Chapter 301: She Isn’t Her
Outside the western camp, firelight painted the night sky red.
Mei led Kirigakure’s elite ANBU through a high-speed flanking maneuver.
Everywhere she looked, the earth had been torn apart. Massive craters connected one after another.
White Zetsu limbs lay mixed with dirt, half-buried at the bottoms of the pits.
Mei didn’t slow down as she rapidly assessed the battlefield.
"Spread out. Seal the gaps in the line."
The dozen shadows behind her separated immediately, each rushing toward the weakest defensive positions.
Mei leaped onto the high wall.
The instant she landed, she caught sight of a familiar figure withdrawing from the fortifications ahead.
Pakura.
Her chest rose and fell in a regular rhythm, obvious evidence of heavy chakra expenditure.
Their gazes met.
Pakura approached and raised an arm toward the northwest.
"The Two-Tails is over there. It has only been pacing in front of the line. No other movement yet."
"There are roughly two thousand White Zetsu. They already exchanged one direct assault with the allied defenses."
She paused and adjusted her breathing slightly.
"Losses on both sides are similar. The line held. No other problems."
Mei followed her gesture.
The forest to the northwest had been completely flattened.
Matatabi’s enormous body paced across a scorched plain, blue flames burning around it.
Each step made an ugly sizzling sound and left behind a smoking black crater.
The violent chakra alone made the skin feel hot from far away.
Mei withdrew her gaze and nodded.
She rapidly reviewed the available troop deployment and terrain.
Then she turned toward the allied captain who had just caught up.
"The main force continues restraining the White Zetsu. Under no circumstances do you let them cross the center line."
The captain immediately acknowledged and left to relay the order.
Mei looked back toward Pakura.
"You and I will take the Two-Tails head-on."
Before the words fully left her mouth, she had already jumped beyond the defenses.
Pakura’s expression didn’t change.
She understood perfectly. Only the two of them currently possessed enough power to suppress a Tailed Beast.
She followed immediately.
One after another, the two crossed the wall.
Ahead, Matatabi saw them approaching.
It stopped, and the blue flames surrounding its body suddenly expanded.
Wave after wave of scorching heat rushed toward them.
Mei formed hand seals without hesitation.
Lava Style: Melting Apparition Technique.
She opened her mouth and expelled a huge mass of thick yellow fluid.
The highly corrosive substance spread like a net and landed precisely beneath the Two-Tails.
It clung to the beast’s limbs as the corrosive field expanded rapidly.
Within moments, dozens of meters of ground had been covered by the yellow acidic slime.
Loud sizzling filled the air, and pungent white smoke rose into the sky.
Matatabi’s movements were immediately restricted by the viscous substance.
It struggled violently, but all four legs were nearly immobilized in the acidic mire.
Its chakra cloak hissed under the corrosion.
The Two-Tails became completely enraged.
Blue flames surged higher around its body as it attempted to burn the slime away through pure heat.
The two extreme powers battled violently.
Mei formed another set of hand seals.
A second layer of Lava Style poured over the first.
The new liquid was darker and denser.
It completely overwhelmed the flames around the Two-Tails’ legs.
In the half-second that Matatabi was distracted fighting the acid, Pakura moved.
She cut in from the flank at high speed, chakra gathering in her palm.
Scorch Release spheres formed one after another.
Three dense orange-red fireballs shot from her hand, distorting the air with their heat.
The angle was viciously precise.
The first struck the Two-Tails’ side.
Then the second.
Then the third.
All three hit the exact same area.
The spheres burst, and the Scorch Release instantly evaporated the chakra cloak covering that section.
Matatabi roared in pain and struggled free enough to retreat diagonally backward.
Pakura pressed forward.
Her hands never stopped moving.
Scorch Release spheres continued flying in a relentless barrage.
Through pure firepower, she drove Matatabi toward the position the sealing squads had prepared in advance.
Mei followed from the flank and used Boil Release to prevent it from changing direction.
