As the battle at sea came to an end, the chaos within Kirigakure finally began to settle.
Flames were everywhere, reflecting Hikka's glow across the village… allowing hatred and suffering to take root.
"Damn it, just let all these ninja die already!"
"This senseless, endless battle—how much longer must it drag on?"
"Why must people from the same village fight each other?"
Villagers muttered curses in the streets, keeping their voices low, afraid of being overheard.
In this bloodstained setting, a little boy was dragged out from a restaurant by someone.
The boy didn't struggle. He just said quietly, "I'm hardworking and fast. I don't need money—just some food and a place to sleep."
The man gripping him sneered in disgust, "Who'd want a ragged little beggar like you? Besides, with all this constant war and killing, I can barely support myself. How can I afford to feed you too?"
Hearing this, the boy lowered his head sadly, "Still not needed, huh?"
At a corner of the street, swarming with flies and piled with trash, the man roughly threw him aside, "Don't blame me for being cruel. Pick through the trash here, and at least you won't starve to death."
After being thrown, the boy stood up while rubbing his sore bottom, saying gratefully, "Thank you, mister!"
The man didn't reply, but the boy didn't seem disappointed. He turned and slowly hobbled over to the pile of garbage.
After some effort searching, he finally found a few barely edible scraps of vegetables, and even a half-eaten piece of bread. For him, this already counted as a very rich breakfast.
"Keep it up, Haku. Tomorrow will definitely be better! I'll be valuable someday!"
Just then, a tempting aroma came from behind him.
Unconsciously turning his head back, the boy saw a gentle-looking man holding several steaming hot buns in front of him.
Haku asked in disbelief, "Are these for me?"
Aizen softly smiled, "Of course. Eat quickly!"
"But… but I don't have anything I can do for you!" Haku said timidly.
"Then give your future to me."
"This feeling... is this what it feels like to matter to someone?"
As Haku was touched by the moment, a boy suddenly stepped forward from behind Aizen. He looked about the same age as Haku, with two small red dots on his forehead.
"You're so slow. If Aizen-dono offers you food, just take it!" he said.
"His name is Aizen?" Looking at the two of them, Haku nervously stretched his hands forward, as if what stood before him wasn't just buns, but a ray of hope shining upon his life.
As Haku gently bit into the bun, as if trying to memorize this moment forever, Aizen suddenly straightened his posture and looked into the distance. He then patted the head of the boy beside him and said, "I need to step away for a moment. Kimimaro, will you keep an eye on him for me?"
Like a loyal puppy, Kimimaro leaned affectionately into Aizen's hand and replied firmly, "Of course, Aizen-dono! I'll definitely protect him!"
So saying, he pulled a blade made of bone from his shoulder and swung it through the air a few times.
As he watched Kimimaro, Haku took a small bite of his bun, his pale eyes flashing with a hint of surprise.
"You must also take good care of yourself!" Aizen said, patting Kimimaro's head before turning to leave.
"Hehe!" Just as Kimimaro's face flushed with happiness, Haku's soft voice interrupted from behind him.
"Thank you!"
"I was only following Lord Aizen's orders!" Kimimaro huffed, crossing his arms defiantly, then asked curiously, "You're so soft-spoken and eat so weakly, are you actually a girl?"
"I'm definitely a boy!" Haku replied matter-of-factly, then asked, "That ability just now where you pulled out bones—it's a Kekkei Genkai, right?"
"I'm from the Kaguya Clan!" Kimimaro declared proudly. Thinking Haku was scared, he explained, "Lord Aizen said Kekkei Genkai isn't some demonic ability like Mist claims. In other parts of the world, people envy those with this natural talent!"
Haku nodded thoughtfully, then looked at him with eager eyes. "Can you teach me how to control the power of a Kekkei Genkai?"
"Of course y—" Kimimaro began, suddenly pausing in surprise, "You have a Kekkei Genkai too?"
Haku nodded, looking down guiltily, "I just can't control it well, and end up hurting others easily!"
Kimimaro said, "Then demonstrate your abilities for me."
"Here?" Haku hesitated, "What if I hurt you—"
Kimimaro interrupted, "Are you underestimating me?"
Seeing Kimimaro insisted, Haku quietly said, "Then be careful!"
Haku tried to channel that power within him. In the next instant, the entire garbage pile was covered in ice shards!
Luckily, this was a corner of the streets near a garbage pile rarely visited by people. No one noticed what had happened.
"You're actually quite formidable—" Kimimaro started to say, but suddenly looked awkward, "You're from the Yuki Clan, aren't you?"
Haku nodded.
Kimimaro scratched his nose. He knew that Haku's clan had been the ones who led the rebellion under his Kaguya Clan—and were subsequently mercilessly destroyed.
Thinking this, Kimimaro put an arm around Haku's shoulders. "From now on, your battles are my battles. Let's become Lord Aizen's most powerful weapons!"
Haku was initially taken aback by Kimimaro's sudden enthusiasm. But hearing those words, he gave up resisting and simply nodded. "I'll do my best!"
...
Out at sea.
Yagura remained silent. Though he knew even the three of them together were still just cannon fodder, he had secretly hoped that working together might at least provoke Seiki Shimaseki into revealing some of his abilities.
Though now, they did learn something—but how could that even be categorized?
That was just a single punch and a single kick?
Looking at Yagura, Shimaseki smiled. "Removing two bothersome pests ahead of time is my way of showing respect to you, the 'Mizukage.'"
"I never asked for this kind of respect!" Yagura inwardly complained, secretly relieved. "Good thing it wasn't my real body fighting him!"
"Be careful—I'm coming!"
Before the words had even finished echoing, Yagura suddenly felt a razor-sharp gust of wind slicing toward his face like a blade.
He didn't even have time to form hand seals and barely dodged on instinct—but not fast enough. A glancing blow sent him flying.
"Shoulder blade's shattered!" Yagura remained expressionless. After all, the puppet didn't feel pain.
Using his midair momentum, Yagura quickly formed hand seals.
In an instant, several water clones shot out from his body, rushing forward to intercept, while his real body took the opportunity to draw a circle with his iron rod.
However, the person emerging from the circle wasn't Seiki, but a copy of Kakashi!
Yagura knew clearly in his heart that he couldn't possibly replicate that kind of powerful physique. Forcibly summoning one would only produce an empty shell from the Water Mirror.
But Kakashi was different. No one knew his eyes better than he did. This copy of Kakashi might even retain part of the Mangekyo Sharingan's ocular power.
However, the real Kakashi standing in the distance had a gloomy expression.
What was this? Making him watch his own copy get pummeled by his senior?
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