Kakashi felt Zabuza's neck. "He's really dead."
Haku slowly walked up to Kakashi, speaking in a child's voice. "Thank you very much. I've been looking for an opportunity to kill Zabuza for certain."
Kakashi asked, "You're with the Mist Ninja's Hunter-nin, aren't you?"
Haku nodded. "Yes. Impressive, you even knew that."
Naruto and the other two had never heard the term before. "Hunter-nin?"
Haku answered, "The Hunter-nin's mission is to hunt down missing-nin. I'm one of them."
Kakashi sank into thought. Judging by his build and voice, he should be a kid about Naruto's age. Looks like he's no ordinary kid either!
Naruto, however, was extremely agitated. He worked his teeth, stared at Haku, then glanced at Zabuza, who lay dead on the ground with his eyes open. "What the hell are you talking about?! Who even are you?!"
Seemingly understanding Naruto's frustration, Kakashi slowly stood up. "Naruto, don't worry. He's not an enemy."
Naruto pointed at Haku and shouted, "That's not what I mean! He killed Zabuza, someone who was so hard to deal with! He actually did it so easily, and he's about my age! I can't swallow this!"
Hongshi slowly walked over to Zabuza and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Oh, Naruto-kun, you can't beat me either. Just be good and breathe your last."
Naruto: "ﾞ━=͟͟͞͞(Ŏ◊Ŏ‧̣̥̇)."
Kakashi continued, "I understand how you feel. In this world, there are plenty of kids younger than you who are stronger than me."
With that, Kakashi gave Hongshi a meaningful look.
Haku flashed to Zabuza's side. "That concludes the battle, then. But I still have to dispose of the body, because it holds too many secrets."
Hongshi smiled. "(͡°͜ʖ͡°)✧ Then you can just do it right here. We're all ninja. There's no difference."
Hearing that reminded Kakashi of something. Judging by the usual practices of the Ninja Assassination Squad, they generally dispose of the body on the spot after a kill, then cremate it. Why does this Haku want to take the body away?
Haku: "???"
Hongshi pulled a cleaver from the backpack behind him. "(͡°͜ʖ͡°)✧ Well, I'm very interested in human anatomy. How about I do it? Since he's dead, let's start dismembering him. If that really won't work, you can light the fire right now."
Zabuza thought, You motherfucker, don't actually do it!
Haku stared at Hongshi and fell silent for a moment. "This is Kirigakure's business. You don't need to worry about how we handle it."
Hongshi lowered his cleaver. "(͡°͜ʖ͡°)✧ All right, then. You do it. I'll watch from the side."
Haku opened his right hand, and a large blade of ice formed in it. He gripped it but did not strike for a long time.
By now, Kakashi had also grown suspicious. He put a hand behind his back, signaling Naruto and the others to retreat.
Hongshi kept staring at Haku, seemingly growing impatient. "Fucking get on with it already!"
Haku's hands shook with anger. "(งᵒ̌皿ᵒ̌)ง⁼³₌₃ Stop rushing me! I need to get myself in the mood!"
Zabuza thought again, *Σ(°Д°; Did I take those two fucking needles for nothing???*
Zabuza even felt like getting up.
"What fucking mood do you need?! I'll do it!"
Hongshi picked up the cleaver again and chopped at Zabuza's head.
Clang! Haku blocked Hongshi's attack with his ice blade.
Kakashi was startled. "Who exactly are y-"
Thud. Kakashi dropped to one knee. "Did I overuse my chakra?! Hongshi, watch out!"
"Hmph!" Haku formed hand seals with his left hand alone. "Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"
A large volume of water rose into the air around them, surrounding Hongshi. The water turned into fine, sharp ice needles and shot toward him.
Hongshi neither dodged nor evaded, letting the water needles strike his body. "Tiger-Dragon-Snake-Boar. Earth Release: Great Earth Prison."
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
An earth prison five meters in diameter appeared, trapping Hongshi, Haku, and Zabuza inside. This jutsu was an upgraded version of Earth Prison, far surpassing it in thickness, hardness, and size.
