Time to Return to Konoha

"Konoha-Style Illusory Sword Technique Secret Art: Illusory Flash!"

The wandering Jonin only heard the name of the technique before seeing a flash of light. Then there was nothing else. Wu Liang's sword had been so fast that the wandering Jonin was caught in the illusion before he could react, then sliced in half by Wu Liang's blade.

With the killing blow sheathed, Wu Liang looked at the other wandering Jonin, who was being beaten half to death by the Shadow Clone's Super Strength Fist, and sighed. "I'm still too kind. Against wandering ninja who have done every evil imaginable, I should use the Super Strength Fist I learned from the scroll Mother left behind and beat them to death one punch at a time."

After helping the Shadow Clone kill the other wandering ninja, Wu Liang went to Sasuke's side and treated his injuries with Medical Ninjutsu. "Just how fragile are you? You couldn't even hold off a few wandering ninja? I wasn't asking you to kill them. You couldn't even stall them for a few minutes."

Though Wu Liang was teasing him, his hands never stopped as he continued using the Mystical Palm Technique to heal him. Hearing Wu Liang's words, Sasuke suddenly felt as if his injuries hurt even more. "If you're treating me, then treat me. Can you shut up? Do you think everyone is as freakish as you? I even used my Sharingan, but it consumed too much Chakra, so I couldn't keep it up for long."

"Fine, fine, you're amazing, all right?" Wu Liang said as he finished up, then muttered to himself, "You knew the Sharingan consumed Chakra, yet you still used it. Isn't that stupid?"

Hearing that, Sasuke thought, This is so depressing.

Just as Wu Liang finished treating Sasuke, Naruto arrived carrying Haku Yuki. Seeing Sasuke covered in blood, he immediately asked anxiously, "Sasuke, are you all right? Who did this to you? Tell me, and I'll avenge you!"

Sasuke glanced at the two severed halves of a corpse scattered across the bridge and the pile of minced flesh on the other side, then nodded toward them. "There. Those piles of meat."

Naruto stared at the two corpses and the pile of minced flesh nearby, swallowing hard. "You guys did this? Isn't that way too cruel?"

Sasuke ignored the terrified Naruto and merely looked at Haku Yuki, whom Naruto had carried over, before asking sternly, "Naruto, why did you bring an enemy here? Go kill him."

Naruto had still been shivering a little at the sight of the minced flesh. Hearing Sasuke's words, he asked in confusion, "Kill who? There aren't any enemies here."

Seeing that Sasuke could barely move now, Wu Liang glanced at Haku Yuki before heading off to help Kakashi deal with the cannon fodder Kado had brought.

Sasuke looked seriously at Haku Yuki as he spoke to Naruto. "Him. He exhausted his Chakra because he used a powerful secret technique against A Liang. After A Liang broke it, the backlash left him like this. As for why A Liang didn't kill him, I'm not sure either. Maybe he simply couldn't be bothered."

After hearing Sasuke out, Naruto immediately retorted, "How could that be? She's obviously from the town. I even met her while training in the forest last time! Haku's mask was kicked off by A Liang's Heaven-Piercing Kick. She's a nice person. How could she be an enemy?"

Seeing Naruto act like this, Sasuke immediately said coldly to Haku Yuki, "How long are you planning to lie there? I know your backlash isn't serious. You've only exhausted your Chakra. Aren't you going to explain yourself?"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Haku Yuki understood that Sasuke was not as easy to fool as Naruto. He could only cough as he sat up. "That's right, Naruto. I lied to you. I'm not from this town. I was the companion of Zabuza Momochi, the Demon who you killed earlier. When I met you in the forest before, I wanted to kill you, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. In the end, I even foolishly became friends with you. I'm sorry, Naruto. I deceived you. But your companion killed Zabuza-san. I had to avenge him. Yet I'm clearly no match for him. I'm afraid revenge is beyond my reach now. Cough, cough, cough..."

Even after Haku Yuki confessed, Naruto could not bring himself to get angry. He even wanted to plead for him. "Sasuke, let her go. This big sister can't threaten us anyway, and she doesn't look like a bad person."

"Cough, cough, cough... Naruto, I'm not a woman. I'm a man." Haku Yuki had been moved by Naruto pleading for him, but Naruto had mistaken his gender. Already coughing, he nearly choked on his breath.

Naruto was even more shocked when Haku Yuki proved that he was male. "How is that possible? How can someone so cute be a boy?"

Sasuke sat up at that moment and said disdainfully, "Tch. Does being pretty automatically make someone a girl? You think far too highly of girls."

"Uh..."

Naruto and Haku Yuki both leaned back, moving a little farther away from Sasuke. "Sasuke, don't tell me you don't like girls? No wonder Sakura likes you so much, yet you never react."

Before long, with Wu Liang joining in, he and Kakashi worked together to subdue all the cannon fodder Kado had brought. As for Kado, Wu Liang turned him into meat paste with a single Super Strength Fist, bringing an end to the life he considered glorious.

Because of the consecutive battles and destruction, construction of the bridge would likely be delayed by another two days. But after seeing Wu Liang punch Kado to death, Tazuna no longer had any complaints. He happily declared that no one would stop them from finishing the bridge now.

