Chiya left Kirigakure without saying goodbye, traveling alone.
He did not use the Body Flicker Technique to hurry along, but simply walked like an ordinary traveler.
Following the muddy and difficult roads along the eastern coast of the Land of Water, he made his way toward Yuki Island at an unhurried pace.
The scenes along the way were even more horrifying than when he had come.
The Kaguya Clan, Yuki Clan, and other Kekkei Genkai clans that had participated in the rebellion were now suffering Kirigakure's brutal purge.
The cleanup forces swept through the former territories of these clans like combs, while sporadic resistance and skirmishes broke out from time to time.
Almost every village or forest where missing-nin had once hidden or passed through was left with a thick, lingering stench of blood, along with destroyed houses, scorched earth, and corpses that had not yet been cleared away.
The air was filled with an atmosphere of slaughter and fear.
The surviving civilians had become numb, hiding like frightened rabbits whenever they saw an unfamiliar face.
The hatred and fear accumulated over the years, combined with the iron-fisted methods used to purge the traitors, left this land shrouded in an oppressive atmosphere of despair.
Chiya knew that after Terumi's rise to power, she would still need time to carry out a series of reforms.
He paid no attention to any of this.
He had long since become accustomed to the brutality of the shinobi world.
Kirigakure's internal turmoil and subsequent purge were nothing more than the inevitable growing pains of a change in power.
His goal was clear and singular.
Yuki Island.
The place where a child who might possess a natural energy vessel was said to exist.
Jugo.
After passing through a small village that had been devastated by the war, dusk was approaching.
Smoke occasionally rose from between the ruins.
Just as Chiya was about to pass through the village and enter the more desolate mountain path ahead, his footsteps paused slightly.
He sensed an extremely faint yet unusually pure Ice Release chakra.
The chakra carried an unstable fluctuation, but the nature of "ice" within it was unmistakable.
"Ice Release?"
Chiya raised an eyebrow.
A survivor of the Yuki Clan?
Or...
Someone who had awakened the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai by chance?
He had no intention of getting involved.
A fluctuation of this level was of no interest to him whatsoever.
He raised his foot again, preparing to leave directly.
However, the instant he turned around.
"Monster! He's a monster!"
"Don't come any closer!"
"Quick, quick, kill him!"
Noisy shouts suddenly came from outside the dilapidated wooden house that was emitting the cold chakra.
Immediately afterward, the faint Ice Release chakra suddenly surged like explosives that had been ignited.
"Buzz!"
A fierce wave of cold air suddenly spread outward from the wooden house, causing the moisture in the air to instantly condense into tiny ice crystals.
The next second, the entire wooden house was pierced through by seven or eight enormous ice spikes.
A layer of frost rapidly spread across it, making the wooden house look like a gigantic ice sculpture from a distance.
The commotion inside abruptly ceased, plunging into complete silence.
Chiya stopped walking and slowly turned his head, his gaze falling upon the frozen house.
"Crack..."
A faint cracking sound came from the frozen doorway.
A tiny figure staggered out from inside.
It was a thin child who looked as though he had only recently learned to walk.
His clothes were thin and tattered, and his small face was covered in grime and tear stains that had not yet dried.
He walked strangely, as though one of his legs was slightly lame, and every step was extremely difficult.
His tiny body trembled slightly in the cold air.
He walked outside and stopped, turning back to stare at the wooden house he had frozen with his own hands, a place that might once have been his "home."
His large, black-and-white eyes contained none of the innocence a child should have.
There was only immense confusion, fear, and bottomless grief.
Crystal-clear tears once again welled up uncontrollably, running down his frozen cheeks before dropping onto the frozen ground and instantly turning into tiny ice beads.
He simply stood there in a daze, staring at the scene as though he wanted to carve it into his heart forever.
Then, as if he had exhausted all his strength, his tiny body swayed and he collapsed forward.
He fell onto the cold, muddy road and lost consciousness.
Chiya silently watched everything.
