Goosebumps rose all over Pakura's body. The words "how to use you" sent her heart into turmoil. She turned her face away. "Y-you... what exactly are you trying to do...?"
By now, Pakura's tone was completely different from before. Her eyes wavered, her voice trembled, and she kept taking deep breaths as she spoke. She no longer had the bearing of that bold and spirited female ninja.
"It's not about what I want to do. It's about what you can do. Do you... want to become the Kazekage?"
Pakura froze. Her shock eased much of her earlier tension and fear. "Me? Become the Kazekage?"
Vegapunk carefully observed Pakura's expression and saw that her surprise was genuine. He could not help but laugh. "I see. You're completely clueless about politics! No wonder you were so easily made into a sacrifice!"
Whether it was Pakura from the original story or this Pakura, both had been easily set up by the higher-ups. This Sunagakure hero possessed outstanding combat strength and immense prestige, yet she had no awareness of political maneuvering and had never considered that she might be a threat to certain people.
"Y-you... what do you mean?" Pakura recalled what that middle-aged sand ninja had said before she was drugged, and a faint sense of dread arose in her heart.
"It means that you're too strong and too prestigious. You've already become capable of threatening the current Kazekage's position, so Lord Kazekage had you wrapped up and sent here!"
"Even if the battle between Sunagakure and Kirigakure had been deadlocked instead of so one-sided, he would still have used you as a sacrifice in the end!"
Vegapunk's words completely shattered Pakura's final line of defense. She stood there blankly for a long while before finally coming back to her senses and understanding