This was a very... pretty boy.
He looked like a girl. His features were very delicate. His black hair spread out on the white snow. At such a young age, he gave off a quality that was hard to say was enchanting or pure.
"Are you hurt?"
Seeing that the child hadn't moved for a while, the Snow Clan leader, who had been watching the training field, appeared out of nowhere.
His appearance was very different from the boy's, but he had a similar delicacy. However, the scar that ran from his forehead to his jawline tore away this beauty, giving him a more fierce look.
The new ninja school was the most important thing for future development. Therefore, Minazuki Aka, as the Snow Clan leader, also served as the school's principal.
"Clan leader... I'm okay."
The boy stood up in a hurry. He met the sharp gaze, then lowered his head.
"If my face hurts too much, it will affect class. But if I lie in the snow for a while, it won't hurt anymore."
Hearing this, Minazuki Aka's eyes narrowed. He reached out and held the boy's shoulder.
After a moment, he said, "Just now, why didn't you fight back?"
The boy lowered his head even further and said softly, "His father died. He's very sad..."
Minazuki Aka didn't say whether he agreed with this explanation. He asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is Haku," Haku replied quietly.
"Go back to class."
After watching Haku disappear from sight, Minazuki Aka shook his head.
"Why that expression? From the looks of it, he should be about to awaken the Ice Release."
The leader of the Kaguya Clan, Kaguya Kenshiro, appeared next to Minazuki Aka, his voice as loud as a bell.
He was tall, with a square face and large ears. His eyes were bright and full of energy, faintly revealing fierceness. Standing with Minazuki Aka, they were like completely different elements: ice and fire.
"Talent doesn't mean anything."
Minazuki Aka looked away. "His personality is too weak."
"That's just a small thing. Once he's on the battlefield and tastes blood, he'll like it."
Kaguya Kenshiro licked his lips, as if savoring something. Then he said,
"I don't understand why you let them fight. Is it just to let the samurai kids vent their anger? It's useless. They can't be tamed."
"Adults can't be tamed, but kids can be bought easily."
Minazuki Aka glanced at the big man and said slowly,
"As for why we let the kids get beaten, it's to make them always remember one thing: we took someone else's village. Without power, you'll only get beaten."
"You came to me, it shouldn't just be to ask about these things, right?"
Kaguya Kenshiro nodded. "The guys below have found a lot of people fleeing the village. Some are doing it on their own, some are being taken away by wandering samurai. What should we do with them?"
"As long as they don't take too many supplies, we don't need to worry about them."
Minazuki Aka said, "We have limited manpower right now. We shouldn't be focusing our energy on this."
Houses, farming tools, and even food, mostly can't be taken away. And there's no need to worry about the population. The ninja world has no shortage of people.
Besides, the clan members who are scattered throughout the Land of Water due to the leader's fights, our own people, will fill the empty houses.
"But if that's the case, people will keep running away."
Kaguya Kenshiro scratched his head. He didn't understand management, but he instinctively felt that things couldn't continue like this.
"So what?"
Minazuki Aka looked at him and said slowly, "Without these die-hard fans of the samurai, the village will be much cleaner."
Kaguya Kenshiro thought about it. "Uh... that's true."
"Besides, if they have a chance to escape but choose to stay, it's like their knees have softened, and they've taken a knee…"
Minazuki Aka said meaningfully, "Next, management will be easier."
Hearing this, Kaguya Kenshiro frowned. He instinctively felt uncomfortable. "This sounds kind of familiar…"
"Heh, familiar? Of course, it's familiar."
Minazuki Aka glanced at the slow-witted big man and said softly,
"Land of Water, Kirigakure, did the same thing."
"We are the ones who escaped, and those who stayed have already knelt to the village elders."
…
Inside the Konoha forest, in a temporarily vacated estate.
Orochimaru looked around at the samurai present, a slight smile on his lips.
These people had fled here. Because they held the dream of restoring their country, they couldn't be integrated into Konoha residents. Even if surgeries and even human experiments were openly carried out on them, no one in the village could say anything. They were top-quality experimental materials.
Of course, these honest words were just thoughts in his mind. Orochimaru wouldn't say them out loud.
If it's something both sides are willing to do, why force it? Besides, this is a trade. He's not just conducting experiments for nothing.
"The more experiments we do, the higher the chance of success."
Orochimaru's lips curved slightly. He looked at each of the samurai one by one. "Who wants to go first?"
This was half true and half false. More experience does help to improve the success rate, but without a groundbreaking breakthrough, it's just an accumulation of numbers.
And in this situation, a strong will has a greater impact.
Being able to volunteer to go first shows a certain amount of courage. And the samurai who hide in the back also have a bit of luck in their hearts, which can increase the success rate by a few points.
The dozen or so samurai present looked at each other. After a moment of silence, they organized themselves into a line.
"Very good." Orochimaru nodded and gestured to the one in the front. "Come with me."
With that, he turned and walked into the newly dug-out tunnel.
The leading samurai looked at his companions behind him. With a determined attitude, he followed.
Half an hour later, Mifune walked out of the tunnel with a pale face and said in a deep voice, "Next."
The samurai present looked at Mifune, then at the tunnel, as if facing a great enemy, as if a man-eating beast lurked in the dark opening.
But after a moment of silence, the first one in line strode in.
…
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, a total of six people went in. Three failed and three succeeded, which was a 50% success rate.
When the sixth samurai successfully walked out, Mifune also walked out and said to the samurai in front of him, "That's it for today. The next surgery will be tomorrow."
The samurai at the front breathed a sigh of relief, but the thought of spending the night in fear and anxiety made his heart rise again.
"It's just death either way!"
He hit his head hard. This samurai led his companions straight towards Konoha.
At least today, he could indulge a little.
…
Inside the underground laboratory.
Orochimaru carefully observed the genetic fragments of White Zetsu cells and First Hokage cells through a microscope, a hint of a smile on his lips.
"Finally found it. The genetic sequence within the White Zetsu cells that keeps them woody, which is different from the ninja of the ninja world."
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