As long as enough chakra was invested, even a simple Fireball could be lethal.
He retracted his gaze from the two charred remains still frozen in their attempt to flee.
Motomu popped the unharmed Big Eyeball, which had flown back to him, back into its eye socket.
"Pakura, if it weren't for your reckless ambition and selfishness..."
"...these three wouldn't have died."
"Answer me, Pakura! Do you regret it?!"
A bit of black ash stained Pakura's fair, oval face.
Hearing Motomu's words, a flash of helplessness flickered in her bright, wide eyes.
In silence.
Driven by Psychokinesis, the steel senbon compressed the air, darting straight for Pakura's face.
Years of combat instinct forced Pakura to tilt her head subconsciously.
"Puchi—"
A thin line of blood split open across the skin of her cheek.
Only then did the sharp, ear-piercing sound of a sonic boom reach her ears.
The speed at which the enemy threw their tools was completely wrong!
And that thing from before—what kind of jutsu was that?
Pakura felt a faint sense of crisis rising in her heart.
It seemed that if this continued, she would follow in her teammates' footsteps.
'I'll try to gather intel first, then report back to the village.'
Suddenly.
Pakura's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinheads.
In her sight, Motomu, standing in the distance, flicked several more senbon.
"Oh?"
"Pakura."
"You can dodge one, but what if there are five?"
A playful smirk, reminiscent of Uchiha Kemono, appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Motomu's gaze shifted as he attached the redundant Psychokinesis from the Big Eyeball onto each of the five senbon.
Silver light burst forth!
A silver flash, similar to the one before, streaked past.
Bang!
Where Pakura had just been standing.
A wooden log was instantly pierced with five large holes, falling to the ground and breaking into several pieces.
'She used the Substitution Jutsu in advance?'
'As expected of a Jonin; she truly is impressive.'
After a brief moment of admiration, Motomu's killing intent burned even fiercer.
Even if she was difficult to kill, Motomu knew he had to finish her off today.
If he let Pakura escape, everything he had done today would be exposed.
Motomu's Sharingan scanned the surroundings, piercing through the interference of the residual heat waves from the ground to find two chakra signatures hiding on a sand dune.
'Shadow Clones?'
'Is she trying to pass on information?!'
Motomu's heart tightened. While manipulating the senbon to strike first...
He stepped across the scorching ground and sprinted toward the sand dune at full speed.
But as he closed the distance, Motomu's speed gradually slowed down.
In his line of sight.
Suspended in mid-air, Pakura's pupils shook violently as she spat out blood mixed with organ fragments.
In the center of her slender waist, a large patch of crimson rapidly spread.
A blade composed of sharp, segmented sections had pierced through the girl's stomach and exited through her smooth back, narrowly missing her heart.
Pakura's pale hands struggled to grasp the blade, but they slipped away powerlessly time and again.
'This guy!'
'When did he get here?'
Motomu's gaze locked onto the red-haired youth whose body was now almost entirely replaced by a puppet.
He just came out of the village for a B-rank mission—how was it that all these maniacs were showing up one by one!
'Is my luck really this bad?'
While Motomu began to doubt his luck, he pulled all the remaining intact senbon out of his tool pouch.
"Don't be nervous. We both have secrets now."
'Damn it.'
'He beat me to the trash talk.'
Motomu stared intently at Sasori of the Red Sand.
In his mind, information regarding Sasori of the Red Sand surfaced.
Sasori, a future member of the Akatsuki, possessed Kage-level strength and was a master of puppetry.
He was also the fuse for the Third War.
After he assassinated the Third Kazekage, the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, declared war on the prosperous Leaf Village to divert internal conflicts.
He didn't know why Sasori had suddenly appeared here and killed Pakura.
'Whatever. Instead of overthinking, I might as well test him with some trash talk.'
Motomu suppressed his doubts and forced a smile.
"You killed her. So, what am I supposed to do now?"
Not expecting such a reaction from Motomu, Sasori's face—not yet fully converted into a puppet—showed a slight look of surprise.
"My apologies for stealing your prey."
"But I've been tracking her for three days. Today, an opportunity finally presented itself, and I couldn't resist making a move."
Hiss!
'Damn, was it because of me that Pakura got killed?'
If he hadn't encountered Pakura today, given her Scorch Style prowess, the current Sasori might not necessarily have been her match.
Although Pakura died at the hands of her own village in the original story, the cause of death was different, and it happened much earlier. He wondered where his butterfly effect would lead the future plot.
Motomu's thoughts raced.
If Sasori hadn't assassinated the Third Kazekage yet due to a lack of strength, getting Pakura's corpse now...
The Third War would likely start much earlier.
'Wait.'
'If I can find out when Sasori plans to assassinate the Third Kazekage...'
'...then I can take this chance to pull off something big.'
With the Third Kazekage missing, personnel being redeployed, and power shifting...
The Hidden Sand Village's defenses would definitely be at their weakest.
'Wouldn't that be the perfect time to challenge the One-Tail Gym!'
Motomu scanned Sasori once more.
He was certain.
Cooperation was the way to a win-win situation.
He wanted to give the other village's "Big Yellow" a beating, and Sasori wanted to kidnap the village officials to turn them into dolls.
This was a golden opportunity delivered right to his doorstep.
'Truly, luck never fails those who smile.'
Motomu calmed his mind.
The priority now was to feel him out and see how much Sasori had seen.
He needed to determine his standing in this relationship...
To prepare leverage for future negotiations.
He cleared his throat, which had become dry from the scorching heat.
Motomu followed up on Sasori's words.
"Your hands were itching? Well, deal with it."
Sasori: "..."
Motomu: "Ahem, what I mean is, I deserve some credit for this."
"We need to split the loot."
Sasori thought for a moment.
Indeed, from what he had seen...
The strange ability of the guy in front of him could drain a ninja dry.
Absorbing the life of others to sustain oneself—this was an ability even more bizarre than his own.
If Pakura had been caught by him...
He really would have gained quite a lot.
"Fine. Do you want the left leg or the right leg?"
Sasori's youthful voice rang out. Motomu turned to look at the dying Pakura's legs, which were as fair as white jade.
'Damn, so this guy really saw everything!'
Motomu realized that Sasori had likely witnessed the Big Eyeball's power.
Since they were being so open with each other...
He wouldn't be humble either.
"I want to give your village's Tailed Beast a beating."
Sasori: "..."
Give a Tailed Beast a beating?
He had never heard of such a bizarre request.
Legend had it that the Uchiha ancestor, Uchiha Madara, loved playing with Tailed Beasts.
Was it true that all these Uchiha brats were like this?
Could it really be true?!
Sasori's pupils trembled slightly.
However, regardless of the strange reason...
He was going to assassinate that person anyway. He could just notify him when the time came.
Sasori suppressed his shock and replied coldly, his expression unchanging.
"Fine."
"But you'll have to wait a while."
Sasori paused and looked at Pakura's corpse, which was already beginning to grow cold.
"I'll notify you once I'm ready."