"I already understand Sunagakure's techniques," Feiyu said, looking Pakura up and down with blatant amusement. "As for money… I'm pretty sure your entire village's savings wouldn't match what I could dig up with gold dust a few times."
Pakura ground her teeth so hard her jaw ached—but she couldn't refute a single word.
"So the only thing in your village that's actually worth anything to me…" Feiyu continued lazily, "…is manpower."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Ordinary shinobi don't interest me. But you, Kazekage-miss, aren't bad. Your strength is mediocre, but your potential is passable."
He smiled.
"You're qualified to be my furnace."
Pakura's heart skipped.
"Furnace? What kind of disgusting term is that? What are you even talking about?!"
Feiyu pulled a scroll from his sleeve and tossed it to her.
"A 'furnace' is someone who helps me cultivate," he said, tone casual. "If you behave, you'll also get some benefits while assisting."
"That's it…?" Pakura froze, then opened the scroll—still suspicious.
One glance.
Her eyes widened. Her face exploded red.
"What—what is this garbage?!" she shouted, voice cracking. "Who cultivates like this?!"
The diagrams and text were so shamelessly explicit that they were practically adult comics. Pakura had no experience in that realm at all—just reading a few lines made her entire face feel like it was burning.
Feiyu's gaze sharpened a fraction, then he looked away as if bored. He didn't bother telling her the deeper truth:
Most "dual-cultivation" methods weren't equal partnerships. There was always a primary and a secondary.
The one in control could choose whether to "drain" or "share," and could even impose a kind of invisible leash. The more times it happened, the harder it became for the "furnace" to resist.
This kind of control was far more terrifying than genjutsu.
It wasn't something you could simply "break out of."
Pakura stared at him coldly.
Feiyu spread his hands.
"I don't need to lie to you with something this low-level," he said bluntly.
He coughed twice—awkward, almost—then forced his tone steady.
"It's a high-end cultivation method. Especially for… ahem… inexperienced men and women. The first time can greatly boost chakra and overall attributes for both sides."
Pakura's ears burned even hotter. But she wasn't stupid. She understood what Feiyu was really doing.
He wasn't just choosing her because she had potential.
He was choosing her because this was a chain—a way to bind the Fifth Kazekage that made even Five-Senses Control look gentle.
Feiyu's voice stayed indifferent.
"If you agree—whether it succeeds perfectly or not—I'll fulfill my promises."
"Magnet Release users. And greening Sunagakure's environment."
Pakura's fists clenched.
"You… you're not lying?"
Feiyu gave her a flat look.
"Would I need to?"
Pakura's thoughts churned.
Even if Feiyu was exaggerating the benefits, even if the method was risky—
The reward was too large.
Magnet Release was the village's strongest inheritance. Wood Release-style greening was the village's dream.
"With that kind of benefit…" Pakura forced herself to breathe evenly, cheeks still red, "…I could trade for ten… no, twenty beautiful kunoichi if I wanted."
She swallowed hard, eyes turning stubborn.
"If I have to 'sacrifice' once… I'll treat it like getting bitten by a dog."
Feiyu's mouth twitched.
This woman's courage had suddenly ballooned.
Pakura snapped, embarrassed beyond endurance:
"Shut up! Who do you think made it like this?!"
The day after agreeing, she had actually gone and studied the technique in detail. And because Feiyu—now officially part of her guard—spent the whole day sitting in the Kazekage office like a shadow, Pakura felt like she was going to die of shame.
Night fell.
The Fifth Kazekage hurried back to her home, steps quick, posture stiff. Anyone watching closely would've noticed her face was flushed and her expression strangely flustered.
Feiyu's voice floated beside her with open mockery.
"You're panicking way too hard. If I hadn't used genjutsu to cover you up today, any shinobi with eyes would've noticed something was wrong with their Kazekage."
Pakura glared at him, shoved open her door, and locked it behind them with far too much force. She let out a long breath, as if bracing herself for a battlefield.
Feiyu sighed, looking resigned.
"You've read the method, right?" he said. "Then let's start."
Pakura's body stiffened.
For a few seconds, she didn't move at all. Then she drew a long, shaky breath.
"…Fine."
"Get it over with early," she muttered. "So you can go do what you promised."
She shut her eyes.
What happened afterward… neither of them had any desire to talk about in detail.
Only one thing mattered:
It worked.
The next morning, Feiyu opened his eyes and sat up, stretching like he'd slept wonderfully.
He raised a hand.
A pale glow condensed in his palm, then formed into a Scorch Release fireball.
Feiyu's lips curled in genuine satisfaction.
The result was even better than he'd expected.
That night's cultivation didn't just strengthen him—it directly helped him awaken Scorch Release.
His chakra pool had risen by nearly twenty percent. His physical stats climbed alongside it. Even his Sharingan dōjutsu power and partial Sage-body traits felt more active—no qualitative leap, but clearly stronger than before.
Part of it was the cultivation effect.
Part of it was his body being reshaped by the awakening of a kekkei genkai.
Stacked together, the gains were significant.
The light from the fireball stirred Pakura awake. She blinked sleepily, looked up at Feiyu, and—shockingly—smiled.
