Chapter 201

Chapter 201

Chapter 201: Persuading Pakura with Words

At dawn, Pakura slowly woke up.

A strikingly beautiful child and a boy with a cold expression were staring into her eyes.

“Be careful, Haku. Only Mr. Haneda can handle this person,” said the boy.

“She’s seriously injured; she’s a patient and needs a few more days to recover,” Haku replied.

Haku poured a glass of water and gently brought it to Pakura’s lips.

“Here, drink this. You must be thirsty after waking up,” he said softly. “When I was sick, my mother used to take care of me like this.”

Pakura looked at the two children in front of her, bewildered.

*Am I not dead?*

*Could this be the Pure Land from the legends?*

But why did the pain in her body feel so real?

With Haku’s care, Pakura drank a few sips of warm water, which eased her discomfort significantly.

At that moment, a more mature voice came from the doorway, approaching gradually.

“You’re awake,” the voice said.

“I saved you.”

The one speaking was none other than Haneda.

Hearing his voice, Pakura turned her head toward him.

The person before her seemed somewhat familiar. Pakura vaguely remembered seeing his name on some list.

In fact, she might have even seen him in person.

However, her groggy mind couldn’t recall much at the moment.

“Who are you?” Pakura asked weakly.

“Uchiha Haneda. You might have seen me or heard my name a few years ago.”

“Uchiha Haneda?!”

At the mention of his name, Pakura’s eyes filled with apprehension. However, the apprehension soon turned into confusion and bewilderment.

Even if Haneda had inflicted great losses on Sunagakure, what did that have to do with her now?

Furthermore, a Konoha ninja saving her must have a clear ulterior motive, right?

“You want all the intelligence I have on Sunagakure, don’t you? Fine, but I have a condition—”

“You’re mistaken,” Haneda interrupted her.

“Heh. I forgot Sunagakure is Konoha’s ally,” Pakura said with a self-mocking laugh.

Even if Haneda had saved her, she’d ultimately return to the village, only to be betrayed again.

She knew it wasn’t anyone else who wanted her dead—it was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa!

But what Haneda said next shattered her understanding.

“This has nothing to do with Konoha. I saved you purely for your sake.”

“For you, Pakura of Sunagakure, wielder of Scorch Release.”

Haneda continued:

“I know all about your journey to the Land of Water and how you were betrayed by your own village—by none other than the Fourth Kazekage.”

“But what does that have to do with me, Uchiha Haneda?”

“After all, I, too, was betrayed by my village.”

“Betrayed? Aren’t you a hero of Konoha?” Pakura asked, perplexed.

She recalled that Uchiha Haneda had achieved great deeds both during and after the Third Shinobi War.

Even the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, seemed to have a good relationship with him. How could someone like him face betrayal?

“You were a hero of Sunagakure. Why can’t I be the same? The only difference is that I wasn’t branded a rogue ninja.”

Haneda opened his Sharingan. His three-tomoe Sharingan locked eyes with Pakura’s.

He unveiled the darkness within Konoha’s higher-ups without any reservation, laying everything bare before her.

Pakura immediately understood.

She and Haneda were the same kind of people.

The only difference was that Haneda had uncovered the truth while alive, while she had remained in the dark until the moment of her death.

Pakura, a quick thinker, realized she had to make a choice the moment Haneda exposed Konoha’s darkness.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Let me make it clear—I’m only interested in revenge. If you’re just planning to use me, I’d rather die.”

“Woman, what nonsense are you spouting? Being used by Mr. Haneda is an honor beyond compare!”

Kimimaro, hearing Pakura’s attitude, interjected immediately.

“Kimimaro, Haku, leave us for now. I need to discuss confidential matters with her,” Haneda ordered.

Hearing this, Haku gave Kimimaro an innocent glance, only to be met with a look of deep disappointment.

Kimimaro dragged Haku out, closing the door softly behind them.

Watching this, Haneda felt a bit helpless.

He genuinely had important matters to discuss—confidential ones.

Although he trusted Kimimaro and Haku not to leak anything, genjutsu was beyond their control.

Kimimaro might manage, but Haku was far too susceptible to genjutsu.

“They’re gone now. What do you want to discuss with me? Perhaps… destroying Konoha?” Pakura asked with a faint smile.

She had already started to see Haneda as half a kindred spirit, instinctively assuming he harbored thoughts similar to her own.

“No. I plan to become the Fifth Hokage,” Haneda replied.

“Hokage?!” Pakura was taken aback by his answer. Yet, upon reflection, it made an unexpected amount of sense.

A faint realization dawned on her, and she pressed him loudly:

“Why? Konoha hurt you. They betrayed you first. Why?”

“Because the lower-ranking shinobi were never involved. The darkness lies only within the village’s higher-ups,” Haneda answered.

“Most people are innocent.”

His words left Pakura stunned.

She thought of her own student—Maki.

Maki was innocent; she didn’t know the truth.

What about the other chunin and genin of Sunagakure? What did they know?

“So, I intend to bring light to the darkness and change everything about the village.”

Haneda cast a genjutsu, pulling Pakura into a world of blooming flowers.

The flower field was filled with blossoms of various colors—purple, red, blue, yellow.

The sweet fragrance wafted through the air, soothing the soul.

Everything around her was beautiful, captivating her completely.

“Do you know why shinobi from different nations slaughter each other? Or why shinobi from the same village betray one another?” Haneda asked, stepping beside her.

Pakura responded without hesitation:

“Because of missions. Shinobi are tools of the state.”

“But what does that have to do with betrayal? The ones who betrayed us weren’t driven by missions.”

Haneda countered, “Do you know why Rasa betrayed you?”

“It wasn’t just to eliminate you; it was also for Sunagakure’s benefit.”

“Otherwise, the higher-ups in Sunagakure wouldn’t have tacitly approved of Rasa’s actions.”

“And the ultimate purpose of this exchange of interests? A laughable pursuit of peace.”

Haneda’s words resonated with Pakura, though she wondered what they had to do with missions.

Suddenly, graves emerged from the flower field.

On top of the graves stood five shadows, each wearing a kage hat, sitting in a golden hall.

Above the shadows were the daimyōs, seated on their thrones.

“The mission system defines the existence of shinobi, and those with the funds to issue missions are wealthy individuals—merchants and nobles.”

“These people secretly control the shinobi.”

“But the shinobi’s power and danger made them wary, so they chose to cooperate with the shinobi. Thus, the political system of one nation, one village was born.”

“Economic dependence couldn’t fully guarantee the nobles’ interests, so they sought a new form of leverage.”

“Hatred.”

“The nobles of the Land of Wind hired Konoha’s shinobi to suppress Sunagakure.”

“This also made Sunagakure resent Konoha, fueling wars and new hatred.”

“Over time, Sunagakure weakened and had no choice but to rely on the noble system represented by the daimyō to survive.”

“The truce between Sunagakure and Kirigakure was a consensus among the daimyōs of the two nations.”

“Besides Sunagakure’s weakness, there was also the fear of Konoha.”

“One side didn’t want the other to grow too strong; the other didn’t want to be destroyed by shinobi.”

“And so, wars erupted.”

“Weaken the shinobi of your village while fostering hatred between the shinobi of other villages.”

“Do you understand now?”