Sakura and Pakura darted towards each other. As Pakura closed in, the incandescent orbs rotating around her accelerated rapidly, forming an impassable ring that forced Sakura to backstep quickly to avoid being turned into a dried-out husk.
"Good reaction time!" Pakura called. "But I'm warning you right now, lass, if you don't know any Water Style jutsu, then you've got no chance of getting close enough to stab me with that sword of yours!"
Sakura knew precisely two Water Style techniques: the Sticky Syrup Trap Jutsu, ideal for trapping foes in confined spaces but useless when it came to extinguishing fires; and the Waterfall Basin Jutsu, which conjured water features by pulling water up from underground aquifers… fine for gardening or landscaping, but hopeless in combat… by itself, at least.
"How very nice of you to tell me," Sakura replied through gritted teeth. "I'll certainly exploit that weakness if I get the chance!"
Sakura was holding her Sharingan in reserve, as an ace up her sleeve; she was hoping to catch Pakura's eye and end the fight in a single glance, but so far she had not found any opportunity to do so. The air near Pakura seared Sakura's throat and lungs with every breath, and the heat haze made her eyes water, making it difficult to maintain eye contact through all the blinking she was doing to moisturise her dry eyes.
Which meant that, to avoid getting killed before she even realised how it had happened, Sakura was now relying on the general boost Sage Mode provided; the trouble was she had spent most of her senjutsu chakra creating the forest around them to begin with, and once again her Celestial Lotus Seal was almost entirely drained.
Sakura raised her sword, but to her surprise, Pakura put out her flaming orbs instead of pressing her advantage. Was this some kind of trick? Was she still trying to buy time for her teammates to free the others? After all, she could not go all out, as she would incinerate them along with the forest…
"For a kunoichi of your skill, you could easily have killed all of my comrades, but you haven't killed a single one of them, have you? And it wasn't to hold them hostage against me either…" Pakura called. "Since you've been gracious enough to spare my men, allow me to give you a piece of advice, Hidden Leaf kunoichi. I'm telling you this for your own benefit; you shouldn't be standing on the battlefield if you're not prepared to take lives."
Sakura said nothing.
Though the orbiting fireballs had vanished, the air still shimmered around Pakura, warping the light and making the Saimingan's genjutsu far less likely to succeed. If Sakura opened her Sharingan, she would see more clearly what was happening… but that would cause her opponent to raise her guard, ruining any chance of a one‑hit victory. She had to wait until Pakura came closer…
"At the end of the day, a woman's got to have some kind of code if she wants to keep some semblance of humanity after the war is over. Otherwise, there would be nothing separating us kunoichi from mass murderers…" Pakura called, stepping forwards. She glanced at Sakura's leaf forehead protector. "You might not know this, but back home, they call me the Hero of the Hidden Sand. I don't kill children, and I don't butcher civilians… unlike you lot from the Leaf. Turn around and run, and I'll count you as a non‑combatant. I won't give chase; I give you my word."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. Just a little closer, and she would be able to look Pakura straight in the eye and paralyse her.
"The way I see it, you've no dog in this fight," Pakura went on, stepping closer to Sakura. "You've no reason to fight, while I've every reason. I'm fighting for something I believe in, a better tomorrow for the Hidden Sand… but you don't seem all that invested in this war, do you? There's no need for us to cross blades today; we both have too much to lose, haven't we? So perhaps we should settle this with words instead."
Pakura clearly didn't want to fight; deep down, she knew she was outmatched… but for the sake of her dream, and her village, she was still taking a stand.
"Stop trying to Talk-no-Jutsu me!" Sakura hissed. "It's not going to work!"
One step shy of drawing close enough for Sakura to awaken her Sharingan, Pakura paused as though sensing something wrong. Waves of heat rippled from her, washing over Sakura and stinging her skin and eyes. Sakura's Sage Senses told her that chakra was seeping from Pakura's body into the air, though she could already tell just by observing the heat haze around her.
"??" Sakura squinted.
