When Shanks looked toward her—and not only Shanks, but Mikoto and the others present as well—Uta became slightly nervous about speaking. The attention made her shoulders tense for a brief moment. But she suppressed her nervousness, drew a slow breath, and began describing her fight with Haku.
She began, "When we both started fighting, Haku was clearly superior to me in terms of base strength and speed, and I wasn't able to keep up with him at the beginning. His movements were sharp and precise, and using that advantage, Haku used Ice Release and created multiple ice needles that shot toward me from different directions."
Her fingers shifted slightly as she continued, remembering the moment. "But with my Observation Haki and Sharingan active, I could see through his attacks. I easily deflected all of them with my sword. With each swing, I either deflected or completely destroyed those ice needles, one after another, without letting a single one touch me."
She paused briefly, then went on, her voice steady. "Then, to keep up with his speed, I immediately started using Lightning Release: Thunder Sword God Mode. The moment I activated it, everything changed. I became faster than Haku and completely surpassed him in terms of speed and strength."
Her eyes sharpened as she recalled the shift in momentum. "After that, whenever Haku used any kind of ice ninjutsu to attack me, I easily deflected it. I was able to destroy his attacks before they could reach me, and I forced Haku into a defensive position. At the beginning of the fight, he was the one pressing me because of my slower speed compared to his—but once Thunder Sword God Mode was active, that advantage was gone.
"Then, after our fight went on for almost a quarter of an hour, Haku—who was already clearly injured by me—finally used one of his strongest attacks, or at least what I believe must have been his best one," she said. "He created a dome made entirely of ice mirrors, countless ice mirrors forming a perfect structure around us."
Her voice slowed slightly as she described it. "Inside that dome, he could move from one mirror to another ice mirror with incredible ease, and at an extremely fast speed. His presence kept shifting, appearing and disappearing in flashes of ice."
She tightened her grip unconsciously. "But even then, my speed in Thunder Sword God Mode was still faster. And with my Sharingan, I was able to clearly track Haku's movements from mirror to mirror without losing sight of him."
She nodded once, firm. "So within just my next two moves, I took him down. The sword slash that ended the fight landed across his chest-to-stomach area. It injured him badly—and it also destroyed his mask."
There was a brief pause. "When the mask shattered, a beautiful face was revealed in front of me. The moment I saw it, I immediately thought Haku was a girl. Not even for a second did it cross my mind that he might be a guy."
Her expression softened slightly. "Because of that, I hesitated. I didn't want to kill Haku. She looked so innocent," she added quietly. "But after exchanging a few words with him, I realized the truth—that she wasn't a she, but a he."
She let out a small breath. "That was a really big shocker for me.
"Anyways, in my fight with Haku, because of the defense from my Armament Haki and the increased durability from using Lightning Release: Thunder Sword God Mode, I didn't suffer even a single scratch on my body. I was completely unharmed," she said calmly. "Haku, on the other hand, was badly injured."
She continued, her tone growing heavier. "Just at that moment, Onii-chan also finished his fight with Zabuza and completely incapacitated him. It was obvious that Zabuza wouldn't survive that attack if he wasn't treated immediately."
Her gaze lowered slightly. "Haku then pleaded with me to let him take Zabuza away. Clearly, Onii-chan wasn't a big fan of this at all. He was never going to let Zabuza leave under any circumstances."
She paused. "But then, at that exact moment, Uncle Antares revealed his presence."
The memory made her spine straighten. "He was standing just a few meters away from our battlefield. He hadn't made a sound. His presence alone was oppressive—though it wasn't directed at us. It was focused entirely on Zabuza and Haku."
She looked up. "When Zabuza saw Uncle Antares, he gave a mocking smile—the kind only a defeated opponent could manage—and said, 'So this young man truly is one of the descendants of the Uzumaki siblings. Should I say I am honored to die by the hands of your descendant, Dragon Emperor?'"
Uta shook her head slightly. "But Uncle Antares clearly disdained dealing with someone like Zabuza—someone who hadn't even been defeated by him, but by us. So he didn't make a move."
Her voice softened as she recalled his words. "Instead, Uncle just said to me, 'Remember this, Uta. Maybe right now you're feeling considerate and very sympathetic toward these two, seeing their loyalty toward each other and all that. And I don't blame you for it. But if you let these two leave today, and tomorrow they kill someone from Uzushiogakure, then you'll have to live with those consequences.'"
She let out a slow breath. "That's all Uncle Antares said. And honestly, at that moment, I really was feeling sympathetic toward Haku and Zabuza after seeing their loyalty to each other."
Then she added, "But right after that, Shamrock Onii-chan spoke. He said, 'Uta, we cannot let our opponents—those who tried to harm us—live. If we let them go today, they can return someday and come after us again.'
"And after saying this, Shamrock Onii-chan moved forward, intending to finish off both Zabuza and Haku. But Zabuza, unwilling to die by Onii-chan's hands, chose to take his own life. And after seeing Zabuza fall, Haku also took his own life, which wasn't that surprising. After all, both of them shared a deep loyalty toward each other. If Zabuza's loyalty hadn't always been obvious, Haku had clearly shown his devotion through all of his actions."
Shanks nodded after hearing Uta's words and said, "What your uncle said is the truth. You have to live with the consequences of your actions. If you had let Zabuza and Haku go that day, then even if they didn't come back to target Uzushiogakure, they could have done the same thing somewhere else—maybe oppressing normal people."
He looked at her closely. "If I'm not wrong, they were already doing exactly that, weren't they? They were in cahoots with a businessman or something like that."
As soon as Uta heard this, she nodded and replied, "Yes. He was in cahoots with a businessman who was a truly evil person—someone who oppressed the Land of Wano and committed terrible acts against its people. I only learned all of this later, after we entered the Land of Waves."
Shanks gave a small, knowing nod. "See? That's what I was saying."
After that, Shanks placed his hand gently on Uta's head and said, "But you don't have to feel too bad about it. This was your first mission. I know you're kind, so you reacted the way you did. There's nothing wrong with that. But you have to understand when you need to be kind, and when you need to be ruthless. That's all I ask."
Uta, who had been feeling downcast until then, straightened up. Her expression brightened as she said, "I will keep that in mind, Father."
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