Shiro looked at the mysterious, bandaged man offering him a ride, barely able to suppress a laugh.
Sometimes, you can search far and wide for a target with no success, only to have them deliver themselves right to your doorstep when you least expect it.
"Huh?"
The bandaged man—Zabuza Momochi—paused, likely not expecting the kid to be so remarkably bold. To casually accept an offer from a menacing stranger who just demanded 'two lives' as payment was not normal behavior.
Judging by his age and size, the boy couldn't be older than thirteen. Since when did fresh academy graduates from Konoha have such big mouths and lack of survival instinct?
Seeing that the intimidating boatman didn't immediately attack, Shiro didn't hesitate; he hopped lightly onto the small wooden skiff.
*What a stroke of luck,* Shiro thought, settling into the boat as it pushed off from the dock. *I was just wondering how I was going to track down Zabuza once I got to the island, and here he is, playing ferryman.*
However, Shiro didn't plan to make a move just yet. After all, Zabuza was merely a high-priced thug hired by Gato. The real prize was Gato's vault.
But as he observed the man rowing, Shiro found himself curious about one specific detail: *Where is Haku? Why isn't his pretty little tool accompanying him on this scouting run?*
"Brat. Didn't anyone ever teach you that staring at people like that is a good way to get your eyes gouged out?"
After the boat hit the open water of the channel, Zabuza finally grew irritated by Shiro's analytical gaze. *Why does it feel like this Konoha brat isn't scared of me in the slightest?* Zabuza wondered, his pride bristling.
*Clang!*
Zabuza stopped rowing. He reached over his shoulder and smoothly drew his massive, iconic greatsword from its bandages, resting the heavy, cleaver-like blade casually on the gunwale of the small boat.
"Tell me, brat... do you have any idea what kind of weapon this is?" Zabuza asked, a cruel, smug look in his eyes. He was absolutely certain this sheltered Konoha Genin would have no clue.
"Isn't it just the Executioner's Blade?" Shiro replied, yawning and offering a look of profound boredom.
It was just a big piece of self-repairing iron. It was hardly impressive enough to provoke a reaction from someone who wielded the Wood Style.
"Oh?"
Zabuza's eyes narrowed behind his bandages. He hadn't expected the kid to recognize his legendary sword so casually. *Are the academy students in Konoha being taught about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen these days?*
"It seems you are quite knowledgeable for a runt," Zabuza's voice dropped, becoming icy and laden with killing intent.
If the kid recognized the Executioner's Blade, there was a high probability he recognized Zabuza himself. To avoid compromising his ambush on the bridge builder later, Zabuza decided it would be best to simply send this kid to the bottom of the channel right here and now.
"Of course I know the sword," Shiro continued smoothly, ignoring the killing intent. "I not only know its name, but I also know exactly how its previous owner died."
"Oh? And how did Juzo die?"
Zabuza paused, his curiosity genuinely piqued. Even he, a former elite of the Hidden Mist, didn't know the exact details of how his predecessor, Juzo Biwa, had met his end after defecting.
"He was foolish enough to try and block a Tailed Beast Ball head-on with that oversized butter knife. He died under the bombardment," Shiro stated, his tone suddenly shifting from bored to deadly serious.
The abrupt change in the boy's demeanor sent a strange, involuntary shiver down Zabuza's spine. It felt like immense, suffocating pressure was suddenly bearing down on him.
"What exactly are you trying to say, brat?!" Zabuza growled, raising the massive sword defensively, his instincts screaming at him that something was terribly wrong.
But to Zabuza's bewilderment, Shiro burst out laughing the very next second.
"I just wanted to see if you, holding that big sword, could withstand a Tailed Beast Ball right now," Shiro said, his eyes curving into crescents. "Although I don't have a Tailed Beast... the destructive power I can output is about the same!"
The next second, Shiro stopped suppressing his chakra.
*BOOM!*
An overwhelmingly powerful, ancient, and terrifyingly dense aura of chakra erupted from Shiro's small frame, violently churning the water around the boat and completely enveloping the area in a suffocating pressure.
"What the hell?!"
Zabuza's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. His breath hitched, and his muscles locked up. *Why is this brat radiating chakra that feels like a mythological monster?!*
Facing that impossible, crushing pressure, Zabuza's legendary 'Demon of the Mist' persona shattered instantly. Survival instinct completely overrode his pride.
Without a single second of hesitation, Zabuza dropped the oars, abandoned his intimidating posture, and threw himself backward off the boat, diving deep into the channel to flee as fast as humanly possible.
He moved so fast in his panic that he didn't even have time to grab the Executioner's Blade.
After all, Zabuza was a pragmatist. He knew very well the difference between loving his sword and loving his life. A sword could be replaced; his head could not.
"Wait... he just left? Just like that?"
Shiro sat in the gently rocking boat, genuinely stunned. The overwhelming chakra aura immediately vanished, pulled back into his coils. He had only been getting slightly serious to test the waters. How come a renowned S-rank missing-nin just abandoned his signature weapon and ran away without throwing a single jutsu?
"Well, that was anticlimactic," Shiro sighed, picking up the heavy Executioner's Blade from the floorboards. "But I suppose I shouldn't complain. A free legendary sword is a free legendary sword."
Although it was essentially useless to him in the grand scheme of things, it would do for a temporary prop!
---
A hidden warehouse location on the outskirts of the Land of Waves.
"Boss, what exactly is the point of us grabbing all these brats?"
A thug complained, watching as his associates dragged another batch of crying, terrified children into the damp holding cell. "We're supposed to be mafia enforcers, not human traffickers. This feels low, even for us."
