Konoha: Starting with the Tenseigan and Taking Charge of Team 7

Even so.

If that pretty boy tried to deal with Sasuke, Sasuke would finish him in a flash with his lightning speed!

He must have known Zabuza was doomed and decided to die alongside him.

Aogetsu Hyuga murmured to himself, "How tragic."

Thud! Blue lightning pierced Haku's chest, and crimson blood sprayed out. Sasuke Uchiha stared, momentarily stunned, as Yuki Haku slowly died before him.

So fast!

Even with the Sharingan, Sasuke hadn't been able to follow Haku's movement in that instant!

"Haku...?" Zabuza Momochi's pupils contracted. He felt the still-warm blood on his face and watched Haku dying before him. His entire body went rigid.

Every ninja died eventually.

A ninja's worth lay in completing missions. A ninja who failed was worthless, and Zabuza had long been prepared to die.

But... what was Haku doing?

With the speed Haku had just shown, he could easily have escaped alive!

Zabuza had never ordered Haku to sacrifice himself to block an attack for him.

"Thank you... for finding me that snowy day and giving me the courage to keep living..." Yuki Haku's voice faded to a whisper, then fell silent. Even in death, a happy smile lingered on his lips.

He was a tool, willing to die for someone precious to him.

He valued Zabuza's life more than his own.

"..." Zabuza Momochi lowered his head. Black hair hid his cold eyes, and no one could see his expression.

He was a killer raised by Kirigakure. He had endured countless killings since childhood and had even killed many friends.

He believed ninjas had no need for feelings. Ninjas were tools for killing.

But...

Why?

Why did my heart hurt so much when Haku died?

He was just a tool. So what if he died?

Zabuza Momochi picked up the ice blade. With Yuki Haku's small body still against him, he swung it fiercely at Sasuke Uchiha.

The pale-blue blade flashed. Just as it was about to strike Haku's shoulder, Zabuza instinctively changed his attack and thrust straight at Sasuke's neck.

His heart was in turmoil, and his blade had slowed.

"Too slow!" Sasuke Uchiha snorted. His Two-Tomoe Sharingan let him see the blade's path clearly. He tilted his head, and it swept past his cheek.

Before, he hadn't been able to follow every one of Zabuza's attacks. Now he could see them clearly!

Aogetsu Hyuga asked calmly, "Do you regret it?"

"Don't ask me something so stupid. Ninjas are tools without feelings. What I wanted was Haku's abilities!" Zabuza Momochi's low voice trembled. He dragged his badly wounded, unsteady body forward, swinging his blade at Sasuke.

Sasuke Uchiha easily dodged every attack.

What is he doing?

"Do you really mean that?" Naruto Uzumaki looked at the dead Haku, anger rising in his eyes. Fighting back tears, he shouted, "He... he genuinely cared about you! His Ninja Way was to make your dream come true. He was even willing to die for you!"

They had been enemies and had clashed many times.

But Yuki Haku had held fast to his Ninja Way to protect someone precious, even at the cost of his life. It struck a chord with Naruto Uzumaki.

"That's awful!" Sakura Haruno glared angrily at Zabuza.

"He wanted to become as strong as you, but... is this all he gets?" Naruto Uzumaki clenched his fists and shouted through his tears, "Did you never care about him at all?"

Haku had worked to protect someone precious to him and had even died for that person, yet he hadn't received his acknowledgment.

Naruto couldn't accept that!

"You kids have never known darkness. What could you possibly understand about Haku? How could I not care about him?" Tears streamed down Zabuza Momochi's face as he slowly sank to his knees. His ice blade slipped from his hand, and everything he had kept inside burst out at once.

On that snowy day,

Zabuza had given Haku a place to belong, and Haku had become the person Zabuza lived for.

"You can't tell the dead how you feel," Aogetsu Hyuga said quietly. "And you're going to die too."

Aogetsu Hyuga made a wry remark to himself.

If you want to tell the dead how you feel, wait for the master of making dreams come true to reunite you two someday.

After all, Kabuto Yakushi really does love making dreams come true.

"Do it, kid. Let me die with Haku," Zabuza Momochi said in a low voice. He still had the strength to finish Sasuke Uchiha, but he no longer wanted to fight.

"Sensei Aogetsu." Sasuke Uchiha frowned and looked toward Aogetsu Hyuga.

Why spring this on me?

That's a lot of pressure!

Aogetsu Hyuga gave a slight nod.

After hesitating for a moment, Sasuke Uchiha picked up the ice blade and drove it into Zabuza's heart.

There was no killing intent behind the strike.

He no longer had the strength to use Chidori. Using it twice that day had drained his Chakra.

"Goodbye... Haku. Thank you... for everything. I'm sorry." Zabuza Momochi collapsed and turned his head toward Yuki Haku beside him.

Only after Yuki Haku died could Zabuza face the feelings he had hidden deep inside. But he could no longer tell Haku how he felt.

Aogetsu Hyuga's question echoed in his mind.

Do I regret it?

More than anything.

Gray clouds churned across the sky, and pure-white snowflakes began to fall.

