Mission to the Land of Snow

"By the way, Furen, where's Haku?"

Naruto looked around but couldn't find Haku. Ever since the day they buried Zabuza, Haku had disappeared and hadn't been seen since.

"I don't know either," Furen said, shrugging to show he wasn't sure.

Kakashi glanced meaningfully at the forest behind them, smiled at Furen, but said nothing as Team 7 continued their journey back to the Leaf Village in the Land of Fire.

Not far behind them, Furen and Haku walked hand in hand through the woods.

"Furen-kun... do you really know of a beautiful place filled with snow?" Haku looked at Furen with love in her eyes.

Furen rubbed Haku's head gently. "Of course, it's a place that's covered in snow all year round."

"Where is that?" Haku asked with hopeful eyes. She could only see snow during winter.

"The Land of Snow," Furen replied, a look of recollection in his eyes.

If he remembered correctly, after the Wave Country mission and before the Chunin Exams, Kakashi's Team 7 took on an A-rank escort mission. They were tasked with escorting a famous actress, Princess Koyuki Kazahana, to the Land of Snow to shoot a movie—just like in the Naruto movie about the Land of Snow.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Land of Snow also has users of Ice Release. I wonder what rewards I'll get for winning over Princess Koyuki," Furen pondered to himself.

Seeing Furen deep in thought, Haku smiled softly. Ever since Zabuza's death, Furen had become her emotional anchor, the reason she kept living.

After traveling for about a day, they arrived.

"So this is the Leaf Village?" Haku asked, leaning against Furen as they stood atop a tall tree, gazing at the bustling village below.

"Of course, let me take you to my home," Furen said, leaping down from the tree.

On the branch, Haku whispered to herself, "Go… to Furen's house… live together with Furen..."

In the Hokage's office.

Kakashi and the others parted ways at the entrance to the Leaf Village, each returning to their own homes, leaving only Kakashi to report the mission's details to the Third Hokage.

After listening to Kakashi's report, the Third Hokage smoked his pipe, frowning.

He wasn't pondering the difficulty of the mission but rather the fact that Furen had awakened Ice Release!

"A twelve-year-old awakening a bloodline limit... I've never seen that before." The Third Hokage pulled out Furen's file and looked it over.

Furen's background was as clear as day—both of his parents were genin who died in the war. You could say that Konoha owed him something.

But for him to suddenly awaken Ice Release at the age of twelve left even the Third Hokage, known as the Professor of the Ninja World, puzzled. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally shook his head.

"The complexity of bloodline limits... maybe Furen had some kind of encounter that allowed him to merge Wind Release and Water Release," the Third Hokage mused, deciding not to pursue the matter further.

As long as it didn't threaten the safety of the Leaf Village, the Third Hokage was willing to let it go, especially since Furen's background was so clean. According to Kakashi, he was very protective of his companions and the village.

So, the Third Hokage didn't investigate further, simply seeing it as the Leaf Village gaining another asset.

"This mission should be ranked B or even close to A-level," the Third Hokage said, flipping through the report on the Wave Country mission. "Kakashi, you did well leading them."

"Now, I have an A-rank mission for you," the Third Hokage said, handing over a mission scroll from his desk.

"Protect the actress Fujikaze Yukie…" Kakashi murmured as he opened the scroll.

At Furen's home.

The house hadn't been cleaned for a long time, and a thin layer of dust had settled everywhere.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Furen scratched his head and said to Haku, "Wait a minute, let me tidy up…"

Furen bent down, ready to pick up the trash that had piled up at the entrance, but Haku reached out to stop him. "Furen-kun, let me do it."

With that, Haku tied her hair back and began cleaning the house for Furen, looking every bit the perfect, obedient wife.

As expected, women seem to have a natural talent for tidying up. The house, which had been a bit messy due to Furen living alone, was soon spotless thanks to Haku's efforts.

With some free time, Furen opened his system panel.

Host: Tsukiyo Furen

Ability Chart:

Ninjutsu (6.0)

Taijutsu (4.6)

Genjutsu (2.0)

Intelligence (7.0)

Strength (4.6)

Speed (3.0)

Stamina (4.0)

Hand Seals (6.6)

Overall Rating: 42.6 (Chunin)

Skills:

Mind Body Switch Technique Lv3

Superhuman Strength Lv2

Ice Release Lv1

Sakura Rush

Mind Body Chaos Technique (Secretly influences and manipulates the opponent's thoughts)

Mystical Palm Technique

Looking at his stats, Furen whispered to himself. His strength had increased dramatically. If he remembered correctly, at this point, the strongest among his peers was Neji, whose stats were only 42.

In just over a week, Furen had gone from being weaker than a genin to one of the top chunin!

"I still need to get stronger…"