Ren did not possess the Wind Release attribute required to create true Scorch Release.
That was a fact.
Scorch Release was a Bloodline Limit formed from the fusion of Fire and Wind chakra. Without that combination, ordinary shinobi could not reproduce it through normal training.
But after clashing with Pakura, Ren had begun to see the outline of its principle.
His Great Fireball Technique could raise temperature far beyond normal flames.
His Phoenix Sage Fire Technique could compress and explode.
If those two characteristics were combined properly, then even without true Scorch Release, couldn't he create something similar?
Not genuine Scorch Release.
But close enough to satisfy Phoenix Sage Fire.
Close enough to make that little fireball girl stop begging for shiny toys inside his head.
Ren's thoughts drifted briefly.
Could Great Fireball and Phoenix Sage Fire develop some kind of sisterly bond on their own?
Why did he, the so-called head of the household, have to worry about every little thing?
Come on.
Show me your limits.
Inside the System, two familiar text boxes appeared.
[Great Fireball Technique: ?]
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: ?]
Ren ignored their confusion.
The battle wasn't over yet.
Pakura still stood across from him, surrounded by scorched earth and drifting smoke. Her Scorch Release orbs hovered around her body like small suns, each one distorting the air with terrifying heat.
Ren took a deep breath.
His hands came together again.
This time, he prepared to use the Dragon Fire Technique.
Pakura's Corona earlier was definitely not her limit. If he pressured her a little more, perhaps she would reveal even deeper Scorch Release methods.
And the more she revealed, the more Ren could learn.
But just as he began forming seals, two familiar chakra signatures entered his perception.
Ren's eyes shifted slightly.
"This is..."
Minato and Obito.
The explosion from his clash with Pakura had been too loud to miss. Even though Minato and Obito's patrol area was some distance away, Minato's sensory ability was sharp enough to detect the disturbance.
Through the trees, Ren vaguely saw a flash of golden hair.
Beside it was a noisy spiky-haired figure.
Obito.
Pakura noticed them too.
Her eyes narrowed.
For a moment, she hesitated.
Fight or retreat?
Then the decision appeared in her gaze.
She slammed a smoke bomb into the ground.
Bang!
Thick smoke erupted, swallowing her figure.
Pakura turned and fled without hesitation.
Her mission had been a covert infiltration. Now her identity had been exposed, the battle had caused a massive commotion, and Konoha reinforcements were approaching. If she stayed any longer, she might not escape.
Kakashi immediately moved to intercept her.
But Pakura, while retreating, flicked her hand.
Three Scorch Release fireballs shot toward him.
Kakashi's expression tightened, and he was forced to leap back.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
White-hot explosions blocked his path.
Using the firelight as cover, Pakura flashed across the battlefield, grabbed the heavily injured cloaked man, and shouted toward the black spiky-haired man.
"Move!"
Then she vanished deeper into the forest without looking back.
The spiky-haired man also tried to escape.
Unfortunately, he was already badly injured.
The moment he staggered to his feet, Kakashi appeared behind him and slammed the back of his blade into the man's nape.
Thud.
The man collapsed face-first into the dirt.
"Rin, watch him!"
Kakashi threw the order over his shoulder.
"Don't let him escape!"
Then he chased after Pakura.
Ren did not stop him.
Although Kakashi's overall strength was weaker than Pakura's, it wasn't by an overwhelming margin. Now that Kakashi had seen Scorch Release once and understood its danger, Pakura would not be able to defeat him instantly.
Besides, Pakura was carrying an injured teammate and clearly had no will to continue fighting.
At worst, Kakashi would fail to catch her.
So Ren calmly walked toward the unconscious spiky-haired man.
He crouched down and checked the man's breathing.
Still alive.
Then Ren pried open his mouth, inspected his teeth, and knocked out a suspicious molar that likely contained poison.
Only after that did green chakra gather around his hands.
Healing Technique.
This enemy squad's situation was abnormal.
They knew Konoha's code.
They had infiltrated deep into the patrol zone.
And Pakura, a Scorch Release shinobi from Sunagakure, had personally led the team.
That meant they were carrying important intelligence.
A living prisoner was far more useful than a corpse.
Of course, if the man died, that was still acceptable.
In the shinobi world, corpses could talk too.
As long as Minato brought the body back quickly with the Flying Thunder God, a Yamanaka clan shinobi should be able to extract memories before the information degraded too much.
Soon, Minato and Obito arrived.
Obito rushed into the clearing noisily, then immediately froze.
