As far as most Sunagakure shinobi knew, Pakura had died fighting Iwagakure.
She had battled until the very end and fallen as a hero of the Sand.
But now—
it was becoming increasingly clear that the story everyone knew had been a lie.
There was more to Pakura’s death than anyone had been told.
Before long, her profile appeared on the screen.
[Name: Pakura]
[Age at Death: Unknown]
[Rank: Jōnin]
[Title: Hero of Sunagakure]
[Kekkei Genkai: Scorch Release]
[Record: Rendered distinguished service to Sunagakure on numerous occasions]
[Relationship: Student — Maki]
[Cause of Death: Ambushed by Kirigakure shinobi and riddled with kunai]
A chill ran through many of the viewers.
Being surrounded and pierced by countless kunai was a brutal way to die.
But what drew even more attention was the fact that her real cause of death was completely different from the version known throughout Sunagakure.
If Pakura hadn’t died fighting Iwagakure…
then why had her death been covered up?
And why had Kirigakure killed her?
The screen soon began showing the truth.
[Land of Wind — Sunagakure]
A massive crowd of shinobi had gathered below one of the village’s high platforms.
Standing above them, Fourth Kazekage Rasa raised his voice.
“Iwagakure’s latest plot has been successfully stopped!”
“Sunagakure has taken another step toward victory!”
He gestured toward the woman standing nearby.
“And this victory was made possible by one shinobi above all others!”
“Pakura of the Scorch Release!”
“A hero of Sunagakure!”
Pakura stepped forward.
The plaza immediately erupted in cheers.
Her name echoed throughout the village.
After the celebration ended, Maki quickly found her.
“Sensei!”
Pakura turned around.
“Maki?
What is it?”
“Please train with me!”
Pakura gave her a tired smile.
“I just got back from a mission.”
Maki blinked.
“Sensei gets tired too?”
Pakura stared at her for a moment.
“You really are impossible…”
In the end, she agreed.
The two headed to a training ground.
As they practiced, Pakura watched Maki carefully.
“You want to become stronger because of revenge, don’t you?”
Maki’s expression hardened.
“Yes.”
“I’ll kill the Kirigakure shinobi who murdered my father.”
Pakura didn’t dismiss her anger.
Instead, she spoke calmly.
“If you hold on to that determination, you will become stronger.”
“But remember this too.”
She looked directly at her student.
“Family.
Your village.
The comrades fighting beside you.”
“If you truly care about them and develop the will to protect them, that resolve can push a shinobi farther than hatred alone ever could.”
Maki nodded firmly.
“Yes, Sensei!”
The scene changed.
Inside Sunagakure’s leadership chamber, Rasa and several senior officials were discussing the village’s worsening conflict with Kirigakure.
One elder spoke first.
“Kirigakure still bears deep resentment toward us.”
“They’ve rejected nearly every proposal we’ve made and refuse to compromise.”
Another official frowned.
“But we’re approaching a decisive stage in the war against Iwagakure.”
“We can’t afford another enemy threatening us from behind.”
Rasa remained silent for several moments.
Then he finally spoke.
“There’s no other choice.”
“For the sake of Sunagakure…”
“We’ll have to sacrifice Pakura.”
…
Several days later.
Sunagakure held a memorial ceremony.
Rasa stood before the gathered shinobi with a solemn expression.
“Our hero is dead.”
“Pakura of the Scorch Release fought until the very end.”
“She never retreated.”
“She never abandoned her duty.”
His voice rose.
“Her sacrifice will not be meaningless!”
“We will carry her devotion to Sunagakure with us and defeat Iwagakure!”
The crowd erupted.
But elsewhere—
Maki knelt before Pakura’s grave.
A bouquet of white flowers rested in her hands.
Her shoulders trembled.
“Pakura-sensei…”
]
When the video ended, the shinobi world’s impression of Pakura had changed completely.
She truly had been an outstanding kunoichi.
Someone capable of becoming known as a hero of Sunagakure had obviously contributed enormously to her village.
She had also been a devoted teacher.
Even after returning exhausted from a mission, she had still taken the time to train Maki.
And more than anything—
Pakura genuinely loved Sunagakure.
She believed in protecting her village and the people living within it.
Yet the same village she loved had decided that her life was expendable.
To improve relations with Kirigakure, Rasa and Sunagakure’s leadership had sacrificed one of their own heroes.
And afterward—
they hadn’t even told the village the truth.
Instead, they claimed Pakura had died fighting Iwagakure and used her death to inflame the village’s fighting spirit.
The hypocrisy was difficult to ignore.
Live Chat Group One erupted almost immediately.
[Ōnoki: Rasa, this is disgraceful.]
[Ōnoki: You deceived your own people, sacrificed one of your most valuable shinobi for political convenience, and then blamed Iwagakure for her death.]
[Ōnoki: And you call yourself a Kage?]
The Fourth Raikage joined in.
[Fourth Raikage: I’ll say something unpleasant for once—this was even worse than what happened with Hizashi.]
[Fourth Raikage: At least Hizashi knew why he was dying and made his own choice.
Pakura was betrayed without even knowing the truth.]
Hiruzen immediately complained.
[Hiruzen Sarutobi: Could everyone stop dragging me into every comparison?]
Rasa’s expression remained grim.
[Rasa: I won’t deny that I wronged Pakura.]
[Rasa: But every decision I made was for Sunagakure.]
Darui responded almost at once.
[Darui: A Kage can’t save every single person in the village.
That’s impossible.]
[Darui: But deliberately sacrificing one of your own shinobi is something else entirely.]
[Kurotsuchi: Exactly.
And someone willing to do that still gets to sit in the Kazekage’s seat?]
Maki stared at the screen in disbelief.
[Maki: Lord Fourth…]
[Maki: Pakura-sensei…
was really sacrificed by Sunagakure?]
A Sunagakure shinobi quickly tried to intervene.
[Sunagakure Shinobi: Maki, Pakura’s death wasn’t meaningless!]
[Sunagakure Shinobi: And Lord Kazekage wasn’t the one who physically killed her.
She died at the hands of Kirigakure shinobi!]
Maki’s hands began trembling.
[Maki: Kirigakure again…]
[Maki: They killed my father.]
[Maki: And now I find out they killed my teacher too.]
[Maki: I’ll never forgive them!]
Ao’s reply came immediately.
[Ao: Girl, if you want to blame someone for your teacher’s death, start with the people who sent her there.]
[Ao: Don’t come looking for revenge against Kirigakure as though we were the only ones responsible.]
His tone sharpened.
[Ao: If you come after us anyway, don’t expect to return safely.]
Naruto finally couldn’t remain silent.
[Naruto Uzumaki: I don’t understand all this politics between countries.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: But Pakura didn’t deserve to die because a bunch of important people wanted an easier peace agreement!]
Sakura frowned.
[Sakura Haruno: Naruto, this doesn’t even involve you.
Why are you getting so worked up?]
Naruto immediately fired back.
[Naruto Uzumaki: So what if she wasn’t from Konoha?]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Just imagine how she must’ve felt when she realized the village she trusted had betrayed her!]
His next message appeared without hesitation.
[Naruto Uzumaki: I don’t care what excuse they had.
Sacrificing your own comrade to buy peace is something I’ll never accept!]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Someone owes Pakura an apology.]