Whenever the beast tried to turn, concentrated corrosive mist met it head-on.
Watching Pakura repeatedly cut through the battlefield, Mei couldn’t help thinking to herself.
When it came to fighting over Kaede, this woman was irritating from every angle.
But in actual combat...
Their coordination was excellent without requiring a word.
One completely sealed movement while the other attacked with explosive damage.
Caught in that net, the Two-Tails had nowhere to retreat.
Eventually, they forced it into the exact center of the sealing formation.
Matatabi released an unwilling roar.
The joint sealing squad waiting behind immediately appeared.
They took positions in four directions and rapidly formed hand seals.
Black formula markings lit beneath their feet.
Like countless snakes, the symbols spread densely toward the Two-Tails.
The sealing field was about to close.
At that exact moment, the battlefield changed.
The more than two thousand White Zetsu that had been locked in combat with the main allied force suddenly seemed to receive the same command.
They all abandoned the assault on the wall and turned.
Completely ignoring the ninjutsu striking their backs, they surged toward the sealing formation around Matatabi in a fanatical, suicidal charge.
Mei’s expression changed.
She made the most rational decision instantly.
If the sealing squad continued, the formation would never complete, and every one of the seal specialists would be torn apart by the white flood.
"Abandon the seal!"
Mei shouted.
"Everyone retreat! Immediately!"
The sealing squad responded without hesitation.
They broke the technique and withdrew toward the safe zone.
Pakura remained alone at the rear.
Her hands came together, and several enormous Scorch Release spheres erupted outward in succession.
The intense heat instantly dried dozens of White Zetsu at the front into shriveled husks.
It bought enough time for everyone to withdraw.
The moment the group returned behind the defensive line, Mei looked back.
Something strange happened.
The White Zetsu that had been charging madly only seconds earlier all stopped at the same moment.
The next instant, both they and the Two-Tails turned in perfect unison.
Like a receding tide, they rapidly withdrew into the darkness.
The attack had begun without warning.
The retreat was even stranger.
Mei’s brows pulled tightly together.
Her gaze remained fixed on the direction the enemy had disappeared.
The sense of wrongness became stronger.
No one on the battlefield had issued a visible order to charge or retreat.
What exactly was controlling them from behind the scenes?
How could two thousand White Zetsu all act in perfect synchronization at the same instant?
No normal shinobi command structure could achieve that.
Unable to resolve it, Mei jumped from the wall and returned to camp.
Pakura approached with a water bottle and took several long drinks.
"A shame. We were almost there."
Mei nodded.
"It was unlikely we’d succeed on the first attempt. The sealing squad survived. That’s the important part."
She looked at the exhausted allied shinobi and turned toward the captain beside her.
"Leave one squad on the wall as sentries. Everyone else rests in place while you have the opportunity."
After making the arrangements, a few seconds of silence passed between them.
Pakura looked toward the casualty area.
"I’ll go count the wounded and see whether they need help."
Mei turned toward the command center.
"I’ll compile the battle report and send it to the other camps."
They began walking in different directions.
After only a few steps, Mei stopped.
She remembered something Kaede had emphasized during the prewar meeting.
White Zetsu’s transformation ability and spore infiltration.
They were nearly impossible to guard against.
They could perfectly reproduce a person’s appearance and chakra signature.
Even speech patterns and habitual little movements could be imitated with astonishing accuracy.
Mei turned around.
"Pakura."
Pakura stopped and looked back.
Mei’s expression was completely serious.
"Be careful. Don’t let White Zetsu’s transformation fool you."
Pakura froze briefly.
She had never expected this woman, who normally opposed her at every turn, to express genuine concern now.
After the moment of surprise passed, Pakura nodded solemnly.
"You too."
Then she turned and headed toward the wounded area.
Mei watched her back once before continuing toward the command center.
Pakura crossed part of the camp.
The wounded were gathered just ahead.
As she rounded a corner, someone approached from the opposite direction.
