Early the next morning, Chen woke up early. He went to Shion's room and, seeing that she was still asleep, gently kissed her forehead before leaving.
Even in his previous life, Chen had never been good at goodbyes, so it was better to leave without saying anything.
After leaving the Land of Demons, Chen headed toward the Land of Water.
Chen had left, but he didn't know that the moment he turned away, Shion had quietly opened her eyes.
I'll do my best to develop the Land of Demons and its shinobi village. I'll be waiting for you to come back.
The Land of Water was completely surrounded by ocean, and Kirigakure had begun its Bloody Mist Village era after Uchiha Obito, that unlucky fool, took control of the Mizukage.
As a result, entering the Land of Water was extremely difficult. Fortunately, Haku wasn't near Kirigakure at the time, but in a remote town in the Land of Water.
Chen didn't enter recklessly. Instead, he pretended to be a refugee and joined a merchant caravan.
On the surface, the Five Great Shinobi Villages were at peace in the Naruto World, but in reality, there was war everywhere. With war came plenty of orphans and refugees.
Thanks to his decent strength, Chen easily found work carrying sacks for a merchant caravan.
The job didn't even pay. It only provided two meals a day, and yet people still fought over it.
That showed just how miserable this world was.
Traveling with the caravan, Chen made it into the Land of Water without a hitch.
After getting through the inspection, he quietly slipped away.
He had already left a Flying Thunder God mark outside, so there was no need for such a troublesome exit.
Following the system's map, Chen quickly headed toward his destination.
Although the system had said this mission was a freebie, Chen didn't believe it for a second. That system would definitely find a way to spring a trap on him.
After traveling day and night, Chen finally reached the town where Haku was.
At that moment, Haku was curled up on a bridge. Passersby seemed to have grown accustomed to it. They wouldn't give a second glance even to a corpse, let alone someone still alive.
"What a tragic world."
Chen sighed helplessly. Compared to the peaceful, prosperous Huaxia of his previous life, this place was nothing short of hell.
Wearing a mask, Chen walked up to Haku, but his stopping nearby didn't draw Haku's attention.
Haku was practically one of the living dead. After all, he had lost all will to go on living.
"Eat."
Chen set some food down in front of Haku and sat opposite him.
Seeing the food, Haku instinctively clutched it to his chest, as if afraid Chen would take it away.
Though he had lost the will to live, his instinct to survive remained.
"Thank you."
"Where's your family?"
Although Chen knew Haku's circumstances, many things had changed by now, so he still needed to make sure.
At Chen's question, Haku shook his head as he ate, offering no answer.
"Then is there anywhere you want to go?"
Again, Haku only shook his head.
"In that case, once you've eaten, come with me. Become my companion."
"Can someone like me be needed?"
Haku's eyes held a hint of surprise, as if he were a speck of dust forgotten by the entire world.
"Of course. Everyone is needed by someone."
As he spoke, Chen held out his hand for Haku to take.
"I understand. I'll become your best tool, until you no longer need me."
As Haku answered, he reached out to take Chen's hand.
But Chen pulled his hand back.
"What I need is a companion, not a tool.
If all you want is to be a tool, then there's no point in you existing."
As he spoke, Chen drew his Asauchi and waited for Haku to choose.
"But I... I'm an omen of misfortune. If I become your companion, disaster will befall you."
"Then we'll destroy disaster together. I believe in my companions. Do you?"
Haku hesitated, but soon nodded.
"Thank you. I'm willing to become your companion."
Seeing this, Chen reached out and took Haku's hand in a friendly gesture.
And so, the two youngsters left the little bridge together. Not long afterward, a man with bandages wrapped around his face passed by.
But the bridge was already empty.
Chen headed with Haku toward the border of the Land of Water. He could have used Flying Thunder God to leave right away, but teleporting over such a long distance consumed too much chakra, especially with someone else along.
"Ding! System notification: Yuki Haku's allegiance mission complete. Reward: Frost Release Kekkei Genkai."
The system notification rang out. The mission had gone smoothly, but Chen couldn't shake a bad feeling.
Everything had gone far too smoothly. It was almost suspicious.
Ever since arriving in the Naruto World, the system had been screwing him over at every turn. How could it possibly let him off this easily?
Chen tried hard to think of what he might have missed.
But as far as he could tell, Zabuza was the only potential problem. Yet Chen had met Haku before Zabuza, so Zabuza couldn't possibly pick a fight with him over Haku.
"Did I overlook something?"
Chen was baffled, and his concern wasn't unfounded.
In the original story, after Zabuza took Haku away, they would encounter someone Chen knew very well.
Chen was walking with Haku toward the border when he suddenly sensed a strange gaze.
"What an interesting little brat. We meet again."
A sinister voice rang out. Hearing it, Chen felt as if he'd been struck by lightning.
"Damn it, system! How could you pull this on me? Why is Orochimaru here? Would it kill you not to screw me over?!"
Looking at Orochimaru standing before him, Chen really wanted to tear the system apart. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
"How is this my fault?
In the original story, Zabuza and Haku were supposed to run into Orochimaru. You forgot, so how is that my problem?"
Only then did Chen suddenly remember that Orochimaru had indeed been to the Land of Water and had taken away the Kaguya Clan's only survivor, Kaguya Kimimaro.
More importantly, Orochimaru really had encountered Zabuza before. The two sides simply hadn't fought.
Since there had been no fight, Chen had barely remembered that detail.
"You win."
Chen was speechless, but it was too late to do anything about it.
"I'm really lucky to run into one of the Sannin, Orochimaru. It's truly an honor."
"Is that so?
I wonder how you managed to escape last time."
Compared to Chen, Orochimaru was more interested in why the Cursed Seal had no effect on him.
He had initially thought the Cursed Seal had failed, but afterward, several consecutive experiments had all succeeded. That had made Orochimaru realize Chen was a special case.
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