His eyes widened at the sight before him.
The ground was scorched black.
A massive crater sat in the center of the battlefield, its edges melted into glassy, dark surfaces.
The surrounding trees had been burned dry.
Smoke still rose from broken trunks.
It looked less like a forest clearing and more like the aftermath of a meteor strike.
"What the heck happened here?!"
Obito shouted.
"Did something fall from the sky?!"
Minato's reaction was much calmer.
He scanned the battlefield once, immediately judged the general situation, and used Body Flicker to appear beside Ren.
"Ren, Rin."
"Are you both alright?"
Then his gaze sharpened.
"Where's Kakashi?"
"He went after the Sunagakure shinobi," Ren answered while continuing treatment.
Minato frowned.
"Stay here."
"I'll bring him back."
He created a Shadow Clone to remain behind, then his main body disappeared toward Kakashi's direction.
Rin quickly came beside Ren. Green chakra glowed around her palms as she helped stabilize the captive's injuries.
After a few moments, the external wounds were mostly controlled.
The enemy still hadn't woken up, but at least he wouldn't die immediately.
Only then did Rin turn toward Ren.
Her eyes softened with worry.
She gently placed both hands over the burns on his arm.
"Ren-kun..."
"Are you really okay?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
"You got hurt because of me."
"It's my fault. I was careless."
Ren looked down at the burns.
They were ugly, but shallow.
"Just superficial wounds."
"I'm fine."
Then he looked at her.
"What about you?"
"How many times were you hit?"
"Do you want me to check?"
Rin's cheeks instantly turned faintly red.
"I-I'm fine too."
"Only superficial wounds."
She quickly waved her hands.
Ren raised an eyebrow but didn't push further.
Rin's blush came from two things.
First, she was clearly touched by his concern.
Second, her injury was in a slightly awkward place near her upper chest, just below the collarbone. Medical Ninjutsu could work through clothing, but that didn't make the situation any less embarrassing.
Obito finally ran over.
He looked around wildly at the destruction.
"Hey, hey! Seriously, what did you guys do here?"
He pointed at the huge crater.
"That thing looks like a meteorite hole!"
Rin turned to him and explained patiently.
"It wasn't a meteorite."
"It came from Ren's clash with that Sunagakure ninja."
"Her Fire Release was very special."
Obito stared.
"Fire Release did this?"
He looked back at the crater.
The twenty-to-thirty-meter-wide scorched pit.
The melted ground.
The burnt trees.
His worldview shook.
Rin understood his reaction.
After all, even she had witnessed the battle with her own eyes and still felt frightened by it.
Minato's Shadow Clone spoke thoughtfully.
"The Sunagakure kunoichi you encountered should be Pakura."
"Pakura?"
Rin repeated.
Minato nodded.
"Sunagakure has produced several geniuses in recent years."
"The most famous is Chiyo's grandson, Sasori of the Red Sand, who specializes in puppetry."
"Then there are Rasa and Pakura."
"Rasa possesses Magnet Release."
"Pakura possesses Scorch Release."
He looked at the burned battlefield.
"Scorch Release is similar to an advanced form of Fire Release, but much more dangerous. In the past few months, many Konoha shinobi have suffered losses against those three."
"If you encounter them again, be extremely careful."
Ren nodded.
"Oh."
From their fight just now, Pakura's current strength should be around standard jonin level.
If her surprise-kill technique, Super Steam Kill, was excluded, her other abilities were not too far beyond a normal jonin.
But Ren knew Pakura's future fame.
The Hero of Sunagakure.
A shinobi so valuable that Kirigakure would specifically request her as part of a political arrangement.
A shinobi Rasa would eventually betray.
At her peak, she was likely close to elite jonin level.
Right now, due to her age, she had not fully matured.
That meant there would be another chance.
Another battle.
Another opportunity to study Scorch Release.
Ren quietly filed that thought away.
Nearby, Obito was still staring at the battlefield.
He had always known Ren was strong.
But this?
This had exceeded his understanding.
They were all genin.
They had all graduated from the Ninja Academy.
They had all trained for roughly the same number of years.
So why was the gap becoming wider and wider?
Was this reasonable?
Obito rubbed his eyes hard.
For some reason, they felt sore.
There was a faint sting deep within them.
But the sensation passed quickly, so he ignored it.
Instead, he belatedly remembered something Minato had said.
"Minato-sensei."
"What exactly is a Bloodline Limit?"
Minato's Shadow Clone froze.
"..."
For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
That was basic Ninja Academy curriculum.
