Chapter 23 (Patreon)

“You’ve been hiding over there this whole time. Aren’t you going to come out?”

Running five fingers through his long silver hair, Nerona Mihawk suddenly turned his gaze toward the forest on his right.

Momochi Zabuza was dead, and the thick mist covering the area had already dispersed.

Even so, the other three members of Team 8 did not lower their guard. Each of them remained alert, prepared to react at the slightest movement.

All three possessed excellent sensory abilities. Their attention had simply been focused entirely on the battle between Mihawk and Zabuza until now.

The moment they heard Mihawk speak, they quickly noticed the presence concealed among the trees.

A soft rush of wind passed through the clearing.

A figure appeared before them.

It was a beautiful young man whose delicate appearance could easily be mistaken for that of a girl. His face was filled with apology as he bowed deeply toward Mihawk.

“We’ll abandon the mission,” Haku said. “Please allow me to take Zabuza-sama’s body with me.”

Mihawk took his forehead protector and used it to tie his long silver hair into a ponytail.

“All right. You can take him.”

“Thank you.”

Haku straightened and began walking toward him.

There was no fear in his steps. He did not seem worried that Mihawk might be deceiving him or waiting for an opportunity to attack.

In fact, as Mihawk looked into Haku’s dark eyes, he caught a faint trace of resignation within them.

It was almost as though Haku had already accepted his own death.

Was he refusing to take revenge because he understood that he had no chance of defeating Mihawk?

Was his gentle nature preventing him from killing, even after Zabuza’s death?

Or did he simply refuse to let Zabuza’s body remain abandoned in the wilderness?

Mihawk did not care which answer was correct.

His Observation Haki detected no trace of killing intent from Haku, so he allowed the young man to approach and retrieve Zabuza’s body.

However, just as Haku passed beside him, Mihawk’s lips moved in a quiet whisper.

Haku’s footsteps paused for the briefest moment.

“Yes,” he answered softly.

He continued forward, lifted Zabuza’s body, and collected the two broken halves of the Kubikiribōchō—the Executioner’s Blade.

Then, in an instant, Haku disappeared from the clearing.

Mihawk made no attempt to stop him, nor did he demand that Haku leave the Kubikiribōchō behind.

Since he had already cut the blade apart with his own sword, it no longer held any value in his eyes.

All he had needed to do was coat his blade with Armament Haki to sever it. One of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist was nothing more than that.

Even if the Kubikiribōchō were reforged, its only unusual feature would still be its ability to repair itself by absorbing iron from the blood of those it cut.

Against an enemy capable of breaking a weapon coated in Haki, whether the blade could repair itself afterward was completely meaningless.

Mihawk had simply allowed Haku to take both Zabuza’s body and the broken sword as part of a small agreement between them.

As for the nature of that agreement—

When the group of five arrived at Tazuna’s house, they were greeted by news that sent excitement through Tazuna’s family and soon spread across the entire Land of Waves.

Gatō was dead.

The greedy criminal who had tormented the country was finally dead.

When Tazuna first heard the news, he could hardly believe it.

It was only after his daughter and several bridge builders arrived and confirmed what had happened that he finally accepted the truth.

Without saying another word, Tazuna immediately left the house with the bridge workers.

Whether he had gone to help deal with the aftermath of Gatō’s death or had simply returned to work on the bridge was unclear.

Ordinary people might have accepted the event without thinking any further, but Kurenai Yūhi immediately sensed that something was unusual.

She turned toward Mihawk.

“Did you do this?”

“Kurenai-sensei, what are you talking about?” Mihawk replied with an innocent expression. “I have no idea what happened. But since Gatō is dead, our mission should be over now, shouldn’t it?”

“Well…” Kurenai nodded without questioning him further. “Once Tazuna-san returns, we’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Then I’m going to rest.”

Mihawk approached Tsunami, and she arranged a room for him.

Hinata quickly followed after him.

Naturally, the two of them would not be sharing the same room.

Hinata had followed because she noticed that Mihawk’s long hair was still wet.

Kurenai and Shino Aburame watched the two of them walk away.

Only after they disappeared from sight did Shino adjust his dark glasses.

“Kurenai-sensei, if Mihawk arranged Gatō’s death, wouldn’t that mean he acted outside the boundaries of the mission?”

“If he doesn’t intend to tell us, then we won’t question him,” Kurenai answered quietly. “You should keep this to yourself as well. If we report it, the Hokage may hold Mihawk responsible.”

She looked toward the village beyond Tazuna’s house.

“Besides, Gatō was a criminal who had an entire country under his control. His death saved many lives. I don’t consider that a bad outcome.”

Shino fell silent.

After a moment, he seemed to understand what she meant.

Inside the room, Mihawk removed the upper half of his kimono, revealing his firm, well-trained body.

He sat on a stool while Hinata stood behind him, gently drying his back and long hair with a towel.

“Mihawk-kun…” Hinata began hesitantly. “Did you ask that person to kill Gatō?”

She wrapped Mihawk’s wet hair inside the towel she had brought with her. As she continued drying it, her fingers gently pressed and massaged the pressure points along his scalp.

Although her face was flushed, the practiced movements of her hands made it clear that this was not the first time she had done this for him.

“I wasn’t certain he would actually do it,” Mihawk answered honestly. “But it seems Zabuza’s place in his heart was more important than anything else.”

Truthfully, even Mihawk had been slightly surprised when he learned that Gatō was dead.

He understood Haku’s gentle nature better than most.

For someone as kind as Haku to take Gatō’s life, it seemed Mihawk had not been mistaken when he noticed that trace of death in the young man’s eyes.

After killing Gatō, Haku would most likely find somewhere to bury Zabuza.

Then he would probably follow him in death.

A faint sigh passed through Mihawk’s heart, but he felt no guilt.

There were countless people in the shinobi world who had suffered tragic childhoods and cruel lives.

Pain.

Uchiha Itachi.

Even Uzumaki Naruto.

Which of their lives had been any less painful than Haku’s?

Mihawk had always known about Naruto’s suffering, yet he had never reached out to offer him friendship.

He was no saint.

In truth, he had never considered himself especially kind.

And no matter how tragic the bond between Zabuza and Haku might have been, neither of them was innocent.

Zabuza had killed far too many people.

Haku had never been able to stop him.

Countless others had lost their lives because of the two of them.

If they died, then they died.

Mihawk leaned his head back until it rested against Hinata, then slowly closed his eyes.

Hinata instinctively supported him.

Feeling the warmth coming from his bare upper body and staring down at his handsome, peaceful face, her cheeks grew even redder.

Her body temperature rose, and a wave of dizziness washed over her.

However, as she continued looking at Mihawk’s calm expression, the dizziness gradually faded.

A gentle tenderness appeared in her pale lavender eyes.

Carefully unwrapping the towel from his hair, Hinata cradled Mihawk’s head in her arms and rested it against her softly rising chest.

A small, contented smile appeared on her face as she lowered her cheek against his still-damp silver hair.

Then she quietly closed her eyes and allowed the rhythm of her breathing to slowly match his.