Heaven Organization Founded

"They wanted to become the light that drove away darkness, but they lost their way. They wanted to use the power of the Tailed Beasts, to control the Ninja World through fear. In the end, they would only create more darkness, more wars, and more tragedies."

Naruto withdrew his gaze and fixed it on Zabuza once more, speaking each word with force.

"Even if their intentions were good, they chose the wrong path! Peace cannot be brought by fear. It requires an iron hand and rules established for the entire Ninja World!"

"And I intend to unite the Ninja World."

"To end the conflicts of the Five Great Nations, end the endless wars, end this damned world where children are sent to die on the battlefield and Bloodline Limit users are hunted down."

"They call themselves Akatsuki. Then the organization I will establish shall be called the Heaven Organization."

"Azure Like Dawn, heaven covers all four directions. I will not avoid the darkness—I will place the entire Ninja World beneath the sunlight."

Those words left Zabuza's entire body numb. He stood frozen, unable to speak for a long while.

Unite the Ninja World?

That was something even the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had never truly accomplished!

This twelve-year-old brat actually dared to say such a thing?!

He had seen too many ambitious men, too many ninja willing to do anything for power, but never had he seen anyone speak the words "unite the Ninja World" so openly, so naturally.

He looked at Naruto's crimson Sharingan, then at the ambition churning in the boy's eyes—ambition enough to swallow the entire Ninja World. Seeing the Nine-Tails Chakra draped around him like a nuclear weapon of the Ninja World, Zabuza suddenly felt that this brat might truly be able to do it.

After a long while, Zabuza slowly tightened his grip on the Executioner's Blade. In a hoarse voice, he asked the question he had buried in his heart all his life.

He had never spoken those words to anyone. Even Haku did not know.

They were the only pride and obsession hidden beneath the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the heart of this demon who had betrayed Hidden Mist.

"If you truly unite the Ninja World..."

Zabuza's voice carried a faint, barely noticeable tremor. His eyes remained fixed on Naruto. "What will become of the people of Hidden Mist? Those civilians? Will you treat them like those daimyō do—as slaves, as cannon fodder?"

He had fled Hidden Mist not because he hated Hidden Mist.

What he hated was the rotten upper ranks of the Blood Mist Village—the beasts who forced children to slaughter one another, treated Bloodline Limit users as monsters, and used civilians as chess pieces.

He had been born in Hidden Mist and raised in Hidden Mist. Even after becoming a rogue ninja, even while being hunted by all of Hidden Mist, his heart still held that land shrouded in thick mist.

Haku also raised his head and looked at Naruto, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Because of his Bloodline Limit, he had been hunted by Hidden Mist ninja. His parents had died miserably, and his family had been destroyed. If this world could accept people like him, people like Mr. Zabuza, how wonderful would that be?

Naruto looked at him and suddenly smiled.

The Sharingan slowly closed, returning to those azure-blue eyes. There was not a trace of condescension in his voice, only absolute certainty.

"I will not enslave anyone."

"The first thing I will do after uniting the Ninja World is abolish the privileges of every daimyō in the Five Great Nations, abolish the damned rules of the Blood Mist Village, and end the hostility between all villages."

"The civilians of Hidden Mist are no different from those of Konoha, Hidden Rock Village, Hidden Sand, or Hidden Cloud. They will no longer have to fear war reaching them, fear their villages being massacred after defeat, or fear their children being sent to the battlefield the moment they learn to walk."

"Bloodline Limit users like Haku will no longer be hunted as monsters. Their abilities will be used to protect people, not kill them."

"Ninja like you will no longer need to hide everywhere, make a living as assassins for merchants, or fear waking up one day to find your own village has put a bounty on your head."

Naruto took another step forward. His gaze swept over the two of them. His voice was not loud, yet it struck their hearts like thunder.

"This Ninja World is rotten to the core."

"The daimyō sit on high platforms, eating, drinking, and indulging themselves, using ninja lives as bargaining chips to trade for territory. The upper ranks scheme within their villages, using civilians' blood as stepping stones to climb higher. Ninja earn pitiful commissions, killing and dying for them, and in the end, cannot even leave behind an intact corpse."

"What I intend to do is tear down this rotten sky and replace it."

"You asked what would happen to the civilians of Hidden Mist?"

Naruto smiled, his tone firmer than ever before.

"They will live in a Hidden Mist that no longer has blood mist. They will live in a Ninja World that no longer has war."

The ruined temple fell completely silent.

Only the campfire crackled, while the sea wind howled outside the window.

Zabuza stood where he was, his body rigid.

He had killed countless people in his life and witnessed endless darkness. Long ago, he had stopped believing in light and ideals.

He had thought that he would either die on an assassination mission or die at the hands of pursuers, leaving behind not even a corpse.

But now, this twelve-year-old brat was telling him that he would overturn this rotten Ninja World and give everyone a world without war or persecution.

He suddenly remembered his childhood in the Hidden Mist training grounds, watching his companions fall one after another beneath his blade, feeling the rage and helplessness inside him nearly tear him apart.

He remembered finding Haku—that filthy little child with no light in his eyes, only a desperate desire to survive.

He remembered the years spent hiding and running, the people he had killed, and those who, like him, had been driven into becoming rogue ninja by this world.

What he had wanted all his life was never to become the Mizukage, never to kill countless people, never to earn great fame.

All he had wanted was a place that could accept him, accept Haku, and accept everyone abandoned by this world.

A tear suddenly slipped from the corner of Zabuza's eye and struck the ground.

He did not even notice it himself.

This man known as the Demon, who had killed without blinking all his life, reddened his eyes for the first time because of a single promise.

He slowly released the Executioner's Blade in his hand.

With a clang, the heavy blade crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Then this Demon, proud and unyielding all his life, slowly bent his knee before the twelve-year-old boy. He knelt on one knee and lowered the head he had never bowed to anyone.

"I, Zabuza Momochi, am willing to serve you as my leader."

Seeing Zabuza kneel, Haku immediately set down the senbon in his hand and knelt as well, his delicate face filled with solemnity.

"I, Haku, am willing to serve you as my leader. For the rest of my life, I will follow Mr. Zabuza and devote myself to the Heaven Organization. Even ten thousand deaths would not make me regret it."

Naruto looked at the two kneeling before him, and a confident smile curved his lips.

He reached out and patted Zabuza's shoulder.

"Get up."

"From this day onward, you are the first members of the Heaven Organization. Together with me, we will change the sky of this Ninja World."