Second year.
Maybe third year at the latest.
Obito had already been a genin for a year.
And he was asking now?
More importantly...
Wasn't the Sharingan, which Obito kept talking about awakening, also a Bloodline Limit?
Rin kindly rescued the conversation by explaining it briefly.
Obito listened with a serious expression, as if receiving secret forbidden knowledge.
Ren wisely said nothing.
Soon after, Minato's main body returned with Kakashi.
There was no third person with them.
Clearly, Pakura had escaped.
Fortunately, they still had one living captive.
There was also the bald man's body somewhere on the battlefield, though after the clash between Ren and Pakura, it might no longer be in one piece.
Kakashi's expression was serious.
"Minato-sensei."
"This team is unusual."
"Aside from Pakura, the rest were also strong. More importantly, they knew Dragonmoon City's code."
His voice lowered.
"They may have stolen other important information."
"I think this needs to be investigated immediately."
Minato nodded.
"You're right."
"This must be reported to headquarters as soon as possible."
After a brief discussion, Minato decided to take the captive back to Wildfire City and have a Yamanaka clan shinobi search his memories.
Ren, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito would remain in the area for now.
"I should return within a day or two," Minato said.
"During that time, avoid unnecessary battles."
"Two enemies escaped. They may bring your information back to Sunagakure."
"Be careful not to fall into an ambush."
Ren and Kakashi nodded.
"Understood."
Minato was as decisive as ever.
A flash of white light appeared.
Then he vanished with the captive.
Only the grass trembled faintly where he had stood.
After that, Team Minato briefly cleaned the battlefield and left the area.
The battle had consumed a lot of energy.
They needed food.
According to the previous draw, it was Obito's turn to cook today.
Naturally, everyone silently lowered their expectations.
---
Outside the Sunagakure main camp, harsh desert wind swept across the sand.
Several Sunagakure chunin were conducting routine patrols along the outer perimeter.
Suddenly, one of them stopped.
"Hey."
He pointed into the distance.
"Is that someone from our village?"
The others turned.
Across the sand, an orange-haired figure staggered toward them while carrying another person covered in blood.
As she drew closer, the patrolling shinobi recognized her.
Their expressions changed immediately.
"Pakura-sama!"
Pakura's appearance was disheveled.
Her battle outfit was scorched and torn.
Her short orange hair, usually neat, was messy from the long escape.
But her voice remained firm.
"Take Koji to the medical squad."
"Tell Yashamaru to do everything possible to save him."
"Yes!"
Two shinobi quickly took the unconscious cloaked man from her and rushed toward the medical tent.
Pakura stood still for a moment, breathing heavily.
Then she straightened herself and walked toward the main command tent.
A few minutes later, she stood before a burly Sunagakure jonin with a hard face and steady eyes.
Ishikawa Tetsuiwa.
One of Sunagakure's elite jonin.
The frontline commander of this operation against Konoha.
Pakura lowered her head.
"Ishikawa-sama."
"The mission failed."
Ishikawa slowly lifted his gaze from the map spread across the table.
His eyes scanned her burned clothes, bloodstained skin, and exhausted face.
"Report."
Pakura began from the start.
How they cooperated with the insider to seize Dragonmoon City.
How they obtained the code.
How they used that code to ambush Konoha patrol teams.
Then how they encountered a strange team of Konoha children in the forest.
One dead.
One captured.
One critically injured.
Mission exposed.
Pakura's voice grew heavier.
"The white-haired Konoha child is extremely strong."
"His Fire Release has already reached jonin level."
"He also possesses a mysterious movement technique and sharp swordsmanship."
She paused.
"I suspect he may be a disciple of Konoha's Yellow Flash."
"Before I withdrew, I also saw a golden-haired figure approaching, but I couldn't confirm his identity."
Pakura lowered her head further.
"In any case, the mission failed under my command."
"I only managed to bring back Koji."
"I ask for punishment."
The tent became silent.
This failure could have been avoided.
If she had withdrawn earlier.
If she had not chosen to attack Ren's group.
If she had not underestimated children wearing Konoha headbands.
But who could have expected it?
A three-person squad of children had shattered her mission.
Now Dragonmoon City's fall would likely be exposed ahead of schedule.
Sunagakure's tactical plan had suffered a heavy blow.
Pakura waited silently.
Her fists clenched at her sides.
And across from her, Ishikawa's eyes darkened.
The failure of one ambush was no longer the issue.
A new Konoha monster had appeared on the battlefield.
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