Reveal

"Scorch Release, Arrow of Apollo."

Pakura drew her hand back as if she was using a bow. Between her hand, a flaming arrow appeared, and she shot at Rize. It went towards her with great speed and devastating power.

Rize quickly formed an ice wall between the two of them and managed to escape the shockwave that would come with it. Using her own technique, she formed several icicles, and directed them towards Pakura.

"Scorch Release, Incinerating Fireball Technique."

*BOOM*

The icicles had disappeared and smoke appeared from the explosion.

Rize dashed through the smoke with a blade in her hand and caught Pakura by surprise. She quickly pulled out her two kunai and parried the blade away.

"I see how you killed them, you aren't normal." Pakura said as she jumped back to create distance between them.

"What is considered normal? I don't think I'm any different from you, after all, we're both people who've killed countless lives. Innocent or guilty." Rize said as she took the initiative to attack.

"That may be so, but like I said, compared to me. I could say that you're unique, especially because of your abilities." Pakura said.

Rize ignored the comment and flicked her wrist. Beneath Pakura, an ice pillar formed with a sharp tip.

"Scorch Release, Fireball." Pakura muttered. "An attack like that won't work on me. Scorch Release is different from Fire Release."

"How so?"

"I incinerate."

"And I freeze."

Rize brought her blade down upon Pakura who clashed against it with her two kunais. She slashed and thrusted her blade at Pakura who seemed to block it with ease. In terms of swordsmanship, Pakura currently had an advantage over her.

"All because of this damned blade." Rize cursed under her breath. "Who the hell said that this was high quality? Loose grip, flimsy blade, and it's dull."

"Don't blame the blade, blame the user." Pakura said as she attacked.

Rize furrowed her eyebrows. She purposely slipped and successfully baited Pakura into taking the strike. Rize twisted her body and lowered herself before kicking Pakura's side.

"Ugh!" Pakura grunted due to the pain of being kicked in the liver and her back slamming against a tree trunk.

"Blame the user? Fine." Rize said as she snapped the blade in half. She held out her palm and said, "Then I'll show my full capabilities."

In her palm, an ice blade had formed. With her perfect manipulation of chakra and imagery, she had created an identical sword to the one she named Grell. It fit perfectly in her hand, it felt right.

Pakura felt chills for some reason when she saw the ice katana that had been created. Even she could tell that it was perfect. She was in awe at how perfectly the katana was formed out of nothing and frightened at how well the child manipulated chakra.

Moreover, it was created of ice. Pakura assumed it was her Kekkei Genkai that allowed her to do this. But what confused her was the fact that she was an ice user, after all, Konoha never had someone with an ice bloodline.

Pakura brought out her kunais and parried Rize's attacks. As the battle between them continued, Pakura could tell she was going to lose. Rize's attacks had become more flexible and quick. She couldn't predict them anymore and had to rely on her instincts.

Maybe it was because of the blade and not the user.

Pakura tried to parry against Rize's flurry of combinations. But it was a failure since she felt the stinging sensation on her cheek. She touched it with her palm and saw the blood that was dripping from it.

"Ice Release, Cold World."

Before Pakura knew it, she had slipped, and fell on the freezing hard ice that covered the ground. She realized the temperature had started to gradually decrease too. If it weren't for Scorch Release, she would be experiencing hyperthermia.

"It is my loss."

Rize frowned at the sight of Pakura, she had been expecting more, but Pakura had given up just because she slipped on the cold floor.

"Tsk, that easily? All you did was slip and fall. Was it because it was too cold? That can't be it, you've fought in harsher conditions." Rize said.

"That's true, but I can't defeat you." Pakura replied, she didn't see the point in fighting anymore.

"I'm not going to accept an answer like that, you need to show me more. If you can't use your blades, we'll use our abilities instead." Rize said as she tossed her blade aside.

Pakura frowned at the sight of Rize who was looking down at her. It was like the grim reaper had its scythe against her neck. The cold floor was replaced with the sandy ground and the once freezing temperature started to feel warm again.

"What are you doing? I've given up, why do you still want to fight? You won." Pakura said.

"You call that a battle? All we did was clash swords and show off some measly jutsu. I'm talking about a battle where both our lives are at risk. Whether you'll freeze to death or I'll be incinerated into ashes." Rize said.

"Is that so? Then just kill me, I'm done." Pakura said, refusing to give into Rize.

"What if I take this mask off? If I reveal my real identity to you, would that motivate you to fight me?" Rize asked.

Pakura thought about it. She could see the real identity of a powerful prodigy and tell her country who to be aware of when she returned. She could always escape if things were looking grim for her.

"Fine, take that mask off, and we'll fight each other seriously."

"Haha, I knew you'd agree."

Pakura watched as Rize took the mask off revealing a cute girl with long black hair and the three tomoe in her eye.

"Are you going to keep staring? I'm not into a woman with an age difference this big."

"Don't joke around, I'm just surprised."

"Then let me introduce myself once again." Rize said as her own eyes reflected onto Pakura's pupils. "I am Grell, also known as Amanojaku. I was given the name by Minato, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha. I am the evil spirit that will stir chaos wherever I go."

Pakura didn't have a chance to speak when an icicle was about to pierce her eye. She quickly rolled away and got into her attack stance as she stared at the girl with a serious expression.

'What a crazy girl!'