Haku said this with a somewhat bashful yet gentle smile.
"But..."
Hyuga Sho said.
"But I'm a boy." Haku answered first.
"Gender isn't a problem."
Hyuga Sho looked up at the setting sun.
"If you ever get the chance... come find me. I have a way to turn you into a girl."
After saying that, Hyuga Sho vanished like a gale.
"..."
Haku blinked, seemingly giving Hyuga Sho's suggestion serious consideration.
"..."
Momochi Zabuza, who had been facing a formidable enemy, still hadn't breathed a sigh of relief.
Haku's fair arms wrapped around Momochi Zabuza's left arm.
"Mr. Zabuza, it seems... we have one fewer enemy now."
"Haku, you..."
Momochi Zabuza glared at Haku, his eyes wide and his expression frightening.
But...
Momochi Zabuza eventually relaxed beneath Haku's gentle smile.
Naturally kind and unwilling to fight, Yuki Haku had always killed only for Momochi Zabuza.
He... wasn't suited to being a ninja.
As for Momochi Zabuza...
Although he went around saying "This great me, this great me" every day...
In truth...
He was a tsundere who said one thing but meant another.
His betrayal of Karatachi Yagura...
Wasn't for himself, either.
It was to completely change the Bloody Mist Village and overthrow Yagura's brutal rule.
Whether or not Zabuza knew about the mastermind behind Yagura, nothing could stop this man's yearning for peace.
And all of this...
Was something Hyuga Sho had learned through a ninja.
That person...
Was someone Hyuga Sho had encountered on the road during his travels over the past few days.
Her name was Mizuki Huabing, a survivor of the Yuki Clan.
She had a son.
That child had fallen ill.
When she was at her wit's end, Hyuga Sho made a move and treated her son.
He also gave her some money.
Mizuki Huabing had