Yagami looked around and found a clean blanket to cover Pakura.
Pakura's face flushed as she stole a glance at Yagami.
Yagami had seen plenty of heated scenes in his time and said, "Who told you to insist on bathing tonight? You didn't even check the weather before you started."
Wrapped in the blanket, Pakura buried her blushing face between her knees.
"I've crossed almost half the Land of Wind. This was the first unclaimed oasis I've found. After everything, I just wanted to bathe so badly..." She looked up and asked:
"Is your Earth Style sturdy? The three children won't be blown away by the wind, will they?"
Yagami patted the Earth Flow Spear beside him. "Absolutely sturdy."
As he spoke, Yagami walked over and picked Pakura up.
"You, you, you—what are you doing?"
"Sitting on the sand isn't good. I'm putting you on the bed."
Pakura had been worried all night and hadn't slept much. She was somewhat afraid the young man in the tent might try something inappropriate.
The next day, Pakura had a headache from exhaustion and looked at Yagami with dark circles under her eyes.
Yagami was sleeping soundly.
She hurriedly found some ill-fitting clothes in the tent and left.
Throughout the morning while she used her special ability to collect water, Pakura would occasionally cast a resentful glance toward Yagami's tent.
He really hadn't done anything, which actually left Pakura feeling a bit let down.
It wasn't until near noon that Yagami yawned and walked out of the tent.
Having completed his mission, he could finally relax.
Coming to the edge of Crescent Lake, Yagami watched Pakura distill drinking water.
Pakura looked up at him, then quickly lowered her head, her face a deep crimson.
Once the water was collected, Pakura gathered her courage and approached him while he was drinking.
"Mr. Mikome, can you teach me ninjutsu? The kind you used last night in the massive sandstorm—the life-saving kind."
Yagami coughed repeatedly and said, "I can. But I'd also like to take a bath tonight."
"Deal!"
For several days, Yagami enjoyed Pakura's distilled water in the oasis, both for drinking and bathing.
Poor Leaf Monkey, aside from his two daily water flasks, had nothing.
The relationship between Yagami and Pakura heated up rapidly.
Yagami first taught Pakura how to refine chakra rather than relying on instinct to use her evaporation ability; in return, Pakura prepared bathwater for Yagami.
One night, they encountered another massive sandstorm.
Yagami was woken by the storm in the middle of the night. He stepped out, intending to reinforce Pakura's and the children's tents, only to see Pakura bathing by the lake again, her tent having been flipped by the wind.
Yagami was already a pro at this.
He went over, tucked the naked but blushing Pakura under his arm, reinforced the children's tent with Earth Style on the way, and carried her back to his own tent.
Back in the tent, Yagami saw Pakura was soaking wet and covered in sand. He reached out to brush off her shoulders, clearing away a lot of grit.
Pakura's face grew even redder:
"Nn? You can't touch there... or there... and definitely not there..."
Half an hour later, Pakura lay panting on the bed.
The sand on her back and buttocks had been repeatedly cleared away over the past thirty minutes.
Yagami finally found the time to clear the sand from other parts of Pakura's body.
Gently stroking Pakura's beautiful back, Yagami asked, "Pakura, why did you come here? This place is so close to the front lines."
Pakura adjusted her position, arching her back into a more tempting curve, and said:
"I was originally from the north of the Land of Wind. A passing Hidden Sand ninja said I had a special talent for ninjutsu and wanted to take me away to join the village.
I didn't like the idea of being a ninja. While that ninja was being mobilized by the village, I slipped away and didn't follow the route he planned.
Someone was searching for me, so I picked a route they wouldn't expect. I came to the east of the Land of Wind, behind the front lines.
On the way, I encountered three children who were nearly dying of thirst, so I brought them along to survive."
Pakura turned her shoulder, though most of her back still faced him, and reached up to hook her arms around Yagami's neck, asking:
"Mikome, how many more days do I have to practice refining chakra? When can I learn that Earth Style pillar of yours?"
Yagami smiled and said, "I can teach you, of course. But I have a condition."
"What condition?"
Amidst the sandstorm that blotted out the sky, Leaf Monkey struggled to look toward the oasis.
In such a terrible environment, he wondered how the captain was enduring it.
At noon the next day, the terrible sandstorm finally ended.
Pakura, wearing ill-fitting clothes, stepped out of the tent and immediately headed toward the children's tent.
The tent was pinned down by Earth Style; the three children were fine.
After distilling water, Pakura went to find Yagami, looking longingly at him, wanting to learn ninjutsu.
Yagami said:
"Pakura, although I am a wandering ninja, I know the training of the hidden villages.
Most ninja can't even use the ninjutsu they've learned effectively in battle before they reach the rank of Chunin.
Taijutsu and ninja tools are far more efficient.
It's not that I won't teach you ninjutsu, but your biggest issue right now is building a foundation. You need to learn chakra refinement and circulation, and practice taijutsu."
By combining physical and spiritual energy, chakra appears.
Yagami had already taught Pakura how to sense physical and spiritual energy and how to mix the two within the body to create chakra.
Next, Yagami taught Pakura to concentrate chakra in different parts of her body to produce various effects.
Concentrating chakra in the feet and calves could increase movement speed. Concentrating it in the arms and fists could increase punching power.
Pakura's progress was very fast; she felt the changes brought by chakra with excitement.
That night, Pakura did not return to the children's tent but entered Yagami's instead.
"I've become stronger! Tonight, I will definitely hold out longer!"
From thirty minutes to thirty-five minutes, Pakura did indeed hold out longer.
However, she was still the first to tremble and admit defeat.
The next day, Yagami 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 withered tree by the lake that had been killed by the poison. Yagami taught Pakura to climb trees with her feet.
That night, Pakura's fragrant sweat drenched Yagami's legs; she held out for three minutes more.
"Don't be discouraged, three minutes is a long time."
Hearing the teasing, Pakura's face flushed, and her posture slumped.
After five days of such high-intensity... training, Pakura was already able to circulate chakra proficiently.
Standing by Crescent Lake, Pakura listened to Yagami's explanation, memorizing which hand signs corresponded to which chakra circulation routes.
She slowly formed the seals with both hands, feeling out the flow of her chakra.
A scorching orb of fire appeared above Pakura's palm.
The fireball was the size of a fist, radiating an intense, searing light.
Yagami nodded repeatedly. He didn't even know Pakura's chakra nature, but learning Earth Style had no future for her. For Pakura, developing her bloodline ability was the most crucial.
"This... Mr. Mikome, is this the unique ability you were talking about?"