Kiyohara did not answer Kurenai's question.
Or rather, he simply did not have the mental capacity to answer her at that moment.
While Magnet Release Kiyohara was helping Kiyohara's main body condense magnetic force, Kiyohara himself was also controlling the flow of that magnetic force.
He began operating the Magnet Release ninjutsu known as "Magnet Release: Magnetic Field Rotation."
Crackle!
A coil formed from iron sand wrapped around Kiyohara's hand, while invisible magnetic force spiraled along his arm.
Azure-blue electric currents were generated along with it. From a distance, it looked as though Kiyohara was not using Magnet Release at all, but Lightning Release instead.
Those arcs of electricity did not dance chaotically, but were instead arranged according to a specific pattern.
"This is—"
At close range, Kurenai could clearly sense a massive amount of chakra rapidly gathering in Kiyohara's hand.
The wind began to grow stronger and stronger, whipping around him.
Kiyohara's long hair fluttered in the night wind, exposing the shinobi headband on his forehead.
Under the cover of darkness, that handsome face appeared strikingly clear.
Yet from it, Kurenai sensed a trace of danger—this was a shinobi's instinct.
"Kurenai, you all step back," Kiyohara said, exhaling slowly.
His powerful mental energy resulted in an even greater level of focus.
Magnet Release Kiyohara was helping him control electricity and magnetism, but the act of rotation itself still required Kiyohara to drive it forward.
"Retreat, quickly!" Kurenai suddenly understood and immediately shouted to Genma.
They were the Third Squad. The Fourth Squad that had accompanied them had already rushed ahead.
So only the three of them remained nearby.
Hearing Kurenai's warning, Genma quickly retreated as well.
After that, Kiyohara turned his gaze toward the chaotic battlefield ahead.
Pakura created Scorch Release by combining Wind-release chakra and Fire-release chakra within her body, producing an entirely new nature transformation.
In other words, Pakura must have been extremely proficient and highly talented—in both of the basic chakra attributes that formed Scorch Release.
Otherwise, she would never have been able to elevate it into a true Kekkei Genkai.
Scorch Release was not something that could be produced simply by stacking Wind Release and Fire Release ninjutsu together.
As for the exact principle behind it, Kiyohara still didn't know. He himself had only acted according to instinct after inheriting it.
But one thing was certain—
Pakura was incredibly strong!
"No wonder she's called the hero of Sunagakure."
Kiyohara could see that with a casual wave of her hand, Pakura could use Wind Release airflow to neutralize incoming Konoha nin's ninjutsu. Moreover, that wind clearly carried extreme heat—its residual shockwaves alone could scorch tree leaves black, reducing them to ash as it passed by.
"But I don't need to fight her in close combat."
Seizing the moment when Pakura was fully focused on dealing with Katsuyu's acid and briefly exposed an opening on her flank, Kiyohara struck.
His right thumb and index finger firmly pinched the heavy iron-sand coin. The invisible magnetic field around him instantly twisted, constructing a fleeting electromagnetic acceleration rail!
Bang!
A black streak of light—accompanied by a piercing sonic boom and a flash of blue lightning—ripped through the air at a speed almost impossible to track with the naked eye.
In an instant, it crossed a distance of seven hundred meters and shot straight toward Pakura's right shoulder!
Magnet Release Kiyohara had never told Kiyohara what this move should be called, so Kiyohara temporarily named it—
"Magnet Release—Electromagnetic Coin!"
Due to chakra limitations, Magnet Release Kiyohara had not chosen a high-precision spindle-shaped projectile.
TN: Bullet shaped for those who don't know. Like me.
Instead, he had simply flattened and compressed the iron sand into a coin.
Even so, its power was nothing to scoff at.
At the very last moment, Pakura suddenly sensed a bone-chilling threat.
She could only instinctively twist her body slightly.
Pshhk!
The black iron-sand coin grazed past her upper right arm. Just that brief contact carved open a bloody gash. The intense pain, coupled with the numbing effect of the electric current, made Pakura grunt, and her Scorch Release formation faltered for a split second.
