In the end, Mei failed to persuade Zabuza to leave with her.
But she wasn't particularly bothered by this.
Because the woman's attention had been completely captured by the little girl who called herself Kousei.
After repeated denials from Zabuza and Haku, Mei had no choice but to believe the little girl wasn't their child.
She felt somewhat regretful.
After all, if she could have proven Haku was a woman, her sense of defeat wouldn't be so strong.
In the small yard, Kousei was pacified with food brought out by Haku and sat obediently at the dining table.
In front of Zabuza and Haku, there was only a single serving of food each.
But in front of Kousei, who looked no older than five, was a pile of food almost taller than she was.
To be honest, at first, Zabuza and Haku were hesitant to let a little girl eat so much.
But they couldn't withstand the little girl's strong demands.
And, somewhat embarrassingly, they didn't have the strength to forcibly restrain Kousei either.
Yes.
If they fought seriously, Zabuza and Haku combined were no match for this little girl, Kousei.
It sounded truly unbelievable.
It happened on the twentieth day after they left the Land of Waves.
Due to their injuries, they had to find a place to rest, all while hiding their identities.
After all, during his years as a mercenary, Zabuza had made plenty of enemies.
His head was worth quite a bit of money too.
Just as they were leaving the Land of Fire with a merchant caravan, they happened to encounter bandits robbing the road.
The caravan had hired Ninjas as guards, but they were mostly ordinary, low-level Ninjas, while the bandits actually had several Rogue Ninjas among them.
These guys knew who they could mess with and who they couldn't, specializing in operating on the Land of Fire's border.
Whenever Konoha's Ninjas took action, they would promptly flee to another country.
They were quite experienced.
After just a few clashes, the caravan's Ninjas were defeated.
Seeing the bandits about to slaughter everyone in the caravan, Haku and Zabuza decided they couldn't hide any longer.
Even injured, they were confident they could take out a portion of the bandits, at least creating an opening.
As for the people in the caravan, it was up to them to seize the chance to escape.
Zabuza had already unwrapped the bandages from his Kubikiribocho when suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the sky.
Then, Kousei descended from the heavens, landing between the two groups.
This shocking entrance left everyone present stunned.
But Kousei herself seemed completely unfazed.
She fell from a height of four or five meters.
Just as Zabuza and Haku were about to rush over to catch her, the little girl simply flipped lightly in the air and landed steadily on the ground with her bare feet.
The little girl, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, didn't look at the people around her at first.
Instead, she vigorously slapped a turtle-shaped pendant in her hand.
"Why isn't it working? Hey? Wake up!"
Clearly, the turtle-shaped pendant couldn't answer her.
The bandits looked at each other, then grinned fiercely.
They didn't understand why this little girl fell from the sky, but they didn't care.
They surrounded her with ill intentions. Some young men in the caravan, wanting to intervene, were stopped by the older merchants.
They couldn't afford to worry about others, as they were struggling to survive themselves.
"Hey kid, now that I look closely, you're quite pretty."
"Yeah, looks like she'll fetch a good price."
"Hahaha!"
The bandits' unrestrained laughter finally seemed to draw the little girl's attention.
She looked up at the burliest leader and tilted her head.
"Are you saying Kousei is pretty?"
"Of course!"
The little girl patted her chest, as if being praised was a matter of course.
"Haha... kid, then come with me."
The burly man reached out towards Kousei. Haku and Zabuza in the crowd couldn't stand by any longer.
Since being spared by Naruto, Zabuza had reflected on his past life.
He had promised to spend the rest of his life with Haku, no longer getting involved in the Ninja World's killings.
At the very least, he wanted to live like a human being.
And watching a young child be kidnapped was something he couldn't do.
"Zabuza-sama?"
"Move out!"
"Yes!"
The two instantly burst from the crowd, attracting the bandits' attention.
Zabuza, ignoring his injuries, swung the Kubikiribocho, cutting down several bandits.
Haku wasn't far behind. Though he couldn't use powerful Ice Release, he could still throw ice senbon.
Working together seamlessly, they quickly took down over a dozen bandits.
But this also attracted the attention of the Ninjas among the bandits.
"Is that... [Demon] Zabuza?"
It seemed someone in the group recognized Zabuza.
"Ha, they must be injured. Perfect! Men! Cut off Demon Zabuza's head! He's worth a lot!"
"The one who takes his head first gets a tenth of the bounty!"
Zabuza and Haku had only moved a little, and their wounds were already threatening to reopen. The Ninja naturally saw this.
"Hey, are you bad people?"
Just then, Kousei suddenly asked the burly man who had turned away.
"Haha, kid, scram for now. I'll deal with you after I finish them off."
The burly man had also heard his leader and wanted to deal with Zabuza and Haku first.
