Hey guys, here is the new chapter hope you will liked and read thru everything.
If we hit 500 PW I post a extra chapter you been hitting all the goals to get more chapters
Don't forget to leave your power stones along with your comment if you have any ideas or opinions that could help me, as well as a review to continue showing your support.
Enjoy the chapter!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The journey back from the desolate crater to the outer limits of the city of Kanzaki was an agonizing march against time.
The wind of the Land of Fire blew with a freshness that, under any other circumstances, would have been pleasant, but for Maki, every second felt like an eternity suspended over an abyss.
Upon the shoulders of the sole surviving ninja of the elite squad, Guren remained unconscious, her small body plunged into absolute exhaustion following her emotional collapse and the weight of the chakra-infused cloths.
But the true crisis was the one Maki carried in her own arms.
Pakura was completely wrapped in the rolls of specialized cloth, but the rudimentary treatment barely managed to contain the internal disaster.
The residual heat emanating from the Heroine of the Desert was so absurdly high that the grass and dry leaves Maki stepped on during her sprint withered and turned black instantly.
"She needs more water, Maki! Her temperature is rising again!" the surviving ninja said, looking out of the corner of his eye as steam began to filter through the fibers of the cloth cocoon.
Maki, her arms trembling from exhaustion and the superficial burns that the thermal wind had left on her face, did not halt her pace. With a supreme effort, she channeled the chakra she had left to execute a constant Suiton, pouring cold water directly over the fabric.
The impact of the water against Pakura's boiling body generated a sharp, loud hiss, releasing a dense curtain of white steam that clouded the path between the trees. Maki knew that if she stopped cooling her, even for a couple of minutes, her sensei internal organs would collapse from the internal fever caused by the use of her technique.
Finally, after what felt like hours of uninterrupted running, the tall stone walls of Kanzaki loomed against the horizon. However, they did not head toward the majestic commercial gates where the merchants lined up.
Pakura's condition and the nature of the mission demanded an emergency entrance.
The Suna ninja diverted their course toward a mountainous and forested area flanking the base of the north wall.
There, hidden behind a thick curtain of vines and protected by a complex barrier jutsu, lay the secret medical entrance to the Sunagakure garrison.
The ninja performed a swift sequence of seals with one hand and pressed the stone. The barrier opened with a dull hum, revealing an underground tunnel illuminated by chakra torches.
To Maki's surprise, they didn't have to advance blindly. The emergency chakra signal she had sent before Pakura's definitive explosion had been received. At the tunnel's entrance, a deployment of six Suna medical ninjas, dressed in white coats over their tactical uniforms and carrying sealed stretchers, were already waiting for them, their faces distorted by tension.
"It's Pakura-sama!" exclaimed the head doctor, running toward Maki the moment he saw the white steam.
"Place her on the stretcher and maintain a water jutsu over her at all times immediately! Prepare the cold saline solutions and activate the chakra isolation seals in Medical Room One!"
The transfer was a whirlwind of professional yet chaotic activity. The doctors cut Maki's cloths with medical kunai and began applying medical-style jutsus combined with water to stabilize Pakura's surface temperature.
Maki watched as they carried her mentor into the depths of the underground hospital, feeling a vacuum in her stomach. She knew Pakura was alive, but her worry lingered all the same.
Looking to her right, she noticed the doctors were also taking Guren along with Sayuri and her baby to check that they were alright.
A Few Days Later
The silence of the hospital room was the first thing Guren perceived when consciousness began to return to her body. It was not the frigid, damp silence loaded with the smell of formaldehyde from Orochimaru's underground laboratories.
This place felt different. The air was warm, dry, and carried a soft scent of clean wood and medical disinfectant.
Guren snapped her eyes open, panic tensing every single one of her muscles. Her mind, fractured by memories of the devastation and the Sannin's implacable gaze, forced her to try to get up immediately to put herself on guard.
Automatically, she tried to channel her Shōton chakra toward her hands to generate a crystal blade to defend herself.
However, instead of the characteristic pink glow, a dull pang of pain and an unbearable weight in her stomach forced her to fall flat on her back against the white sheets.
Guren gasped, looking at her wrists and then her chest. She was not chained. There were no iron shackles or ropes binding her to the bed, which completely confused her.
Instead, stuck precisely onto the skin of her wrists and in the center of her torso, were three pieces of parchment with black characters written in chakra ink: chakra suppression seals.
Her chakra was completely blocked, inaccessible, as if a heavy stone floodgate had been placed over her energy source. She was defenseless.
«They are going to kill me,» the six-year-old girl thought, feeling her heart pound wildly against her ribs.
«Orochimaru was right... the ninjas of the great villages lock you up and destroy you when you are no longer useful.»
Just then, the wooden doorknob turned with a soft click. Guren shrank against the headboard of the bed, hiding her legs and staring at her clean hands with terror.
The door opened completely, but the figure that walked in was not a executioner with a sword.
It was Sayuri.
The woman walked with a soft step, carrying little Yukimaru in a wrap over her chest, who slept peacefully, oblivious to the danger of the world.
Behind her entered Maki, her arms and part of her neck covered in clean bandages and her face visibly fatigued, but with a gaze devoid of hostility.
