Maki stared in disbelief at the teacher who had died many years ago.
Pakura also looked at her former disciple with a trace of nostalgia. But the moment she noticed the female shinobi from Kirigakure standing beside Maki, her anger instantly flared.
Hearing Maki call out Pakura's name, Shizuka carefully looked the woman up and down.
"Oh? So she's Pakura? Hmm… she looks fine, but she seems to have quite the temper."
The moment Pakura saw a ninja from Kirigakure, she immediately charged forward.
Seeing this, Maki hurriedly stepped in front of her.
Watching her own disciple dare to block her path only made Pakura angrier.
"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
Several orange fire orbs instantly shot toward Maki and the others.
Familiar with her teacher's techniques, Maki manipulated strips of white cloth, constantly maneuvering them around the fireballs to intercept them.
The killing intent just now had clearly been real. Unable to understand why her teacher would attack them, Maki couldn't help but ask.
While fighting them, Pakura coldly explained what had happened back then—how Rasa and several of Sunagakure's higher-ups had betrayed her, ultimately causing her to die at the hands of Kirigakure.
Maki and the others widened their eyes in shock. They could hardly believe that their village's leadership would do something like that.
At that moment, Pakura gathered a large amount of chakra. Raising her hand, she condensed a massive blazing sphere.
"Scorch Release: Giant Fireball!"
Seeing the situation escalate, Shizuka realized the earlier skirmish was over.
She stepped away from the already pulverized body of Gari of the Explosion Corps. Other sealing shinobi quickly moved in to seal his remains.
Pakura hurled the enormous fireball toward Maki and the others.
In an instant, Shizuka teleported in front of them, raising her hand with index and middle fingers together.
"Wind Release: Violent Whirlwind!"
The powerful whirlwind she exhaled blew the massive fireball apart instantly.
"…What?"
Seeing her Scorch Release so easily countered by Wind Release, Pakura was momentarily stunned.
At this moment, Maki began using her Talk-no-Jutsu, and the two engaged in a duel between teacher and student.
In the end, Pakura smiled faintly.
"Maki… you've grown up."
Shizuka understood.
Perhaps Pakura still couldn't let go of her hatred, but she certainly couldn't abandon her disciple either. That fight had probably been a test for Maki.
"Even so, you still worry about your student. Having a teacher like you… that must be a disciple's fortune."
Suddenly, Pakura felt her consciousness rapidly blurring. Alarmed, she shouted:
"Run, Maki! Hurry! I feel like I'm about to lose control of myself!"
At that moment, Shizuka instantly appeared in front of Pakura and took out a yellow talisman inscribed with the words "By Imperial Command, the Divine Arrives."
Under Pakura's confused gaze, she slapped the talisman onto her forehead.
"Huh? What's going on?! Why can't I control myself?!"
Hidden in the shadows, Black Zetsu looked utterly bewildered.
He suddenly realized that his connection to Pakura had vanished.
"Damn it… I can't see anything anymore."
The Third Battlefield
Pakura suddenly regained clarity.
"Strange… my consciousness is back? But why can't I move?"
Shizuka turned to Maki and the others.
"Ahem. I'll take her away for a moment. You guys go support the others."
"I understand."
Maki looked at her teacher reluctantly before leaving with the others to reinforce their comrades.
"Wait! What are you doing?"
Pakura realized Shizuka had hoisted her over her shoulder. A moment later, Shizuka vanished at incredible speed.
A Hidden Location
Shizuka sensed her surroundings carefully. After confirming that no one—including White Zetsu—was nearby, she nodded.
Pakura asked in confusion,
"Where did you bring me?"
Shizuka grinned.
"Hehe, nothing serious. You'll find out soon enough. First, I'm letting you meet someone."
Before Pakura could react, Shizuka pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai and spoke toward it.
"Nagi, I've kidnapped Pakura. The rest is up to you."
Meanwhile, at Nagi's Home
Nagi suddenly sensed Shizuka's message.
"…Huh? What?"
He was completely dumbfounded. He didn't remember telling Shizuka and the others to go capture Pakura.
Shizuka and her companions had a simple philosophy:
None of Nagi's future wives could be left behind.
"Huh? You're saying that in the future I'll marry someone named Nagi… and we'll even have children?"
Shizuka began explaiNagi's story to Pakura, though she intentionally omitted many details.
Pakura stared at Shizuka in disbelief. The story sounded far too outrageous.
"Leaving aside who Nagi is… I'm in an Impure World Reincarnation body right now. How could I possibly have children?"
"That's not a problem at all! Let me tell you—Nagi smells really nice, his lips are soft and addictive, and—"
Shizuka began enthusiastically listing Nagi's virtues.
Pakura was utterly confused.
Are you introducing a man to me… or just feeding me dog food?
Suddenly, the Flying Thunder God kunai in Shizuka's hand began glowing blue. At the same time, Pakura's body emitted the same blue light.
In the next instant, Pakura vanished.
Seeing this, Shizuka knew the teleportation had succeeded. She immediately rushed back toward the battlefield to continue providing support.
Shiranui Residence
Pakura looked around in confusion through the talisman still stuck to her forehead.
"Uh… where is this…?"
"Um… nice to meet you, Miss Pakura."
Hearing the voice, Pakura quickly turned around and saw Nagi sitting on a sofa.
"So handsome—no… so beautiful!"
Even as a woman herself, she couldn't help but admire his appearance.
"Uh… you are…?"
"I'm the Shiranui Nagi that Shizuka mentioned."
Nagi replied with a slightly helpless smile.
He had originally intended to teleport Pakura over quietly, but Shizuka had suddenly dropped such a massive bombshell that he worried she might reveal even more things she shouldn't. So he had hurriedly brought Pakura over.
Pakura's eyes widened.
"You're Nagi? The one that girl said would be my… future husband?"
Nagi didn't know how to answer. After all, he couldn't exactly say it was fake—especially considering how lively and adorable his future daughter was.
(Clearly the most important point.)
He coughed lightly.
"Let's talk about that later."
Nagi stepped forward and reached behind Pakura's head, pulling out the Impure World Reincarnation control talisman embedded there.
After that, he removed the talisman from her forehead as well.
"Huh?"
Pakura stood up and suddenly felt a strange sense of release. She realized she could now move freely and control her body.
Nagi smiled.
"Wait a moment. It's not over yet."
"Hm?"
Before Pakura could react, green light appeared in Nagi's hand.
"Resurrection Technique."
The White Zetsu sacrificial body within Pakura began gradually dissolving.
At the same time, somewhere in the ninja world, Pakura's real corpse slowly vanished…
A moment later—
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A rhythmic sound echoed from Pakura's chest, like the beating of powerful drums.
It was the sound of a heart beating once again—declaring the return of life.
"This—!"
Pakura stared at her hands in disbelief.
She could feel her breathing… the beating of her heart… the sensation of her skin…
"…I'm alive?"
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