Chapter 23: The Awkward Pakura-san
"But, on the other hand, if it has no weight, then I can even use it like this—"
Whoosh—
The staff was longer than he was tall and thicker than his wrist, yet in Hiiro Rinko's hands, it moved with a lightness that betrayed its form. Only the sound of it tearing through the air matched its massive shape.
"Cr—!"
THUD!
Rasa, who had been sneaking up from behind, couldn't even get a full cry out before Rinko, as if swinging a mere tree branch, smashed the weightless staff down from above, planting him straight into the ground. He twitched twice, then lay still.
That dull sound was probably not just the echo from the hollow staff, but also the echo inside Rasa's head.
"..."
Outside the training field, Misawa-sensei, who had already sensed something was wrong, lowered the hand he had just raised. The light in his eyes suddenly extinguished.
Forget it. Let him be. Judging by this kid's earlier actions, he's not the type to strike without measure. Rasa should be fine... probably.
What's the worst that can happen? He loses a few fingers? It's not like he'll have to commit seppuku, right?
With this thought, which was basically self-hypnosis, Misawa revealed a smile of pure 'enlightenment.'
Rinko casually dismissed the staff made of Barrier Jutsu and glanced at Rasa, whose face was half-embedded in the dirt. After a moment's thought, he used his foot to kick him over onto his back.
He had held back on that last blow; at worst, Rasa would have a concussion. But leaving him face-down in the dirt like that, he might actually suffocate.
Although Rinko really disliked the guy's sour face, he wasn't so cruel as to let him die for it.
Squatting down, he pried open Rasa's eyelids, then checked the marks on his neck. After confirming he hadn't accidentally killed him, Rinko stood up and walked toward the girl.
"Next up is you, Pakura-san."
Sensing the change in atmosphere, the girl, who had collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, instinctively kicked her feet to scoot backward, not stopping until her bare back hit the chain-link fence.
No retreat.
Cornered.
No options left.
For some reason—no, Pakura knew exactly what she had just done, and she was absolutely certain that Rinko had noticed.
That was precisely why she felt so guilty.
"Even if you had to use such tactics, you still didn't want me to win, huh?"
Rinko's figure drew closer, blocking the sun and casting a shadow that enveloped her.
His face, backlit, was impossible to see clearly, forcing Pakura to judge his mood by his tone alone. Yet, in his voice, there was no emotion she could identify.
Anger? Didn't seem like it.
Annoyance? Couldn't hear it.
In fact, Pakura felt... he seemed to be in a pretty good mood.
But how was that possible?!
"Um... that..."
She swallowed nervously, anxiously awaiting the 'judgment' to come.
"Go on, I'm listening. But not too loud. You don't want this getting out, do you?"
Seeing Pakura's hesitant appearance, Rinko 'guided' her in his calm, steady voice.
Obviously, Pakura hadn't just been talking to him out of her own curiosity; she was also trying to attract his attention to help Rasa with his sneak attack.
If it had been anyone else, the two of them might have actually succeeded.
Perhaps due to the influence of the desert terrain, Sunagakure shinobi seemed to be naturally more adept at concealing their presence and muffling their footsteps than shinobi from other villages.
But who was Rinko to blame? He was also a Sensor-type. From the very beginning, the sandstorm Rasa kicked up had only obstructed their vision; Rinko, on the other hand, had 'seen' their every move clearly.
If they had just opened with lethal ninjutsu from the start, Rinko might have actually been in trouble.
Speaking of which, this sensory ability also seemed to be an innate talent of the Uzumaki Clan, with only differences in intensity. Among them, only the most extreme and developed form of this ability was given the special name, "Mind's Eye of Kagura" (Kagura Shingan).
It was said that by closing their eyes and opening their 'Mind's Eye,' a user of that ability could sense Chakra abnormalities in a radius of dozens of kilometers. If they had already locked onto a Chakra signature, they could even sense its detailed position and movements.
Furthermore, with this level of perception, the user could also suppress their own Chakra to avoid being detected in return, and could even determine if someone was lying just by sensing their Chakra.
The clan's mastery of Sealing Jutsu and Barrier Jutsu was likely founded on this minutely detailed sensory ability, allowing it to develop to a level unmatched in the Shinobi World.
Heh. Compared to individual talent, these bloodline, geographic, and social traits are the easiest to overlook, but also the hardest gaps to cross.
"How despicable, Pakura-san."
Although he couldn't quite manage the 'split-thinking' of a master strategist, basic multitasking was still simple for Hiiro Rinko.
Even with part of his mind having already flown off into the clouds, it didn't stop him from interacting with his classmate.
Ah, speaking of which, perhaps the reason I couldn't do that as a Cursed User was a 'hardware' defect. Now that I have this superior Uzumaki body, maybe I can try to practice split-thinking...
The increase in his processing power made Rinko, whose mind was already prone to wandering, jump between thoughts even more easily. It would probably take a long, long time to get used to it.
"Eh..."
Faced with the 'victim's' high-ground accusation, the seated Pakura felt she was in the wrong. She opened her mouth, made a short, meaningless sound, and finally just looked away in embarrassment.
In truth, she had felt it was wrong right after she did it. To interfere with someone still in the match after she had already been defeated was just too disgraceful.
Even though she looked away, Pakura could still feel Rinko's sharp gaze on her. But as uncomfortable as it made her, she couldn't complain. She just pressed her lips together and, feeling even more awkward, started poking a small pebble on the ground to distract herself.
"S...sorry..."
After a few seconds of internal conflict, Pakura finally managed to squeeze out an apology, as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"...Let's just leave it at that."
Seemingly not having received a satisfactory answer, Rinko let out an imperceptible sigh.
He bent down slightly, extended his left hand with four fingers held together, and...
...lightly tapped her on the head.
"There. Consider that your punishment."