"Guren... what a joy that you've awakened," Sayuri said, with a smile so genuine and full of compassion that it completely disarmed the girl's defensive posture.
"You... why are you here?" Guren's voice sounded shaky, small, and raspy.
"I... I tried to kill you. Orochimaru ordered me to destroy you. I was going to turn you into crystal..."
Sayuri did not respond with words of reproach. She slowly approached the bed, ignoring the girl's tension, and sat on the edge of the mattress.
With infinite gentleness, she extended her hand and stroked Guren's messy hair, wiping away the trace of a few small tears falling from her eyes.
"You were scared, little one," Sayuri whispered softly.
"That horrible man was forcing you to do something your heart didn't want. I saw your eyes before the fire arrived, and now we are safe thanks to the sand ninjas."
Upon hearing those words, something broke definitively within Guren.
The wall of coldness and adoctrination that Orochimaru had built on a foundation of fear and manipulation collapsed completely before the pure, unconditional compassion of a mother.
Tears, large and heavy, began to well from the girl's black eyes. Guren leaned forward and hid her face in Sayuri's lap, breaking into a disconsolate sob the cry of a six-year-old girl who finally remembered what it felt like to be protected.
Sayuri wrapped an arm around her, cradling her carefully so as not to wake Yukimaru, allowing the little girl to vent all the pain and guilt she carried.
Maki, watching the scene from the entrance, crossed her arms and let out a sigh of relief. She stepped forward a couple of paces, drawing the attention of Guren, who looked up, still sobbing.
"You're not in danger here, Guren," Maki said, maintaining a serious but firm tone.
"The seals on your wrists are a security measure necessary for your own safety and that of the hospital. Your Crystal release is incredibly dangerous and destructive. You still don't control it, so for everyone's sake, it will stay like this."
Guren wiped her tears with the back of her suppressed hand, looking at the young kunoichi. "What... what is going to happen to me now?"
"That will be decided by the village command," Maki replied. "But for now, you are under our custody. Orochimaru was repelled by Pakura-sama and won't lay his hands on you again. You are safe from him."
In Sunagakure
In the main office of the Kazekage Tower, the atmosphere was silent. Daigo sat behind the wooden desk, surrounded by stacks of documents related to commercial routes and the administration of the new border territories.
The evening sun filtered through the large circular window, casting long shadows across the office floor.
A sudden fluttering broke the monotony of the room. A messenger hawk with reddish feathers the bird specifically assigned to Pakura's squad flew through the window opening and landed with a sharp screech on the wooden perch next to the desk. Daigo looked up immediately.
With precise movements, Daigo untied the metal cylinder and extracted the sealed scroll. Unrolling it, he began to read. It was the official report of the mission to find the Shōton user.
As his eyes scanned the lines of the report, Daigo's usually serene expression tensed subtly. His fingers tightened around the edges of the paper.
The report detailed the massacre of the border village, the confirmation of the existence of a young girl possessing the Shōton (Crystal release) named Guren, and the horrific ambush by Orochimaru, who believed he was the reason this girl had the Shōton.
Furthermore, it reported the sudden death of 5 strong ninjas, and Pakura's condition after having to face Orochimaru and using a new technique that left her out of combat.
Daigo dropped the scroll onto his desk and leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose with evident concern.
However, what worried him most at that moment was not that Orochimaru had escaped, but Pakura's condition. Daigo knew the limits of the Shakuton, as he had studied them alongside her. Coupled with the danger of using so much heat, he had to do something.
Daigo stood up from his chair and walked toward the window, observing the desert horizon where the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky a fiery red. His mind analyzed the situation. Taking a few minutes to think, he already had an idea of what to do.
Daigo returned to his desk. He took an official Sunagakure scroll, dipped his pen in black ink, and began to draft a series of official directives with his signature.
The first thing he wrote was that once Pakura showed improvement and could finally leave the hospital, she alongside her team must return to Suna. Along with Sayuri, her son, and Guren for greater safety. He also placed another person in charge of Kanzaki while Pakura would be away, although in reality, Pakura was not going to return to Kanzaki for quite some time.
Ñ
Daigo sealed the scroll with red wax, applying the emblem of the sand firmly. He walked back toward the messenger hawk, which waited patiently on its perch. The Kazekage tied the metal cylinder to the bird's leg and gently stroked its feathers before tossing it into the air.
The hawk spread its wings and soared with force, cutting against the desert evening sky, flying at full speed back toward the Land of Fire, bearing the orders that would change Guren's destiny and consolidate Sunagakure's stance against the shadows threatening their borders.
Daigo, now leaning back in his chair, repeated the name Guren, remembering.
"So it was her... Well, she's 6 years old now. If I train her, maybe she'll be an elite Jōnin in the future and will help Suna. At least Orochimaru didn't win," Daigo said to himself.
Suddenly, a bad vibe washed over him. He didn't know what it was, but it made him snap on guard, activating his Seismic Sense.
"Am I going crazy?" he asked himself before standing up and disappearing from the room.
From one of the corners, a shadow shifted, only to fade away and vanish into thin air.
"That's is dangerous man"
End of Chapter