Yōkō looked around, found a clean blanket, and covered Pakura with it.
Pakura, her face flushed, stole a glance at Yōkō.
Yōkō, who had seen his share of alluring sights, said, "Who told you to insist on bathing tonight? You didn't even check the weather beforehand."
Wrapped in the blanket, Pakura buried her blushing face between her knees.
"I've crossed almost half the Land of Wind; this is the first unoccupied oasis I've found. I couldn't resist taking a bath when I finally found one..." She looked up again and asked, "Is your Earth Release sturdy? The three children won't be blown away, will they?"
Yōkō patted the nearby earth spear. "Absolutely sturdy."
With that, Yōkō walked over and picked Pakura up.
"You, you, you... what are you doing?"
"Sitting on the sandy ground isn't good. I'm putting you on the bed."
Pakura worried all night, barely sleeping, somewhat afraid the young man in the tent would get handsy.
The next day, Pakura had a headache from exhaustion and looked at Kōji with dark circles under her eyes.
Kōji was sound asleep.
She quickly found some ill-fitting clothes in the tent and left.
While using her special ability to fetch water all morning, Pakura occasionally cast resentful glances towards Kōji's tent.
The fact that he had really done nothing also left her feeling a little disappointed.
It was nearly noon when Yōkō finally emerged from the tent, yawning.
With the mission complete, he could finally relax a bit.
He went to the Crescent Moon Lake and watched Pakura distill drinking water.
Pakura looked up at Kōji, quickly lowered her head, her face flushing crimson.
After fetching the water, Pakura mustered her courage and approached the drinking Kōji.
"Mr. Kōji, can you teach me ninjutsu? The kind you used last night during the massive sandstorm, the life-saving one."
Yōkō coughed repeatedly and said, "I can, but tonight I'd like to take a bath too."
"Deal!"
For several days in a row, Yōkō enjoyed Pakura's distilled water in the oasis, both for drinking and bathing.
The poor Hamo got nothing except two canteens of water per day.
The relationship between Yōkō and Pakura warmed rapidly.
Yōkō first taught Pakura to refine chakra consciously, rather than relying on instinct to use her evaporation ability, and Pakura prepared bathwater for Yōkō.
One day, another massive sandstorm hit.
Yōkō was woken by the sandstorm around midnight. He went out, intending to reinforce Pakura's and the children's tents, and once again saw Pakura bathing by the lake in the middle of the night, her tent blown away by the gale.
Yōkō was already an old hand at this.
He went over, picked up the naked and blushing Pakura, used Earth Release to secure the children's tent on the way, and carried Pakura back to his own tent.
Back in the tent, Yōkō saw Pakura was wet and covered in sand grains, so he reached out to brush her shoulders, flicking away a lot of sand.
Pakura's face turned redder:
"Hm? You can't touch there... not there either... and definitely not there..."
Half an hour later, Pakura lay panting on the bed.
The sand on her back and buttocks had been thoroughly cleaned off through repeated efforts during that half hour.
Yōkō finally had a free hand to clean the sand from other parts of Pakura's body.
Gently stroking Pakura's beautiful back, Yōkō asked, "Pakura, how did you end up here? It's so close to the battlefront."
Pakura adjusted her position, arching her back into an even more alluring curve, and said:
"I'm originally from the north of the Land of Wind. A passing Sand ninja said I had special ninjutsu talent and wanted to take me away, to enter Sunagakure.
I didn't want to be a ninja, so when that Sand ninja was conscripted by Sunagakure, I didn't follow the path he planned to the village.
Someone kept looking for me, so I chose a route they wouldn't expect and came to the eastern part of the Land of Wind, behind the front lines.
On the way, I met three children who were almost dead from thirst, so I brought them along to survive."
Pakura turned her shoulders, keeping most of her back facing him, raised a hand to hook around Yōkō's neck, and asked:
"Kōji, how many more days do I need to practice chakra extraction? When can I learn your Earth Release pillar technique?"
Yōkō smiled and said, "Of course you can, but I have a condition."
"What condition?"
In the sky-blotting sandstorm, Hamo struggled to look towards the oasis.
He wondered how the leader was enduring such terrible conditions.
The frightening sandstorm didn't end until noon the next day.
Pakura, wearing ill-fitting clothes, emerged from the tent and went straight to check on the three children.
Their tent was secured by Earth Release, and the children were fine.
After distilling water, Pakura came to find Yōkō, looking at him eagerly, wanting to learn ninjutsu.
Yōkō said:
"Pakura, although I'm a rogue ninja, I know about the training of village ninja.
Most ninjas can't effectively use the ninjutsu they learn in combat before they reach Chūnin level.
Taijutsu and ninja tools are more efficient.
I'm not refusing to teach you ninjutsu. Your biggest task now is to build a solid foundation: learn chakra extraction and circulation, and practice taijutsu."
Combining physical energy and mental energy produces chakra.
Yōkō had already taught Pakura how to perceive physical energy, how to perceive mental energy, and how to mix the two within her body to create chakra.
Next, Yōkō taught Pakura to concentrate chakra in different parts of her body to produce different effects.
Concentrating chakra in her feet and calves could increase her movement speed. Concentrating it in her arms and fists could increase punching power.
Pakura progressed quickly, excitedly experiencing the changes brought by chakra.
That night, Pakura didn't return to the children's tent but entered Yōkō's tent instead.
"I've gotten stronger! Tonight, I'll definitely last longer!"
From thirty minutes to thirty-five minutes, Pakura did indeed last longer.
However, she was still the first to tremble and succumb.
The next day, Yōkō placed the intermediate water from the first distillation into a large basin and taught Pakura the water-walking exercise.
In the afternoon, they went to a tree by the lake that had been killed by the poison, and Yōkō taught Pakura to climb it using her feet.
That night, Pakura's fragrant sweat covered Yōkō's legs; she lasted three minutes longer.
"Don't be discouraged. Three minutes is a long time."
Hearing the teasing, Pakura blushed and her waist went limp again.
After five days of such high-intensity... training, Pakura could skillfully manipulate chakra.
Standing by the Crescent Moon Lake, Pakura listened to Yōkō's explanations, memorizing which hand seals corresponded to which chakra pathways.
She slowly formed hand seals, exploring the way chakra should flow.
A scorching fireball appeared above Pakura's palm.
The fireball was the size of a fist, emitting a blazing light.
Yōkō nodded repeatedly. Even Yōkō didn't know Pakura's chakra affinity, but learning Earth Release held no future for her. For Pakura, developing her Kekkei Genkai ability was most crucial.
"This... Mr. Kōji, is this the unique ability you mentioned?"
***
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(Chapter End)