Thanks to her exceptional combat instincts, Pakura managed to avoid a direct hit—but the Sunagakure shinobi who had accompanied her from behind were not so lucky.
A flash of electricity passed by, and a head suddenly exploded.
Blood splattered everywhere.
The entire battlefield, which had been locked in combat moments ago, fell into a brief silence.
Enemy or ally?
After dodging Katsuyu's acid, Pakura abruptly turned her head. Her gaze pierced through the chaos of the battlefield, searching through the flame-swept night for whoever had attacked her.
Finally, on a slightly elevated piece of terrain, she saw a black-haired shinobi with lightning arcs swirling around his arm, his expression calm and composed.
Genma nearly swallowed the senbon in his mouth. He and Kurenai stared at Kiyohara in shock.
For a brief moment, Genma even felt the urge to take Kiyohara as his master—
Just to ask him how a single coin could kill someone from several hundred meters away.
His senbon had at most one-seventh of Kiyohara's range!
It wasn't just Kurenai and Genma. The distant shinobi were equally stunned.
High-range attacks were something only a small number of ninjutsu could achieve.
It was an exceedingly rare capability.
Tsunade, who had been keeping her eyes closed, heard Shizune's soft gasp behind her and slowly opened her eyes.
After just one fleeting glance, she immediately closed them again.
There was too much blood—she nearly fainted.
But that single glance was enough for Tsunade to recognize the kid she had met once before.
Tsunade's impression of Kiyohara was very deep, because the money she had just earned by selling two ninjutsu had been completely lost at the gambling hall in less than a minute.
Later, she had also heard about Kiyohara from Orochimaru.
'A bit off,' Kiyohara thought to himself.
He was responsible for aiming and firing. This was his first time using this ninjutsu, and he felt it was acceptable.
At least it grazed the target—he hadn't missed entirely.
At the same time, he couldn't help but anticipate that if he could shape a more mechanically optimal spindle form, the power might increase even further.
However, that would require far more effort to sculpt and condense it. The current Kiyohara couldn't manage that yet. Even the compression itself was being guided by Magnet Release Kiyohara.
All Kiyohara had done was aim, fire, and operate "Magnet Release: Magnetic Field Rotation" to provide the magnetic force.
Soon, another black coin of compressed iron sand formed in Kiyohara's hand.
This ninjutsu consumed a great deal of chakra. Kiyohara estimated he could use it at most four times.
In other words, casting it once consumed roughly the same amount of chakra as Chidori.
But as his proficiency increased and the jutsu was further optimized, the required chakra could be reduced.
"Don't let Pakura escape!" Shirakumo Hayama shouted.
He gripped his long blade with his uninjured arm and called out to dozens of Konoha shinobi.
If they could capture Pakura, it would be a tremendous achievement.
The summoned Katsuyu continued to assist by spewing acid to attack.
Her body had shrunk considerably, because she had split into many smaller slugs, sending her fragments to heal injured shinobi across the battlefield.
Bang!
Accompanied by a low, muffled sound, an iron-sand coin with an initial velocity of six hundred meters per second was launched.
In the blink of an eye, another Sunagakure shinobi's head exploded.
Pakura was also struck again, suffering another wound—
And this one was even deeper than the last!
This won't work. With one of the Legendary Sannin and her summon watching like a tiger, Konoha jōnin closing in, and that kid in the distance ready to ambush at any moment—
Pakura frowned.
If she focused solely on dealing with the enemies in front of her, she could still continue to maneuver.
But now she also had to divide her attention to guard against sudden long-range attacks, which made things far more difficult. On top of that, she had to ensure her disciple wasn't hit.
"Go!"
After weaving around for a little longer, Pakura knew the situation was no longer salvageable. Enduring the pain, she grabbed Maki, hurled a large number of smoke bombs to the ground, and then spread the smoke using Wind Release ninjutsu, preparing to withdraw.
(End of Chapter)