94. Zabuza and Haku

The night after the sparring match, Zoro goes to meet Zabuza and Haku in a hidden location. They've been waiting for Zoro, but he was quite busy and can only meet them now.

At first, they wanted to just leave because they don't know what Zoro wants from them. But they canceled their escape plan because Zoro might hunt them and kill them instead.

"It's good that you don't leave. I promise it will be worth your time. Only if you want to change your path." Zoro looks calm at first, but he becomes very serious in the end.

Zabuza flinches before he asks. "What do you mean by changing my path?"

"Your reason for rebelling, was it because you disagree with Yagura's tyrannical reign or just because you want to take control of Kirigakure?"

Zabuza knows that Zoro might kill him depending on his answer. He can lie to avoid being killed, but he refuses to lie about his ideal.

"It might be both. I, and everyone who joined me to rebel didn't like the way the 4th Mizukage ruled Kirigakure. He was a cruel person, but he never harmed his village. Then he suddenly changed. He started harming the village for unknown reasons. His change was the main reason for us to start a rebellion. But it's also true that we want to rule Kirigakure. Or more like we think that shinobi needs to rule the country, so we want to take control of not just Kiri, but also the Land of Water."

"I see. It's good that you are honest. Then, I will give you 2 options. First, forget about your rebellion plan and work for me. Second, you can keep thinking about rebelling and my sword will be the last thing you see."

"What?!"

Zabuza is surprised that Zoro actually wants him to stop his rebellion plan. He thought that Zoro would help him with the rebellion because Zoro's enmity with the 4th Mizukage is well known in the village.

"Is your feud with the 4th Mizukage just a fake rumor?"

"Nah, it's true that I personally have problems with that midget. That's why I will never go to Kiri and hunt their missing nins as long as he is still the Mizukage."

"Then why do you want me to stop the rebellion? Don't you want to kill him?"

"Yeah, but that's just a personal problem between me and him. It has nothing to do with Kirigakure actually, so I don't see the need to attack the whole village. He also hasn't made any despicable moves like the 4th Kazekage, that's why I never attacked Kiri. I can separate a personal matter with professional matter, you know."

Zabuza still can't understand Zoro and he will never understand.

"Then why do you want me to work for you if it's not to kill the 4th Mizukage?"

"Because there's something more important than that. I won't waste my time on someone who will die soon anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Yagura will die soon, but it won't change the fact that you have become Kirigakure's enemy, so you won't be able to return there anyway."

"W-why will he die? What will you do to kill him?" Zabuza is surprised and thinks that Zoro is planning something to kill Yagura.

He knows that if it's Zoro, someone who fought Sunagakure alone, then it's possible for Zoro to kill Yagura even if he is alone. But if Zoro kills Yagura, then his rebel group won't achieve anything and only get labeled as traitors.

"I don't think you need to know, right? You aren't my ally, after all."

Zoro smirks while seeing the very curious Zabuza who starts frowning deeply but doesn't dare to do anything to him.

"Ah, right, I only need you for my plan. I don't have any use for anyone else."

After Zoro says that, the tiger-sized Torao suddenly comes out of Haku's shadow and lunges at the young boy. He is very fast and no one can do anything. The tiger-sized Torao pushes Haku into the shadow and both of them disappear.

Zabuza tries to grab Haku, but he is too slow to react and Haku disappears right in front of his eyes. Just a moment later, Torao comes out of Zoro's shadow with Haku's mask in his mouth. Both the mask and Torao's mouth are smeared with blood.

Zoro takes the mask and plays with it. "Alright, now we can start talking more seriously. You don't have any problem with it, right? I know that kid was just a tool you raise to use. So it shouldn't matter because I can give you more power if you join me."

Zabuza is silent and looks at Haku's bloody mask with wide eyes. He has always thought of Haku as a weapon he raised and that was his reason for raising Haku. But unbeknownst to him, he started to care about the boy like a father to his son.

He tries to act like nothing happens because in his mind, Haku is just a tool that can be discarded anytime. That's what he always thinks and wants to think, but Haku's "death" really distracts him.

"But well, you know, I actually can make you to be the one who takes down Yagura if you want. Although I can't let you take over Kirigakure even if you are the one who kills the current Mizukage. Still, being able to kill him should achieve your goal of rebellion, right? Of course, that means you need to repay me for making your rebellion succeed."

Zoro blabbers about helping Zabuza take down Yagura, but the man isn't focused at all in the conversation, which makes Zoro smirk.

"Oi? You there?"

"H-huh? What?"

"..... Pfft! Hahaha! Damn, this is so funny. Hahaha, man! The infamous Demon of Kiri is actually grieving over someone's death. You said you were raising him as a tool. Turns out you are raising him as your son. You really cared for that boy, huh?" Zoro laughs out loud.

"N-no! He is a tool. Haku is the ultimate weapon I raised. I can discard him anytime. It's just....." Zabuza is hesitating, unsure of the reason why he feels very empty now.

"It's just what?"

"I-it's just that I don't need to discard him yet." He makes an excuse to show that he doesn't care, but his voice is shaky.

"Ah, I see. My bad then. I just thought that he was useless for my plan, so I removed him quickly. Now I regret it. I should've waited for the right time to use him. Oh well, it's already done anyway, so it doesn't really matter now. Let's just forget about him then."

Zoro drops Haku's bloody mask and crushes it with his foot. It seems to finally snap the last string that holds Zabuza's emotions. Tears suddenly come out of Zabuza's eyes and without saying a word, he suddenly charges at Zoro with his big sword.

"Oh? Seems like you finally admit that you care for that kid. So even the cold-blooded Demon of the Mist who has massacred a lot of people actually can feel love. I guess that's unavoidable when you raise a kid seriously and watch him grow with your own eyes."

Zoro smirks as he catches Zabuza's swords with his left hand. Zabuza tries to move it, but the sword won't budge at all. So he takes out his kunai and starts attacking Zoro like a madman.

He doesn't use ninjutsu because his turbulent emotions make him unable to control his chakra properly. So he attacks Zoro only using his kunais because his sword is in Zoro's hand.

Zoro easily defends Zabuza's furious attacks with only his right hand because hie left hand is holding Kubikiribocho. He doesn't even try to use the big sword to fight Zabuza because he doesn't need to.

"Well, I think it's enough."

As he says that, Zoro sends a punch. His punch doesn't reach Zabuza's body, but it creates a strong force that sends Zabuza flying. Zabuza flies and crashes onto some trees, breaking some of them.

He coughs some blood and is unable to get up. Just a single punch from Zoro that doesn't even touch him is already enough to injure him this much. So if Zoro is serious, then Zabuza would have died so many times already.

Zoro approaches Zabuza while grinning. "Good. Now you know that you still have humanity inside you. Sorry about this, but I don't want to work with inhumane people who don't appreciate life even a little."

While Zoro says that, Torao pulls Haku out of the shadow. The teen is still well and alive without any injury. He only lost his mask that Torao took and smeared with animal blood.

Zabuza is surprised and looks at Zoro with a very puzzled expression. "I just wanted to see if you can actually care for people even if it's just 1 person because as I said, I don't want to work with emotionless bastards who don't even have a shred of humanity. It doesn't mean I will think of you as a good person. It just means that I can let you do the job I want to give you."

Now with Zabuza realizing that he can care about someone else and can feel love for others, Zoro can finally use it to make Zabuza help him with something, and it will be very important.

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Chapter 134. No Solution

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