There was no need for Aoshi to make a move.
A furious Pakura was more than capable of dealing with everyone herself.
Never underestimate a jōnin who possesses a Bloodline Limit.
Those black-clothed men, now reduced to withered corpses, were the price of standing against her.
"I'll ask one last time—who is the mastermind behind you?"
Pakura refused to believe that a mere handful of people would dare to target her and Hirakawa Aoshi, Konoha's hero.
There had to be someone pulling the strings from the shadows.
Perhaps even one of Sunagakure's elders. Or more than one.
As a jōnin, Pakura was naturally aware of the internal power struggles within Sunagakure.
She had always chosen not to involve herself in them. Yet now, she had been dragged in regardless.
Worse still, it had allowed Aoshi to witness everything, causing Sunagakure to lose face.
Faced with Pakura's questioning, the black-clothed leader showed no intention of answering.
In his current situation, he understood one thing clearly—If he wanted to survive, he and Kitada Yusuke had to stake everything on this moment.
Meanwhile, Kitada Yusuke glared at Pakura with venomous hatred.
"Why won't you just die?! Once you're dead, I can rise again and become a true village executive!"
Pakura found his words utterly absurd. She genuinely couldn't comprehend his logic.
They had barely interacted before. She had never interfered with his promotion.
Yet Kitada Yusuke had no intention of explaining himself. With a sweeping motion of his arms, two puppets appeared.
One resembled a massive rhinoceros, its body built for formidable defense.
The other was humanoid, gripping a ninja sword in each hand, both blades coated with poison.
"Die!" Yusuke roared, his face twisted with madness, as he sent the puppets charging forward.
The humanoid puppet sprinted toward Pakura, blades flashing.
At the same time, the rhino puppet's back split open. A senbon launcher emerged, spraying dozens of poison-tipped needles.
The rain of senbon covered both Aoshi and Pakura.
"This poison is double strength—let's see how you deal with it!" Yusuke screamed hysterically.
His eyes burned with desperation. He could read the battlefield clearly—only a reckless gamble could keep him alive.
Fight for your life!
"If you won't name one behind you, you're of no further use alive." Pakura's voice was ice-cold as she rapidly formed hand seals.
Wind Release: Raging Tempest Dance.
Scorch Release was a Bloodline Limit born from the fusion of Wind and Fire.
Naturally, Pakura was also highly proficient in Wind Release ninjutsu.
Twin whirlwinds erupted, scattering every incoming senbon.
At the same moment, she used the Body Flicker Technique to evade the humanoid puppet's blades, closing in with a kunai in each hand.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Pakura's taijutsu was first-rate. A single puppet was nowhere near enough to restrain her.
She even condensed a Scorch fireball and hurled it directly toward Yusuke.
A puppeteer's puppets are terrifying—but the puppeteer himself is the true weakness.
Cold sweat streamed down Kitada Yusuke's face as he manipulated his chakra threads, frantic yet precise.
The rhino puppet surged forward, positioning itself directly in front of him and taking the fireball head-on.
Designed purely for defense, it had been reinforced specifically to withstand extreme temperatures.
The fireball splashed aside, failing to penetrate.
The rhino puppet emerged unscathed.
Seeing this, Aoshi immediately realized something. This man had clearly prepared and trained specifically to counter Pakura.
"Need help?"
"No." Pakura rejected him without hesitation, even as she continued fighting. "This is Sunagakure's internal matter. I'll handle it."
She had already let him witness enough. Accepting his help now would only deepen the humiliation.
Since Pakura refused, Aoshi merely shrugged.
He stood aside with his hands tucked into his sleeves, showing no intention of intervening.
At that sight, both Kitada Yusuke and the black-clothed leader felt a surge of hope.
If the two of them worked together to bring Pakura down, this night might still turn in their favor.
With that thought, the black-clothed leader began forming hand seals.
Wind Release: Wind Cutting Technique!
Razor-sharp wind blades slashed toward Pakura.
Sensing the attack, she leapt aside. A lock of her hair was severed, but no blood was drawn.
Before she could even steady herself, the two men pressed their assault.
Under the pincer attack, even Pakura was forced to give ground, weaving and dodging continuously.
"Pakura, tonight you die!"
"You two aren't nearly enough to kill me," she replied coldly.
