Konan and the others' argument had no effect on the battle between Aoshi and Pakura. At this moment, Pakura was starting to grow anxious.
Aoshi's strength had far exceeded her expectations. The plan to swiftly overwhelm him with a fierce assault had clearly fallen apart.
Of course, admitting defeat wasn't an option either—she was already trying to think of a way to break the stalemate. To be honest, she still had one more technique she hadn't used yet.
But that jutsu was newly developed, and she hadn't fully mastered it.
If she messed up, not only would she fail to defeat Aoshi, but she could end up injuring herself—or worse, endanger her own subordinates.
So she hesitated.
Just as Pakura was debating whether or not to use her unfinished technique, Aoshi had already decided to end the fight.
With a sidestep, he once again dodged the oncoming fireballs and leapt back to create distance between them.
He raised his sword in one hand, holding it across his chest, and began to swing it in light, drifting motions—like willow fluff caught in the wind.
Konoha Style: Willow.
This was the illusory sword technique Aoshi had learned from Kosuke. As an A-rank technique, it had taken him over a month to master—even with the help of shadow clones.
Which just proved how incredibly difficult A-rank techniques were to learn. Fortunately, persistence had paid off. Just yesterday, he had finally grasped it. Now, facing Pakura was the perfect time to put it to use.
The greatest advantage of this technique? It didn't require hand seals.
In the next instant, countless leaves began to dance through Pakura's vision, carried by the wind, and Aoshi's figure vanished within them.
At the same time, she found herself completely unable to move. This was the genjutsu effect hidden within the Konoha Style: Willow.
With her strength, Pakura immediately realized she'd been caught in a powerful illusion. While surprised that Aoshi could use such a potent genjutsu, she also tried to dispel it as fast as possible.
But it was already too late.
As the illusion faded, Aoshi had already closed the distance and slashed down with his blade. Blood spurted violently.
The battle was decided.
Seeing Pakura fall, her three subordinates were visibly shaken. Pakura-sensei lost… to a complete nobody?!
It felt like a dream. No matter how much they didn't want to believe it, the reality was right in front of them: Pakura had been defeated by Aoshi.
"Lady Pakura!" Panicked, the trio rushed to her side, completely ignoring the mission target, Okubo, whom they discarded to the ground.
In stark contrast, Konan and Yahiko erupted into cheers.
"Yay! I knew Aoshi-nii wouldn't lose!"
"Aoshi-nii is amazing!"
Even Nagato couldn't help but smile at the joyous atmosphere. Though compared to the other two, he was more reserved.
"I… I'm fine." Surrounded by her anxious subordinates, Pakura forced out the words, though her condition clearly told a different story.
"I lost. I didn't expect you to be this strong… We'll give up on this mission." Proud as she was, Pakura wasn't someone who couldn't accept defeat.
Aoshi smiled and nodded, stepping forward—only to be blocked by her three subordinates, all looking at him warily.
"We already gave up the mission. What more do you want?"
"No need to be so on guard. I'm a medical Genin, and I can treat your teacher. She's in pretty bad shape right now."
At those words, all four of them looked at Aoshi in disbelief. "You're saying… you're a medical genin?"
Everyone knew that while medical ninja had excellent chakra control and could master high-difficulty healing techniques, their combat skills were usually poor.
That's why they always needed protection during missions. And yet this guy—who just defeated a kekkei genkai wielder like Pakura—was claiming to be a medical ninja?
And not just that—a genin? It didn't make any sense. It didn't feel like something a proper ninja would say.
But faced with their doubt, Aoshi simply smiled and nodded, then walked over to Pakura to begin treatment.
The moment they saw him actually use medical ninjutsu, Pakura looked up at him with a complex expression. At this point, all she could think was—the world had gone mad.
Could even a medical ninja now have this kind of combat power?
Whatever Pakura was thinking, Aoshi neither knew nor cared—his attention was fully focused on healing her injuries.
Pakura's status in Sunagakure was not insignificant. As a rare kekkei genkai jōnin, she held a place of importance. And now that the Second Great Ninja War had just ended, the shinobi world was in a state of fragile peace.
So there was no need to kill her. His earlier attack had deliberately spared her life, but inflicted a serious injury.
Of course, the more practical reason was this: Wounding her and then healing her gave Aoshi the maximum benefit.
After all, he was bound to the Medical Ninja System.
Hurting his own companions just to heal them for rewards? That was something Aoshi would never do. He wasn't a monster.
Still, once in a while, if the opportunity presented itself... it was fine.
As long as he didn't overdo it.
And since Pakura was from another village, he had no guilt whatsoever. Soon, Aoshi finished treating her injuries.
[Successfully treated Pakura. Reward: 1 Gold Orb.]
[Congratulations! You've acquired Scorch Release: Oversteaming Kill.]
In an instant, Aoshi's mind was filled with vast knowledge of the technique.
This was a powerful jutsu Pakura had developed from her Scorch Release—its destructive potential was immense. But he quickly noticed a problem.
Although he had obtained Oversteaming Kill, he couldn't use it at all—because he didn't have the Scorch Release kekkei genkai.
While he now possessed all chakra natures, his original affinity had only been Water.
Before, when he obtained Fire Release techniques, he could forcefully use them even without fully mastering the nature transformation—just not as smoothly as Water Release.
That was because chakra natures could generally be learned through training. Most jōnin had multiple chakra natures.
But Scorch Release was different—it was a bloodline limit. You either had it or you didn't. While it might be possible to develop it through some kind of special training, the difficulty was astronomical.
If basic chakra natures were like a multiplication table, then learning a kekkei genkai like Scorch Release was like solving advanced calculus.
If only Pakura were stronger—at Kage-level.
Once a healing target reached Kage-level strength, the reward would be a Rainbow Orb, which could very well unlock the actual kekkei genkai itself—not just a single jutsu.
That would've been far more valuable than simply acquiring a Jutsu he couldn't even use.
If Pakura could hear his thoughts right now, she might have sighed and said: "I'm sorry I couldn't satisfy Aoshi-sama."
At that moment, Pakura, now fully healed by Aoshi, looked at him and asked, "Are you really just a genin?"
If Aoshi claimed to be a medical ninja, she could barely accept it—after all, there were always exceptions with decent combat strength.
But to say he was a mere genin? That was hard for her to stomach. She, a dignified jōnin of Sunagakure—defeated by a genin from Konoha?
"I have no reason to lie. I really am just a genin," Aoshi replied calmly.
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