"Feiyu… you're up," she murmured. Then her eyes widened. "Wait—that's my Scorch Release. You already mastered it?! That's amazing!"
Feiyu shook his head.
"That's not just talent," he said. "I only saw the synthesis method yesterday. Even if I can fuse a bloodline, it should take at least a year or two of refinement."
His gaze softened slightly.
"This speed… is because of you."
Pakura's cheeks flushed. She lifted her chin a little, eyes closing again on instinct.
Feiyu leaned down—
…and then paused internally, surprised.
The Hehuan Codex had changed her far more than he expected. This was only the first time, and yet Pakura was already treating him like a lover, not a threat.
If this happened a few more times…
Feiyu had no doubt she'd be willing to sell Sunagakure with a smile, if he asked.
He straightened after a moment, tapped her cheek lightly, and spoke in a more businesslike tone.
"Don't stay in bed. Check your body."
"Your strength should've improved too."
Pakura blinked, came back to herself, clenched her fist, and carefully felt the chakra in her body.
Her expression lit up.
"It's real…!" she breathed. "My chakra increased by fifty percent! Even my nature transformation feels much cleaner—like it suddenly 'clicked'!"
"Physical ability should've improved too," she added quickly. "I'll test it later and see how much stronger I've gotten!"
Feiyu had taken the biggest share as the dominant side, but Pakura still benefited heavily—and because she started weaker, her percentage increase was even more dramatic.
Later that day, the Kazekage office was packed.
More than a dozen shinobi who had mastered Sand Control squeezed the room to the point it felt like the walls were shrinking.
Sand Control was basically the "lower-tier" version of Magnet Release—some called it a failed form. In theory, anyone who could truly use Sand Control had the foundation to pursue Magnet Release.
Of course, theory and reality were two different things.
Plenty of shinobi could use Wind Release and Earth Release—yet only Hashirama ever truly manifested Wood Release.
In Sunagakure, Sand Control wasn't "common," but it was an advanced secret art. There had never been fewer than a dozen jōnin who could use it.
Magnet Release, on the other hand, was practically a Kazekage bloodline.
Historically, Sunagakure rarely had more than two or three Magnet Release users alive at the same time.
If you awakened Magnet Release, you were instantly a potential successor to the Kazekage seat.
So the moment Pakura's announcement went out—that someone could help qualified shinobi awaken Magnet Release—these people practically trampled the office door down themselves.
A scar-faced jōnin stepped forward, still half in disbelief.
"Kazekage-sama… is it true? Someone can help us awaken Magnet Release?"
Pakura answered with absolute certainty.
"Of course." Her voice was firm—almost too firm.
After the night's cultivation, her trust in Feiyu had become frighteningly complete. She hadn't even tested it yet, but her confidence was higher than Feiyu's own.
"But awakening Magnet Release will require you to pay a price."
The scar-faced jōnin didn't hesitate.
"Any price is fine!" he thumped his chest. "As long as I can awaken Magnet Release!"
That was the shinobi world.
Powerful techniques were always dangerous. "Forbidden techniques" were everywhere. Even the Rasengan and Chidori had destructive side effects in the wrong hands.
Compared to that, sacrificing a little health for a bloodline limit? Many shinobi would jump at the chance.
Not just him—every shinobi behind him felt the same.
Some of them had already made peace with death: even if only one out of ten succeeded and the rest died, they wouldn't blame anyone.
Pakura nodded once, then turned toward the masked man beside her.
"Yu-kun," she said, using the codename she had assigned him within the guard unit. "I'm counting on you. Help them awaken Magnet Release."
Feiyu, masked, gave a slight nod.
"Training field," he said, voice low. "I'll awaken your bloodline."
The crowd froze for a heartbeat.
They had assumed the Kazekage herself would be the one to guide them.
But then someone recognized him—the masked guard who had used Wood Release yesterday.
Their fear vanished.
Confidence surged.
At the training field, Sunagakure's facilities were bleak compared to Konoha's. No posts, no stone targets, no fancy equipment—just a wide, flat patch of ground.
Feiyu walked to the center and looked over the dozen-plus shinobi.
"Who's first?"
They exchanged glances. The oldest among them stepped forward—a man well past fifty.
"I'll go," he said grimly. "At my age, I won't improve much anyway. Even if it fails, it won't affect the village."
Feiyu's tone stayed flat.
"Relax. A first attempt won't kill you."
"At worst, you'll be weak for a few days."
Warden of Wandering Souls wasn't normal ninjutsu. Forcing a soul to overlay a living body caused heavy "wear."
But even so, it wouldn't kill someone instantly—unless you pushed it repeatedly.
If the overlay was brief, weakness for a few days was the normal outcome.
Only repeated use—yin–yang conflict stacking over time—would cause the lifespan loss and deeper aftereffects.
The old man blinked, then scratched his head, suddenly embarrassed.
"Haha… so the side effects are that small? I thought if it failed, I was just dead."
"Only if you fail and then stubbornly keep trying again and again," Feiyu replied.
Then he raised his hand.
A ribbon of black mist condensed—shaping into something invisible yet oppressive.
Rasa's soul.
Feiyu gripped it, then slapped it onto the old jōnin's body like stamping a seal.
"Now," he said quietly.
"Let's begin."
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