---Third POV---

  Although most of the Konoha ninjas didn't fully grasp the depth of the mutual probing and countering involved in the earlier csh of jutsus, it didn't stop them from recognizing one thing: Ryouma had once again unleashed a powerful jutsu to give the Suna ninjas a strong warning.

  If you asked why they were so sure of this, the answer was simple: Ryouma's jutsus had never failed to amaze in terms of their visual impact.

  Even Konoha's forward defense forces several kilometers away could see the enormous, dark purple orb of light rising into the sky like a second sun. Around it floated a ring of burning debris resembling a meteor belt, and the surrounding dark purple light reflected off it, adding a unique beauty to what was otherwise a terrifying jutsu that had swallowed up over a hundred Suna ninjas.

  This scene was both awe-inspiring and deeply intimidating.

  Minato had observed the entire process—from the moment Ryouma began casting the jutsu to its final explosion. He was almost certain that the technique Ryouma had just used, in terms of both difficulty and power, was on par with the infamous forbidden techniques described in the Scroll of Seals, if not superior.

  ---Ryouma's POV---

  Minato turned to me, looking at my still-active technique in the distance, and asked, "What's the name of that jutsu?"

  I could see his thoughts racing behind those eyes. If I hadn't named it yet, he was probably prepared to offer his own suggestions. But no, thanks.

  "This jutsu is called Burning Wind Explosion. I invented it by accident; I didn't expect it to work this well."

  That was of course a lie.

  Ever since acquiring the Rikugan, I had been experimenting with different chakra ratios in an attempt to develop a bloodline limit in the form of a "fusion jutsu." Thanks to the chakra control and chakra flow visualization abilities provided by the Rikugan, I could experiment freely with almost no risk—something that would have turned any ordinary ninja into a cripple long ago.

  Lucky me!

  Through countless failed attempts, I had finally discovered the precise ratio needed to achieve a transformative fusion of wind and fire chakra, resulting in this fearsome Bze Release. The dark purple fmes produced by the technique were far hotter than ordinary Fire Release techniques, and so far, I hadn't encountered anything they couldn't burn. Additionally, the fmes could consume wind and fire chakra as fuel, making them even more dangerous.

  Hearing that the jutsu already had a name, Minato looked slightly disappointed, but he quickly shifted gears to his usual camp activity: showering me with praise.

  "That's absolutely incredible. You're the most talented and outstanding ninja I've ever met."

  Minato, currently Konoha's second-most vocal fan of mine, used two supertives in a row to express his admiration. For the record, my top fan was Kakashi.

  "Here they come! Prepare for battle!"

  For ninjas, covering a few kilometers was no big deal. At this moment, the Konoha and Suna ninjas had already cshed.

  Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

  A series of kunai flew toward Minato and me. I drew Lostvayneand easily deflected a few of them.

  "You're the one who used that jutsu earlier, aren't you?" Chiyo gred at me. She had likely sensed the familiar chakra from me and, upon seeing my white hair, furrowed her brows as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

  Thinking about Sakumo, huh?

  "Chiyo," Minato interjected, "your vilge has no chance of winning. Instead of continuing to sacrifice your men here, why not surrender now? You still have Iwa to contend with, after all."

  I could tell he hoped to avoid the decisive battle with words. He knew that Suna still had to contend with the threat of Iwa.

  At any rate, it was worth a try—there was nothing to lose. Hm, let's see if his Talk-no-Jutsu was of a higher level than Naruto's.

  Chiyo ughed like an old neighborly granny. "Hahaha, I never thought an elite ninja like yourself would entertain such a naive idea."

  "It seems we'll have to fight after all," Minato said with a sigh.

  "This war has reached a point where neither side has any room to retreat, hasn't it?" Chiyo pulled out a scroll and unrolled it, summoning only seven puppets that appeared around her in a cloud of smoke.

  In the brief time she had, she had managed to roughly repair the half-destroyed puppets. Although they weren't back to full power, they had regained a significant amount of their strength.

