บท 68: Ice vs. Scorch

Scorch release is a Gekkei Genkai resulting from the fusion of Wind and Fire properties. The two are synergistic; therefore Scorch Release can induce much higher temperatures than normal Fire Release.

Ryo know the how bad such temperature could be for him, as it can cause any moister to disappear unless he froze it. Therefore, he assigned Haname Uchiha to assist him in fighting his foe.

Waves of heat started bursting from within Pakura's body. A few Orbs of "heat" of various sizes started forming around her.

She sent them toward Ryo. These Orbs were so excruciatingly hot, the even the air around them felt like it was burning.

Ryo reshaped the Ice armor on his body into a wall to block the Heat Orbs, and then launched a Water Dragon that he immediately froze.

Ryo's ice is not frozen with Chakra. It is actually frozen with natural energy. This makes it a lot more durable. It is was strong enough to take Shukaku's "Air Bullets", and facing the Heat Orbs, it didn't melt.

Ryo controlled his Ice Dragon and made it attack Pakura. Because she saw how the wall resisted her Heat Orbs, she didn't try to melt the dragon. She actually went for dodging it using a Clone instead.

"Ryo, the Sand Ninjas are basically done. Should we destroy those puppets next?"

It was only when she heard Gamahiro's words that she realized that most of the Ninjas responsible for transporting the puppets had already been killed.

Gamahiro was at least Quasi-Kage tier, and he was huge is size. Without the help Pakura and the 4 Chunins, those Sand ninja couldn't stand a Chance.

Pakura realized Gamahiro's threat level to the Sand Chunins and Genins, so she decided to deal with him first. She sent a Huge Heat Orb his way.

Seeing that Gamahiro was her target, Ryo blinked to the top of his head.

"Hiro, use Water Gunshots! These Orbs are not easy to deal with." Ryo's words made Hiro vigilant. He had actually thought of facing the Orb head-on with his swords. But hearing Ryo's words, he gave up on that idea and countered the orb with a Gunshot.

As soon as the water gunshot touched the heat orb, it started evaporating. It fully disappeared in under two seconds, while the Heat Orb seemed to have lost only a little bit of its size.

"Don't stop Hiro!"

He continued to spit out Water Gunshots. After four of them had disappeared, the 5th finally extinguished the Heat Orb.

"That was dangerous, thanks a lot!" If it wasn't for Ryo's advice, Gamahiro would've been at the edge of dying as a result of being scorched while facing that orb with his swords.

"Hiro, can that Ninja come up?" Said Ryo, as he pointed at Haname.

"If she can help you, then sure!"

"Thank you so much! Haname, come up here!" after agreeing with Gamahiro, Ryo called Haname up by his side.

Haname was a bit hesitant about the idea. But when she saw that Gamahiro didn't reject her, she cast aside that hesitation and jumped over his head.

"Hiro, Haname, you two will keep providing me with water, use Water release Jutsus and send them to my direction." Said Ryo.

"Captain, will you need water all the time?" Asked Haname.

"Yes! Open your Sharingan and watch my battle with Pakura. Whenever you find that the levels of moister had been lowered near me, use Water Release immediately.

She nodded, and Gamahiro's head also said he'll be cooperating.

After discussing their tactics, Ryo jumped from the top of Hiro's head to a spot not that far from Pakura.

Just a few minutes ago, Ryo found out that Pakura was able to attack in just too many fashions.

Aside from the corporeal Heat Orbs, she could also emit some kind of heat wave. This made her able to make all of her moves scorching.

Therefore, Ryo intends to use Hiro's and Haname's water to Pakura and then destroy the puppets.

And to face his foe, Ryo chose the fighting style he was best at, relying on his extreme speed to win.

Haname and Gamahiro released some Water Release Jutsus to give a head start for Ryo. They were evaporated as soon as they went near Pakura.

When in his Ice-Lightning Chakra mode, Ryo is so fast that a three Tomoe Sharingan can only capture his afterimage. And now that he's sheltered with water vapor, there was no way to perceive his movements. Pakura had only one thing to rely on, and that was passive defense.

Ryo blinked in front of Pakura. Using the water vapor, he condensed an ice blade and went for a direct stab.

However, Pakura was already prepared for his strike, what was in her place was actually a shadow clone. Ryo felt his chest become tight and almost went out of breath. He immediately condensed an Ice Armor.

That was right on time; the Heat Orb that was getting close hit him right when the armor was formed.

Ryo was in cold sweat. If he was one second late, he would've been scorched into ashes.

Ryo felt Pakura in the direction from which the Orb came. He immediately condensed a [Thousand Flying Ice Needles of Death] shooting them at her. But she escaped them easily and went again into hiding.

By then, the moister level was already really low around Ryo. However, Haname and Gamahiro kept supplying him with water.

Pakura kept using her Scorch Release to evaporate the water, and Ryo found himself in a tough situation. He did not expect that she would be able to hide her presence and Chakra just like him. To top that off, his Sharingan's vision was limited because of all the dense water vapor. Now all he could do was waiting for her to take the initiative. If she didn't, he had no way to find her.

In no time, the Sand camp should get the news and send massive reinforcement. This fight wasn't going in his favor.

Ryo used his clan's Telepathy to ask Gamahiro and Haname to stop providing him with water and proceed immediately to destroy the puppets while he continues putting an eye on Pakura.

"Hey, Ryo Yamanaka! Want to make a deal?" Suddenly, her voice came from his left, he instantly teleported with his ice release and appeared before the voice's source. All he found was a shadow clone.

Handling Pakura was much more trouble than Ryo's ever expected, and the Sand troops were coming soon. He had to make a compromise.

"Go ahead, what kind of deal?"

"Tell me how you learned the technique you're using to hide your presence, and I'll leave immediately."

Her condition was unexpectedly simple. He only had to tell her about that Sand spy from back in the day, and he would get to destroy over a 1000 puppets and a safe retreat for him and his team. It was an incredibly good deal.

"I hope you keep your promise!" after he said that, Ryo went on and told her about that spy.

"Can you tell me a bit more? Do people get tortured in your prisons?" Pakura's voice was slightly shaky, and Ryo guessed that she was somewhat unstable.

"That, I don't know." Ryo really didn't know about that. In the Anime, he saw Fujin and Raijin and how they were controlled with food. Seeing their conditions, he thought that no one deserved such treatment.

"Is that so? Thanks for the news. Now, it time for my part of the deal." Her voice disappeared. Soon afterwards, Ryo felt her Charka along with the Chakras of her few surviving teammates far away from him.

"Ah well!" Ryo had a sigh of annoyance. Ever since he came to this battlefield, this was the first time that he's ever been matched tactically. It was hard for him to swallow.