As his hair was ruffled, Haku stayed still, looking timidly at Zou Hyuga.
Having once fought stray cats for food in the Land of Water, he understood all too well how hard-won his current life was. Back then, he could not even find a reason to keep living, drifting along like a walking corpse.
Then he had met Lord Kisame, a Mist Ninja who had brought him here.
He had met many children his age who shared similar circumstances, training alongside them under Lord Kisame to become a ninja.
And now he had met a ninja whom even Lord Kisame addressed as his leader.
Though the mask and bandages obscured the man's face, he seemed like someone Haku could rely on.
Zou Hyuga knew nothing of Haku's thoughts. He was considering another question: what attitude should he take toward these orphaned kekkei genkai heirs? Having Kisame employ Kirigakure's methods certainly would not work.
There were also two powerful ninja in the shinobi world who had raised orphans.
One had treated the orphans as family, while the other had simply regarded them as tools.
Though their methods differed, both had headed toward the same outcome, dying at the hands of ninja they had personally trained. Their deaths had been quite gruesome, to say the least.
They were Orochimaru and Jiraiya, two of the Sannin.
The fates of those two Sannin served as warnings to him, reminding him that he needed to handle this more carefully.
Still, the orphans he had now would not pose much of a threat to him even after they grew up.
Reining in his wandering thoughts, Zou Hyuga turned back to Kisame. A ball of natural chakra appeared in his hand, and he said slowly, "Kisame, do you need this?"
Looking at the ball of chakra in