  Seeing Chiyo's stance, clearly unwilling to negotiate further, Minato readied his Flying Thunder God kunai for battle.

  Chiyo flicked her wrists, commanding the seven puppets, armed with various weapons, to attack Minato. The two of them were soon locked in an intense battle.

  Meanwhile, I was momentarily ignored. Some popcorn and a coke would be nice.

  But in the shinobi world, there was no concept of "dishonorable combat" when outnumbering the opponent. So, I pnned to take advantage of Minato distracting the puppets and attack Chiyo directly.

  But before I could act, another figure appeared in front of me.

  "Before you defeat me, you're not going anywhere," the figure decred.

  What the fuck?! That was a genuine anime line!!

  I recognized her at once from her attire: Pakura.

  "I've always had a question for you," I said nonchantly.

  "What is it?" Pakura asked, surprised; she couldn't recall ever speaking with me, Konoha's famous prodigy, before.

  "Is that special heat-resistant fabric, or do you just apply sunscreen with shadow clones every hour?"

  "..."

  "Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"

  Four orange-red orbs of light floated out of her hands. Like my Bze Release, it was created by fusing wind and fire chakra, though its manifestation differed.

  The seemingly small orbs of light held unimaginable destructive power. Even the slightest contact with them could instantly evaporate all the moisture in the body of a strong and resilient ninja.

  Now, the four Scorch Release orbs, under her control, streaked across the battlefield in different arcs, rapidly closing in on me.

  With a bde in my right hand and my left hand forming a seal, I channeled lightning chakra through my body to enhance my speed and reflexes.

  Electric arcs crackled across my bde and body as I, moving at an incredible speed, deftly dodged the incoming orbs with minimal effort.

  In a fsh, I closed the distance to her and delivered a powerful downward ssh.

  My expertise y in ninjutsu, but close combat had never been my weakness either.

  The dazzling arc of my silver bde fshed and disappeared in an instant.

  A rge knife wound appeared on Pakura's chest. After one swift strike, I immediately retreated to increase the distance.

  However, this strike did not hit.

  The Pakura who had been struck dissolved into a puff of smoke with a "poof."

  The real Pakura was hiding in the shadows. I watched as she fell for my trap, believing I had fallen for her decoy. How could I with the Rikugan?

  She immediately controlled a fming orb to attack from behind in a surprise counterstrike. Her true body revealed itself, rushing from another direction with a kunai aimed at me.

  At this moment, I appeared surrounded, seemingly with no way to turn the tide.

  "I've got you now; this is my victory," Pakura smirked, her lips curling into a cold grin, confident her pn had worked.

  I also smiled, but it was not a victorious smile—it was simply the kind of smile I naturally wore.

  "Full Counter."

  An invisible domain expanded around me, as though the rules within it were being rewritten.

  The moment the orb entered my domain, it was completely reflected back.

  She did not understand what had happened, how could she? All she felt was an invisible force hitting her like a punch or something else?

  Boom!

  Pakura's body was sent flying and nded heavily on the ground.

  From the very beginning, I had noticed it. When she threw four fming orbs, the one left on the field was not her true body but a clone.

  I feigned being deceived, deliberately sshing at her clone. This "bait and switch" tactic was one that I had become increasingly adept at.

  "Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"

  Orange-red orbs reappeared around Pakura, slowly floating by her side to guard her.

  I looked at the slowly rising Pakura and sincerely asked, "Do all Suna ninjas like to celebrate prematurely?"

  She didn't know what I meant by "celebrate prematurely," but it was clear from her expression she knew it wasn't anything good. I could see a heavy discomfort in her chest—clearly, the earlier blow had taken its toll.

  Ignoring my mocking question, she seemed lost in thought, likely trying to understand what had just happened. I waited a few seconds, noticing she wasn't responding, and shrugged indifferently.

  The distance was about right now.

  "Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation."

