Chapter 246: 239. Battle of the Bridge (Sasuke Vs Haku)
Sasuke senses the chill in the atmosphere and frowns.
'An Ice Style User!'
Whoosh…
Haku quickly closes the distance between him and Sasuke while making some hand signs.
Swish… swish…
"Water Release: Secret Art: Thousand Stinging Needles of Death"
Swoosh… swoosh… swoosh…
Haku creates a thousand senbons of water from the surroundings and aims them at Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke.
Swish…
He waves his hands and launches the needles at the group from all directions.
'Crap! I can easily avoid them but I can't say the same for Sakura and the bridge builder. Although these needles will cause superficial injuries to a Ninja; they are quite lethal to a civilian like Tazuna.'
Tch…
Sasuke clicks his tongue and makes some hand signs.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Fire Barrage"
Sasuke rapidly spats out a large number of small fireballs around to counteract the water senbons. The small fireball covers a large area and quickly evaporates the water needles.
The resulting clash creates a screen of water vapor and mist.
Using this opportunity, Sasuke throws multiple shurikens towards Haku.
Swish…
He draws a pair of metal wires from his holster and controls the movement of the shurikens.
Clang… clang…
Haku deflects the shurikens with a kunai but Sasuke controls their trajectory and continues to lock on Haku making him unable to counterattack.
Zabuza who is locked in a battle with Naruto momentarily stares at the situation and is shocked to see the battle.
"That boy… he can fight on even ground with Haku. No… he has forced Haku on defensive."
Bang…
Using this chance, the clones of Naruto punches Zabuza. Zabuza blocks the attack, but the impact sends him flying. He falls beside Kakashi, who silently walks towards Zabuza.
"It's enough Naruto."
Kakashi stops Naruto.
Swish… swish…
He makes some hand signs and taps Zabuza's forehead.
"Ninja Art: Chakra Suppression Seal"
Kakashi seals Zabuza's chakra and sits beside him as he watches Sasuke's battle.
Earlier, Kakashi received a message from Izuna to not kill Zabuza since he has some use for Zabuza.
"Kakashi Hatake…"
Zabuza stops resisting since he realized earlier.
'These bunches of kids are monsters. Then there is also the Copy Ninja.'
He turns towards Kakashi and curiously asks him.
"What's the deal with these kids? Who are they? Why are they are so strong?"
"Oh!"
Kakashi raises his eyebrow and answers.
"These kids were personally trained by Izuna Uchiha the 'Silent Shinigami'."
"Si… Silent Shinigami…"
Zabuza takes a deep breath as some terrifying memories of the Third Ninja War flashes in his mind.
He participated in the Third Great Ninja war as one of the chunnin of Kiri under the orders of the Noble Faction.
During a supply escort mission, he saw an Eight-year-old kid with a Konoha headband brutally assassinating the entire escort team.
He barely survived the massacre by jumping down a cliff.
"No wonder these kids are so terrifyingly strong. But still…"
Zabuza has a pensive gaze on his face as he stares at Haku.
"Haku has yet to use the power of his cursed bloodline, the power of his Kekkei Genkai 'Ice Release'."
He remarks.
"That kid might not be Haku's match once Haku gets serious."
"You think so…"
Kakashi shrugs his shoulder and remarks.
"Sasuke is an Uchiha. Unlike me, he possesses a complete pair of fully matured Sharingan."
"What?!" Zabuza's eyes widen in shock as he turns towards Sasuke.
"This boy has awakened his Kekkei Genkai."
"See for yourself."
Kakashi removes the mask from his eye and activates his Sharingan to watch the battle.
'Though I can't copy Ice Release, I can still learn more about its weakness and strengths.'
At the bridge,
Haku is caught in a desperate situation as he is unable to retaliate against Sasuke's relentless attacks. He is locked in a defensive stance.
Haah…
Haku riles up his chakra and deflects the shurikens and makes some One hand signs.
"Ice Release: Certain-Kill Ice Spears"
Swoosh… swoosh…
Suddenly, multiple ice spears erupt from the ground, impaling everything in its vicinity.
Whoosh…
Sasuke senses the danger and quickly jumps in the air, twisting his body to avoid the deadly spears.
Swish… swish… swish…
He makes some hand signs while mid-air.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu"
He spews out a large amount of flames from his mouth. The flames morph into a giant flame dragon and rams through the ice quickly melting it.
"Fire Release: Fierce Dragon Flame Jutsu"
Sasuke makes some more hand signs and the flames congeal at a spot turning into a large dragon head shaped-fireball.
