In Jōdo.
Pakura watched Naruto’s messages in silence.
He had never met her.
He wasn’t from Sunagakure.
He had absolutely no reason to care about what happened to her.
And yet—
he had still spoken up for her.
For the first time since her death, some of the bitterness in Pakura’s heart eased.
Maybe the shinobi world wasn’t completely rotten after all.
After reading Naruto’s words, Minato smiled with satisfaction.
He glanced toward Kushina.
“Looks like our little guy has a pretty strong sense of right and wrong.”
“He must have met some good teachers.”
Kushina’s expression softened.
“He’s like you.”
“Kind, warmhearted, and willing to speak up when he sees something unfair.”
She smiled proudly.
“He’s a good kid.”
Then the screen began playing more of Pakura’s story.
But this time—
the scene was different.
[A forest.]
Pakura stood before a shinobi squad.
Her body bore the unmistakable signs of the Impure World Reincarnation.
Across from her, one woman stared at her in disbelief.
“Pakura-sensei?”
Pakura’s eyes widened.
“You…”
“Maki?”
She looked her former student over carefully.
“I never expected us to meet again like this.”
“You’ve hardly changed.”
A Kirigakure kunoichi standing beside Maki looked between them uneasily.
“Maki…
you know her?”
Maki nodded.
“She was once one of Sunagakure’s greatest heroes.”
Her expression softened.
“And she was the one who taught me how to become a shinobi.”
Then Maki’s face became serious.
“Sensei…
why are you fighting?”
“You’ve been brought back, but you should still have some control over your own thoughts, right?”
Pakura’s expression turned cold.
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Her hands tightened into fists.
“Revenge.”
Maki froze.
“Revenge?”
Pakura’s anger finally surfaced.
“Sunagakure praised me as a hero.”
“They paraded me in front of the village, celebrated my victories, and treated me like someone worth honoring.”
“Then the moment it became convenient…”
“They threw me away.”
Her voice grew colder.
“They sacrificed me for the village’s political interests.”
“I’ve carried that anger with me ever since.”
Pakura’s eyes shifted toward the Kirigakure shinobi.
“The people in Sunagakure who used me are already dead.”
“But the village that actually killed me still exists.”
Her expression hardened.
“That’s why I’m fighting.”
“To settle my debt with Kirigakure.”
Maki looked completely lost.
“But…
Sensei…”
“Weren’t you killed fighting Iwagakure?”
Pakura gave a bitter laugh.
“That’s what they told everyone.”
“A convenient lie created by Sunagakure’s leadership after my death.”
She paused.
“I didn’t understand the truth until the very end.”
The scene changed.
…
A mist-covered valley.
Pakura walked alone through the thick fog.
Before leaving Sunagakure, she had received a secret order directly from the Kazekage.
She was to travel quietly to Kirigakure as an envoy.
Because the mission was classified, she had left the village without ceremony.
Soon, a Kirigakure shinobi emerged from the mist ahead.
“Lady Pakura.”
“I’m here to escort you.”
“The fog here is especially thick, so you’ll need someone familiar with the route.”
Pakura relaxed slightly.
“Thank you.”
“But it’s only a valley.
I doubt I’ll get lost.”
The Kirigakure shinobi scratched his head and gave a harmless laugh.
“Fair enough.”
“Still, this way.”
Pakura took a step forward.
Then—
stab!
A kunai plunged into her back.
Pakura’s eyes widened.
“What…?”
The Kirigakure shinobi’s expression twisted with hatred.
“Now you understand a little of what our comrades felt when Sunagakure slaughtered them.”
Pakura tried to move.
But the surprise attack had already left her badly wounded.
The mist around the valley shifted.
Several more Kirigakure shinobi appeared along the ridges.
Then—
a storm of kunai came raining down.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Pakura’s body was torn apart under the barrage.
She collapsed to the ground.
One of the Kirigakure shinobi looked down at her without sympathy.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
“Kirigakure’s hatred for Sunagakure hasn’t disappeared.”