  "What?!" Pakura excimed.

  The ground beneath her suddenly shifted, and my shadow clone's hands reached out, grabbing her ankles and pulling her into the earth.

  She tried to use Scorch Release to incinerate everything in her surroundings.

  But I had already appeared before her in a fsh. Squatting directly in front of her now-exposed head, I pressed Lostvayne tightly against her neck.

  "Aa--"

  The bde was crackling with electricity. The lightning chakra coursing through it completely paralyzed Pakura, rendering her immobile.

  "Protect Pakura-sama!"

  "Quick! Save her!"

  The surrounding Suna ninjas saw that Pakura's life was on the line. Willing to risk injury, they abandoned their fights and rushed to attack me in an attempt to rescue her.

  How noble. Would I have done the same in their situation?

  Whoosh, whoosh~

  The sound of projectiles cutting through the air filled the battlefield.

  Several kunai flew swiftly toward me.

  Seeing this, I had an idea. I withdrew Lostvayne and leapt backward, dodging the wave of kunai aimed at me.

  At the same time, several Suna ninjas who had forced their way out of their own battles rushed to Pakura's position, where she remained trapped by the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique.

  "Pakura-sama, are you alright?"

  "Does this look like I'm alright to you?"

  "I can use Earth Release. Hold on, I'll get you out right away."

  These Suna ninjas bore visible injuries from their desperate rush to reach the battlefield. However, to them, saving Pakura was worth the cost.

  "Thank you for your help," Pakura said.

  With the assistance of the Earth Release user, she was about to emerge from the ground. Suddenly, she sensed a wave of searing heat rising from beneath.

  "This isn't good! Quickly—"

  Underground, my shadow clone, which had used the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, had not yet been dispelled.

  "Bze Release: Grand Fme Rasengan!"

  The Grand Fme Rasengan, which had only briefly appeared before, was no longer just a supporting move. I had reinforced it with Bze Release.

  My shadow clone unched the dark purple, searingly hot Rasengan upward from underground.

  The seemingly solid earth offered no resistance to the Rasengan.

  The moment Pakura issued her warning, the Grand Fme Rasengan burst out of the ground, piercing straight through her chest.

  But it wasn't over yet. The dark purple orb began to radiate an intense light, as if it were about to explode.

  "Scorch Release: Great Steaming Explosive Bst!"

  The four orange-red orbs merged into one. Though fewer in number, its size grew more than fourfold. The massive orb wobbled toward the Grand Fme Rasengan, attempting to envelop it.

  But controlling projectiles was my specialty. If I could manipute a detached Rasenshuriken mid-flight, controlling the smaller Grand Fme Rasengan was effortless.

  The orb moved like a nimble beast in the forest, easily dodging the rge orb.

  Pakura swung her arm to redirect the orb for a second attempt.

  Cough, cough, cough~

  Blood poured from her mouth and nose, her body wracked with violent coughing fits.

  Her injuries were catastrophic. Her upper torso had been burned through, leaving a gaping hole in her chest. Yet, there was no blood flow; the wound had cauterized instantly.

  The severe blood loss left her struggling to stay conscious.

  Then, the orange-red orb dimmed and extinguished in midair, mirroring its creator's fading life.

  The Grand Fme Rasengan exploded as expected, its terrifying heat instantly reducing several nearby Suna ninjas to charred remains.

  From a distance, I lowered my hands, having just completed the seal to dispel my shadow clone.

  The explosion had nearly consumed the shadow clone that unched the Grand Fme Rasengan. I had no intention of experiencing the sensation of being incinerated by my own Grand Fme Rasengan.

  When I saw how many Suna ninjas risked their lives to save Pakura, I devised a pn to use her as bait, luring them into a trap to eliminate them all at once.

  To ensure total annihition, I reinforced the Grand Fme Rasengan with Bze Release.

  Since the Burning Wind Explosion had already been exposed, there was no point in keeping Bze Release a secret any longer.