Chapter 381: If You Don't Want to Die, You Have to Make a Choice

The village had painstakingly nurtured a talent, only for that person to end up joining the enemy without a second thought.

Could anything be more infuriating than that?

"Sensei, I think this whole 'Pakura being captured' thing is just a cover. The truth is that she willingly ran off with Yagami Takuya, that pretty boy. With her strength, even if Yagami Takuya is strong, there's no way she'd be taken down that easily..."

The more Rasa thought about it, the angrier he became. His personality, already extreme, led him to curse internally.

"Damn Pakura. I always knew you weren't any good."

Just as the Third Kazekage had his narrow-minded tendencies, Rasa wasn't much better. He was cold and obsessed, to the point of using his own child as a Jinchūriki. He was also ruthless enough to deceive Pakura and have her sold off because of some petty conflict with Kirigakure.

"That's enough. Haven't we embarrassed ourselves enough already?" The Third Kazekage barked, glaring at his student while trying to suppress his own anger. "The plan to rescue Pakura is temporarily on hold. We'll revisit it after the war ends."

When weighed against the larger interests of the war, Pakura herself was of little importance. Though the situation was infuriating, the Third Kazekage wouldn't allow it to have a wider impact.

Just as Sunagakure suspected, Takuya kept Pakura at the command post. Where she slept was her business—whether on a chair, a table, or hanging from a post, Takuya didn't care.

"It won't be easy to defeat Sunagakure in a short amount of time. This is our positioning. As long as they don't launch a full-on offensive, it will be difficult for them to break through, even though they have the numbers advantage," Hatake Sakumo said, seriously analyzing his war strategy.

Takuya kept himself inconspicuous, and Pakura, standing beside him, could feel her brain buzzing from the situation.

The command center was filled with participants—every jonin involved in the war effort. The meeting was largely chaired by Nara Shikashige and Hatake Sakumo, both veterans in this kind of strategy. Sakumo himself wanted nothing more than to leave it all behind.

But Takuya wouldn't allow it. If Sakumo wasn't willing to take charge, then he had to at least share some of the burden. Otherwise, Takuya threatened, he'd go on strike—and they would be left watching the supreme commander recklessly hacking his way through the enemy lines.

Facing Takuya's threats, Sakumo relented. He truly feared that Takuya might actually charge into Sunagakure's ranks with his blade, making life much more complicated for both him and Shikashige.

"The supply lines are of utmost importance. Given the two-front situation, we can't afford any losses there. These supply routes are critical and must be defended. Luckily, we're better positioned logistically compared to Sunagakure," Sakumo explained.

"We don't have to haul supplies across a barren desert; we don't need to worry about sandstorms or fear running out of food and water halfway through."

Sakumo made a rare joke, mocking Sunagakure's poverty, and laughter rippled through the command center.

As for Takuya...

To be honest, he was struggling to stay awake.

It reminded him of his past life, when he was a poor student sitting through English class. He knew he should pay attention, but his body insisted on drifting off to sleep.

"Is this jerk seriously dozing off?" Pakura thought, watching Takuya leaning on the table, propping his head up with one hand and holding a map with the other as if to shield himself. His head bobbed up and down as sleep threatened to overtake him, making Pakura's eye twitch involuntarily.

"Alright, that's about all I have to say. Everyone, prepare for any sudden attacks from the enemy," Sakumo said, wrapping up the meeting before making a hasty exit.

Nara Shikashige shot a smile toward Takuya, giving a slight nod. He also let his gaze pass over Pakura, leaving a scroll on the table before leaving.

Facing Shikashige's smiling face, Pakura felt a sudden chill, an ominous feeling welling up inside her as if something bad was about to happen.

"Finally, it's over," Takuya sighed. The whole ordeal had been exhausting. He silently vowed to give Tsunade a piece of his mind once the war ended. She had promised he'd only need to lend a hand, but now he was carrying the whole operation. Tsunade, you liar!

Rubbing his eyes, Takuya glanced at the scroll, opened it, and promptly choked.

After a closer look, he held the scroll up, turning toward Pakura.

"Pakura, do you like kids?"

"No, I don't!" Pakura replied expressionlessly.

"Well, that's too bad. Your village seems to think you've run off with me, and that you're planning to help me make babies." Takuya handed the scroll over to Pakura, whose mind seemed to stall as she processed what he had just said.

Ran off with him? Planning to help him make babies?

Pakura's neck stiffened, her eyes slowly dropping to the scroll. It was filled with information and intel that Konoha had gathered, much of which concerned her.

"I was captured, not running off willingly! Which bastard started this rumor?!"

Moments later, Pakura exploded with rage, tearing the scroll to shreds while glaring daggers at Takuya.

"This was you, wasn't it? You did this on purpose!"

"The information release was on my orders, yes. But I never said you ran off willingly. I clearly stated that you were attacked by me and then captured. If you have a problem, you should take it up with your fellow villagers." Takuya shrugged. "Don't go blaming me for this. It wasn't my doing. If you want answers, ask your own people. This has nothing to do with Yagami Takuya."

"Make sure you read the last part of the scroll before tearing it up entirely. It says something about Rasa spreading that rumor," Takuya added.

"That bastard!" Pakura seethed, her eyes practically aflame.

Takuya could tell that if Rasa were standing in front of her right now, Pakura wouldn't hesitate to go all out on him.

Seeing Pakura on the brink of losing it, frustrated to the point of madness with no outlet, Takuya couldn't help but laugh to himself. Rasa and Sunagakure's actions were indirectly helping him out, pushing Pakura further toward the edge.

As Pakura found herself increasingly cornered, she would have no choice but to lean toward Takuya if she wanted to avoid a tragic end.

With the arrival of the second wave of ninja reinforcements, local skirmishes began escalating. Despite having fewer participants than Sunagakure, Konoha wasn't easy to push back, and Sunagakure's numerical advantage wasn't enough to expand their gains.

After asking around, Takuya finally understood why the Third Kazekage hadn't ordered Sunagakure's forces to invade the Fire Nation to spread chaos.

Takuya tossed the scroll onto the table, letting out a sigh.

"If a village wants to grow, it can't do it without money. The Wind Daimyo holds too much power."

The real reason why Sunagakure hadn't launched a large-scale invasion of the Fire Nation was that the Third Kazekage had compromised with the Wind Daimyo, who was reluctant to fund such an extensive military operation.