"Setting the mood, are you?" Aogetsu Hyuga looked up at the snow.

It had suddenly started snowing heavily. The weather certainly knew how to set a scene.

"Haku... are you crying?" A white snowflake landed on Zabuza's face and melted. The drop rolled down like a tear. He slowly closed his eyes, and his life came to an end.

"He never even got to see his own dream come true. In the end, he just died like a tool." Naruto Uzumaki lowered his head and gritted his teeth, his face full of frustration. "Being a ninja... it's too cruel."

"Then work hard and grow stronger. Hold fast to your Ninja Way." Aogetsu Hyuga took out a black bag and placed Haku and Zabuza inside.

"Let's take them to Kirigakure."

An A-Rank Missing-nin could fetch a lot of money.

Their feelings deserved respect, but money mattered too!

Without money, how was he supposed to go have fun with those older women?

[Side Mission completed. Received one Lottery Pack.]

A Pair of Rinne Sharingan as the Reward!

The system asked, "[Master, would you like to open the Lottery Pack?]"

Aogetsu Hyuga said inwardly, "Open the gift pack."

If the pack could grant abilities from countless worlds, surely it could give him something interesting?

He wasn't asking for much. A Zanpakuto to play with would do.

[Opening Lottery Pack. Drawing random rewards.]

[Random draw complete. Obtained Earth Release Mastery, Barrier Mastery, and a pair of Rinne Sharingan.]

Aogetsu Hyuga froze.

Earth Release Mastery?

There were many Earth Release techniques he had never learned, including the Added-Weight Rock Technique and Light-Weight Rock Technique. He had never had the chance to study them.

But with Earth Release Mastery, he now knew them all.

It wasn't especially useful.

Barrier Mastery?

That might come in handy.

He paid little attention to those lesser abilities. What caught his attention was the Rinne Sharingan.

And he had a pair!

Aogetsu Hyuga possessed the Tenseigan, so he knew how important ocular power was. The Rinne Sharingan's ocular power was terrifying, several times greater than that of the Tenseigan or Rinnegan!

Put another way,

the blood-red eye that appeared on Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's forehead after she ate the God Tree Fruit was the Ōtsutsuki Clan's Rinne Sharingan. And Kaguya had only one!

Eating the God Tree Fruit had given her just one, while Aogetsu Hyuga now had two!

Aogetsu Hyuga would have preferred a Zanpakuto—it looked incredibly cool—but a pair of Rinne Sharingan was good too.

This blasted system really wanted to make him the strongest ninja in the Ninja World!

Side Mission was pretty good. Or rather, Lottery Pack was. He hoped he'd get plenty more!

Aogetsu Hyuga focused his gaze. His blue Tenseigan changed into crimson Rinne Sharingan, then switched back a moment later.

He would keep the Rinne Sharingan hidden for now and show off in front of Nagato someday.

The Rinnegan is powerful?

Sorry, I have the Rinne Sharingan!

"What was that just now?"

Everyone in Team 7 went rigid. Fear spread across their faces as they looked around in disbelief. For an instant, they had felt a pressure beyond anything they knew.

It had lasted only a moment, but they had all felt it.

"Was that... the aura of the Sharingan?" Sasuke Uchiha's face went pale. He turned toward Aogetsu Hyuga in disbelief, terror filling his eyes.

That terrifying Chakra seemed to have come from Sensei Aogetsu. Its presence resembled the Sharingan's, yet it was countless times more powerful.

Sensei Aogetsu belonged to the Hyuga Clan. How could he possess an Uchiha ability?

Then... what was that feeling?

Is Sensei Aogetsu hiding an even more terrifying power?

Does he have more power than I ever imagined?

Aogetsu Hyuga glanced at Sasuke and could roughly guess what he was thinking. A trace of pride entered his faint smile. "You'll understand everything someday. I have more power than you can imagine."

He had no intention of revealing the Rinne Sharingan yet.

Showing off a hidden power would be far more satisfying.

The best way to show off was to catch everyone by surprise!

"Aogetsu, you..." Sasuke Uchiha put his hands in his pockets, about to say something cool. But when he saw Aogetsu Hyuga's icy gaze, he immediately changed course. "I understand, Sensei Aogetsu."

Like hell I do!

Sensei Aogetsu hadn't denied the Sharingan's aura. Did he really have the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai?

But Sensei Aogetsu was a member of the Hyuga Clan!

Once everyone in Team 7 learned that the extraordinary surge of Chakra had come from Sensei Aogetsu, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

That had scared them!

They'd thought another enemy had appeared!

Naruto Uzumaki dipped his fingers in Haku's blood, then clenched his fist and looked at Aogetsu. "I swear right here: from now on, I'll hold fast to my Ninja Way and follow a path I'll never regret!"

Yuki Haku had been willing to die to protect someone precious to him. He had stayed true to his Ninja Way until the very end, and that had deeply moved Naruto Uzumaki.

Everyone in Team 7 had their own thoughts. Aside from Sasuke Uchiha, none of them had ever witnessed a farewell in death so full of love and regret.