'Just a brat. I could grab her later.'
Thinking this, he casually tried to backhand slap Kousei across the face, showing no mercy despite her being a child.
Slap.
A small hand caught the burly man's large palm.
"You are a bad person!"
Those were the last words the burly man heard before his consciousness faded.
On the other side, Zabuza and Haku were struggling to deal with the bandits attacking with ranged weapons while also guarding against sneak attacks from the hidden Ninjas using Ninjutsu.
Then, they heard a loud boom.
Everyone turned to look.
At this time, the little girl who had fallen from the sky had retracted her small fist.
In front of her, the burly man who had tried to slap her was now half-buried in the ground.
"What... is that?"
Someone in the crowd asked.
…
The battle ended faster than expected.
Zabuza and Haku watched almost dumbfounded as the little girl casually sent bandits flying or knocked them down with punches and kicks.
Anyone hit by her fists or feet suffered broken bones.
"What kind of monster is this little girl?"
Zabuza's mind conjured another figure.
The culprit who had broken the Kubikiribocho, Konoha's Genin, Uzumaki Naruto.
'The same terrifying, unreasonable brute strength...'
'Could these two be related? Like siblings or something?'
After suffering over 50% casualties, the bandits began to flee. The leaders who knew Ninjutsu tried to ambush her.
But the moment they moved, the demon-like little girl rushed over first, and then they felt nothing.
Pat.
"Hey, are you good people or bad people?"
Kousei stood in front of Zabuza and Haku, asking very seriously.
If judged solely by appearance, Zabuza could definitely be called a 'super villain'.
Stumped by the little girl's question, Zabuza didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Say he was a good person?
Memories of his past swirled in his mind. He had killed many for money. Could he really be considered good?
Just as the Demon was lost in the Ninja World's classic 'self-conflict', Haku beside him reacted promptly.
"We are good people!"
This brought Zabuza back to reality. Before he could question it, he saw the little girl's fist brush past his ear.
Then, the rock behind him was shattered into pieces by a gust of wind.
Thank goodness Haku was there, or Zabuza wouldn't have had the chance to continue his angst.
"Good people?"
The little girl looked at them suspiciously.
Just as Zabuza and Haku were starting to feel nervous under her gaze, a brilliant smile suddenly appeared on her face.
"If you're good people, you should have said so earlier! Kousei almost accidentally killed you."
In that moment, Zabuza truly felt the aura of death.
'Huh!???'
'She just believed us, just like that?!'
Everyone, including Haku and the caravan members, was flabbergasted, a complain stuck in their throats.
Afterwards, the group, having dealt with the bandits, continued their journey, taking along the mysterious little girl, Kousei, whose identity was unknown but whose combat power was overwhelming.
"Hey, kid, aren't you worried we were lying to you?"
During dinner that night, Zabuza, ignoring the massive amount of food the girl was consuming and Haku's constant warning glances, asked the little girl directly.
"Huh?"
Kousei seemed to have heard something incomprehensible.
"Kousei is so cute, no one would lie to Kousei, right?"
She said this with such a matter-of-fact tone that it made Zabuza, who asked the stupid question, seem like the one lacking common sense.
'Fine.'
'You're good-looking, you win.'
'And physical strength is a form of reason too.'
"Besides, no one can lie to Kousei..."
The little girl muttered something too quiet for anyone around to hear clearly.
"What?"
Haku looked at the little girl, puzzled.
"Nothing! Kousei isn't full yet! Another serving!"
Saying this, Kousei first placed her plate and utensils neatly like a proper young lady, then, in stark contrast, slapped the table and shouted.
"Yes... yes..."
Haku, having turned into a caretaker, helplessly served the little girl more food.
"By the way, little girl, didn't you say earlier you were looking for someone?"
Zabuza spoke up again.
"It's Kousei's daddy!"
The little girl said vaguely, as her mouth was full of food.
"Then what's your daddy's name?"
"Daddy is just called Daddy."
"Only now does she act like a kid her age?"
Zabuza held his head, unknowingly taking on the role of being the complainer.
'Well, it's normal for a four-year-old not to know their parents' names. Maybe they use nicknames at home.'
"Then what are your daddy's characteristics?"
"Characteristics?"
The little girl tilted her head.
It wasn't that she didn't know her daddy's characteristics… she didn't know what the word 'characteristics' meant.
"It means... what's special about him? What does he look like? What do others call him?"
"Kousei doesn't know... Kousei has never seen Daddy."
From the little girl's mouth, Zabuza and Haku heard what they least wanted to hear.
"But everyone calls my daddy the [Great Hero Who Saves the World]!"
When mentioning this title, the little girl lifted her chin high, seeming immensely proud of her father whom she had never met.