The sudden surge of Ice Release chakra, the frozen house, the grief in the child's eyes, and that desperate glance backward before he collapsed...
"The Ice Release Kekkei Genkai... awakened?"
Chiya understood immediately.
In an environment where Kekkei Genkai were feared and rejected to such an extreme degree, the fate of a child who could not control his own power was easy to imagine.
He walked over and approached the unconscious child.
Crouching down, he gently brushed the frost-dampened black hair from the child's forehead, sensing the weak yet pure Ice Release bloodline within him.
This scene seemed strangely familiar.
An image surfaced in Chiya's mind of the boy from the original story who possessed the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, had a kind heart despite his tragic fate, and ultimately became little more than a tool.
He had not expected to meet him here, in such a manner.
"Is this Haku, the boy who dressed as a girl?"
Just as Chiya confirmed his identity, his thoughts shifted.
[Quest triggered.]
[Quest Requirement: Take Haku as a disciple and guide him to completely master the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.]
[Quest Reward: One random Kekkei Genkai or Clan Secret Technique.]
Chiya looked at Haku, who remained unconscious with his brows furrowed as though trapped in an endless nightmare.
Then he looked at the frozen house.
A disciple quest?
Chiya fell silent for a moment, a trace of contemplation flashing through his eyes.
In the end, he reached out and gently picked up the unconscious Haku.
The child's body was light and cold, like a block of ice.
Holding Haku in his arms, Chiya's figure flashed and disappeared into the deepening twilight.
About ten minutes later, Chiya found a secluded forest away from the village and discovered a dry cave.
He casually set up several simple warning traps and barriers before placing Haku on a bed of dry grass.
The child remained unconscious, his small body occasionally twitching as his brows remained tightly furrowed, as though he was still experiencing terrifying scenes in his dreams.
The Ice Release chakra within his body continued to fluctuate unstably, causing the air around him to carry a chill.
Chiya sat nearby with his eyes closed, resting without immediately doing anything.
He was waiting for the child to wake up on his own, while also observing the natural state of the Kekkei Genkai within his body.
As night deepened, the occasional howls of unknown beasts echoed outside the cave, adding to the desolation.
After an unknown amount of time, Haku let out a faint moan from the pile of dry grass.
His long eyelashes trembled several times before his eyes slowly opened.
At first, his eyes were still filled with the confusion and haziness of someone who had just awakened.
But soon, the memories from before he lost consciousness came rushing back like a tide.
Fear, grief, helplessness...
All those emotions instantly overwhelmed his mind.
He abruptly sat up and curled his tiny body inward, tightly wrapping his arms around himself.
He warily and fearfully surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings before his gaze finally landed on the figure quietly sitting at the other end of the cave.
His eyes widened immediately.
Haku said nothing.
He merely stared timidly at Chiya with those large eyes filled with fear and tears.
His small lips were tightly pursed, and his body trembled slightly.
Chiya slowly opened his eyes and met those frightened-deer-like eyes.
He did not speak immediately.
He simply looked back at him calmly, his gaze as tranquil as a bottomless pool.
This strange tranquility seemed to slightly soothe the panic in Haku's heart.
He was still afraid, but at least the person before him had not acted like those others.
The moment they saw him, they had screamed "monster" and chased him away with sticks.
The two remained facing each other in silence inside the cave, with only the faint crackling of the campfire breaking the stillness.
After a long while, Chiya finally spoke in his usual calm, emotionless tone.
"Awake?"
His voice was not loud, but it carried a strange penetrating quality that reached Haku's ears clearly.
Haku's entire body trembled.
He instinctively nodded before quickly lowering his head, not daring to look at Chiya again.
"Name."
Chiya continued, his tone still devoid of fluctuation.
Haku hesitated before answering timidly in an almost inaudible voice.
"...Haku."
"Haku..."
Chiya repeated the name before pointing at himself.
"Uchiha Chiya."
He said nothing more, simply giving his name.
For a child of this age who had just experienced such a devastating upheaval, too much information would only increase his unease.
