Chapter 301: Pakura 's Despair
Pakura had no other choice—she had to end this quickly.
If she could win, she would fight. If not, she'd see if she could divert Konoha's Sakumo .
Otherwise… she really would be completely screwed by these arrogant bastards.
Pakura cursed them madly in her heart, though it all happened in a flash. She looked at the Lightning Clone - Sakumo , and her figure moved—like teleportation—covering dozens of meters in an instant as she appeared before the Lightning Clone - Sakumo and threw a punch.
"Holy shit!"
"So fast!"
The Lightning Clone - Sakumo was startled.
Just a moment ago, upon seeing Pakura enter her Red Heat Mode, he had been impressed that she finally developed her own taijutsu technique—especially one that involved high-temperature augmentation. It was the perfect counter to taijutsu-type shinobi.
Still, he hadn't taken Pakura 's Red Heat Mode too seriously.
Even before becoming Li Yao's clone, the body of Kakigi Sayun (the original of Lightning Clone - Sakumo ) had achieved terrifying speed due to prolonged use of White Lightning to stimulate the body's activity. Combined with Shunshin no Jutsu's burst speed, evading attacks was easy.
Now that Sayun had become Li Yao's Lightning Clone, with his enhanced chakra control, his body's activity had only increased. His speed and reaction time were even better than before.
So, even if Pakura 's Red Heat Mode was fast, the Lightning Clone - Sakumo was confident he could react and counter.
Yet her current speed still gave him a huge shock.
Fast!
Too fast!
Faster than anything the Lightning Clone - Sakumo had imagined.
Especially because he hadn't taken her seriously at first—by the time he realized her speed was on another level, Pakura was already in front of him, her fist aimed straight at his chest.
At this distance, dodging was impossible. But the Lightning Clone - Sakumo had no intention of killing Pakura .
So, he instinctively activated the Deva Path's chakra ability granted by the Rinnegan.
Buzz!
Just as Pakura 's searing punch was about to strike his chest, a repelling force burst from his body, slamming into her fist and entire body.
It was like she had crashed into an immovable wall at high speed—her whole body compressed inward before rebounding violently.
Boom!
The ground ruptured in her wake, molten heat carving a lava-like trench in the earth. She finally landed over a hundred meters away.
Puh!
Pakura stood up and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her chest felt as if a mountain had slammed into it. Her internal organs had clearly suffered damage.
"What kind of ninjutsu was that?"
She stared at the Lightning Clone - Sakumo from afar, eyes full of shock. That kind of irresistible force had crushed her from all angles—there was no way to block it.
With that power, it was impossible to get close.
Was this how Konoha's Sakumo withstood Sasori's Iron Sand Thunder Realm?
But that was just defense. The offensive technique that forced Sasori to flee still hadn't been shown.
"I can't win!"
Pakura came to that conclusion instantly and turned to flee without hesitation.
There was no shame in retreating. Even her brother-in-law had fled once.
As long as she survived and continued developing her Scorch Release's high-temperature capabilities, there would come a day when it would be Sakumo who had to flee.
"She ran?"
The sudden retreat left the Lightning Clone - Sakumo momentarily surprised, but then he smiled. That was the right decision.
"Haha, smart move."
He chuckled as white lightning crackled around him. His body instantly activated, every muscle cell entering an extremely active state.
Whoosh!
He shot after her like a streak of white lightning. He still hadn't figured out the extent of Pakura 's power—he couldn't let her escape.
"She's chasing… good."
Sensing the Lightning Clone - Sakumo pursuing her, Pakura felt a little relieved—but also tensed again.
Her comrades were temporarily safe, but now she was in trouble.
"So fast!"
The Lightning Clone - Sakumo marveled again at her speed in Red Heat Mode. Just using Kakigi Sayun's normal speed wasn't enough to catch her—he had to augment it with the Deva Path's flight to even keep up.
That alone showed how terrifying Pakura 's speed was in this mode.
"This is bad!"
"No way to escape!"
After fleeing for about a minute and finding the Lightning Clone - Sakumo still on her tail, Pakura 's face changed. The intensifying pain throughout her body told her she couldn't keep running.
Her Red Heat Mode only lasted five minutes. With just three left, continuing to run without shaking off Konoha's Sakumo would leave her defenseless.
At that moment, Pakura suddenly stopped and turned to charge at the Lightning Clone - Sakumo , hoping to catch him off guard.
Unfortunately, this time he was prepared and enhanced with the Deva Path's power—her sneak attack failed.
He dodged and countered with a strike of White Lightning, sharp as a blade, aimed at her back.
Whoosh!
Pakura ducked low and slid under the attack, then turned and lunged, arms wide, trying to embrace him and use her heat to melt him down, negating that repelling force.
"Wind Release – Sky-Cracking Palm!"
The Lightning Clone - Sakumo unleashed a palm strike, a powerful gust blasting toward her.
But Pakura didn't dodge—not even slowing down. Like a high-speed bullet piercing through cheese, her body's intense heat vaporized the wind before it even touched her.
"Her reflexes have improved a lot!"
"And so has her defense!"
Dodging her next strike with Shunshin no Jutsu, the Lightning Clone - Sakumo noted the improvements. Combined with her speed and scorching attacks, Red Heat Mode enhanced four key areas:
Speed, defense, reflexes, and offense.
In all four aspects, Pakura had reached Kage-level under Red Heat Mode.
Apart from unknown genjutsu resistance, she basically had no weaknesses.
However… she seemed unable to use other Scorch Release techniques while in Red Heat Mode.
After dodging a few more of her attacks, the Lightning Clone - Sakumo began to see the mode's flaw.
It likely wasn't fully developed yet.
All her chakra was focused on maintaining the Red Heat Mode's Scorch Release—leaving no spare capacity to perform jutsu.
Or perhaps the mode required her Scorch Release chakra to stay in a high-speed rotation. Using jutsu might disrupt that cycle, ending the mode and even damaging her body.
That explained why she relied solely on taijutsu.
Otherwise, with that speed and large-scale Scorch Release attacks, even without resorting to Ruinous Lightning, the Lightning Clone - Sakumo would've been forced to retreat.
"Damn it!"
"This guy is toying with me!"
Over ten consecutive attacks failed to even graze the Lightning Clone - Sakumo —and he hadn't hit her either. Pakura finally realized he was just playing with her, not taking her seriously at all.
But what made her despair was that he had the power to do so.
For the first time in years, Pakura felt true despair.
"Damn you. You want to toy with me? Then let's die together."
Realizing that continuing would be futile—that she'd just be toyed with until she died—Pakura decisively deactivated her Red Heat Mode, gathered all her chakra, and formed hand signs.
(END CHAPTER)
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