A gleaming silver arc of a blade flashed in an instant before vanishing. A deep slash mark appeared across Pakura's chest, but Mitsuki quickly leapt back, pulling away right after his strike.
It didn't land.
The Pakura he cut through vanished with a puff of smoke — it was only a clone. The real Pakura, hidden in the shadows, saw Mitsuki fooled and immediately launched a counterattack, driving a searing Scorch Release orb from behind. At the same time, her true body appeared from another angle, kunai in hand, stabbing toward Mitsuki.
In that moment, Mitsuki was being attacked from both front and rear — seemingly with no way out.
"I got you. This is my victory." Pakura's lips curved into a cold, triumphant smile.
But Mitsuki smiled too. Not the smile of someone who had succeeded in a scheme, but simply because smiling was in his nature.
"Full Counter."
An invisible field expanded from Mitsuki's body, as though every rule within its range had been rewritten.
The moment Pakura's scorching orb entered the Full Counter field, it was instantly reflected back.
Pakura didn't understand what had happened — she only felt as if some unseen force had punched her square in the chest.
Boom!
Her body was sent flying and slammed heavily into the ground.
From the start, Mitsuki's Six Eyes had already seen through it all.
When Pakura had thrown out four scorching orbs, what remained on the battlefield wasn't her real body — it was just a clone. Mitsuki pretended to fall for the trick and slashed at the fake, baiting her into launching a final strike. And at that exact moment, he unleashed full counter to deal a devastating blow.
This tactic of "using himself as bait" was something Mitsuki was becoming more and more adept at.
"Extremely Steaming Murder!"
Fiery orange-red orbs floated out around Pakura once again, hovering protectively near her.
Watching her rise back to her feet, Mitsuki asked sincerely:
"So, do all Suna shinobi really love pop champagne at halftime?"
Pakura didn't know what "champagne" meant, but she knew it wasn't anything good.
Her chest felt heavy — clearly that last blow had done more damage than she wanted to admit.
Ignoring Mitsuki's words, she desperately replayed what had just happened in her mind.
"He must've used some kind of invisible jutsu—something that can defend from every direction at once. Otherwise, there's no way both my attacks could have been blocked simultaneously. But why? When I was sent flying just now, that should have been his best chance to attack. Why didn't he strike then?' With his talent, there's no way it was a lack of reaction speed. Don't tell me… was he holding back out of mercy?"
Her mind raced in turmoil.
Mitsuki waited for a few seconds, realized she wasn't going to answer, and shrugged in boredom.
Time was just about right.
"Headhunter Jutsu"
"What—?!"
Hands shot up from the ground beneath Pakura's feet, seizing her ankles and dragging her down into the earth.
"Tch… then I'll—"
She tried to unleash Scorch Release in a wide burst to incinerate everything around her.
But Mitsuki was already crouched right before her, his body flickering into place with Body Flicker Jutsu.
The edge of Mistcutter pressed against her neck. The blade's icy chill seeped into her skin. Even worse…
"Ah—"
Crackling arcs of lightning danced along the sword's edge. The electric current from his chakra nature surged through her body, paralyzing her completely.
"Pakura-sama!"
"Quick, save Pakura-sama!"
The surrounding Suna shinobi, seeing their comrade on the verge of death, abandoned their own battles—risking injury to rush in and attack Mitsuki in an attempt to save her.
Whizz—whizz!
The sound of slicing air filled the battlefield as a volley of kunai sped toward Mitsuki.
An idea sparked in his mind. Pulling back Mistcutter, he leapt back to avoid the rain of kunai.
At the same time, over a dozen Suna shinobi forced their way toward the spot where Pakura was trapped by the Headhunter Jutsu.
"Pakura-sama, are you okay?!"
"Idiot, does this look like I'm okay?!"
"Don't worry, I know Earth Release—I'll get you out right away."
Most of these shinobi were already battered with wounds, having fought their way over. But to them, saving Pakura was worth it.
"Thank you… you've all helped me a great deal."
Pakura knew the truth: they weren't saving her out of personal attachment, but because the survival of Suna depended on it. Without her, a Bloodline shinobi, their strength against the Kiri and Iwa in the future would be crippled—even if they won against Konoha now.
Still, she was deeply grateful for comrades who would risk everything to aid her.
With help from the Earth Release user, she was just about to be pulled out of the ground—
When suddenly, an intense heat surged upward from beneath.
"No—get away!"
Mitsuki's shadow clone, which had performed Headhunter Jutsu, was still underground.
"Great Flame Rasengan!!"
The technique that had previously only appeared for mere seconds—this time emerged not as a component for another jutsu, but in its true form: a Fire Release – enhanced Rasengan!
The clone hurled the dark-purple sphere of scorching heat upward with tremendous force.
The dense earth was no obstacle at all.
In the instant Pakura shouted her warning, the Great Flame Rasengan erupted through the ground, piercing directly through her chest.
And it didn't stop. The sphere began glowing even brighter from within, as though on the verge of exploding.
"...Extremely Steaming Murder!!"
Pakura knew she was finished. But in her final moments, she wanted to save her comrades who had risked their lives for her.
Her four orbs of Scorch Release spun together, fusing into one enormous mass. Though their number decreased, the single orb swelled to more than four times their original size.
It staggered toward the Great Flame Rasengan, attempting to envelop it.
But Mitsuki could control even a massive Rasenshuriken in midair — let alone this smaller Rasengan variant.
The sphere swerved agilely like a hunting hound in the mountains, evading the fused Scorch orb with ease.
Pakura forced her arms to move, trying to redirect the attack once more.
"Kh—cough—cough!"
But a flood of blood gushed from her mouth and nose, racking her with violent coughs.
Her injuries were too severe. Her upper body had been burned through completely—her chest was a gaping hole. Yet no blood flowed from the wound, because the flesh had been seared black instantly.
The blood loss left her barely conscious.
'I'm sorry… I failed to protect Suna's future…'
The orange-red Scorch orb flickered, then faded in the air—disappearing just like its master's life.
The rasengan exploded as expected. The blast's unbearable heat incinerated over a dozen suna shinobi to ash within seconds.
From afar, Mitsuki lowered his left hand, which had just finished the seal to release the shadow clone.
His clone had been within the blast radius.
When a shadow clone is destroyed, every memory and sensation is transmitted back to the original. And Mitsuki had no interest in experiencing the feeling of being burned alive by his own rasengan.
When he saw how the Sand shinobi had desperately tried to save Pakura, an idea had struck him.
He would use Pakura as bait to draw them in—and wipe them out in a single strike.
To ensure absolute destruction, he fueled the Rasengan with Fire Release chakra.
After all, his secret weapon had already been exposed. There was no longer any point hiding the fact that he possessed Fire Release.