At Tazuna's house, Kakashi and Wu Liang sat at the table, looking at Haku Yuki making tea nearby. Both of them had a headache.

It had started two days ago. For some reason, Haku Yuki had refused to leave Tazuna's house even after Kakashi and Wu Liang generously declared that they had forgiven him. Instead, he stayed behind and trained with Naruto and the others every day.

As for why Kakashi had spared him, it was because Kakashi had gone out to investigate after Wu Liang killed Zabuza Momochi. All this time, Zabuza had been the one accepting missions, while Haku Yuki had always handled logistics and rarely taken action. So he could still be considered a good person. Kakashi had only spared him after learning this.

Wu Liang, meanwhile, had a headache because this kid wanted to learn Medical Ninjutsu from him. But since Haku Yuki was not a ninja of Konoha Village, Wu Liang would never agree. Thus, he had simply stuck around.

Wu Liang looked at Haku Yuki, who was seriously making tea, and said, "I'm saying, now that Zabuza is dead, you should be free, right? Why not go out and see the world? What's the point of staying here?"

Haku Yuki's hand paused as he poured the tea. Then he quickly finished preparing three cups and handed them to Wu Liang and Kakashi before speaking with a sorrowful expression. "Because I don't know where I can go. I've been by Zabuza-san's side since I was little. He took me in. Wherever he went, I went. I never had any opinions of my own. Whatever Zabuza-san needed me to do, I did. Because I was rather weak-willed and unwilling to kill, Zabuza-san often disliked me as a burden. I had always worked hard to become someone who could help Zabuza-san, but then you killed him.

"When I first learned the news, I was furious. I even wanted to kill you, but I couldn't do it. During the time since you spared me, I've thought about it for a long time. I can't avenge Zabuza-san, and I don't know where to go myself, so all I can do is stay here and ask you to take me in.

"As for why I keep asking you to teach me Medical Ninjutsu, it's because that is my only interest. Even when I was with Zabuza-san, I was terrified of killing. I don't like killing. I would rather save people. That is also why Zabuza-san disliked me.

"But I understand. Zabuza-san knew. He knew I always wanted to be the tool in his hand, but he was never willing to send me out on missions. He only let me handle logistics. I know it. He didn't hate me. He just didn't want to see me die, because I was too useless. The only thing I could do for Zabuza-san was logistics."

Haku Yuki stared at the tea as he spoke, and tears began streaming down his face uncontrollably.

Watching Haku Yuki cry, Wu Liang knew he was not lying. That was also why Wu Liang had not killed him. In truth, even when he watched the original anime, he had sympathized with Haku Yuki's childhood experiences. Especially when he saw Zabuza and Haku Yuki's first meeting, when Zabuza said, "Kid, do you want to be needed?" Those words had struck Wu Liang deeply. From that alone, he could see what state Haku Yuki had been in back then—surrounded by coldness and abandoned by the world.

Wu Liang had even imagined whether he would kill Haku Yuki if he traveled to Konoha and became a Konoha ninja before taking this mission. But when that imagined event truly happened before him, he discovered that he still could not bring himself to do it. After all, Haku Yuki was not an utterly evil person.

Kakashi said nothing. At that moment, Naruto opened the door and walked in, looking at Wu Liang. "A Liang, are you really not going to teach him Medical Ninjutsu?"

But upon hearing Naruto's words, Kakashi said coldly, "No. If you teach a ninja who isn't from our village, that would be aiding the enemy. Besides, he's a Hidden Mist Ninja."

Before Kakashi could finish, Wu Liang interrupted him. "No, Haku isn't a Hidden Mist Ninja. He only wore that forehead protector because he followed Zabuza."

"Uh..."

Kakashi wanted to say something else but was momentarily choked up. Then he said, "But his bloodline limit is definitely one from the Land of Water."

Wu Liang curled his lip. "I know what you're thinking, but it isn't realistic. You should know this too. He's a surviving bloodline limit user from the Land of Water. What do you think will happen if he is discovered in Konoha Village? If he promises never to use it again, and no one finds out, then maybe it would work. But in the Land of Waves, I think many people already know he can use Ice Release. It can't be hidden."

After hearing that, Kakashi also fell silent. That was indeed the case. No matter what, the Land of Water would never allow one of its bloodline limit users to remain outside.

"So the best arrangement is for us to state publicly and in the mission report that I killed him, then let him stay here. I'll leave him some less important medical knowledge. Since he wants to become a healer, then he shouldn't be a ninja anymore. He can use the medical knowledge I leave behind and see how much he can learn. If he learns enough, he can open a clinic or something. Isn't that his dream?" Wu Liang said as he looked at Kakashi and Haku Yuki.

"Ah."

Kakashi sighed. "Then we'll do that. Tomorrow, this mission will be complete. It's time to return to the village."

Kakashi was still somewhat disappointed. After all, Haku Yuki was a bloodline limit ninja. If they could bring him back, there was no need for him to serve the village; it would be enough if one of his descendants awakened the ability. But Wu Liang was right. It was unrealistic.