Land of Whirlpools.
Inside a luxurious room.
Wearing sunglasses, Gato watched Zabuza and Haku return, supporting each other. His expression was disdainful. "What the hell are you two doing?"
"I sent you to kill an ordinary master bridge builder, and you couldn't even manage that?"
"Are all the ninjas from Kirigakure useless?"
Gato opened his mouth and immediately launched into a mindless tirade.
Perhaps it was because he had always been ill-tempered and was used to bullying civilians.
That left him with little respect for Zabuza and Haku.
Or perhaps the sword-carrying guards beside him gave him the confidence.
"What's going on? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Gato couldn't have cared less. He wanted results; the process didn't matter.
In his eyes, mere rogue ninjas were nothing but tools, easily bought off with a few gold coins.
Crash!!
Just then, the glass in the ceiling shattered.
A white-robed figure appeared high above and slowly descended.
"What? We're under attack!!"
"Protect Lord Gato!!"
Gato's guards drew their swords, watching the mysterious white-robed man descend with wary expressions.
"Sure enough, power really does make people ignorant."
Yemu shook his head.
It was like an emperor with no troops ordering a prince who commanded eight hundred thousand iron cavalrymen to commit suicide.
With eight hundred thousand iron cavalrymen at his command, that prince was already a decent man if he hadn't made the empress pin up her hair for him.
The same principle applied here.
Faced with Gato's harassment.
Zabuza was showing considerable professionalism by not sending him straight to the afterlife with one slash.
"Y-you... who are you!!"
Gato collapsed to the floor.
He watched in terror as a horrifying force hurled his guards away, smashing them into the walls and killing them all.
"Who am I?"
"Someone once possessed a similar power, and he called himself a god."
"So you may call me God-Kami!!"
Without even turning his head, Yemu floated straight toward Gato's vault. "Kill him."
With that simple command.
Zabuza hurled the Kubikiribōchō.
The tremendous force sent the great blade spinning wildly through the air, slicing Gato's body in two.
"Mr. Zabuza, are we really going to follow that man?"
Once Yemu disappeared from sight, Haku turned to Zabuza and asked.
He could even see blue lines appearing across Zabuza's skin with every heartbeat, like veins.
"We might as well. Without him, you'd already be dead," Zabuza said coldly.
The Chakra Core had replaced Haku's heart.
If he wanted Haku to live, he had to work for Yemu.
"We've struck it rich."
Yemu blasted the iron door away with Repulsive Force and gazed at the mountains of gold coins inside the vault.
The sight nearly dazzled him.
"What are you two standing around for? Get over here and start moving this stuff."
"Yes, sir!!"
Zabuza hurried over with Haku using the Body Flicker Technique.
When he saw the room full of gold coins, he froze in astonishment too.
He had never imagined Gato was this rich!
If he'd known, why the hell would he have bothered with missions? He could have killed the man and taken all the gold coins for himself!
The three of them stored the gold coins in Space Scrolls.
"Sir, do you have any tasks for us after this?"
Once Zabuza finished packing away the gold coins, he knelt on one knee and asked Yemu.
In truth, this was what mattered most to Zabuza.
As things stood, he and Haku were like walking corpses, drifting through the Shinobi World.
No one needed them, and they had no goals.
What they needed now was a belief that could give them a reason to keep living.
Or a goal that could give them something to look forward to.
Yemu casually tossed over a list. "Buy the materials on this list. The more, the better."
Zabuza looked at the list on the floor. The materials on it were unfamiliar.
He wasn't a puppeteer, so naturally he had no idea what they were used for.
"Sir, do you have some plan for these materials?"
Curiosity filled Zabuza's eyes.
Yemu understood what the two of them were thinking, especially with that lifeless look in Haku's eyes.
He knew the boy's wish was actually very simple: to be needed.
To not be abandoned by this world.
"A plan?"
"It's simple. My goal is to conquer the Five Great Nations and unite the Shinobi World."
???
[Haku felt stunned. Emotion points harvested: 500+] [Zabuza felt dumbfounded. Emotion points harvested: 500+]
Sure enough.
After Yemu said that, intense curiosity filled Haku's eyes. At last, he no longer looked as though his parents were about to die.
"Sir, you're not joking? The Five Great Nations? They're no pushovers."
Zabuza lowered his head. He considered himself an ambitious man.
But even he had never thought about uniting the Five Great Nations!
It was like someone claiming they would unite the world. You would probably piss on them and ask whether they were awake yet.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Yemu shot him a glance.
He offered no further explanation.
But those blue eyes, brimming with overwhelming pressure, left Zabuza utterly certain that Yemu wasn't joking.
"In any case, the materials are important. Once you've collected enough, I'll begin the next phase of the plan."
"Also, the Chakra Cores inside you aren't just a means for me to keep you in check. They're also an opportunity for you to grow stronger."
"Especially you, Zabuza. Whether you reach Kage Level will depend on whether you can seize that opportunity."
"Consider this a warning. You two certainly won't be my only subordinates in the future. If your strength fails to satisfy me, don't blame me for sidelining you."
"Now get moving. Your deadline is after Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams. By then, I expect you two to have found a substantial amount of materials."
After Yemu finished laying everything out.
He left using the Body Flicker Technique.
Only a dumbfounded Zabuza and a newly bright-eyed Haku remained.
"Mr. Zabuza, that lord really does seem incredible."
There was a little human warmth in Haku's voice.
He seemed somewhat admiring.
By incredible, he didn't mean strength alone, but also boldness, vision, and, most importantly, personal charisma.
Powerful charisma made people willing to follow.
"He really is. Looks like we were pretty lucky."
Zabuza touched his chest, feeling the surging chakra within.
He had thought they would both die in the Land of Waves. Who could have known an incredible opportunity would land right in their laps?
"Mr. Zabuza, what should we do next?" Haku asked curiously.
Zabuza picked up the materials list from the floor, his expression resolute. "Let's go. We once had no future, but now our future is in our own hands."
"Uniting the Shinobi World? For someone as ambitious as me, that's an offer I really can't refuse."
Zabuza licked the corner of his mouth.
His eyes held the same fierce, iron-blooded passion he had possessed in his youth.
"All right."
Haku's lips curved upward too.
Although he didn't believe Yemu could truly unite the Shinobi World, at least they now had something to do.
They weren't merely taking assassination missions.
Instead, they were undertaking something truly momentous, something that could shake the entire Shinobi World.
Before you continue