The next morning, we got up early to pack up.

Bai had prepared breakfast, and when he walked out of the kitchen carrying the plate, the clear blue sky and the azure blue sea could be seen through the window behind him. He was only wearing simple and comfortable white clothes. I looked at his long black hair tied up behind his head, revealing a slender white neck and a gentle expression, and I couldn't help but stare at him for a while.

Bai tilted his head towards me in confusion: "What?"

I said, "White is really beautiful!"

Bai was stunned for a moment, then smiled at me: "Morning dew is also very beautiful."

Gaara sat next to me, and upon hearing that he looked up and stared at Shiro for a while, "Don't you like the type where you can't see the faces of Kankuro and Aburame Shino?"

Neji was on my other side, frowning.

"Shino is..." I was about to explain our relationship, but then I thought that since I had already defected, I should not mention the relationship of love partners anymore, otherwise Shino might feel embarrassed. "Shino is because he is very gentle."

"So Kankuro, do you also think he's gentle? You didn't even say a few words when you met."

Zabuza also came over and sat down: "Who is Kankuro?"

"He's Gaara's brother, a great puppeteer from the Sand Village!"

Zabuza sneered disapprovingly: "No wonder I haven't heard of him. He is an unknown person who has not yet grown up."

I glared at him, "Mr. Zabuza's words really make me angry."

"I'm really sorry that I'm not as likable as you." Zabuza propped up his cheek and looked at me: "However, speaking of the Sand Village, if you want to hide your face or hide your emotions, you can learn from their outfits - don't many guys in the Sand Village like to wear those headscarves that cover half of their faces?"

Gaara said, "Because it protects against wind and sand, but not everyone wears it."

"Shiro and I have disguised ourselves as ninjas from the Sand Village before. I can lend you the equipment we had back then."

Gaara frowned, "Why are you pretending to be a ninja from the Sand Village?"

Zabuza stood up to get his equipment: "Are you the Kazekage? You're such a meddlesome person."

Zabuza placed two sets of Sand Village ninja equipment in front of me, and said to Gaara: "There are only two of us, Shiro and I, so we only have two sets. But you are a ninja from the Sand Village anyway, so you don't need them, right?"

Gaara didn't say anything. He stared at the two Sand Village forehead guards placed on the clothes and reached out to pick them up.

The symbol of Sunagakure on the forehead guard was pierced by a knife mark, proving the wearer's identity as a traitor ninja.

"Is this something belonging to the rebel ninja from the Sand Village?"

"No," Zabuza looked at Gaara almost provocatively, "The forehead protector was intact when we got it. This should be the equipment obtained from those missing or martyred ninjas in the Sand Village."

If these equipments are genuine and can be circulated in the hands of rebel ninjas, the origins behind them are probably bloody. The real owners of these equipments have probably suffered very bad things.

Zabuza said: "I was the one who left that mark."

The forehead protector is a symbol that proves that a ninja can stand on his own, and it also represents loyalty to the village.

If someone leaves traces of destruction on someone's body after death, it means that everything the original owner owned has been destroyed and trampled upon - including his feelings for his village.

Gaara didn't say anything, and I don't know what he was thinking.

Zabuza did not hold back: "By the way, when are you going to scratch the mark of a traitor on your forehead?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became very stagnant. Bai said helplessly, "Mr. Zabuza, can't we talk about this after dinner?"

"After dinner we will set out to take on the mission. If someone sees us with our intact forehead protectors, who will believe we are traitors?" Zabuza said sternly, "You little brats, don't think that defection is a game of playing house with friends. Without the determination to cut off everything in the past, there is no way to survive in the world of traitors! 'I don't want to stay in the village anymore, so I have to leave' is definitely not enough! Do you think you are running away from home because of a quarrel with your parents? At least it should be 'I must accomplish my goal at all costs, even if it means destroying the village'! 'If my former companions and friends want to stop me, I will definitely get rid of them no matter who they are'! Only with hatred for the village and the determination to never look back at the past and never waver for the past can you cut a scar on your forehead without hesitation. Do you have it?"