Haah…
Sasuke directs the fireball towards Haku in an attempt to end the battle.
'With this, the battle will come to an end. I want to preserve my chakra for sticky situations besides this technique requires a large amount of chakra to perform.'
BOOM…
The giant dragon fireball engulfs Haku and explodes on top of him. A deafening explosion rings in the surroundings, evaporating the surrounding water.
"This Jutsu… I never saw him use it. It is at least a B-Rank jutsu."
Kakashi murmurs to himself while witnessing the sheer destructive force behind the explosion.
"Looks like this battle is over."
He shakes his head.
"No… wait!"
As if sensing something, Kakashi turns towards the battle.
A giant igloo-like dome appears in his vision. The hunter-nin boy is encased in the ice while sheltered from the explosion.
There are some faint cracks on the ice dome but it still intact after sustaining that earlier explosion.
"Such a strong defense. It is almost on par with Kazekage's sand shield."
Kakashi murmurs as he inspects the ice Igloo.
Hmph…
Sasuke snorts at the giant Igloo.
"So, this dome can distribute the force of blunt attacks over its entire surface thus greatly reducing the impact."
He quickly figures out the weakness of the jutsu.
"In that case…"
Swish… swish… swish…
Sasuke quickly makes some hand signs.
"Lightning Release: Chidori"
Chii… chirp…
Chirping of thousand bird rings in the air as Sasuke infuses a large amount of Lighting chakra in his hand.
Whoosh…
He flickers towards the ice dome and attacks it with his Chidori.
Stab… Crack… crack…
The Chidori penetrates through the thick ice barrier and shatters it into countless ice fragments.
Stab… spurt…
The momentum of Chidori dies down but Sasuke still manages to stab through Haku's shoulder.
Aaah…
Haku tightly clenches his teeth and grabs Sasuke's left arm with his right hand.
Swish… swish… swish…
He quickly makes some One-hand signs.
"One-hand signs?!"
Kakashi raises his eyebrows.
"This boy has quite the talent for Ninjutsu, unlike certain someone."
Kakashi directs his gaze towards Sakura.
Ah!
Sakura senses a gaze on her. She looks around, but Kakashi removes his gaze and turns towards the battle.
"It's getting interesting every moment. I wonder what other surprises this boy holds and how will Sasuke react to them?"
"Ice Release: Thousand Stinging Needles of Death"
Haku uses the ice version of his earlier water jutsu and summons a thousand ice senbons to pierce through Sasuke and turn him into a porcupine.
"Hmph… Not so fast!"
Chii… chirp…
Sasuke infuses some more lighting chakra in his left hand and stabs through Haku's shoulder to free himself.
ARGH!!…
Haku releases a scream of agony and lets off Sasuke's hand.
Swoosh…
Sasuke jumps in the air to avoid the ice senbons.
Stab… stab…
Still, a few ice senbon manages to stab through his left leg. Sasuke feels a numbing sensation in his leg as the senbons freeze his chakra acupoints thus, disabling his left leg for a while.
Clang… clang…
Sasuke pulls out the senbons from his legs and throws them aside.
Haah… haah…
Haku is breathing heavily as blood spurts from his shoulder.
"I can't give up at this point. For the sake of dreams of the person I respect; I will give my all."
Whoosh…
The surrounding temperature plummets rapidly. Haku freezes the wound on his shoulder and starts to make some quick hand signs.
Kakashi observes the change in Haku's resolve and remarks.
"You have got quite the sophisticated tool, Zabuza."
"The world is a big place… Kakashi Hatake. You will never understand the pain and loneliness of being rejected and feared by your very own people."
Zabuza speaks in a hoarse voice.
"When I met this boy, he was all alone; without any family, without anybody to look for him. I just offered some sweet words, and he became a tool for me."
Kakashi lifts his head and turns towards Naruto. Sakura is tending to his wounds as he grimaces in pain.
'I might not understand his pain, but someone else might.'
Swish… swish… swish… swoosh…
Haku clasps his hands as he finishes his hand signs.
"Secret Art: Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals"
Shoom… Shoom…
The surrounding water vapors quickly condense in ice mirrors and surround Sasuke. The mirrors fuse to form a giant dome of ice mirrors.
Whoosh…
Haku enters one of the mirrors as his reflection appears in all other mirrors.
"Now, it's my turn to attack."
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Chapter 247: 240. Battle of The Bridge (End)
Whoosh…
Haku's figure enters the ice mirrors surrounding Sasuke.
Shoom… shoom… shoom…
Multiple reflections of Haku appear in Sasuke's vision.
"A cloning Jutsu?!"
