Chapter 234: Haku

"Open up! Get out here, now!"

"You damned plague! You've been deceiving us for so long!"

"If you don't come out, I'll burn this house to the ground and roast you alive inside!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A barrage of furious shouting and relentless pounding on the door echoed inside the house. Inside, a woman and a child huddled together, leaning against the door.

The child trembled in fear, curling into the woman's arms, while her tear-streaked face remained numb, her eyes filled with despair.

"Mom… are we going to die?" the child asked, his voice quivering.

"Why did Dad bring all these people here to kill us?"

The woman let out a bitter, sorrowful laugh. She gently stroked the child's head and replied softly,

"… that man is not your father. He's a beast."

She paused, her voice trembling. "In a moment, I'm going to go out there and hold them back. You must live, no matter what."

The boy, Haku, stared at her in confusion but eventually nodded. He shakily stood up from her embrace.

"Mom, you have to come with me. You have to catch up."

The woman smiled faintly. "Don't worry. I'll catch up to you."

Her expression turned serious as she gripped his shoulders.

"Listen carefully. Run straight ahead. Don't ever look back."

Haku obediently nodded. "I understand."

Seeing her son ready, the woman took a deep breath and suddenly flung open the door.

Caught off guard, the man outside—who had been in the middle of kicking the door—stumbled forward and nearly fell.

"Now! Run!"

The woman shouted as she charged into the mob outside.

Reality, however, was far crueler than any hope she had held.

Within moments, the villagers surrounded her, their tools raised—hoes, pitchforks, and harpoons—and brought her down in a frenzy of blows.

The boy had barely run a few steps before someone grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hoisted him into the air.

"Trying to escape? Not a chance!" sneered the man holding him.

As the woman lay battered and barely breathing on the ground, an older villager stepped forward, his hollow cheeks and sharp cheekbones giving him a sinister look.

"Daizan, Ryoko is your wife. You should be the one to finish her off."

Daizan, a large man with a cold expression, stepped out of the crowd. He grabbed the woman by her hair and dragged her into the snowy clearing. A steel pitchfork gleamed menacingly in his hand as he raised it high.

Ryoko's eyes filled with sorrow as she gazed at the man she once called her husband.

"I've never hurt anyone," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Daizan scoffed. "Anyone with a kekkei genkai brings nothing but disaster. If we kill you all, we'll finally have peace."

Realizing she couldn't sway him, Ryoko knelt weakly in the snow.

"Haku is innocent. He's your child. Please… spare him."

Daizan hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. His tone was icy.

"He carries the same cursed blood as you. Who knows what kind of monster he'll become?"

"Neither of you will survive today."

Despair filled Ryoko's heart. She had never imagined that the man she had shared her life with could be so ruthless—not only rallying the villagers to kill her but also condemning their own child.

Schlick!

The pitchfork pierced through her throat, and blood gushed out in a crimson spray.

The snow beneath her melted and turned a dark, vivid red.

As Ryoko's lifeless body collapsed, the villagers erupted into cheers.

Daizan, panting heavily, turned his bloodshot eyes toward Haku, who stood frozen in shock.

"Don't blame me," Daizan muttered, gripping the pitchfork tightly. "You've got that cursed woman's blood running through your veins."

He raised the weapon again, the shadow of death looming over Haku.

But just as Daizan prepared to strike, a man's voice broke the tension.

"Do you hate them?"

The villagers froze, turning toward the source of the voice. A man, dressed in fine clothing, approached calmly. His demeanor exuded an almost unsettling confidence.

Daizan and the others instinctively took a step back. An elderly villager called out, "Stranger, where are you from? What are you doing in our village?"

The man ignored the question. He knelt before Haku, his piercing eyes meeting the boy's.

"Do you hate them?"

Haku hesitated, his gaze drifting to his mother's lifeless body lying in the bloodstained snow.

Tears streamed down his face as he rasped, "I hate them. I want them all to die and join my mother in the grave."

The man stood, his expression unreadable. "I see."

Daizan scowled, raising his pitchfork threateningly. "I don't care who you are. Leave now, or we won't hold back!"

The villagers, emboldened, stepped forward as one.

The man clapped his hands together.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation."

A massive wave of flames erupted, engulfing everything in its path.

Screams echoed through the air as the villagers were consumed by the inferno.

"Run! It's a ninja!"

"Ryoko and Haku brought this curse upon us!"

"Help! Somebody help!"

The cries grew fainter until they were replaced by the crackling of flames and the suffocating stench of burnt flesh.

When the flames finally subsided, nothing remained but ash.

Haku stumbled toward the man, kneeling and pressing his forehead to the ground.

"Thank you, sir. May I know your name?"

The man gazed down at him and said, "Uchiha Mirai."

"Mirai…" Haku repeated the name, a strange warmth blossoming in his chest.

Without Mirai, he would've been dead. The man had not only saved him but also given him a future.

Was this fate?

"My name is Haku," he introduced himself nervously. "Sir, can I… stay with you?"

Mirai studied the boy's delicate features. "Are you a boy or a girl?"

Haku blinked, momentarily stunned. "I'm a boy," he replied.

Satisfied, Mirai said, "Let's start by reviving your mother."

Haku froze. Revive her? Could such a thing even be possible?

But to his astonishment, his mother—whose throat had been cruelly pierced—was restored before his eyes. The gaping wound was gone, and she looked just as she had in life.

"Mother!" Haku cried, throwing himself into her arms.

Ryoko touched her neck in disbelief, her fingers brushing over unbroken skin.

"Haku… wasn't I… dead? What's going on?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Haku wiped his tears and pointed to Mirai. "It was him, Mother. Mirai-sama saved us. He brought you back to life!"

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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