“Your death won’t erase what happened between our villages.”
He glanced at her dying body.
“But it’ll ease some of that hatred.”
Then he added coldly,
“And judging by the fact that your own village handed you over…”
“I’d say Sunagakure feels exactly the same way.”
Pakura’s eyes widened.
Only then did everything fall into place.
The secret mission.
The unusual orders.
The lack of an escort.
The strange insistence that she go alone.
Sunagakure had never expected her to return.
They had sent her here to die.
Pakura’s fingers dug weakly into the earth.
She wanted to scream.
To curse them.
To demand an explanation.
But no words came.
Her vision faded beneath the endless mist.
And Pakura died with nothing but betrayal and hatred in her heart.
]
When the footage ended, sympathy for Pakura spread throughout the shinobi world.
She had been one of Sunagakure’s heroes.
And yet the very village she had devoted herself to had offered her up as a political sacrifice.
Anyone would have struggled to accept such a death.
But there was something else about the footage that left everyone stunned.
Pakura had appeared through the Impure World Reincarnation.
And Maki had clearly been older.
Even stranger—
Maki and the Kirigakure kunoichi beside her were both wearing forehead protectors marked with the character for shinobi.
That wasn’t the symbol of any single hidden village.
It meant something much larger was happening.
The implications were enormous.
The mysterious screen wasn’t limited to revealing the past.
It could show the future as well.
That realization sent another wave of shock through the shinobi world.
And after Obito’s identity had just been exposed, some people immediately became suspicious.
If someone in the future was reviving dead shinobi and exploiting their grudges…
could Obito somehow be involved?
No one knew.
But the possibility alone was enough to make people uneasy.
Live Chat Group One soon erupted again.
[Temari: Father…]
[Temari: You really did this?]
[Temari: You sent Pakura to her death knowing exactly what would happen?
That’s too much!]
[Kankuro: Even if Pakura had to die for the village, wouldn’t it have been better to at least tell her the truth and let her choose for herself?]
Maki could barely type.
[Maki: Pakura-sensei…]
Messages from Sunagakure immediately followed.
[Sunagakure Shinobi: Lord Fourth!]
[Sunagakure Shinobi: Tell us this isn’t true!]
Rasa remained silent for several moments.
Then—
[Rasa: I’m sorry.]
[Rasa: What the screen showed is the truth.]
[Rasa: At the time, Sunagakure needed to concentrate its forces against Iwagakure.
We couldn’t afford to continue fighting Kirigakure as well.]
[Rasa: I chose to use Pakura’s death to calm Kirigakure’s anger.]
Ōnoki responded immediately.
[Ōnoki: Rasa, you truly will do anything for Sunagakure.]
[Ōnoki: I’ll admit this much—you may be a capable Kazekage.]
[Ōnoki: But you’re certainly not a perfect one.]
The Fourth Raikage scoffed.
[Fourth Raikage: Sunagakure and Kirigakure both look rotten in this one.]
[Fourth Raikage: Kumogakure might fight to the death, but we wouldn’t sell out one of our own comrades like that!]
Darui immediately backed him up.
[Darui: That’s our Raikage.]
[C: Exactly.]
Then Killer B suddenly joined in.
[Killer B: Hold up, hold up, did nobody hear?]
[Killer B: Future Pakura said Sand’s leaders disappear!]
[Killer B: Rasa, better watch your back and your fate—]
[Killer B: Sounds like your expiration date ain’t too late!
Yeah!]
Rasa’s expression immediately darkened.
Pakura’s future words had indeed said that the Sunagakure leaders responsible for sacrificing her were already dead.
And if the screen was showing the future…
then what did that mean for him?
[Samui: If that’s really what happens, he brought it on himself.]
Kurotsuchi had no sympathy either.
[Kurotsuchi: Earlier you people kept saying Pakura would only need to “make a small sacrifice.”]
[Kurotsuchi: Turns out that sacrifice was her entire life.]
[Kurotsuchi: It’s incredible how easily some leaders talk about sacrifice when it isn’t their own life on the line.]