Ryusei knew the only reason those small, drained Katsuyu fragments, near Pakura, could reverse-summon someone of his current chakra caliber, in the first place, was because the technique didn't work like a normal summon.
Katsuyu's unique existence was different.
Those small fragments weren't separate entities like the smaller toads or snakes; they were all parts of the same being.
Every time a fragment called him, it was effectively the full, mighty Katsuyu doing it, despite the vast geographical distance.
That was the only reason his reverse-summoning slug variant of the Flying Raijin also worked in the first place.
Without that little "cheat," no being of his level could be pulled across space so easily or tossed around like that.
He was once again grateful for that advantage as he appeared beside Pakura in time to save her once more.
As Ryusei stepped fully, the air around him immediately cracked, however, humming with deep vibration.
He barely glanced at the incoming attacks, nodded to himself, and exhaled once. The ground responded.
A deep, thrumming pulse burst from his body, shaking both air and earth as it spread outward in waves of blinding white light, splitting the ground with jagged cracks that raced in every direction.
The sound deepened into a growl as the vibration spread, turning into a rolling wave of force that tore through the plaza.
The already-ruined streets split wider, buildings crumbled, and the flames twisted upward from the pressure.
Shockwaves surged in every direction, smashing through some of the remaining squads before they could even scream.
Dozens fell instantly, their chakra networks disrupted, bones shattering from the internal resonance.
Farther out, the quakes grew into true devastation.
The heart of Sunagakure collapsed in on itself; the Kazekage tower, already half-melted by Pakura's heat, disintegrated completely under the vibration.
Stone turned to dust, and the foundations of the council chambers buckled and fell, burying what remained of Chiyo, Ebizo, and the surviving elders beneath a mountain of molten rubble.
Only when the last echo faded did Ryusei lower his hand.
The air still shimmered, distorted from heat and shock, and the center of the village was nothing but a glassed ruin and drifting smoke.
He stepped forward through the settling dust, his expression unreadable, but with a faint amusement buried there.
"Now it's quiet," he said softly, almost to himself, then turned his gaze to her.
Pakura still stood amid the shimmering haze behind him, her cloak long since gone, skin glistening faintly from heat and exertion.
The sleeveless top she always favored was half torn, streaked with ash and sweat, her hair sticking slightly to her neck.
Even drained, she carried herself like the battle had only sharpened her edges.
Ryusei let his gaze linger a moment too long before smirking. "You know," he said, voice low and teasing, "when you said you were coming for revenge, I didn't think you meant urban redevelopment."
Pakura raised an eyebrow, exhaling through her nose. "You're welcome. I left just enough rubble for you to stand on and finish it."
He stepped closer, brushing a bit of dust off his sleeve, eyes flicking briefly to her shoulder, the faint marks where Katsuyu had rested. "You nearly burned the whole place yourself. What were you planning to do if I hadn't shown up?"
"Same thing," she said. "Just slower."
He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "You're unbelievable. Half the village gone, the rest in ruins, and you still look like you're considering another round."
Her lips curved, faint but dangerous. "Don't tempt me. I might start with you."
"Then I'd call that an improvement," he said, glancing once more at the torn top clinging to her frame. "At least you look better doing it than any of them did."
Pakura crossed her arms, pretending not to notice his look. "Still the same shameless mouth, I see."
He shrugged. "You didn't seem to mind just now."
"That's because you were useful."
"I still am," he said, his grin widening. "See? I even cleaned up after you." He gestured to the flattened remains of Sunagakure around them. "Perfect teamwork."
She tilted her head, half amused. "You call that teamwork? I call it showing off."
Ryusei stepped closer, the faint hum of residual chakra still vibrating under his skin. "Then we'll call it even. You got your revenge, I got my entrance."
Pakura's eyes softened slightly, though her tone stayed cool. "I didn't call you to finish the fight."