Was it only a trick of the light, or had she seen something move behind her Pakura? Was this a different jutsu, or…?
"After the Second Shinobi World War ended with your victory, the Hidden Leaf demanded vast reparations from the Hidden Sand, the Hidden Stone, the Hidden Cloud, and the Hidden Mist," Pakura said suddenly. "Yet of the four villages that had antagonised yours, ours was the only one from which the Third Hokage succeeded in extracting anything of worth. Our village, after all, was built in a disused mine near the Land of Rivers' border, while the others stood in natural fortresses, too remote to be reached for reparations..."
Less than a year passed between the end of the Second Shinobi World War and the start of the Third, yet in that short time, rather than spreading themselves too thin, like too little butter on too large a piece of toast, the Third Hokage ordered the Hidden Leaf to focus on the Hidden Sand, drawing from the impoverished village whatever could still be taken.
It wasn't that Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't want the other villages' money; it was just that the logistics and road infrastructure to extract massive wealth from the Sand, the Stone, and the Cloud simply didn't exist, and defending caravans in hostile territory over land would have cost too much.
As for extracting wealth from the Land of Water, although shipping lanes existed, crossing the sea to demand tribute from Kirigakure would have been far too perilous. Besides, Kiri was so poor that the journey itself would have cost more than it was worth.
Upon realising that the Hidden Leaf did not have the means to punish them for failing to provide war reparations, the other countries soon resumed hostilities, and less than a year later, the Third Shinobi World War erupted. Though the Hidden Sand fought desperately to reclaim what it had lost during the Second Shinobi World War, it never quite slipped free of the Leaf's hold once the Third was lost as well and was forced, one-sidedly, into accepting an alliance.
And that is why the Third Hokage decided to forego asking for war reparations once the Third Shinobi World War ended, since it would have amounted to nothing; thus, angering everyone in the Leaf and setting the precedent that the Leaf could be attacked with no repercussions.
However, that is not to say the Land of Fire obtained nothing at all for its troubles…
"Even now, as war rages across the continent, we still aren't free! The Land of Fire's insidious hand still reaches into our coffers!" Pakura said, laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all. "Private equity owned by the Land of Fire's capitalists is bleeding the Land of Wind's industries dry, buying up legitimate companies, draining our people and our land for all they're worth, then selling the fruits of our own labour back to us!"
Pakura took a deep breath.
"Don't you get it? The Land of Fire's capitalists are fuelling Sunagakure's war effort against their fellow countrymen, getting you Leaf shinobi killed while quietly pocketing the change!" she ranted. "The trade caravans of the shipping industry, the silver and gold mines of the mining sector… from the outside, they may appear to be legitimate Land of Wind enterprises, but make no mistake: follow the flow of money, and it will lead you straight back to your own nation…"
Incidentally, that was also why the Land of Wind's Daimyō and enterprises often ignored Sunagakure, preferring to offer their missions to Konohagakure instead—because the Land of Fire's elite were the ones really in charge, and they all received kickbacks for their trouble. And thus, the corrupt grew richer!
"Don't you see, Leaf kunoichi? These are the sort of people you're protecting!" Pakura spat. "And the Third Kazekage is no better, having his son Rasa use his magnetic powers to mine gold to prop up our collapsing economy!" She gave a scornful laugh. "Can you believe it? Mining to support the village? It's putting the cart before the horse! A hidden village should serve the nation and extract a salary, not the other way around! Our foolish Kazekage is lining the pockets of our country's dim‑witted nobles, and of the Land of Fire's greedy capitalists besides! And we shinobi are the ones bleeding ourselves dry helping them do so! It's madness!"
Pakura extended her hand, as if inviting Sakura to take it.
"The Land of Wind is rich in resources, and yet it remains the poorest of the five great countries, all because of the corrupt nobility at the top! There should be enough for everyone, and yet, there's never enough for anyone…" she said passionately. "I don't know you, but you strike me as a good person. I could use someone of your strength by my side, to help me accomplish my dream… a dream of true, lasting peace and prosperity."