Chapter 76 CHAPTER 76
"Swoosh!"
The blade light descended into Pakura's head.
From top to bottom, it looked as though it would split her entire body in two.
The golden blade shattered.
Golden light exploded across her body, dazzling and resplendent.
Everyone present was blinded by that light, unable to even open their eyes.
Ebisu subconsciously raised his hand to shield his face while Genma narrowed his eyes tightly.
Sarutobi Sosuke even stumbled backward and fell onto his rear.
Then, the light gradually faded.
The five meter tall golden phantom behind Guy also vanished together with it.
Pakura remained standing in place.
Completely unharmed!
Not a single strand of hair had fallen.
There were no wounds on her skin.
No blood on her body.
It was as though that strike had never touched her at all.
She stood there perfectly intact.
However, her eyes were completely absentminded.
She simply stood motionless as if her soul had been pulled away.
"Thud."
Guy's figure landed heavily as he knelt on one knee, barely supporting himself with the shattered remains of his blade.
After unleashing that slash, the youth blade had completely broken apart.
Only a small fragment remained in his hand.
Ebisu and Genma immediately rushed forward, protecting Guy from both sides.
The Kunai and senbon in their hands pointed toward Pakura as their gazes stayed vigilant.
Meanwhile, Sarutobi Sosuke behind them silently retreated several more steps.
His face constantly shifted through different expressions.
From the moment Guy leapt into the sky and the golden phantom appeared, his mouth had never closed.
The Aura from that strike.
That towering five meter golden phantom.
That blade light that seemed capable of splitting the battlefield itself.
He had never seen anything like it in his life.
Then Pakura remained standing there.
As though nothing had happened.
Sarutobi Sosuke's expression froze.
First came shock.
Such a grand display.
Such blinding brilliance.
Such terrifying Saber Intent.
Yet in the end, nothing happened?
Then came disappointment.
He had thought Guy could kill Pakura.
Thought that slash could end the battle.
Thought he himself might survive because of it.
But Pakura was still standing there.
Still alive.
Still capable of releasing those horrifying Scorch Release fireballs at any moment.
Finally came irritation.
An indescribable irritation, like being deceived.
Such an overwhelming Aura.
Yet all style and no substance!
What kind of useless Ninjutsu was this?!
What a waste of such a perfect opportunity!
Sarutobi Sosuke's heart churned violently.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
"If I rush over now, maybe I can steal the kill, finish her off, and restore my prestige!"
That woman was standing there in a daze, unmoving, not even blinking.
Such a good opportunity would disappear if he hesitated.
His foot moved.
He stepped forward half an inch.
Then he saw Pakura's motionless figure still standing there.
He thought about those Scorch Release fireballs that could appear around her at any moment.
That half inch instantly withdrew.
His body honestly retreated several more steps backward, hiding even further away.
The battlefield remained quiet for several seconds.
Finally, Pakura's eyes slowly regained focus.
That slash truly had not harmed even a single inch of her flesh.
But she had clearly heard a sound.
"Crack."
A faint cracking sound.
It felt as though something deep within her heart had shattered.
At the moment it broke apart, many things she previously could not see or understand suddenly became clear.
Obsessions.
Resentments.
The longing for recognition.
The fury of humiliation.
Like a thick layer of fog, they were gently split apart by that slash.
She remembered what she looked like the first time she killed someone.
She had been ten years old.
Standing before her had been an Iwagakure Genin more than two heads taller than her.
She had hidden behind a tree.
Her hands trembled.
Her legs trembled.
Her entire body trembled.
When the fireball flew from her palm, she had closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, that person was already lying on the ground.
His clothes were scorched black.
His face had disappeared.
She had squatted behind the tree and vomited for a very long time.
She remembered the first time Rasa praised her.
She had used "Scorch Release: Great Steam Killing."
Five fireballs flew out simultaneously and turned three Kumogakure Chunin into shriveled corpses.
Rasa had stood behind her and merely said two words.
"Not bad."
Just those two words had made her heart race for an entire day.
She thought about all the people she had killed over the years.
Konoha Ninja.
Iwagakure Ninja.
Kirigakure Ninja.
She could no longer remember how many there had been.
Some faces remained in her memory.
Others had already faded away.
She had never once wondered who they were.
Whether they had families.
Whether someone had waited for them to return home.
Never.
She thought about her own name.
Pakura.
Elite Jonin of Sunagakure.
Possessor of the Scorch Release Bloodline Limit.
Rasa's right hand.
That was her identity.
Her glory.
Her meaning for living.
But if all of that disappeared.
Then who was she?
She had never considered this question before.
Because she had never stopped moving forward.
Never.
Those desires for acknowledgment.
That fury from humiliation.
That obsession with becoming stronger.
Like a thick and sticky fog, they had enveloped her for years.
She thought those things were part of herself.
Thought they were her entire being.
But that slash earlier had been like a broom gently sweeping through the fog.
It opened a crack within it.
And through that crack.
She saw herself.
Her true self.
Pakura slowly raised her head and looked at Guy.
Looked at that green clad brat kneeling on the ground.
Her voice sounded somewhat ethereal.
"What kind of... blade was that?"
Guy slowly stood up and released the broken hilt, allowing the fragments to fall to the ground.
His voice remained calm and deep.
"This blade is called Calamity-Crossing."
"Calamity-Crossing..."
Pakura softly repeated the name.
Her gaze became complicated as she looked at her own body that had just been traversed by the blade light.
"All suffering in the world... crossed by a single blade..."
"Truly... an excellent blade technique."
Guy's expression stayed calm.
Pakura was correct.
The Calamity-Crossing Blade.
Crossing all calamities.
Severing all karmic obstructions.
Precept-Breaking served as the blade's edge, decisive and ruthless, cutting away external sins.
Mercy served as the sheath, compassionate and protective, crossing the suffering within the human heart.
When both blades reached Perfection and fused edge with sheath.
This strike was born.
The Calamity-Crossing Blade.
This blade was unattached to killing.
Unattached to precepts.
Unattached to good.
Unattached to evil.
When the blade descended, what it severed was not the physical body.
But the barrier within the heart.
When the slash landed, what was crossed over was not the enemy.
But obsession itself.
Pakura remained silent for a moment before speaking again.
"What is your name?"
"Might Guy."
"Might Guy..."
Pakura softly repeated the name several times.
As though carving it deeply into her heart.
She gave Guy one final deep look.
Within that gaze, there was no longer any killing intent or hatred.
Only an indescribably complicated emotion.
So complicated that even she herself could not explain it.
"I will remember you."
After saying those words, she turned around and ignored everyone else.
Stepping across scorched earth and pools of blood, she slowly walked out of the battlefield.
In the distance, Rasa noticed the movement and immediately roared furiously.
"Pakura!!! What are you doing?! Come back!!!"
But she did not respond.
Either she did not hear him.
Or perhaps she heard him and simply no longer wished to turn back.
Her figure gradually disappeared into the drifting smoke and the chaotic battlefield in the distance.
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