I looked at Gaara, then at Neji.

Gaara doesn't like the Sand Village, but has he ever thought about destroying the Sand Village and killing Lord Kankuro and Temari?

Not to mention Neji, he just hated his fate as a branch family being bound by the Hyuga family in Konoha, but he had no hatred towards Konoha, and it was impossible for him to have the idea of ​​destroying the village. Even if he met a ninja from Konoha in the future, he probably wouldn't want to fight with them.

As for me...it's even more impossible.

So from the time we left Konoha and the Sand Village until now, none of us has ever mentioned scratching the forehead guard.

"I don't care if you defected for any reason or not," Zabuza looked at me - I thought, maybe Shiro told him that I left Konoha because I was 'forced to leave by the higher-ups', "but from the moment you decided to leave, you were destined to stand on the opposite side of the people who remained in the village. If you meet again and act aggrieved, what do you want your friends to do? Do you want them to go against the village's orders and let you go, to help you? To take you back? Even if you become a renegade ninja, will you continue to be friends with them as before? Don't be ridiculous! Show how a renegade ninja should act! This will be good for both you and them. The more you draw a line in the sand and the more ruthless you are, the more relaxed both sides will be."

Shiro looked at Zabuza, then at me, looking a little worried.

"Asaro," Zabuza bent his fingers and tapped the table. I looked up at him, "If you meet Kakashi again, what will you do? If Kakashi, if your companions - Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, right, if they are ordered to hunt you down and stand in front of you, what will you say?"

“…I won’t go back.”

"And then what? They ask you why? What if they can't understand, get angry with you, cry at you, and are in great pain because you refuse? Can you stand by and watch, and stick to yourself? Are you going to tell the truth? Say it's because the higher-ups want your eyes? Say it's because there's no place for you in Konoha? Then what do you want them to do? Help you overthrow the higher-ups and launch a coup? Work with you from the inside and outside to take you back to the village? Believe your words and let you go, and then be suspected by the village and be investigated and monitored? Also tell me, what are you going to call Kakashi?"

I was a little confused: "What's your name...?"

Zabuza stared at me closely. "Etiquette is a kind of rule. Honorific titles and honorifics all represent a part of order. If you still call him Kakashi-sensei, it means you still think of yourself as his student. Your heart will be stuck where it is and you will only suffer. You must destroy this connection and order and regard him as your equal. You can no longer respect, acknowledge and obey him as you did before. On the contrary, the more you trample on him, despise him and despise him, the more you can find a new order - the order of the rebel ninjas."

"..."

"To put it simply," Bai said gently, "stop calling him 'Sensei' and just call him Kakashi."

"Hmph, that's not all, but let's do it first." Zabuza looked at Hyuga Neji, "What about you, little brat from the Hyuga family? Your last name is very traditional. How did you address your head of the family before?"

"…Hiashi-sama."

"From now on, name him. Hinata Hiashi, can you do it?"

Ningji: "..."

Neji is so old-fashioned and traditional, I thought this must be difficult for him, but I didn't expect him to just be silent for a moment and then said, "Okay."

"So, the first step to becoming a rebel ninja is to get rid of..." I paused, "is politeness?"

"I think it's probably because of the hierarchy that was instilled in me by the village." Bai Dao said, "In the village, we mostly decide who is superior and who is inferior based on the other person's status rather than their ability or character. But after leaving the village, you can choose who you want to respect. No matter how noble the other person's status is, as long as you look down on the other person, you never have to make yourself humbler than him. As long as you are strong enough, no one can force you to bow your head."

Neji's face almost lit up. I knew this was the kind of life he wanted.

"Kakashi..." I tried to get used to doing that, but it still felt very awkward. "Kakashi..."

"Practice more," Zabuza said, "This is for your own good. To become a rebel ninja, you have to get used to not only the environment, but most importantly, rebuild your heart. Otherwise... you will be crushed by the pressure. You had a nightmare yesterday, didn't you?"

He looked at me and said this. Before I could answer, he had already placed the boiled egg in front of me: "Eat more, you will be fine."

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