"Uchiha... Chiya..."
Haku softly repeated the name, as though trying to memorize it.
He secretly raised his eyes and looked at Chiya again, and the fear in his heart seemed to lessen a little.
This person... seemed different from those others.
"Th... that place..."
Haku suddenly remembered something, clutching the corner of his clothes tightly as his voice trembled with sobs.
"They..."
He wanted to ask about the frozen house.
He wanted to ask what had happened to the people inside.
But when the words reached his lips, he could not bring himself to say them, and only large tears silently rolled down his face.
Chiya looked at his frightened appearance.
"Gone."
The two words were cold and direct, without the slightest attempt to soften the truth.
Haku's body trembled violently, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.
Although he had already expected it, hearing the truth with his own ears still felt like a heavy hammer striking his heart.
He bit his lip tightly to keep himself from crying out, but his thin shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
"Did... did you save me?"
Haku choked back his tears and mustered the last of his courage to ask.
Chiya looked at him without confirming or denying it.
Instead, he asked, "Why would I save you?"
Haku froze before shaking his head in confusion.
He did not know either.
"Because of your power."
Chiya's voice remained calm and emotionless, yet his words struck Haku's mind like thunder.
"The Ice Release Kekkei Genkai. They feared your power, rejected you, and hurt you. But to me, this power has no good or evil. It all depends on the person who uses it."
Haku looked up at Chiya through tear-filled eyes, seemingly unable to understand what he meant.
"Do you want to live?"
Chiya asked.
Haku nodded vigorously.
Survival was instinctive.
Even after experiencing something so terrifying, he still wanted to live.
"Do you want to control your power so that it will no longer hurt you or the people you care about?"
Chiya asked again.
A trace of longing flashed through Haku's eyes, but it was quickly covered by fear.
He remembered the frozen house and the terrified expressions of the others.
He nodded forcefully, then shook his head desperately, his voice breaking with tears.
"I... I don't want to hurt anyone... but... I can't control it... I'm a monster..."
"You're not a monster."
Chiya interrupted him, his tone carrying an unquestionable certainty.
"Uncontrolled power is what makes a monster."
He stood up and walked in front of Haku, looking down at the child curled up on the ground.
"Follow me. I'll teach you how to control your Ice Release and how to use your power. You'll become strong, strong enough to determine your own fate instead of letting fate and other people decide it for you."
Chiya extended his hand, palm open.
A wisp of pure chakra slowly gathered in his palm.
The temperature of the surrounding air suddenly dropped, and several crystalline snowflakes appeared out of nowhere above his palm.
"This is..."
Haku's eyes widened.
He forgot to cry and stared blankly at the snowflakes.
From them, he sensed a power of the same origin, yet far more refined and controlled.
"Ice Release isn't only for destruction."
Chiya closed his hand, and the snowflakes vanished.
"It can be beautiful, and it can be deadly. What matters is you."
He withdrew his hand and looked back at Haku.
"Choose. Stay here and wait to be discovered by the cleanup forces, or freeze or starve to death in these barren mountains. Or come with me and embark on a path toward mastering your power and becoming strong."
Haku struggled violently within himself.
The man before him was mysterious and powerful, and his words carried an irresistible temptation.
If he followed him, perhaps he really could escape the fate of being called a "monster" and learn to control that terrifying power.
He looked at the pitch-black night outside the cave and felt the cold and hunger in his body.
Then he remembered the looks of disgust and fear he had received in the village, as well as...
That frozen, silent home.
In the end, his instinct to survive and his desire to control his power and stop hurting others overwhelmed his fear of the unknown.
He struggled to rise from the dry grass and used all his strength to walk over to Chiya.
His voice trembled, but it was clear.
"Follow..."
After saying that, Haku pointed at Uchiha Chiya.
Chiya looked at his tiny body, thin and frail.
It seemed as though a gust of wind could blow him away.
Chiya remained silent for a moment before finally nodding.
"From today onward, you'll stay by my side. From now on, you're my disciple!"
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