"I know," he said quietly. "You called me so you wouldn't have to be alone when it was done. Of course."
For a moment, the burning wind between them felt still.
Pakura looked away, a faint smile breaking through the exhaustion. "You always think you know everything."
Ryusei smiled back, eyes narrowing in mock confidence. "I don't need to. I just pay attention."
She huffed, shaking her head but unable to hide the warmth flickering in her gaze. "Let's go before you say something even dumber."
He nodded slightly, stepping beside her. "Fine. But admit it," he said, his tone light again. "I showed up right on time."
She smirked. "Barely."
"Close enough," he said, and the faint sound of his quiet laugh carried through.
However, just before they tried to leave then, dozens of new shinobi surrounded the ruins again, dark armor glinting through the smoke.
The movement was too coordinated to be ordinary squads.
Even half-drained, Pakura recognized the masks at a glance.
"The rest of the Sunagakure's covert corps," she said flatly. "Rasa's most loyal dogs in the village. I should've known. They don't want to see us leave now."
She didn't look worried, only faintly irritated.
"I already warned them what would happen if they got in my way."
Ryusei smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Guess they didn't listen."
The slug fragments on her shoulders stirred faintly, after hearing his words, as if bracing for yet another fight.
Ryusei glanced at them, then at her. "Then, before we head back to Shikkotsu, I want to test something on them. Give me a few seconds."
Pakura shot him a sideways glance, the edge of a smirk tugging at her lips. "You always pick the worst time. Fine, just don't blow up the rest of the desert."
Yet inwardly, she wondered if he was doing it for her, to vent what she couldn't now, just like he did with Chiyo, Ebizo, and the rest of the council, without even mentioning it, and that thought sent a faint, electric warmth through her chest.
He chuckled under his breath. "I'll try not to. Consider this just a smaller experiment of mine with my newest power."
Ryusei glanced at her, then, without warning, reached out and set his hand directly on her bare, sleeveless shoulder as he embraced her from the side fully. The sudden, intimate gesture caught Pakura completely off guard.
Heat rushed to her face as she stiffened, a rare flush spreading over her cheeks."W-what are you—?"
She tried to step back instinctively as she felt a different kind of 'heat' for the first time, but his touch was already suffused with gentle, revitalizing chakra.
"Hold still, can't let you stand around and wait for me while being so weak."
A soft green glow flowed from his palm, cool and steady, spreading comfort and fresh strength through her battered muscles.
The familiar warmth of healing chakra rolled through her, but with it came a ripple of a complete mix of embarrassment and rupture she almost never felt.
Katsuyu's fragments also chimed in, voices dry and mildly amused, deciding to joke. "He does have a habit of being direct, doesn't he? At least he's efficient, Pakura-dono."
Another added, "Ryusei-kun always 'takes care' of his allies first. It's one of his better traits."
Pakura shot Ryusei a sidelong glare, trying to recover her usual composure.
"You could have warned me," she muttered, voice still a touch unsteady.
He just grinned. "Sorry. You looked like you'd complain if I asked first."
His tone was light, but there was a rare softness in his eyes to placate her first.
She huffed, finally regaining her edge. "You're lucky I'm too tired to set you on fire."
He chuckled, letting the healing chakra fade. "Guess I'll take my chances."
Then, with a smooth shift, he raised his other hand.
This time, a dark energy began to gather, swirling around his fingers with a quiet, dangerous pulse.
The ground beneath his feet seemed to darken, the air dangerously shifting as if in anticipation as well.
He glanced at Pakura, his smile turning cocky. "Now, let's see how my new trick looks in front of an audience."
Pakura, still recovering from the unexpected moment, gave him a sideways look, half annoyed, half intrigued.
"You always did know how to make an exit as well..." she said dryly, chuckling.
He winked, the air around them beginning to eerily hum, "Erosion Release..."