The two passed one another in the narrow path.
Pakura’s attention was on the casualties, and she paid no attention to the person moving away behind her.
She entered the wounded area directly.
But several steps after passing her, that other person stopped.
The figure’s face visibly began to change.
Within seconds, it settled into a new appearance.
Long straight black hair with a princess cut fell around the shoulders.
The figure turned around.
Appearance, chakra, even the subtle temperament of movement—everything matched the real Pakura perfectly.
Not a single flaw could be seen.
"Pakura" glanced once toward the wounded area.
Then she began walking in the direction Mei had gone.
...
Mei pushed open the command room door and entered.
Documents covered the table, with a large tactical sand table occupying the center.
She sat down, picked up a pen, and began writing rapidly on an unrolled scroll.
Kaede had repeatedly emphasized during the meeting that battlefield information had to be synchronized immediately.
The Two-Tails’ retreat route.
The White Zetsu’s strange behavior.
Damage to the allied defenses and arrangements for the wounded.
Every detail was listed clearly.
After finishing the final line, Mei rolled and sealed the scroll.
An ANBU waiting outside entered when he heard movement.
Mei handed him the report.
"Send this to central command as quickly as possible. Copy it to the other sectors as well."
The ANBU accepted it with both hands, acknowledged, and left.
His footsteps quickly disappeared into the night wind.
The room became silent.
Mei looked across the desk toward the tactical table.
Her mind returned to the same question.
All the White Zetsu and the Two-Tails had stopped at exactly the same instant and withdrawn into darkness in perfect order.
Not long afterward, the door opened again.
Mei looked up.
Pakura.
She withdrew her gaze and stood, walking several steps toward the sand table.
"Finished already?"
She asked while moving.
"How are things in the wounded area?"
Pakura entered.
"The alliance didn’t lose many people. Most were burned by the Two-Tails’ heat radiation. Medical shinobi have already taken over."
She paused.
"So I came to see whether there are any holes in the defensive deployment that still need patching."
Mei turned and adjusted several red wooden arrows representing enemy movements.
"The White Zetsu’s sudden retreat was too strange. There must be a command system behind them that we don’t understand."
Pakura looked at Mei’s back and stepped closer.
"They behaved like they all received the same order, but I watched the surroundings during the battle. No one did anything that looked like a signal."
Mei nodded.
"Exactly. Conventional methods can’t accomplish that. We underestimated how they exchange information."
She remained absorbed in planning a response.
She didn’t notice the pair of cold eyes behind her change.
Cold.
Sinister.
Completely devoid of warmth.
Pakura stopped one meter behind Mei.
Her right hand rose silently.
The pale skin changed in midair.
Flesh receded as the five fingers hardened and lengthened.
In the blink of an eye, the entire hand became a sharp white wooden blade.
Its tip pointed directly at Mei’s heart.
Half a meter forward would pierce straight through her chest.
Pakura glided another half-step closer without sound.
The blade nearly touched Mei’s clothing.
Mei remained leaning over the sand table, mind entirely focused on the enemy’s next move.
Death was less than a finger’s width behind her.
Just as the wooden blade prepared to thrust, hurried footsteps sounded outside.
They were moving straight toward the command room.
Pakura stopped.
Her hand immediately returned to normal and fell to her side.
The door was thrown open.
Another Pakura strode inside.
She hadn’t even caught her breath before speaking directly to Mei.
"Mei! We found one in the wounded area—"
Her voice stopped when she saw the room.
Why was she standing behind Mei?
The real Pakura’s mind went blank for an instant.
"Who are you?!"
The shout echoed through the room.
The hair on Mei’s body stood instantly.
She didn’t even turn around to look.
Both hands slammed against the edge of the sand table.
Using the force, she flipped backward through the air.
When she landed, she had already retreated to the farthest corner of the command room.
More than ten meters of distance separated her from both figures.
Mei steadied herself and swept a cold gaze between the two identical Pakuras.
"Neither of you moves!"