"Where did these Suna ninjas come from?"
The crows Shiratori had released around the camp hadn't seen any sign of them.
This group of Suna ninjas seemed to have suddenly emerged from underground.
Wait!
Underground?
He furrowed his brows and dodged a fireball flying toward him. A shrill, miserable scream rang out behind him. He turned to look, one of the Ame ninjas had already been burned into a charred corpse.
If this continued, it wouldn't be long before all the Ame ninjas were completely wiped out. This was absolutely not the outcome he wanted.
He still needed these people to provide him with emotional energy.
[Killing Intent detected]
[Multiple sources: +2000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 12,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Sukuna]
[Development progress: 88.8%]
Five Suna ninjas appeared in front of Shiratori. Their cold, sinister eyes locked onto him.
"Kill him!"
The five figures flickered and lunged toward him.
Just as they closed in on him, an intense chill suddenly erupted from Shiratori as the center. Blue-white cold air surged toward the airborne Suna ninjas, and thick ice rapidly spread, freezing all five of them mid-air.
With a sharp crack, they shattered into pieces of ice on the ground.
Five lives vanished just like that, without a sound.
Shiratori looked around at the dwindling number of Ame ninjas. The vast cursed energy within him surged, and an overwhelming chill spread out in all directions.
Frost rapidly spread through the air.
Fireballs, kunai, wind blades... Every attack, every weapon froze mid-air.
He showed no mercy. His immense cursed energy erupted like a wave. The frost he exhaled seemed capable of freezing even the air itself.
"Fall back!" Pakura shouted loudly.
The chill moved rapidly. A thick layer of ice had already formed on the blade of her blade, the cracking sounds of freezing clearly audible.
The frost spread along the blade. Without hesitation, she threw her weapon away and formed a hand seal with one hand:
"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
Countless fireballs collided with the cold air.
Sssss...
A dense white mist instantly engulfed the entire battlefield.
Shiratori stepped forward, standing protectively in front of all the Ame ninjas. As the mist gradually dissipated, he met Pakura's gaze.
Upon seeing his figure, a flicker of shock crossed Pakura's eyes. She hadn't expected that the one who stopped her was just a child.
Conflicting emotions swirled in her eyes, gradually turning into sharp killing intent.
A genius who chose the wrong side, there was only one path left: elimination.
[Killing Intent detected: Pakura +5000 points]
[Energy transferred to Sukuna]
[Development progress: 89.3%]
"All of you retreat now!"
Shiratori stared warily at Pakura and the dense swarm of Suna ninjas behind her, calling out to Takigawa behind him.
Takigawa had only one arm left, the other had been scorched by Pakura's Scorch Release.
He shook his head firmly. "No!"
How could they possibly retreat?
How could they leave Shiratori here alone?
Right now, the one who should be retreating was him.
"You should leave this place. I promised I would get you back safely."
"We'll hold them off with our lives. Take this chance, fly into the sky, and get out of the camp," Takigawa said to him.
His eyes were bloodshot, and the pain had already begun to fade. All that was left was a burning killing intent. He would kill these Suna ninjas to win even the slimmest chance for Shiratori.
He knew the boy was capable, but the enemy had overwhelming numbers, and Pakura was a renowned Scorch Release user.
The boy must not die here. Otherwise, he would never be able to face Hanzō, nor the rest of the Ame ninjas.
"No."
Shiratori shook his head calmly.
He turned slightly, looking at Takigawa and the surviving Ame ninjas behind him. As far as his eyes could see, there were less than a hundred Ame ninjas still alive.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I said I would fight alongside everyone!"
"I will never leave you behind!"
"I will protect you all!"
"Just like Hanzō-sama, protecting Ame, protecting our people!"
On his face, Takigawa and the others saw no fear, no intent to flee. His smile was so radiant, so warm, so selfless.
Tears slid down the faces of the Ame ninjas.
[Affection detected]
[Multiple sources: +5000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 460,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Rika]
[Development progress: 97.81%]
"Very well. You have courage."
Pakura stepped forward. She looked at Shiratori calmly, and there was even a trace of admiration in her eyes.
"But... It's a pity, we're enemies. You are destined to die by my hand."
A trace of regret flickered in her gaze.
[Killing Intent detected: Pakura +3000 points]
[Energy transferred to Sukuna]
[Development progress: 89.6%]
As she finished speaking, Pakura's figure flashed and launched herself at Shiratori like a projectile.
At the same time, the Suna ninjas behind her surged forward.
With a single step, Pakura shattered the frozen ground beneath her and closed the distance to him in an instant.
Shiratori had to admit, the power of a jonin was in a completely different league from a chunin or genin, and Pakura was even stronger than most jonin.
Her speed was overwhelming. A kunai appeared instantly in her palm, thrusting toward his throat.
She didn't use any fancy moves, a clean, efficient stab right at his vital point.
He dodged to the side, but in the next moment, another kunai was already in front of him, once again aimed at his throat. It felt as though no matter how he moved, he'd run right into the blade.
Pakura's combat experience and taijutsu far exceeded the average ninja. If he could defeat her with only his own strength, his taijutsu would rise to another level entirely.
A silver-white liquid formed a shield in front of Shiratori.
In a flash, his figure surged forward, his fist wrapped in dense cursed energy, tearing through the air as he punched directly at Pakura's chest.
Pakura crossed her arms, both of which were covered in reinforced armor. Even if this child was a genius, she did not believe his strength was enough to break through her defense.
Boom.
As his fist met her armored arms, a deep, muffled impact rang out.
She took a small step back, raising an eyebrow, just as she expected.
The force behind the punch was decent, heavy even, but for someone like her, it was still within tolerance.
As I thought... just a child.