The throne room of Shroud Island smelled of incense and the dried blood that still stained the carpets after the coup. King Bastion sat with arrogant elegance, staring down at Raiga, who kept his head bowed.
"You are useless, Raiga," Bastion's voice was a sharpened whisper. "I gave you the resources and the authority to wipe out the remnants of the old guard. And yet, you allowed that ghost to leave with his sword and a brat."
"He is wounded, my lord..." Raiga attempted to say, but Bastion's glare silenced him.
"I do not care about his wounds. I care about my authority. Zabuza Momochi was part of my execution unit, and now he is a stain on my crown. If he cannot be controlled, he must be erased. Hunt him down and recover my Kubikiribocho. Let the rest of the swordsmen know the price on his head has risen. No one defies this kingdom and survives."
Miles away, the North Blue hammered against the small rowboat. Zabuza gritted his teeth, attempting to lift the Kubikiribocho only to let out a grunt as the tendon in his right shoulder sent a lash of electric pain through him. The heavy blade hit the wooden floor of the boat with a dull thud. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed a common boarding cutlass he had scavenged. To his hands, accustomed to moving quintals of iron, the weapon felt light and fragile like a toy, but it was the only thing his shoulder could hold without collapsing.
A pirate brigantine with black sails appeared through the mist. Zabuza didn't wait for the cannons to fire. He summoned his mist, shrouding both ships in a white veil, and boarded with the agility of a wounded predator. Haku, huddled in the boat, only heard the sound of steel and bodies hitting the water. When silence returned, Zabuza appeared at the railing, splattered with someone else's blood.
"Get up here, Haku. Go to the captain's cabin and find a medical kit or anything that works for burns. Now!"
The boy obeyed, climbing onto the deck of the captured ship with trembling legs. He entered the cabin, a messy place that smelled of rum and tobacco. While rummaging through drawers for bandages, his eyes fell upon a crumpled newspaper on the desk. On the back page, Zabuza's face stared at him beneath a figure: 30,000,000 Berries. The text mentioned the treason of the "Demon of the Mist" and his flight from Shroud Island. Haku felt a shiver; he hadn't known the man who pulled him from the snow was a criminal of such magnitude.
He heard heavy footsteps. Zabuza entered the cabin, watching the newspaper in Haku's hands and then the boy's knuckles, where small shards of translucent crystal were beginning to sprout involuntarily from fear.
"Does it surprise you?" Zabuza asked, his voice cold as he snatched the newspaper. "That's what happens when you stop being someone's dog. Don't look at me like that. Find the bandages."
Haku backed away, trying to hide the crystals that kept growing. "I don't know what's happening to me... since I ate that strange fruit... things break when I'm scared."
"A Devil Fruit, a Paramecia," Zabuza stated, ignoring the bounty poster as if it were trash.
At dawn, the silhouette of Northstar emerged through the morning mist. Zabuza covered himself in a long cloak, hiding the hilt of his greatsword. After hiring the shipwright under threat and payment in gold they found on the ship, he led Haku toward the market.
They needed clothes. Haku was still wearing dirty rags that emphasized his fragile look. Zabuza took him to a stall of fabrics and robes. The boy, with his fine features and long hair, drew glances that mistook him for a girl due to his androgynous beauty—something Zabuza didn't seem to care about as long as the attire was functional. He chose a dark green off-the-shoulder robe and brown hakama for him, along with a simple obi.
"Put it on," he ordered.
Haku changed quickly. When he emerged, his appearance was serene, almost angelic. In a corner of the stall, Haku stopped before a white porcelain mask with red lines. Zabuza looked at it, then at the boy.
"Take it," Zabuza said. "A weapon must not show its emotions. If you are to be by my side, no one must see what you think. That mask will be your face from now on."
Haku put on the mask, hiding his face behind the cold porcelain. He was no longer just an orphaned child; he was beginning to look like the tool Zabuza needed.
They bought medical supplies and heavy clothing before returning to the dock. However, just as the sun began to set, a Shroud Island warship docked at the adjacent pier.
Raiga descended from the ramp, moving with renewed confidence, accompanied by a figure walking with an unsettling calm, carrying a massive sword wrapped in bandages. The air pressure changed immediately. The newcomer looked at the port with disdain before turning to Raiga.
"Are you absolutely sure you saw them here, Raiga?" the unknown swordsman asked, his voice icy. "If you've wasted my time looking for Zabuza and the brat, I assure you your static will not save you from my blade."
Raiga pointed toward the shipwrights' area with a crooked smile. "They're here. I can feel the moisture of his mist in the air. Zabuza won't get far with that shattered shoulder."
Zabuza, watching from the shadows of a nearby alley with Haku at his back, gritted his teeth.