Island Reclamation

Although Neji had defeated Zabuza with only four strikes, each palm had been packed with a massive amount of Chakra. After those four strikes, half of Neji's Chakra was gone. He had truly taken the "open with your ultimate move" style to its fullest.

When facing a powerful enemy, Neji had no desire to waste time probing back and forth. Compared with the veteran Jonin Zabuza, Neji was already at a major disadvantage in terms of Chakra reserves. If they kept testing each other, it was impossible to say who would win or lose. Seizing the advantage of an information gap, defeating the enemy in a single move, and leaving no chance for a comeback had always been Neji's fighting style.

Watching Zabuza slowly regain consciousness, Neji genuinely had not decided how to deal with him. Zabuza was no harmless little rabbit to be kneaded however one pleased. He was a venomous snake; one careless mistake, and he might bite back. Still, there was no harm in talking first. Neji could learn what Zabuza was thinking.

After waking up, Zabuza did not start shouting about how unconvinced he was. That would have been far too undignified.

Neji probed, "How about becoming my subordinate and working for me?"

He received no answer, only a look as though Neji were an idiot. Neji did not get angry and continued, "How about I kill you and leave your corpse in the wilderness?"

Again, there was no reply. There was a trace of sorrow in Zabuza's eyes, but his resolve remained firm. Neji understood. Zabuza neither wished to become his subordinate nor wanted to die such a humiliating death. Neji changed his wording. "Help me establish a base on an island and keep it secure for five years. After five years, you'll be free. Consider it the price of your life. How about it?"

That proposal was far less objectionable to Zabuza, and he began to think it over carefully. Establishing a base would not be difficult for him. Protecting it for five years was not too long, either. It was far better than losing his life like this or becoming someone else's subordinate.

After hesitating for a while, he nodded in agreement.

Just as Neji had expected, Zabuza was not completely inflexible. Still, Neji was unclear on what kind of person he truly was. Would he run away midway through? That possibility could not be easily dismissed.

Neji did not hide his concerns and asked directly, "How can I trust that you won't go back on your word?"

Zabuza was stunned by Neji's question. That was true. As a rogue ninja, his reputation was not exactly trustworthy to begin with, and he did not want Neji planting something strange in his body. This really was a difficult problem.

Neji shifted his gaze away from Zabuza and stared at Haku. "How about leaving him behind as a hostage?"

Zabuza and Haku were both stunned. After that moment of surprise, neither spoke.

Zabuza and Haku had been together for two or three years. It would have been a lie to say they had no feelings for each other. But Haku was not being sent to die; he was merely staying by Neji's side. Besides, they were both men, so nothing else could happen.

Zabuza did not hesitate for long before nodding in agreement. He instructed Haku to stay by Neji's side and obey his orders. At the same time, he demanded that Neji not harm Haku and return his freedom after five years as well.

That was not much of a problem. At his current growth rate, Neji expected to reach Kage-level in five years. By then, he would not need to worry about so many things. He nodded in agreement.

Not long after, Yun Lin's group returned. What made Neji's mouth twitch was that every one of them was loaded down with huge bundles, looking exactly like beggars—if one ignored the fact that every item they carried was quite valuable.

After ordering them to discard the larger items, Neji made a rough estimate. The remaining goods were worth around five million ryo. He did not care much about the money and told them to keep it as funding for the base's construction.

Besides Haku, Zabuza had three Chunin and seven Genin under his command. None of them had been at the estate today. To build the base more quickly, they delayed for a while, waiting until Zabuza had gathered all his subordinates before setting out together for their next target.

The next two targets caused no trouble at all. Neji did not even need to make a move; Zabuza handled them himself. The group gained another four Chunin and twelve Genin.

Jonin were quite valuable. They were not people one could encounter just anywhere.

Especially not among these low-level bandits and wandering ninja. Thus, Neji's group—one Jonin, eight Chunin, twenty-three Genin, along with Neji and Haku—more than thirty people in total, set out together. After roughly a day of travel, they arrived at a peninsula Neji had chosen.

This peninsula was practically surrounded by the sea on all sides, connected to the mainland by only one narrow road. It covered roughly a thousand mu, with lush vegetation and pleasant surroundings—if one ignored the hordes of snakes, insects, and mosquitoes.

Neji was very satisfied with the peninsula. He would establish another home for himself here. Thus, he presented Zabuza's group with several of his requirements, making Zabuza's mouth twitch incessantly.

A twenty-meter-wide bluestone road, drainage ditches as tall as half a person, a freshwater reservoir, a three-story palace, and more. Listening to it all, Zabuza nearly felt the urge to curse.

Damn it, when he had first heard they were building a base, he had assumed a few thatched huts would do. What kind of base was this? They were building a small city!

Fortunately, there were nearly thirty ninja working alongside him, and Neji had given him fifty million in funding. Adding some of his own money, it would probably be barely enough. Comforting himself, he decided that having something to do was not so bad.

Neji remained on the peninsula for another two days, writing down every matter that needed attention and handing it to Zabuza, the construction team captain. With that, the first step of the "Nest Building Plan" had been taken, and Neji quietly returned to Konoha.

This trip had taken roughly seven or eight days. He had arranged for nearly thirty people to build a base for him, and it had gone fairly smoothly. He had even brought back the little boy Haku. However, Neji was once again troubled over how to arrange Haku's future.

Before deciding, Neji disguised Haku as an orphan and adopted him into his household. Since Haku had no registration and an unclear background, attending the ninja academy or working in an official Konoha department was out of the question. He would never pass the review.

However, simply living in Konoha as an ordinary person was quite easy. Konoha was fairly tolerant toward outsiders. Root excluded! That was an extremely radical organization. Whenever Neji had needed to go out in the past, he would deliberately avoid Root's base!

He did not know what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking, allowing Danzo to turn Root into this while doing nothing. Or perhaps the Third Hokage himself was stuck riding a tiger and unable to control it!

But that had nothing to do with Neji. As long as Root did not cause trouble for him, it could go ahead and harm others, or harm Konoha.

From the bottom of his heart, Neji had never acknowledged either the Hyuga Clan or Konoha!

It was already quite good that he did not constantly think about destroying them! After all, if he could not deal with the bug that was Kaguya, he would still need Naruto and Sasuke to step in.

If Kaguya truly destroyed this planet, Neji would not benefit from it either.