Kakashi lay on the ground, unable to move. Naruto and the others looked at the earth prison. "Kakashi-sensei, what do we do?!"
Even speaking took Kakashi tremendous effort. "Wait a little. If Hongshi still hasn't come out, you should..."
Inside the earth prison, Haku was somewhat startled to see Hongshi completely unharmed. "Who exactly are you?"
White light shone from Hongshi's right hand, illuminating the entire earth prison. His previously languid demeanor changed. "I value both your talents. Become my subordinates. Zabuza, are you all right keeping your eyes open like that?"
Haku: "???"
Zabuza: ??? I can't fucking move! Come to think of it, I haven't blinked in ages. My eyes are so dry!
Hongshi's eyes changed into the Six Paths Ten Tomoe Rinnegan as he said calmly, "There's not much time. Amenominaka: Mental World!"
Purple light flashed in Hongshi's eyes. Haku felt a wave of dizziness, and because Zabuza's eyes were open, he experienced the same sensation.
Mental World was the ability of Hongshi's left eye. Similar to Tsukuyomi, it was a Rinnegan ability that could forcibly drag a person's consciousness into a mental world he created. Within that world, Hongshi had absolute dominion and could control time and space. The greater the extent of his control, the more chakra it consumed. He could even forcibly rewrite another person's will. It was more like a fusion of Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami, consuming tremendous amounts of chakra and violating human ethics. Hongshi was not very willing to use it.
The Lord God: "I'll wait for you to eat those words."
The mental world Hongshi created was based on the real world, so Haku and Zabuza remained where they were. However, the events that followed unfolded just as they had in the original story: Haku took Kakashi's Lightning Blade for Zabuza, and Zabuza died avenging Haku.
In an instant, the two understood each other's feelings.
"Haku-chan... (^_^;)"
"Zabuza-san... (^_^;)"
"(•ิω•ิ人•ิω•ิ)?? Ahem, let me interrupt. I have an idea. How about becoming my underlings?"
"I refuse."
"I refuse."
"Hehehe, then we have plenty to talk about. ପ(˘ᵕ˘)੭"
And so, in the mental world, Hongshi subjected the two to a full month of brainwashing education. In the end, Zabuza and Haku finally found themselves... Actually, the Nuclear Release Hongshi demonstrated was so powerful that neither dared resist anymore.
In the real world, only an instant had passed.
Haku and Zabuza awoke from the mental world.
Hongshi deactivated his Rinnegan and said to the two, "Do you know what to do next?"
Haku said to Hongshi, "Understood, Boss."
Zabuza also raised his head. "Understood, Boss."
"All right."
As a former member of the Seven Mist Ninja, Zabuza had considerable all-around strength. Haku, meanwhile, crushed Naruto and Sasuke, who were his age, and possessed the extremely rare Ice Release kekkei genkai. Such talent was one of a kind. Hongshi dared say that, with training, Haku would certainly become a great asset to him in the future.
Kakashi: "You should..."
"Secret jutsu, Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
The air suddenly turned unusually cold. Twelve ice mirrors condensed beside the earth prison, and countless ice spikes flew out of them, blasting the entire prison apart.
Then Haku disappeared, carrying Zabuza's body.
Seeing the two leave, Kakashi instead breathed a sigh of relief, then collapsed unconscious from exhaustion.
Hongshi also stood where he was as waves of weakness washed over his mind. It was the first time he had felt so weak since transmigrating. "I still can't properly adapt to this skill."
No shit, you fucking kept it active for a month!
Tazuna let out a long breath. "What luck! Quick, bring them to my house so they can get some proper rest!"
Naruto and Sasuke helped Kakashi up and headed toward Tazuna's house.
Sakura stepped forward and patted Hongshi. "Hongshi-kun, let's head back too."
Thud! Hongshi, who had been standing, toppled over stiffly.
Sakura jumped in fright. "Did he overuse his chakra?! Naruto, come quick!"