"Shut your mouth! What the hell do you know?" the man called 'Boss' snapped, slapping the subordinate upside the head. "This is our esteemed President Gato's grand strategy! How dare you question it?"
The Boss was clearly the leader of this specific cell. Judging by the battered, scratched forehead protector tied to his arm, he was a rogue Chunin, though it was impossible to tell from which village.
"It's all because these stubborn villagers keep making noise about finishing that damn bridge!" the Boss spat viciously, pacing the floor. "Can't these peasants just accept reality and work obediently for Lord Gato?!"
He gestured to the cell full of weeping children and let out a sinister, cruel laugh. "With this many of their precious brats locked up, let's see who dares to even mention the word 'bridge' again!"
"But, Boss," another mafia member spoke up nervously, "I heard a rumor down at the docks. That stubborn old fart, Tazuna... they say he managed to sneak out and went all the way to Konoha to hire ninja reinforcements."
At this time, Konoha's military reputation was still considered the absolute pinnacle among the smaller nations. The mere mention of the Leaf caused the thugs to exchange uneasy glances.
"Hmph! Let him go to Konoha!" the Boss scoffed dismissively, waving his hand. "That old drunk Tazuna is broke! How could he possibly afford the exorbitant fees of a Konoha combat squad? Given his financial situation, he probably just managed to scrape together enough for a pathetic C-rank mission."
The Boss sneered. "And anyone in the business knows what a C-rank mission entails. They'll send a babysitter and some green genin. Nothing we can't handle."
---
Just as they predicted, Shiro was currently entering the main settlement on the island of the Land of Waves.
The atmosphere in the village was heavy and frantic. Villagers were running through the muddy streets, searching everywhere, calling out names. The parents of the missing children were gathered in the square, weeping and filled with paralyzing anxiety.
No matter where you are in the world, using children as leverage is a universally despicable tactic, but it is undeniably effective in breaking morale.
Shiro's arrival, wearing the polished metal plate of a Konoha shinobi, was treated like the descent of a savior.
"Look! It's a Lord Ninja! We're saved!"
The desperate villagers immediately swarmed around Shiro, their faces alight with frantic hope. Many of the grieving mothers simply collapsed to their knees in the mud before him, clutching at his clothes.
"Lord Ninja, please! I beg you, save my little boy!"
"They took my daughter! Please!"
Before Shiro could even gently ask them to stand up and explain the situation, a harsh, unpleasant voice cut through the weeping.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look at this pathetic display. You peasants are so desperate you're actually begging a little brat for help!"
A group of young men dressed in flashy, non-mainstream clothing sauntered out of a nearby tavern. They leaned against the wooden posts, looking at the grieving mothers with mocking, arrogant sneers.
"Everyone, please, stand up," Shiro said gently, helping the nearest woman to her feet.
He merely glanced at the mocking thugs and immediately dismissed them. They were just local bullies on Gato's payroll, not even possessing a sliver of chakra. In the Ninja World, no matter where you go, you will always find bottom-feeders like them.
"First, calm down. I need someone to tell me exactly what happened," Shiro said, scanning the chaotic crowd for someone who could speak coherently.
"Ahem. Lord Ninja... I am the elder of this village," an old man, looking just as malnourished and exhausted as the rest, stepped forward from the crowd.
"I am a shinobi of Konohagakure. I have accepted the official commission you posted regarding the investigation of the missing children," Shiro stated clearly.
Walking through the village, Shiro had quickly noticed the dire situation. Most of the people here were so impoverished they looked sickly and malnourished. Apart from the well-fed thugs outside the tavern, everyone else looked entirely defeated.
However, during his subsequent, detailed conversation with the village elder, Shiro discovered a glaring, critical anomaly.
"Let me make sure I understand this," Shiro summarized, crossing his arms. "You are telling me that the specific families whose children were taken... are all the firmest, most vocal supporters of Tazuna and the bridge-building project?"
"Y-Yes, Lord Ninja," the elder nodded rapidly, confirming the detail. "Every single one."
If that was the case, the truth behind the C-rank mission was already crystal clear. Apart from the tyrannical Gato, Shiro couldn't think of anyone else who would orchestrate such targeted, political kidnappings to crush a rebellion.
"However, don't you think this specific targeting is a bit too coincidental?" Shiro asked, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
The village elder looked bewildered. "Coincidental?"
"Think about it," Shiro elaborated. "There are dozens of families affected here. If all of these specific families were secret, firm supporters of the bridge... how exactly did Gato's men know exactly which houses to hit in the dead of night?"
The implication hung heavily in the air.
"You mean..." the elder gasped, his eyes widening in horror as he looked around at his own people. "You mean... there is an informant? A traitor among us?"
Although the elder was old, he wasn't stupid. He immediately grasped Shiro's logic.
"Who?! Who among us would sell out our own children to that monster?!" The elder roared, his voice cracking with rage and betrayal. The realization nearly gave the poor man a heart attack. He had never imagined the tragedy stemmed from a betrayal within their own tight-knit community.
If it weren't for this young Konoha ninja arriving and clearing the fog with simple logic, they would likely still be entirely in the dark.
"Village Elder! How can you just blindly believe the words of an outsider?!"
"Yeah! He's just a kid! Maybe he's actually a spy sent by Gato to turn us against each other!"
Shiro's deductive reasoning immediately drew loud, aggressive dissatisfaction from the group of thugs lingering outside the tavern. They began to shout, trying to turn the crowd's anger toward the ninja.