Chapter 100 (Patreon)

“Lady shinobi, there’s a rumor going around the village. They say there’s a child named Fūshin in North Bay Village who can summon hurricanes. The people there consider him an omen of misfortune. Could he be the person you’re searching for?”

“North Bay Village?”

Nono Yakushi unfolded the map and quickly located the coastal village. She then turned toward Honoka with a strange expression.

The village was only a little over ten miles from the place where they had encountered the Hidden Mist shinobi.

If those shinobi hadn’t appeared, North Bay Village would have been their next destination.

Roy was left speechless as well. They had spent most of the day searching, only to turn back when they were on the verge of finding their target. Returning there now would require another one or two days of travel.

Still, if they could truly find the child they were looking for, the extra journey would be worthwhile.

Their most urgent concern, however, was finding clothes and shoes for Chiyuki. She had fled in such a panic that she hadn’t been able to think about anything except escaping as quickly as possible. Not only was she barefoot, but the clothes she wore were far too thin for the weather.

Although she was descended from the Yuki Clan, she had never awakened Ice Release herself. If she continued walking barefoot through the snow, it wouldn’t be long before she suffered frostbite.

After hearing Roy’s instructions, Nono said, “Honoka, take Chiyuki and Haku on ahead. I’ll return and find her some clothes and shoes.”

She returned to Chiyuki’s home and discovered that Matsushita Sansuke had not gone to alert the villagers or organize a search for Chiyuki and their son. Instead, he sat alone inside the house, staring blankly into space.

“Hmph. If you regret it now, you should have thought about that before turning against them.”

Nono slipped into the room and knocked Matsushita Sansuke unconscious. She then gathered Chiyuki’s clothes and shoes. Just as she was about to leave, she noticed that one of the floorboards felt different beneath her foot. After prying it open, she discovered several scrolls hidden underneath.

“These are sealed. Ordinary villagers wouldn’t possess something like this. Could they contain the Yuki Clan’s secret techniques?”

Unable to determine what was written inside, she decided to take the scrolls with her.

If they belonged to Chiyuki, then she was simply returning them to their rightful owner. If they did not, she would consider them compensation for what Chiyuki and Haku had suffered and ensure they were put to good use.

Nono moved quickly and soon caught up with Honoka and the others.

After Chiyuki had changed into warmer clothes and put on her shoes, Nono took the scrolls from her bag and showed them to her.

“These really are the Yuki Clan’s secret Ice Release techniques.”

Sorrow filled Chiyuki’s eyes. She had been forced to flee her homeland because of her Ice Release bloodline. Now, because of that same bloodline, she had to take her child and escape to another country.

If she had never inherited this bloodline, would any of these tragedies have happened?

Honoka could sympathize with Chiyuki’s feelings to some extent.

Although she remembered little about the destruction of her own clan, Nono had told her what had happened. Honoka understood that a powerful bloodline was not the source of evil. It was a gift that few people possessed.

Those who lacked such power were the ones who allowed their envy, jealousy, and fear to turn into hatred.

After listening to Honoka speak from her own experience, Chiyuki’s mood improved slightly. Even so, she remained uncertain about the future. She had no idea what awaited her after leaving with them.

Haku had already awakened. When he realized that he was no longer at home, that his mother was carrying him through the snow, and that two unfamiliar women were traveling beside them, he became visibly nervous.

However, most children in the shinobi world were forced to mature early. Despite being only three years old, Haku neither cried nor made a fuss. He merely asked why his father wasn’t with them.

Chiyuki hesitated for a long time, unable to bring herself to tell him the truth. Seeing her struggle, Nono and Honoka remained silent as well.

Even in a world as cruel as this one, telling a three-year-old child that his own father had tried to kill him was far too harsh.

Because they had to match Chiyuki and Haku’s pace, a journey that should have taken a single day ended up taking two and a half.

As soon as they approached North Bay Village, they spotted a child sitting on a rock and wiping away his tears. Wind swirled restlessly around him, while several adults in the distance looked at him with disgust before quickly walking away.

“It seems our luck has finally turned. That should be the Fūshin we’re looking for,” Roy said in surprise.

Fūshin appeared to be around seven or eight years old, yet his chakra reserves were already comparable to those of an average chūnin. However, he had never received any proper training and did not even know how to control his own power.

Despised by everyone around him, including his biological parents, Fūshin was immediately captivated by the life Nono described to him. After hearing only a few words, he agreed to leave with them.

He did not even consider returning home to say goodbye to his parents. That alone showed how little attachment he still felt toward that place.

With that, their journey through the Land of Water came to a successful end.

Now that Fūshin and his Typhoon Release kekkei genkai had joined them, Nono and Honoka no longer needed to power the boat themselves.

Having Fūshin use his ability would help him learn to control it while also draining his excess stamina, reducing the risk of his kekkei genkai suddenly running wild.

Under their guidance, Fūshin consciously sensed the wind around him for the first time. He gradually realized that it was not an uncontrollable force that would destroy everything in his vicinity. It could obey his will, support him, and even help others.

For the first time, Fūshin began looking forward to the life awaiting him.

Three-year-old Haku watched with envy as his new older brother controlled the wind. However, he was still too young, and Roy had no intention of teaching him how to mold chakra yet.

Roy planned to wait until Haku naturally awakened Ice Release.

There was only one concern. After leaving the frozen environment of the Land of Water’s snowy regions, would Haku still awaken his ability naturally at the age of five or six?

At first, Chiyuki and the two children were thrilled to be traveling across the sea for the first time. After spending two days adrift, however, their excitement vanished completely.

When the boat encountered rough winds and waves, the small vessel rocked violently from side to side. Chiyuki and Haku vomited repeatedly, so dizzy and miserable that they felt as though they were going to die.

Fūshin fared somewhat better, but the experience dealt a heavy blow to his newfound confidence. He discovered that the wind he controlled was insignificant compared to the true power of nature.

Roy had been keeping a close eye on him. After noticing the beginnings of arrogance in the boy, he had planned to arrange for several Wind Release shinobi to put him through his paces once they returned. He didn’t want Fūshin to grow into someone who looked down on everyone around him.

Unexpectedly, the sea taught him that lesson first.

For anyone who sought strength, their state of mind was just as important as the power they possessed.

Without the right guidance, even someone who became powerful could lose their way at any moment—just like Uchiha Obito, who had turned against the entire world after suffering a devastating loss.

There was also the disturbingly common pattern of students turning against their teachers in the shinobi world. Roy had no intention of allowing the children he found and raised to grow into monsters who would one day bare their fangs at those closest to them.

Fūshin’s situation also made Roy think about the other children in the village. Their mental well-being could not be ignored.

That was especially true for the children of the Uchiha Clan—and Uchiha Itachi in particular.

Fugaku had taken Itachi to a battlefield when he was only four years old. It was not difficult to imagine how deeply the sight of so many corpses had affected him. Although the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and the village was gradually improving, there was no guarantee that something else wouldn’t push Itachi over the edge in the future and lead him down the path of slaughter once again.

If his state of mind had been even slightly healthier, he might never have developed such a distorted way of thinking.

Nono was exceptionally good with children. In only a few days, Haku had grown almost as attached to her as he was to his own mother.

Fūshin also wanted to be held and coaxed to sleep, but he repeatedly reminded himself that he was already a big kid and couldn’t behave so childishly.

Besides, he could sleep perfectly well on his own.

Really!