required tremendous effort.
Still...
Her amber eyes stubbornly searched for Ren's face.
Hatred remained within them.
Alongside frustration.
And unwilling admiration.
She opened her mouth, seemingly intending to hurl one final insult.
Instead...
Only a weak whisper escaped.
"...Then..."
She swallowed painfully.
"...kill me."
Ren blinked.
For a brief second...
He simply stared.
Then he couldn't help it.
A laugh escaped him.
"Pfft..."
That line...
It sounded less like something a proud kunoichi would say and more like the desperate declaration of a defeated knight awaiting execution.
Pakura frowned weakly.
"You..."
Ren crouched beside her.
"Kill you?"
He glanced over her injuries before calmly shaking his head.
"That would be far too wasteful."
Confusion filled Pakura's exhausted eyes.
"What... do you mean?"
Ren carefully examined the deep wound across her shoulder before speaking.
"You're one of the few shinobi in the entire world who possesses the Scorch Release Bloodline Limit. Letting someone like you die here would be a tremendous waste."
His tone remained completely matter-of-fact.
"So for now..."
"You'll stay alive."
"My prisoner."
Pakura stared at him in disbelief.
"I happen to be... very interested in your body."
He continued examining her wounds as though discussing tomorrow's weather.
"I'll study it once we return."
"Fortunately, I avoided your vital organs. You'll survive. The shoulder might leave permanent damage if it isn't treated properly, but we'll see."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Pakura's exhausted mind slowly processed his words.
Then...
Her face stiffened.
Humiliation unlike anything she had ever experienced surged through her heart.
He had...
Deliberately avoided killing blows?
Did that mean...
Even during such an intense battle...
He still hadn't fought with everything he had?
And then...
That sentence.
"Interested in your body."
Her heartbeat skipped.
Among shinobi...
There were monsters.
Not merely men like Jiraiya, whose harmless obsession with women had long become common knowledge.
There were darker individuals.
Shinobi broken by endless war.
People who relieved years of accumulated pressure by torturing prisoners... abusing captives... committing unspeakable atrocities whenever opportunity arose.
The Hidden Mist was infamous for producing such monsters.
Even the Hidden Sand wasn't completely free of them.
Pakura had always been confident in her appearance.
Now...
Looking into Ren's calm eyes...
An awful misunderstanding took root inside her mind.
Her expression turned pale.
"You... bastard..."
She gritted her teeth so hard blood seeped from the corner of her lips.
"Even if I die..."
"I'll never let you... defile me..."
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