"Arrogant! How long can you last while we keep you pinned?" Yusuke sneered.
Pakura offered no response. Instead, she gathered several fireballs together, fusing them into one immense sphere.
The power of this fireball was clearly several times more terrifying than before.
The originally pitch-black night visibly brightened. An unbearably scorching heat radiated outward without pause.
It felt like the summer sun blazing directly overhead.
Kitada Yusuke and the black-clothed leader both went pale.
Their intelligence had never mentioned Pakura possessing such a technique.
The same ominous thought surfaced in both their minds. Exchanging a glance, they hurriedly unleashed their strongest attacks.
Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!
A ninjutsu that compresses Wind chakra into a dense sphere and fires it like a cannonball.
Its power was terrifying—piercing straight through a human body with ease.
At the same time, under Yusuke's control, the humanoid puppet opened its mouth and spewed raging flames.
In response, Pakura remained expressionless, calmly guiding the massive fireball forward.
Before its overwhelming might, the Vacuum Sphere was crushed instantly.
Next, the puppet's torrent of flames was swallowed whole, further amplifying the fireball's power.
"Impossible!" Yusuke's face changed drastically.
The fireball could absorb flames to strengthen itself!
In the next instant, to his utter disbelief, the humanoid puppet was engulfed. Within seconds, it was reduced to ashes.
"That move is rather interesting." Aoshi, standing nearby, couldn't help commenting.
A ninjutsu that absorbed flames to amplify itself reminded him of Kisame's Great Shark Bullet.
He hadn't even bothered to lower his voice.
With a ninja's keen hearing, Pakura naturally heard him.
She instinctively glanced at Aoshi. Her trump-card ninjutsu was only "rather interesting"?
Just how strong had Hirakawa Aoshi become?!
Boom—
The fireball continued forward.
Yusuke desperately commanded the rhino puppet to block. It managed to stall the sphere for only an instant.
"Impossible! This puppet was specially reinforced!"
Even so, the rhino puppet was ultimately pierced through. Still, it weakened the fireball slightly.
However, even weakened, the fireball was not something a ninja could withstand head-on.
Both men turned to flee. But the black-clothed leader suddenly grabbed Yusuke and hurled him directly into the fireball to buy time.
"You—!" Yusuke's scream was cut short as the fireball swallowed him whole.
The leader felt no guilt whatsoever. A puppeteer without puppets is worthless.
Alive, he would only slow me down. Better he die buying me time.
The fireball finally dissipated. Kitada's charred corpse was revealed within.
"Where do you think you're going?" With a roar, Pakura flickered forward and kicked the fleeing leader back.
She put her full strength into that kick. When he crashed to the ground, his organs felt displaced, agony tearing through his body.
He coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
At the same time, the black mask covering his face slipped off, revealing his features.
"It's you!" Pakura's tone turned sharp—she clearly recognized him.
"Koizumi Yōya, are you trying to start a civil war within Sunagakure?"
Like Yusuke, Koizumi was a Sunagakure jōnin personally selected by Elder Takeda—the man who truly held power.
Tonight's operation had clearly been ordered by Elder Takeda.
Ignoring Pakura's question, Koizumi still clung to the hope of escape.
Glancing at Pakura—and then at Aoshi, who still showed no intention of intervening—he flung dozens of kunai wrapped with explosive tags.
His targets weren't the two of them.
They were the surrounding buildings. He intended to drag the Chūnin Exam candidates into the chaos.
As the overall supervisors, Aoshi and Pakura would be forced to protect the examinees.
While they were occupied, he could escape.
The plan was flawless. Yet neither Aoshi nor Pakura panicked.
Instead, they looked at him with mocking smiles.
Before the confused Koizumi could speak, explosions rang out.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But the result was not what he expected. The kunai and explosive tags were stopped midair by an invisible barrier.
"Don't you find it strange?" Aoshi's voice echoed calmly. "With all that noise just now, no one came to investigate."
Despair flooded Koizumi's heart. He hadn't even realized that a Barrier Ninjutsu had been set up in advance.
"Everyone's been traveling for three days and finally gets to rest," Aoshi continued evenly.
"Of course, we wouldn't let you disturb them."
Naturally, the barrier was Aoshi's handiwork. It served two purposes: defense and sound isolation.