"Lord Zabuza, I..."
Haku was crying again, standing before Zabuza with his head lowered.
Everything in the Land of Waves had already co to an end.
They had now arrived at the northern port of the Land of Earth by ship.
Zabuza snorted coldly. "Don't forget your place, Haku."
"You're nothing more than a tool."
Haku's shoulders trembled lightly.
Unable to bear looking any longer, Zabuza turned around, his throat tightening painfully.
"You saw what happened in the Land of Waves. Whether it's strength or character, Kintsuchi is better than . If you follow him, you'll have a future in the Hidden Stone Village too."
"Lord Zabuza." Haku collapsed weakly onto the ground. "You know... I never cared about the future."
Zabuza forced himself to harden his heart and snapped, "Haku, haven't you realized how useless you are?!"
"Go to the Hidden Stone and get stronger. Co find again once you're qualified!"
Saying it this way would make it easier for Haku to accept.
It would leave him with sothing to hold onto.
Once he got used to the Hidden Stone Village, made new friends, found new people to rely on...
Soon enough, he would forget all about Zabuza.
Zabuza felt as though knives were carving through his chest. He turned to Kyoshin and said, "Take care of him."
Kyoshin nodded. "I will. I hope you get a good new start in the Land of Snow."
That's right. After Kyoshin's recomndation, Zabuza ultimately decided to take his two hundred ninety million ryo and settle down in the Land of Snow.
As far as Zabuza was concerned, nothing major would happen in that backwater wasteland.
And the Hidden Mist Anbu would never bother searching a place like that.
Half an hour later, Zabuza boarded the ship heading out to sea.
Haku knelt on the ground, staring blankly at Zabuza as he disappeared farther and farther into the distance.
"Let's go." Kyoshin patted Haku on the shoulder. "If you improve your strength properly in the Hidden Stone Village, you'll be able to help Zabuza even more."
Haku suddenly looked up. His tear-streaked face was full of shock.
"Lord Kintsuchi... y-you... you'll allow to go see Lord Zabuza again?"
"Of course." Kyoshin had already removed his mask and smiled gently.
"The Land of Snow isn't far from here anyway. Once you can stand on your own, visiting him once in a while... or even staying a few days, that's fine too."
Haku wasn't a bad person.
He understood gratitude.
The Hidden Stone Village would provide him with everything.
Haku's heart would always belong to Zabuza, but he would never beco a rogue ninja because of it.
For the Hidden Stone Village, that was enough.
Besides, Kyoshin was basically getting all of this for free.
As for the ten million ryo he owed Zabuza?
Easy.
Once Zabuza celebrated his two-hundredth birthday and spent all two hundred ninety million, paying it back wouldn't be too late.
———
Kyoshin brought Haku back to the Hidden Stone Village.
The gate guards saluted and let them pass as the two headed toward the Tsuchikage Building.
"You're back."
"I'm back."
Onoki looked toward Haku. "An Ice Release ninja?"
"His na is Haku," Kyoshin said.
Haku stepped forward and bowed. "Lord Tsuchikage."
Onoki examined Haku carefully. "Ice Release is a good kekkei genkai. From now on, this place is your ho."
Haku's body trembled slightly.
'Ho...?'
"I'll handle the paperwork," Onoki said. "Starting today, you're a ninja of the Hidden Stone Village. Housing, ninja tools, basic training, and living support will all be provided."
"Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage."
Onoki called in an administrative ninja to escort Haku away.
Only the two of them remained in the office.
Onoki picked up a docunt and handed it to Kyoshin.
"An invitation from Konoha. The Chunin Exams."
"Hmph. They're still suspicious that you're here. They just don't have proof, so they invited us to join in and observe us."
Kyoshin glanced over the docunt.
Onoki asked, "What do you think?"
"I'll participate."
"Reason? Relations between the Hidden Stone and Konoha aren't good, and there's also you..." Onoki continued.
"Your strength is already impressive, but you're still growing. The later you reveal yourself, the better. Going now has no real aning."
Kyoshin revealed, "Do you rember the last ti I left the village? I was gathering intelligence. Sothing's going to happen during this Chunin Exam in Konoha."
Onoki looked surprised. "Sothing's going to happen? What do you an?"
"The Konoha Crush," Kyoshin said. "The Hidden Sand and Hidden Sound are joining forces to attack Konoha."
Silence filled the office for a mont.
Onoki spoke cautiously. "If that's true... then the Hidden Stone should stay out of it."
"But the benefits are too great."
"Oh? Let's hear it~"
As one of the two most famous old foxes in the ninja world, there was no way Onoki couldn't see the opportunity hidden within this situation. His suggestion to avoid involvent was mainly to give Kyoshin more ti to grow.
"If we go, then when Konoha falls into crisis, they'll definitely ask us for help. At that point, we can use the opportunity to demand military compensation."
"Besides that, there's also compensation from the Hidden Sand. After their attack fails, the Hidden Stone can act as a diator and take a cut of the reparations."
"And..." Kyoshin paused slightly. "I have a personal target. Shimura Danzo will die during the Konoha Crush."
He didn't want to make contact with monsters like Uchiha Itachi or Uchiha Obito too early.
But that didn't an Danzo deserved such extre caution from him.
Onoki knew about the Uchiha affair in Konoha, and one of the main culprits behind it was Danzo.
"Mmm..." Onoki considered carefully. "You make a good point. But killing Danzo carries risks. I won't stop you, but judge the situation yourself."
Onoki did not doubt the accuracy of Kyoshin's intelligence. It was just that the whole thing sounded absurd.
Had the Hidden Sand lost their minds? They actually wanted to team up with the Hidden Sound to take down Konoha?
Had all the gold in the desert dried up? Was Rasa so poor he'd gone insane?
Sure, they could replace every exam participant with elites.
Sure, it would be an attack from both inside and outside.
But that was Konoha.
Even if you dragged the Hidden Stone into it too, the odds of success still weren't high.
"This ti..." Onoki finally made his decision. "You'll participate in the Chunin Exams as a genin too. If we're going to do this, then we'll make it big."
"Konoha invited the Hidden Sand, the Hidden Stone, and a bunch of nearby small ninja villages to participate in the exams for one reason only, to show off their military strength."
"Since Konoha already worked so hard to build the stage, there's no need for us to be polite."
Kyoshin had not expected Onoki's attitude to change so quickly. "I'm participating too?"
Onoki burst out laughing. "Did you forget? You're Anbu. You're a ninja of the Hidden Stone Village, yet you've never taken the Chunin Exams."
"Who says an Anbu operative and instructor can't still be a genin?"
Kyoshin laughed as well. "Fair enough."
"Then our objectives are mainly fourfold." Onoki began laying out his thoughts.
"Judging from the Hidden Sand's plan, they'll most likely strike during the final stage of the exams. That's when the largest crowd will gather, and the resulting chaos will spread the furthest."
Onoki's analysis was spot-on. Kyoshin nodded inwardly. As expected of a veteran Kage.
Onoki continued, "First: Konoha wants to show off its strength, so we'll steal the spotlight instead."
"The Hidden Sand will make this incident huge, which ans it'll spread everywhere."
"That will help raise the prestige of our Hidden Stone Village. I refuse to believe there's any genin capable of defeating you."
"Second: use the opportunity to obtain Konoha's 'military compensation.' Those powerful ninjutsu of theirs, it's about ti they shared them."
"Third: compensation from the Hidden Sand. A backwater village like theirs probably doesn't have much worth taking, but at is at no matter how small the mosquito."
"Fourth: kill Shimura Danzo and avenge Kintsuchi!"
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