The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the morning mist, which had not yet completely dispersed, draped everything in a hazy veil.
Rock Lee, as usual, began his new day of training early.
After a simple warm-up, he ran toward the forest wearing weights.
While running, he did not forget to attack the trees and plants along the way to train his combat skills.
However, just as he finished 2000 punches, he was drawn by the sky full of comments.
[Haku, that’s Haku!] [So beautiful, I’m seeing the real person now.] [Haku gathering herbs is the gentlest, hehehe…] Haku?
Wasn’t that Zabuza’s accomplice?
Rock Lee stopped his training and looked around in confusion.
Based on the reference points described by the text, he quickly found the target.
This was a woman wearing a kimono.
No, wait—the text says this is a male ninja.
How can this male ninja be even cuter than Sakura?
That’s impossible, right?
He observed the other party while running.
Unknowingly, he got closer and closer.
Up close, the ninja named Haku looked more like an older sister from next door, appearing gentle and cute.
At this moment, Haku noticed him.
Both of them furrowed their brows at the same time.
Haku recognized Rock Lee because when he took Zabuza away last time, Rock Lee was present and had even fought Zabuza.
Rock Lee frowned because he also knew the person in front of him.
It was Haku, Zabuza’s accomplice.
So the atmosphere on the scene was a bit subtle.
What made him even more hesitant was that some comments were explaining Zabuza and Haku’s past.
It turned out that Haku was born in a small village in the Land of Water where it always snowed.
The people in the village feared and hated Kekkei Genkais because of the wars.
Unfortunately, Haku’s mother possessed a Kekkei Genkai.
To live a peaceful life, his mother had hidden this secret for a long time.
It wasn’t until Haku was discovered to have inherited this ability that his father found out the secret.
However, his father did not choose to protect his wife and child.
Instead, he led a group of villagers to kill Haku’s mother.
When they were about to kill Haku, the terrified Haku used his Kekkei Genkai to kill everyone present with Ice Spikes.
This led to Haku becoming an orphan overnight, forced to beg in the streets and alleys of the Land of Water.
After wandering for who knows how long, he finally met Zabuza, who took him in and taught Haku all his combat techniques.
And so, Haku fought for Zabuza.
Overall, Haku was a pitiful person.
“If Haku had been born in Konoha, his fate would be different, right?” He murmured with a sigh.
Hearing Rock Lee talking to himself, the comments erupted in laughter, mocking him one after another.
[Rock Lee is so naive.
Hasn’t he noticed that there are no ninjas with special abilities among the commoners?] [If a Kekkei Genkai appeared among the commoners in Konoha, they would probably have been captured by Danzo for brainwashing long ago, becoming a tool in his hands.
Thinking about it this way, Haku is actually quite lucky.] [It’s a good thing Lee isn’t a talented ninja, otherwise he wouldn’t escape Danzo’s clutches either.] Seeing these comments, Lee’s brow furrowed deeply.
He really wanted to refute these people.
They clearly don’t live in Konoha, so why do they think so poorly of Konoha?
Even if Danzo is bad, Hokage-sama would keep him in check.
Could he really be above the law?
Haku, opposite him, watched Lee frown one moment and look angry the next, so he asked curiously, “Konoha Ninja, is there something bothering you?” Rock Lee was stunned for a moment and said, “You know me?” Haku smiled and pointed at his headband.
“This mark belongs to a Konoha Ninja, right?” Rpck Lee didn’t know whether to attack for a moment, so he scratched his hair awkwardly and said, “I’m just passing through here for training.
I saw you alone and came over to take a look.
Are you gathering herbs?” Haku nodded.
“Yes, the herbs in the morning are the freshest, so I came to pick some.” He thought about how Zabuza’s injuries hadn’t healed yet, and since he had little information on Kakashi and the others, he intended to fish for some information.
“You already look quite strong.
Why are you still training so hard so early?” This question made Rock Lee even more embarrassed, and he replied somewhat sheepishly, “On the contrary, I’m too weak.
I want to become even stronger—ten times, a hundred times stronger than I am now.” Haku didn’t expect Lee’s ambition to be so great.
Judging by the Taijutsu he used against Zabuza, Rock Lee’s strength was definitely above that of a Chunin.
Even he might not necessarily be able to defeat him.
Ten times, a hundred times stronger…
does he want to become a Kage?
He asked curiously, “Why?” Lee seemed to see Neji, whom he had never beaten, the powerlessness of himself in the prophecy, and Guy’s ultimate fate.
He smiled and answered firmly, “Because there are people I want to surpass and people I must protect.
Only by becoming stronger can I have a chance to change these fates.” He trained without stopping, not only to save the future Guy but also because he didn’t want to fall too far behind those talented ninjas, even wanting to surpass them.
Haku murmured, “People you want to protect, and you want to change fate.” He understood very well that when a person wants to protect someone else, they truly become strong—extremely strong.
It seems he’s a troublesome opponent.
He picked up his herb basket and said, “I’ve gathered enough.
If there’s a chance, perhaps we’ll meet again somewhere.” Lee clenched his fists, and after hesitating for a long while, he ultimately gave up on attacking.
He just shouted loudly, “When we meet again, will we be opponents?” Haku stopped his steps, guessing in his heart that his identity had probably been exposed.
He said without looking back, “Who knows.” Although this answer was ambiguous, Lee knew that when the two of them met again, a winner would definitely have to be decided.
To avoid losing to the other party, he had to get stronger, stronger, and even stronger.