27. The Widow Snow Maiden

In the small farmhouse courtyard, a handsome, sunny young man was playing a lift-the-baby game with his infant son, recently a month old, absorbed in the joy of newfound fatherhood. Nearby, a beautiful woman with long black hair watched the two with gentle affection. In her gaze, happiness mingled at times with deep worry and unease.

That day, sensing a ninja battle outside the village, the Snow Maiden, out of concern, quietly approached the scene to investigate. She arrived near the woods just in time to witness the Demon Shark slaughtering the Iron Duo. Spotted while retreating, she fled in panic.

Two anxious days passed, and as expected, the Demon Shark came seeking her. Though uncertain of the man's true intentions, the Snow Maiden looked at her husband and child, her gaze gradually growing resolute. She would protect this family.

“What a loving family,” murmured the Demon Shark, hiding behind a large stone in the woods. Upon witnessing the scene, he immediately devised a plan. He crouched, placed his left hand on the snow, and the spray tattoos on his arm shimmered. Chakra coursed through the snow-covered ground, swiftly approaching the courtyard.

Ten seconds later, the snow beneath the family’s feet suddenly melted, evaporating into white steam. Beneath the melting snow, a glowing black character for “explode” appeared, growing brighter and heralding impending disaster.

“What is this?” the husband cried out, clutching his son and retreating, but it was too late.

Boom!

The explosion erupted, brilliant flames sweeping toward father and son.

“Watch out!” At that moment, the Snow Maiden cried out, instinctively unleashing her bloodline ability. An ice wall materialized before the three, shielding them from the blast.

“Snow Maiden, you…” Her husband, still shaken from their rescue, stared at his suddenly unfamiliar wife, the icy aura emanating from her palm filling him with terror and dread.

“It’s not what you think, please listen to me…” The Snow Maiden’s face darkened with panic. She seized her husband’s collar, pleading desperately. But he recoiled as if seeing a ghost, pushed her away, abandoned his child, and fled.

“Shiro…” The Snow Maiden hugged her child tightly, checking him over and over for injuries.

She gazed toward the woods beyond the courtyard, shouting, “What do you want from us?” But there was no answer.

Ten minutes later, her husband returned, accompanied by armed villagers from the Village of Snow. Helpless, mother and son found themselves surrounded by cold-eyed villagers.

With a thud, the Snow Maiden knelt before her beloved husband, clutching her child and begging through tears, “This child is innocent; he hasn’t inherited my abilities.”

She knew her fate was sealed, and before her death, she only hoped her child could escape the cursed destiny and grow up happily as an ordinary person.

“This woman is lying! We can’t let the child live; he will bring disaster and death to our village!”

“That’s right, both mother and child must die.”

“Do it now!”

The villagers, eyes filled with hatred and fear, urged the Snow Maiden’s husband to act, regarding the pair as monsters.

“Snow Maiden, I’m sorry…” Tears streamed from the man’s eyes as he trembled, raising his knife—

And brought it down.

“No!” In utter despair, the Snow Maiden screamed, a violent surge of ice chakra bursting forth. She was a mother determined to protect her child.

Countless ice spikes shot from her body, cutting down everyone present, husband included, as if harvesting wheat.

Blood stained the courtyard, flowing slowly, merging with the pristine snow—beautiful in its brutality.

Kneeling, the Snow Maiden clung to her child, trembling, drowning in immense sorrow and pain.

Time passed.

Crunch. Crunch.

The Demon Shark emerged from the woods, walking across the snow to stand before her.

“Are you here to kill me too?” The Snow Maiden raised her head, expressionless, conjuring an ice spike that shot toward his face.

The Demon Shark caught it with one hand, crushed it with ease.

“Are you going to keep fighting?” he asked with a smile, eager to test the power of her ice techniques.

Her expression shifted, then fell into defeat. She whispered, “Go ahead.”

She knew the Demon Shark’s strength. Resistance was futile; she could not defeat this formidable man. Yet, clinging to a final hope, she lifted Shiro in her arms and held him out, pleading, “Please spare this child. His bloodline holds the ability of the bloodline limit; if trained, he could be your helper, even your tool. Let him live, I beg you.”

“I never said I would kill you or your child,” the Demon Shark replied, taking the crying Shiro from her arms. “My clan, like yours, is a low-ranking family from the Hidden Mist, also facing extinction. I, Kisame Hoshigaki, sympathize with you.”

“Then why did you do this to me? I only wanted a peaceful life,” she demanded, voice rising. Her happiness, once hers, had been destroyed in an instant by this man, who now called it sympathy. What twisted logic was this?

“You’re too naïve,” Kisame shook his head. “Even without my interference, once your son grows up, his bloodline limit will inevitably be exposed. Then, you’ll both face death. You saw your husband and the villagers’ attitude just now, didn’t you? I’m not harming you—I’m saving you.”

His words, slow and deliberate, cut deep.

The Snow Maiden was silent, unable to refute, lost in a long silence.

A week later.

In a remote, unremarkable town within the Land of Water, three travelers arrived. A man and a woman, the man tall and imposing, the woman gentle and beautiful, holding a newborn baby—appearing as a family of three.

They were, of course, Kisame and the Snow Maiden with her son.

Passing through empty streets, the trio found a small inn and took a room.

“Wait here for me. I’m going to exchange the bounty,” Kisame said after buying some food, formula, and diapers for the baby, then left.

The Snow Maiden opened the window, watching Kisame’s figure disappear down the street. She hesitated for a long time, then abandoned any thought of escape and chose to wait for him. After all, in a chaotic world, where could mother and child possibly flee?

Drawing on memories from his previous life, Kisame moved through the town’s alleys and soon arrived at a tall building—the exchange office of the Land of Water.