"So, Ran—turns out you like watching beautiful women dance for you?"Watching Pakura awkwardly sway where she stood, Uchiha Liuhua couldn't help rolling her eyes."Starting young and already going down the wrong path, huh? So this is what you're into?"
Her gaze sharpened as she evaluated the scene with ruthless honesty.
"Her movements are stiff, the dancing is painfully awkward. Other than a nice back and long legs, she doesn't have a single redeeming feature. If I were the one dancing, Ran, I'd look far better than Pakura—by miles."
Uchiha Ran listened to her brazen commentary with an utterly shameless expression.
Liuhua, meanwhile, could only fall silent in disbelief.
Like her, most people who didn't know her well thought Liuhua was a cold, aloof battlefield rose—an untouchable kunoichi hardened by war.Only those close to her understood the truth: she was an Uchiha who seemed icy on the surface but burned fiercely inside, especially when it came to protecting her clan.
Ran, on the other hand, was almost her complete opposite.
To outsiders, Uchiha Ran appeared warm, lively, approachable—an Uchiha unusually easy to talk to.
But Liuhua believed she already knew him well enough.
And in her eyes, Ran was also dangerous.
Calculating.Possessed of a twisted sense of humor.And… possibly a little too fond of women.
"…So what now?" Liuhua asked, watching Pakura as the Scorch Release chakra dissipated from her hands."We wait until her Jiton fades completely and then restrain her? Still, something's odd. She hasn't even realized she's trapped in a genjutsu."
As Pakura's Steam Kill finally dispersed, Ran reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out a length of rope, casually uncoiling it as he spoke.
"A person has no resistance to a genjutsu that continuously evolves—one that feels indistinguishable from reality," Ran said calmly."This illusion has already surpassed the limits of the Sharingan. It's mine alone. I prefer to call it—Complete Hypnosis."
"Complete Hypnosis?" Liuhua stared at him in disbelief."Are you joking? The conditions for that are absurdly strict. You'd need to dominate all five senses—and the target can't be a sensory-type ninja. Are you seriously claiming this is complete hypnosis?!"
Ran met her gaze without flinching.
"Isn't it possible, Liuhua-nee, that I haven't fully reached complete hypnosis yet… but Pakura herself hasn't realized it? Because she doesn't realize it, she can't break free."
Something about his earnest expression made Liuhua deeply uneasy.
"…Cut her once, then bind her," Liuhua said, stepping forward as she drew a short blade. "We can't take risks."
"It's fine," Ran replied smoothly."Right now, Pakura believes she's fighting us desperately inside my illusion. Once she wins, she'll probably sit down to rest."
Almost as soon as his words fell—
Pakura suddenly sat down.
Liuhua's pupils shrank.
"Now I'll adjust her perception," Ran continued."In the illusion, she thinks she's standing and walking… but in reality, she's lying down."
Pakura slowly reclined onto the ground, her body obediently following Ran's words.
…???
Liuhua's mind was filled with enormous question marks.
Are you sure you're thirteen?Not thirty-one?And this level of genjutsu—are you absolutely certain you don't have the Mangekyō Sharingan?!
The younger Uchiha standing before her—two years her junior—had already surpassed her in genjutsu by a terrifying margin.
Liuhua was starting to feel she couldn't understand him at all.
Ran then produced a rope roughly eight meters long.
Noticing Liuhua's curious gaze, he explained, "This is a composite material developed by Orochimaru-sensei. It looked extremely practical, so I took some from the lab."
He folded the rope in half and looped it around Pakura's neck, tying knots in sequence—at her collarbone, between her breasts, along her sternum, and down to her pelvis.
"I've never seen this kind of restraint technique," Liuhua murmured."The Academy definitely doesn't teach anything like this…"
Despite herself, she watched with intense focus.
Ran continued, threading the rope beneath Pakura's hips and tying it slightly higher on her back.
"That smooth, beautiful back…" Ran muttered absentmindedly."It'd be perfect for cupping therapy. What a waste not to—"
His thoughts drifted.
He then pulled the rope behind her neck, spreading it outward beneath her arms and looping it back through the front, forming a diamond-shaped pattern across her body.
Slowly, methodically, he tightened and adjusted the rope from top to bottom, finally securing it at her waist—then separating the thigh ropes to either side of her most private area.
"U-U-Uchiha Ran!!"Liuhua snapped, her face blazing red."Just what do you think you're doing?!"
"Oh, this?" Ran replied innocently."Orochimaru-sensei taught it to me. He said that when combined with suspension binding, it prevents ninja from using untying techniques."
With that, Ran bound Pakura's hands and feet behind her back and hoisted her onto a thick tree trunk.
Her arms and legs were tightly restrained against the massive trunk, completely immobilized.
"When you release her from the genjutsu, we interrogate her," Liuhua said, her voice flustered but sharp."First humiliate her. Then apply pressure. Finally, control her with the Sharingan and force her to reveal her mission. Understood?"
Ran nodded without hesitation.
The tree wasn't especially tall, but its trunk was thick.Ran stood before Pakura, Zanpakutō in hand, his gaze cold and unwavering.
He dispelled Dreamlike Mortal World.
Pakura immediately struggled—but it was useless.She was bound tightly, suspended and restrained, completely unable to escape.
Suddenly—
Ran lifted his sword and swung lightly.
A sharp blade arc flashed across Pakura's body, accompanied by a piercing whistle.
Pain exploded through her.
She nearly cried out.
Pakura was acutely aware of how indecently she was bound—and the pain only amplified the humiliation.
It felt as if a blazing-hot blade had plunged deep into her flesh, the agony so intense it stole her breath.
Her body felt like it was being torn apart, every inch trembling in pain, every heartbeat echoing like a hammer blow.
A shrill moan escaped her lips as shame and suffering intertwined.
Her eyes snapped open—
And reflected within them—
Were a pair of crimson three-tomoe Sharingan.
"…Shi—damn it… Sharingan…"
That was Pakura's final conscious thought.
Uchiha Liuhua truly lived up to her reputation as a hardened veteran of the borderlands—her execution was smooth, ruthless, and decisive.The Hero of Sunagakure, Scorch Release Pakura, was completely subdued.
"Ran," Liuhua said, her face still flushed."I'm warning you—when we're on missions together, you are never allowed to use that binding method again. It's far too shameful."
"…But you have to admit," Ran replied calmly,"Orochimaru-sensei's restraint and suspension techniques played a decisive role in this interrogation."
As Pakura hung bound to the tree, Ran activated his Sharingan once more, fully controlling her with genjutsu.
As she spoke—
Both Ran's and Liuhua's expressions gradually changed.
Confusion.Suspicion.
Liuhua turned slowly, fixing Ran with a deeply doubtful stare.
Something about Pakura's testimony—
Was very, very wrong.