"Hmm?"
Ren's eyes widened in shock. He turned to Ryufeng beside him, who was tense all over. While watching Pakura in front of them, he spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"This woman is a Bloodline Limit user. Be extremely careful not to be hit by her attacks, or your entire body will rapidly dehydrate. You'll lose the ability to fight in no time."
Ryufeng's Sharingan flared, and he stared at Pakura opposite him with a grave expression. He had underestimated her yesterday and was almost severely injured by her Scorch Release. Fortunately, Hayama was there to provide support, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
…A cold sweat dripped down Ren's forehead. This attire, this name, plus this unique Bloodline Limit—there was no one else like her in the entire Ninja World.
Sunagakure's hero, Scorch Release Pakura!
During her lifetime, she was a Jonin from Hidden Sand Village who skillfully mastered the Bloodline Limit "Scorch Release". She rendered great service to Hidden Sand Village during the war and was known as "Sunagakure's Hero".
However, it was somewhat regrettable that Pakura was deceived by the Fourth Kazekage and many high-ranking Sunagakure officials into going to Hidden Mist under the guise of a secret mission. She was ambushed and killed when she was completely unprepared, becoming a sacrifice in a political transaction between great nations. A hero's era thus ended, which was truly lamentable. If she hadn't died, the Fifth Generation Kazekage would likely have been her.
The current Pakura was still a bit greener than in the original work. Her strength probably hadn't reached Kage-level yet, but it shouldn't be far off. This was troublesome…
"Enough talk, let's settle this with our skills!"
Pakura's gaze opposite them suddenly turned sharp, and she formed hand seals as she spoke.
Pakura raised her hands, and two fireballs the size of rubber balls hovered above her palms, burning continuously. After circling Pakura twice, they fiercely shot towards the two of them!
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
Ren quickly formed hand seals. Before the fireballs arrived, his Chakra surged, and a stream of water rose from nowhere, like an overturned bowl, firmly protecting the two of them.
The two collided with a sizzling sound, but neither of them relaxed, because in the blink of an eye, the two fireballs had already evaporated most of the Water Wall's surface. The defence would be broken in moments.
Such powerful attack power!
The two exchanged glances, nodded, and then suddenly ran in opposite directions. The fireballs, having broken through the defence, crashed into the ground before they could turn, creating two small craters with wisps of hot steam rising from their edges.
"Underestimating people comes at a price!"
The two of them rushed to Pakura's side from the left and right, their Kunai striking at Pakura's vital points.
"Hmph, then let's see."
Pakura snorted coldly and formed a hand seal. The two immediately changed colour. Four or five fireballs, identical to the previous ones, appeared around the three of them. After spinning for a moment in the air, they fiercely attacked the two!
"Damn it!"
The two could only withdraw their attacks and retreat. If they continued, even if they severely injured Pakura, they wouldn't have time to dodge the Scorch Release. Being severely injured on the battlefield was no joke. Who knows, the Shuriken and Kunai thrown by opposing Ninja could kill a severely injured person.
"What's wrong? Is that all you've got? Keep going."
Pakura's taunting words did not affect the two. Ren secretly gestured to Ryufeng, who immediately understood. He took two steps forward, then leapt into the air, throwing several Shuriken while rapidly forming hand seals. His mouth slightly parted.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!"
A flame shot out from Ryufeng's mouth, and in the blink of an eye, it caught up with the Shuriken flying in the air, coating them with a layer of fire. The intense heat did not deform the Shuriken; instead, it greatly increased their lethality.
"Child's play."
Pakura clasped her hands together, and the surrounding fireballs rapidly spun and merged, expanding rapidly while their temperature also surged. The surrounding Ninja had long since cleared an area for them, and this was one of the few independent battlefields on the entire field.
After Pakura finished charging, she let out a low cry, and the giant fireball shot out towards Ryufeng in the air, instantly devouring Ryufeng's Ninjutsu. Under the control of Pakura's Chakra, it flew directly towards the rapidly falling Ryufeng.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
Just before Ryufeng was about to be engulfed by the fireball, a huge water vortex surged up from below, rising into the sky, separating Ryufeng and the fireball. Instantly, the giant fireball and the water vortex collided. The fireball began to shrink slowly, while the temperature of the water rose sharply. Although the water vortex also shrank in size, its high temperature far exceeded the boiling point, turning into a rotating vortex of boiling water. Under Ren's control, it crashed down from the sky!
"Let me use your move to heat some water!"
Ren grinned at Pakura, who was slightly startled. The surging torrent of boiling water rushed towards Pakura. Under the cover of the water, Ryufeng, who had landed, instantly vanished, his whereabouts unknown.
"Your strength is not bad, but it's not enough."
Although Pakura was somewhat startled, her hand movements were not slow. After completing her hand seals, she took a deep breath, puffed out her cheeks, and then suddenly exhaled!
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
A huge air bullet rapidly formed in the air, then shot out fiercely, colliding violently with the boiling water waterfall that had rushed to within an inch of them!
"Boom!"
A massive explosion resounded. The air bullet, which had plunged into the centre of the water flow, suddenly burst open. The boiling water's forward momentum stalled, and then it exploded with a roar!
Boiling water flew in all directions across the battlefield. The Sunagakure Ninja and Konoha Ninja who were fighting suddenly realised that it seemed to be… raining? Except the rain seemed to be hot…
"Hiss, it's so hot!"
"Damn it, who used such a mutually destructive move?!"
Half of the battlefield was affected by the battle between the two, even drawing some attention from the Kage-level powerhouses fighting fiercely in the distance.
"Scorch Release, huh? It seems you Sunagakure also have a few geniuses."
Sakumo Hatake's blade light slashed out, forcing back two puppets, and then he looked at Pakura and Ren in the distance before speaking.
"Hmph, our Sunagakure's geniuses are no less than your Konoha's. That brat should also be a genius from your Konoha, right? What a pity, he'll soon become a dried corpse."
Chiyo controlled her puppets to attack while also diverting some attention to observe the movements on the battlefield.
"Hmph, you should worry more about yourself."
Sakumo Hatake stopped speaking, and the White Fang in his hand swung even faster, suppressing Chiyo so much that she had no time to use her puppet's abilities.
"Damn it!"
Chiyo gritted her teeth in anger. Although a puppeteer's combat power wouldn't decline too much with age, Sakumo Hatake was in his prime and had gradually figured out some of the abilities of the "Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets" during his numerous battles with her. He didn't even give her a chance to activate her puppet secret techniques.
Although Chiyo was very reluctant to admit it, the gap between Sunagakure and Konoha was indeed not insignificant. If all of Konoha's experts were to go all out, Sunagakure wouldn't last even a week before being pushed back to One Line Sky.