"Don't look at me like that. Once you know the truth, you'll thank me. If you have any questions, ask him..."
Danzo remained indifferent to her hateful glare—if anything, he seemed mildly entertained.Pakura suppressed her fury, though her heart was filled with confusion.
"Baki, has Maru's left leg healed?"
Baki's vacant, hollow gaze stared into the distance as he answered mechanically:
"Maru injured his right leg. It was amputated a year ago."
A wave of complex emotions washed over Pakura. Was this really the same comrade she once knew? Her doubts deepened.
"What are you doing here, Baki? Wasn't the southern outpost taken by Kirigakure?"
"I'm here under orders from the Kazekage. The southern outpost wasn't taken."
"How could that be? And the Kirigakure nin...?"
Her anger melted into shock. She pressed on, desperate for answers.
Danzo watched her questioning with a perverse sense of satisfaction as the truth began to surface bit by bit.
"No... you're lying. You're under genjutsu… Baki…"
"I haven't lied. Our mission was to observe Kirigakure's trade and report back to the Kazekage."
Though Baki's answers were sparse, they were enough for Pakura to piece together a grim picture: sacrifices in Kirigakure's trade.
Her complexion grew paler, and her chakra flared erratically—her earlier composure was gone.
"No… it's all lies… Did Chiyo know about this?"
Silence.
Clutching at her last straw, she refused to accept the truth.
"This… this can't be real…"
But she couldn't admit it. Refusing to give up, she frantically bombarded Baki with questions, grasping for meaning in a collapsing world.
Danzo caught a kunai thrown at him and smiled at Pakura's breakdown.
"This is all your doing, Danzo of Konoha's Root. I know who you are. I'm a hero of Sunagakure—you won't manipulate me!"
Her frantic voice was laced with grief, panic, and determination. Her chakra flared, and the surrounding temperature spiked as she activated her Scorch Release.
"Sealing Technique."
Black runes crawled across her body, and silence fell over the world once more.
Her movements stopped. She slumped onto a boulder, her limbs weak and lifeless, her eyes blank like a shattered doll discarded after cruel play.
"No… it's not like that…" she muttered softly to herself.
Danzo stepped closer, gently running a hand through her brown hair. Pakura gave no reaction.
"It's all right. I need you. Root needs you. One day, you'll return to Sunagakure and show them how wrong they were. You are Sunagakure's true hero."
His voice seemed to echo in her very soul, carrying both temptation and salvation.
Pakura lifted her head slightly, a faint spark in her eyes. She looked at Danzo and pleaded,
"Is that… really possible?"
"Of course. Sleep now. When you wake, it'll be a new beginning—no more lies, no more nightmares."
For once, Danzo smiled. In the sunlight, it was unnervingly sincere.
Pakura collapsed onto the boulder and slipped into unconsciousness.
Using genjutsu now may have been unethical, but it worked.
With Pakura dealt with, Danzo turned to Baki.
He thought for a moment before flicking his fingers. A blade of wind chakra lashed out, striking Baki and slamming him into a boulder. His fate was unclear as blood pooled beneath him.
...
The desert's night brought a sharp temperature drop.
"Ah…" Baki groaned through the pain clouding his mind. Slowly regaining consciousness, he felt a sharp sting on his face—a jackal was gnawing on his cheek.
The scavengers feasting on corpses had noticed their live prey and began closing in, eager for fresh meat.
"Damn it…"
With all his strength, Baki managed to reach his leg pouch. Purple smoke erupted from it, spreading rapidly.
The nearest jackal dropped. Then the second. And the third.
The rest, terrified, fled into the night.
Baki hadn't expected his corpse-trap mechanism—designed to prevent enemies from looting his body—to save his life.
He passed out again.
On the seventh day, Kazekage Rasa finally received news from the southern outpost, along with Baki's encrypted letter.
The trade had gone awry. Every Kirigakure shinobi stationed in the south was dead. A mysterious third party had wiped them out, and Pakura's status was unknown.
Rasa studied the report, a scheming smile spreading across his lips.
He had sold the same goods to two buyers. The Kirigakure shinobi and a potential rival had both been eliminated in the process.
The trade with Kirigakure had been Rasa's idea, approved by Sunagakure's upper ranks, who were all beneficiaries of the deal.
After all, the village didn't need too many heroes.
But the deal with Danzo? That was Rasa's secret alone.
The Kirigakure shinobi, Scorch Release bloodline, and southern outpost—all were just bargaining chips.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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