It was Ryusei's first and only kekkei tōta, recently mastered at last, the very power he had pursued since shortly after his transmigration. A technique on par with Dust Release, but uniquely his own, one he named Erosion Release.
A complete fusion of earth, water, and wind nature transformation chakra.
Where Dust Release erased matter in a single instant, Erosion Release devoured it instead, through an accelerated cycle of decay.
Wind scoured and eroded, earth fractured and collapsed, while water dissolved and carried everything away, all of it accelerated to completion within seconds by Ryusei's chakra.
It mirrored real-world weathering, only accelerated a thousandfold by chakra, reducing entire landscapes to ruin in seconds.
A natural kekkei tōta born not from destruction or disintegration like the Dust Release, but from time itself, as decay, forced to move at Ryusei's command.
Ryusei's smirk deepened as the black energy swirling around his hand began to shift in color, dark brown and gray tones bleeding outward, threaded with faint green-blue sparks.
It didn't shine like fire or lightning; it looked heavy, as if it carried weight.
Each motion he made left behind an afterimage of crumbling air, as though even space itself was beginning to wear thin around him.
When he released it, the energy spread not as an explosion but as a rolling distortion, a visible wave of decay crawling over the ground.
The ground around him started to sink slightly, its texture softening as if the earth itself had grown old in a heartbeat.
The incoming Suna ANBU halted for a split second, their instincts screaming that something was wrong.
Ryusei murmured, "Let's see how nature looks when it stops pretending to be gentle, when everything breaks down into the same chaotic sludge."
The chakra in his palm expanded, humming like a deep vibration in the air.
Dust rose, then sank again, as though gravity itself had warped.
He swept his hand outward, and the world responded.
A dull wave rippled across the plaza.
It didn't explode like fire or lightning; it spread.
Quiet, patient, horrifying.
Stone blackened. Metal dulled. Sand fused, then crumbled into sludge.
The wave rolled forward in a visible distortion of color, turning everything it touched into withered fragments.
The first shinobi to charge screamed mid-step as their blades corroded in their hands. Armor shattered into flakes.
The ground beneath their feet gave way, melting into muddy, rust-colored pools that swallowed them whole.
Wind whipped through the decay, carrying shards of eroded stone and clouds of powdery residue.
The moisture in the air shimmered faintly, pulling the reaction farther outward.
Ryusei's control spread like a chain reaction, each element feeding the next, wind sharpening the erosion, water carrying it, earth surrendering to it.
In seconds, the formation collapsed.
The once-organized ring of dozens of enemies turned into silhouettes dissolving in a storm of grit and ash.
Pakura stood back, watching as the village center, the same one she had scorched moments before, finally gave up its shape entirely, the battlefield sinking into a basin of broken matter.
Even Katsuyu's fragments hummed uneasily, one muttering in her usual calm tone, "How unpleasantly efficient…"
Ryusei glanced at them with a half-smile. "Nature's recycling program," he said. "Just a little faster than usual."
Pakura exhaled slowly, her expression a mix of awe and playful irritation. "You really couldn't just leave quietly, could you?"
He looked back at her, smirking as the dull shimmer of decay faded from his arm. "Leave? After all that? You melt the village, I finish the job. Balance."
She gave him a dry look. "You call that balance?"
He tilted his head slightly, the remnants of Erosion chakra still flickering faintly across his fingertips. "Sure. You burn it, I bury it."
Pakura shook her head, but the corner of her mouth curved upward despite herself. "You're incorrigible."
Ryusei grinned, lowering his hand as the last of the decayed dust settled around them. "And you're smiling again. I'll call that a success."
Ryusei looked around at the hollow crater that had once been Sunagakure's proud heart. "We're done here," he said quietly.
Pakura gave one last glance toward the ruins. "Finally," she murmured. "Let's go. I will never come back here."
The fragments' voices overlapped faintly, calm and resonant. "Understood. Returning both of you to the forest."
In the space of a few heartbeats, the ruined village vanished around them.