"Heh heh heh, those who kill will one day be killed themselves."
"Haku, remember this—if an enemy draws their blade against us, then the only thing I can do is send them to meet their great-grandmother."
"Especially here in Kirigakure. Do you understand?"
"We can't change what's already happened. But from now on, we must fight back with everything we have."
Haku nodded. Even though several days had passed, he still clearly remembered what had happened that day.
Just because he and his mother possessed a kekkei genkai, they were hunted down. A country like this… a mindset like this… was wrong.
Haku glanced at Gekko Chizan and said in an unusually serious tone:
"Sensei, I understand. My kekkei genkai is a gift from heaven."
"I won't blame myself for this ability anymore. I'll use this strength to grow stronger."
"One day, I'll make these ignorant people understand that having a kekkei genkai doesn't make someone a demon."
Gekko Chizan felt extremely satisfied with Haku's words. It proved that his "guidance" over the past few days hadn't been in vain.
On that blank sheet of paper, the first line had finally been written—
And he, Gekko Chizan, had been the one to write it.
"Good. Let's go. We can't stay here any longer. The smell of blood will attract wild beasts."
"There's nothing left worth seeing on this island. We'll head to the next one."
Haku nodded.
His gaze swept over the three fallen Kirigakure shinobi. Seeing his expression, Gekko Chizan said calmly:
"This is what being a shinobi is like. Once you leave the village on a mission, everything becomes unpredictable."
"Does it feel cruel?"
Haku shook his head.
He didn't find it cruel.
Even looking at the three corpses, he felt almost nothing. Instead, he asked Gekko Chizan a question.
"Sensei… where do people go after they die?"
"Hm?"
Gekko Chizan, who had been packing up their belongings, froze for a moment. His movements stopped.
Where do people go after they die?
For a brief second, he felt dazed. In his previous life, he had once wondered about that too.
But ever since coming to this world of shinobi, he had stopped thinking about it.
Just then, his eyes swept over the falling snow, and an answer came to mind.
"If someone dies… they probably turn into snowflakes. Or maybe stars."
"In any case, they become many of the things we know… watching us from the side."
After hearing that answer, Haku walked into the snow, scooped up a handful, and murmured softly:
"Mother… will you be watching me?"
"Our gift isn't a curse. They're the ones who are wrong, Mother."
"I've met a very good sensei. I have a feeling that by following him, I'll see a completely different world..."
Gekko Chizan: .....
What is this supposed to be? Do kids nowadays all do this kind of mysterious stuff???
I don't get it. I really don't get it.
"Haku, let's go."
"Yes, Sensei."
Before long, the two of them left the island and headed toward the next one.
...
"Sensei, why is the ice I condense still not hard enough?"
"Heh heh, how old are you? You've got plenty of time. Keep practicing."
"Oh..."
It had been snowing constantly in the Land of Water lately. Even after arriving on another island, the miserable weather hadn't changed.
The glare off the snow was starting to give Gekko Chizan snow blindness.
But Haku's personality was improving day by day. Compared to the lifeless silence he had at the beginning, he now finally seemed like a normal child.
"Haku, there's a town up ahead. Once we go in, don't practice your kekkei genkai."
"Understood?"
Haku nodded, and they entered the town.
This island was clearly more prosperous than the previous one, and the town was considerably larger.
"Hm? This presence?"
"Chizan, something's going on~"
Just as they stepped into town, Tagitsuhime suddenly spoke.
Something's going on? That puzzled Gekko Chizan slightly.
"He's already seen you. He's in the town."
"Who?"
Tagitsuhime used chakra to guide him inside his mind.
Following the direction, Gekko Chizan looked over.
The moment he saw who it was, his eyes widened.
Well now—running into an old acquaintance in a foreign land.
"Haku, grab onto me."
"Huh? Sensei, what did you say?"
"Grab onto me. I'll take you to meet someone."
"Oh."
Though confused, Haku reached out and grabbed the corner of Gekko Chizan's clothes.
The next second, the scenery in front of him changed.
His perspective rose. His field of vision broadened.
And suddenly—there was someone standing in front of him.
Someone who looked extremely cold and sinister.
"Heh heh heh heh… long time no see, Chizan-kun. I didn't expect to run into you here."
"It feels wonderful, truly. And this one is?"
That chilling aura, that eerie voice—who else could it be but Orochimaru?
Gekko Chizan hadn't expected to run into Orochimaru in the Land of Water either.
"Haku, come meet him. This is my sensei—Orochimaru. I suppose you should call him grand-sensei? Or great-grand-sensei?"
Haku stared wide-eyed at Orochimaru. He couldn't imagine that this person was actually his teacher's teacher.
"Haku, is it?"
"Hm? A boy?"
"Heh heh heh, Chizan-kun, your eye for talent is as sharp as ever."
Orochimaru curiously examined the beautiful youth before him. With his keen perception, he could tell at a glance that Haku was a boy, not a girl.
Gekko Chizan was slightly surprised—but thinking it over, it made sense.
This was Orochimaru, after all. If he couldn't even tell someone's gender, he wouldn't be who he was.
"Of course. Ice Release kekkei genkai. My eye for talent has always been good."
"???"
Orochimaru showed a hint of surprise and looked at Haku again.
"A kekkei genkai?"
"Heh heh heh… how unexpected. I thought the kekkei genkai users of the Land of Water had all been slaughtered."
"The Bloody Mist Village isn't something to joke about."
Gekko Chizan nodded but didn't respond directly. Instead, he changed the subject.
"Sensei, you're not going to make us stand on this rooftop in the wind, are you?"
"From the looks of it, it's going to snow again."
Orochimaru smiled helplessly.
"Let's go. We'll head down and get something to eat."
At the dining table, Gekko Chizan learned that Orochimaru had come to the Land of Water specifically to search for experimental materials.
He hadn't expected to run into Gekko Chizan here.
In turn, Gekko Chizan brought up the Akatsuki.
"Tracking that organization?"
"I must say, that battle last time left quite the impression on me."
"The Rinnegan… heh heh heh. One of the Three Great Dōjutsu, and the most mysterious among them."
"If possible, I'd love to research it."
Gekko Chizan: Of course you would. You want to research everything!