"Hmm? What's wrong, Haku?" Zabuza stopped his movement and looked at Haku in confusion.
Ever since Lexon had tried to abduct Haku and Haku had insisted on bringing him along even at the cost of his life, Zabuza's trust in his young partner had become absolute. He no longer treated him as a mere tool as he had in the past. Now, whether in words or actions, there was a deep and profound bond of companionship between them.
"Don't say another word... Lord Zabuza..."
Haku's voice was actually trembling slightly, as if he were overly nervous.
"What's the matter, Haku?" Zabuza's brow furrowed. He truly didn't understand what had gotten into Haku.
However, Haku didn't respond to Zabuza's question. Instead, he let go of the sleeve he was clutching and took off the mask he wore, revealing a face as delicate and fair as a young girl's. Then, facing the enemy across from them, he slowly lowered his body and knelt on the ground. Supporting himself with his palms, he pressed his forehead against the earth in the most respectful of salutes.
Across from them, the trio was momentarily stunned by this grand gesture, looking at each other in bewilderment.
'Is this some kind of new ninjutsu?' Naruto wondered.
"What are you doing, Haku?!" Zabuza shouted, still utterly confused by Haku's behavior.
"Lord Zabuza!" Haku's voice was exceptionally stern.
Zabuza fell silent immediately. His young partner rarely ever spoke to him in such a tone. Moreover, the number of people Haku would offer such a grand salute to was even rarer... The last time had been years ago, when he and Haku were being hunted by Hidden Mist ninjas...
And then...
As he thought, Zabuza suddenly stood up straight, lowered the Executioner's Blade, and stopped talking.
"Recognized me?" Lexon sat on the carriage, his voice carrying a hint of amusement behind his Anbu cat mask.
'What's going on? Does Sensei know the enemy ninjas? And they seem... very respectful?'
The trio was confused, but they didn't speak up to interrupt. They planned to ask their mysterious teacher about it later.
"Yes," Haku replied, maintaining his respectful posture.
"Stand up," Lexon said casually.
He really had no interest in this form of communication unless it was for the purpose of teaching someone a lesson... Upon hearing the command, Haku stood up.
"How did you recognize me?" Lexon asked, his voice full of curiosity.
His voice had changed, his aura had changed, and even his outfit was different. Thus, he was quite curious about how Haku had seen through it.
"Because of that..." Haku pointed a slender finger toward a certain part of Lexon's body.
"Hmm?" Lexon looked down at the spot Haku was pointing to in confusion.
Well then. He didn't know until he looked, but once he did... his communicator was sticking out.
"I was careless," Lexon said as he tucked the communicator completely into his robes.
During the days when Lexon and Kakuzu had traveled with Haku and Zabuza, Lexon had used the communicator quite often with Kakuzu. It was likely that Haku's sharp eyes had spotted it then...
"But my partner has one of these things too... maybe it's him?" Lexon said.
"There was a fifty-fifty chance... I was willing to bet, because neither I nor Lord Zabuza could afford the consequences of losing that bet," Haku said softly.
After all, Haku currently believed that he and Zabuza had nothing the other party wanted. If a conflict broke out and the other person gave them a couple of punches, they would likely die on the spot. And the final result proved that the person was indeed the Uchiha Lexon who had abducted the two of them. Therefore... the act of stopping Lord Zabuza and offering the grand salute was the right move...
"Quite clever," Lexon couldn't help but praise.
"I hope you won't take offense at Lord Zabuza's actions..." Haku bowed deeply and spoke respectfully.
"That doesn't matter..." Speaking of which, Lexon looked at Zabuza, who had been silent until now, and teased, "Why aren't you speaking? The Demon? Mr. Momochi? Lord Zabuza?"
Zabuza, who was tilting his head to the side in an attempt to avoid participating in the conversation, was on the verge of breaking.
'Damn it... how can I run into this monster just by taking an assassination mission to earn some money? I can't beat him, and I can't outplay him!'
However, since he had been addressed, Zabuza didn't dare ignore him. He looked at Lexon and said in a very calm tone, "We only took an assassination mission to target that man, Tazuna. But if we had known you had taken this escort mission, we would have chosen to abandon it..."
"And?" Lexon's voice came through the cat mask, laced with a smile.
"And I will kill the guy who issued the assassination mission..." Zabuza continued.
Killing the malicious merchant who wanted to assassinate Tazuna to monopolize the trade in the Land of Waves? That didn't matter... He could kill him if he wanted.
But Lexon clearly didn't care about that, so he continued, "And?"
"And..." Zabuza's words faltered. He didn't know what else there was.
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he swung the Executioner's Blade directly toward his other arm. It seemed he intended to use this to compensate for the offense he had just committed.
If it were the Zabuza of the past, he would never have done such a humiliating thing just to stay alive. But now that he had someone he trusted and cared for, things were completely different. Human interaction and the deepening of relationships can truly change a person.
"Lord Zabuza!" seeing this, Haku cried out in worry.
Rather than letting Lord Zabuza suffer such pain, he would rather do it himself!
"That's quite a surprise."
Lexon hadn't expected Zabuza to do this. All he wanted was for Zabuza to help sharpen his three students. Didn't he see that he was currently a team teacher?
So, Lexon casually flicked his arm, and a needle condensed from chakra shot out, snapping the Executioner's Blade into two pieces before it could fall. Seeing the Executioner's Blade break without harming his respected Lord Zabuza, Haku couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
In contrast, Zabuza looked at his broken Executioner's Blade with a bit of heartache. Although the Executioner's Blade could regenerate... because he didn't know what Uchiha Lexon had mixed into that attack, the regeneration speed had become incredibly slow... it probably wouldn't recover for quite some time...
"Since you have such determination... you may go." Zabuza was ready to cut off his own hand to apologize, making Lexon feel a bit embarrassed to drag him in as a laborer, so he gave Zabuza permission to leave.
"Thank you, sir..." Haku expressed his gratitude to Lexon.
"Thank you... Uchi..."
Zabuza also wanted to express his gratitude, but before he could finish his sentence, Lexon shot out another chakra needle, directly shattering the remaining part of the Executioner's Blade.
"What did you say?" Lexon stared at Zabuza with a smile, forcing the words back down his throat. "Since you don't want to leave, stay and be a laborer for me... It just so happens that these students of mine need some tutoring..."
Standing next to Zabuza, Haku couldn't help but glance at his Lord Zabuza. He sighed in his heart.
'Lord Zabuza... what were you thinking... the other party went to such great lengths to hide his true identity... why did you still want to say it?'
Sigh.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]