The air fell briefly silent.
Pakura pressed her lips together. First, she moved her arm a little to confirm that the previous wound was no longer an issue. Only then did she force herself to stay calm, move her left hand to the front of her right breast, spread her fingers, and make a "lift and hold" motion.
"Go ahead."
"…"
Yuu fell silent for a moment, his gaze landing beneath Pakura's torn clothing.
There, a wound that was not too deep but rather long slanted across her ribs, only a hair's breadth from that rounded curve. Because of Pakura's "lifting" motion just now, the edge of that smooth, pale swell became even more obvious, almost threatening to break free from its bindings.
Yuu even vaguely caught sight of a startling hint of pink peeking out from beneath the bandages…
No, wait.
Who could withstand this?
What male ninja could pass this kind of test?
Yuu's hesitation caught Pakura's attention.
From her angle, she could not see the wound clearly because her own full chest blocked her line of sight.
But things had already reached this point. If she gave up on treatment now, it would feel like a waste. So Pakura could only snort and scold him in a low voice.
"Hey, little white-hair, what are you looking at? Hurry up. You still have a trial to fight after this. Don't keep the weasels waiting too long."
"…Bear with it."
As Yuu spoke, he crouched down and once again mobilized chakra, using the Mystical Palm Technique over Pakura's wound.
The violent wind inside the cavern seemed to weaken at that moment.
Although Yuu tried his best to focus, because of their positions, the corner of his eye naturally swept across that dazzling pale curve. Although it was faintly smaller than Tsunade's, it was already the second largest he had personally seen so far, unforgettable at a glance.
To be fair, in a situation like this, it was hard not to feel the urge to reach out and squeeze.
Across from him, Pakura's body was also tense. Feeling the cool sensation around the wound, her neck and ears visibly flushed red, and her heart began beating faster beyond her control. She felt a strange heat spreading through her body.
An indescribably ambiguous atmosphere quietly spread between them.
Until…
[Mystical Palm Technique (Healing Technique): Ara ara, so little Yuu likes them big?]
"Gah!"
Yuu was startled by the sudden appearance of Healing Technique, and his finger almost poked Pakura's chest.
Pakura was also startled by his movement. Her body instinctively shrank back. Then she quickly glanced at the wound, which had stopped bleeding, grabbed the cloak lying beside her on the ground, and wrapped it around herself at high speed, leaving only her still-flushed face exposed.
"That's enough. I'll handle the rest myself."
Although she said that, the slight tremble in Pakura's voice showed that her heart was not calm.
"…That works."
Yuu nodded.
If he kept looking, he was a little worried that he really might not be able to stop himself from reaching out and squeezing a couple of times. Then things would get very serious.
[Mystical Palm Technique (Healing Technique): Well, little Yuu is at that age after all. It's normal to be interested in that kind of thing. In front of Mommy, you can say it boldly. Mommy will definitely help you~]
(Stop talking, stop talking, Healing Technique Mommy.)
Yuu wanted to say something, but stopped.
After finally calming Healing Technique down in his mind,
Yuu turned and looked at the three weasel brothers not far away.
"What about you three? Do you need treatment?"
Just now, while Yuu had been treating Pakura, Tarōmaru, Jirōmaru, and Saburōmaru had also been licking one another's fur.
In the animal world, that was a common way to treat injuries. In their way of thinking, it was far more effective than the so-called "medical ninjutsu" of humans. It was just that these two humans in front of them were not very bright. Otherwise, if they had simply learned from the weasels and licked those wounds, Pakura's injuries would probably have healed completely by now.
At this moment, hearing Yuu's question, the weasels looked at one another. Then they shook the slightly scorched patches of fur on their bodies and proudly puffed out their chests.
"No need! Just a little fire. It's nothing at all!"
"That's good."
Yuu stood up, rolled his wrist, and walked toward the center of the field.
"Let's start the second round. It's my turn."
Soon,
the three weasel brothers took their positions.
Yuu also stood where Pakura had stood earlier and reached one hand behind him, drawing the White Fang short blade.
Yuu was now a man with two blades. Although in terms of performance, the Sword of the Thunder God was superior, Wind Release countered Lightning Release. In this environment, using the Sword of the Thunder God would not be very effective. It was better to use the White Fang short blade.
As for Fire Release…
This was only a trial. There was no need to bully them.
If he accidentally lost control and burned these weasels to death, then even if he "passed" the trial, the weasel clan probably would not sign a contract with him.
"Hoo—"
Yuu let out a long breath, allowing the gale to sweep sand across his face, and slowly closed his eyes.
Heart-Blade Domain—open!
In an instant,
an invisible will spread outward with Yuu at its center.
"?!"
The three weasel brothers, who were preparing to merge into the violent wind, all froze at once, as if they had sensed something, and looked toward Yuu.
More accurately, it was not "as if." They really had sensed it.
In the weasel brothers' vision, countless fine, cold, invisible "blade intents" seemed to appear around Yuu, like unseen sharp blades slowly condensing, flowing, and waiting to be released in midair. The range covered by this blade intent was about six or seven meters.
If they rashly entered that six- or seven-meter range…
the consequences would likely be hard to predict.
But the weasels were, after all, incarnations of the wind. If they did not dare fight on their own home ground, that would be far too embarrassing.
The three brothers huddled together and began squeaking again, seemingly discussing something.
After quite some time,
Tarōmaru finally gave a sharp squeak and led Jirōmaru and Saburōmaru forward. The three once again transformed into ghostly shadows within the wind, coming from three tricky angles. They stirred the violent air currents and swung three extremely condensed giant wind blades in a triangular formation toward Yuu.
The wind blades tore through the air, producing a piercing shriek.
Only when the wind blades were about to reach him
did Yuu suddenly move.
His eyes remained closed. His wrist merely turned lightly, making a very small flicking motion.
Then…
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
In an instant, a dense series of metallic clashes rang out like exploding beans, enough to make one's scalp tingle.