A frown appears on Sasuke's face.
Hmm…
He scrutinizes the mirrors and realizes.
"No! They are his images formed by the phenomenon of the light trapped in this mirror. The light reflected from his body suffers a total internal reflection and thus multiple reflections of his forms in these ice mirrors."
Haah…
Sasuke takes a Taijutsu stance ready to intercept Haku's move.
Swish… swish… swish…
Haku and his reflections simultaneously make some hand signs.
"Ice Release: Thousand Stinging Needles of Death"
Multiple ice senbons lock on Sasuke's position.
Swoosh.. swoosh…
The ice senbon barrage attacks him from all directions.
Haah…
Facing the incoming barrage of the ice senbons, Sasuke takes a deep breath and calms himself.
"Sharingan"
Shiing…
Sasuke's eyes changes and a three tomoe Sharingan appears in both of his eyes.
Clang… clang… clang…
Sasuke's body moves at an incredible speed as he smoothly deflects all the incoming attacks. His breathing is normal, and there is no hint of exhaustion or sweat on his body.
"This is…"
Zabuza's eyes widen in shock.
"How is this boy able to keep up with Haku's almost light-speed attacks?" He murmurs to himself.
Soon, he notices the tomoes in Sasuke's eyes and gets his answer.
"No wonder… Haku never stood a chance."
Zabuza sighs and stops resisting.
Swoosh…
Sasuke deflects the final senbon and turns towards a mirror.
"It's time to end this useless struggle."
Swish… swish… swish…
He makes multiple hand signs and takes a deep breath.
"Fire Style: Blazing Fireball Shower"
He spits out a volley of fireballs into the air. The fireballs spread out through the ice dome and simultaneously attack all of Haku's images.
BOOM… BOOM…
The fireballs explode on top of the ice mirrors. Searing flames rise through the ice dome, raising the surrounding temperature rapidly.
Crack… crack…
Multiple cracks form on Ice dome's surface.
BAM…
The jutsu shatters into countless ice fragments which instantly melt in vapors because of the flames.
A figure falls from the air.
Whoosh…
Sasuke flickers in front of the figure.
Haah…
He performs a roundhouse kick and attacks the masked face of the figure.
Bang…
Haku is sent flying by Sasuke's attack.
BAM…
He crashes into a nearby wooden pillar and his hunter-nin mask shatters. Blood leaks from Haku's mouth. His eyes lifelessly stare at Zabuza.
"I am sorry, Zabuza. I failed to fulfill the mission you gave me."
Haku silently murmurs to himself as a wave of exhaustion washed over him.
"Huh! He is…"
Naruto immediately recognizes Haku from the previous day.
"Hey! He is that pretty boy from the previous day."
Naruto immediately rushes towards Haku.
"Seems like you handled the situation well."
Izuna appears beside Kakashi and nods his head.
"It was not much big of a deal. Naruto and Sasuke did most of the job."
Kakashi replies without even turning back.
"I guess! You taught them well." Izuna remarks with a grin.
"Not as well as you did!" Kakashi retorts.
"Anyway, I will take things from here on."
Izuna turns towards Zabuza with a smile.
Gulp…
Zabuza gulps his saliva as he recognizes Izuna.
'The Silent Shinigami Izuna Uchiha. He is a death God in human form. Looks like this is the end for me.'
Hmm…
Izuna walks towards Zabuza and stares at the broken blade in his hand. He picks up the broken blade and draws his finger over the broken edge.
"I hope Mei won't be angry over this matter. It's still one of the famed blades of Seven Swordsman of the Mist."
'The flow of chakra is not smooth in this blade. Also, this blade has durability issues.'
Izuna judges the quality of the blade.
"My blade is much better than this."
He turns his attention to Zabuza.
"As for you… Hmm…"
Izuna ponders over Zabuza's fate.
Gulp…
Zabuza gulps another mouthful of saliva as Izuna's gaze lingers over him.
He breaks out in a cold sweat as in his mind an image of a Shinigami wielding a scythe overlap with Izuna. The Executioner's blade in Izuna's hand glows with a sharp tint as Izuna subconsciously waves it.
"I will let Mei decide your fate. Since you are a rogue shinobi of Kiri."
Phew…
Zabuza heaves a sigh of relief.
'At least it won't be worse than being handled by this Death God.'
Hmm…
Izuna turns his attention towards Naruto and Haku.
"YO! I never expected to meet you so soon."
Ugh…
Haku slowly lifts his head and notices Naruto.
"Na… Naruto…"
He slowly tries to stand up.
"Hey! Hey! Take it easy."
Naruto stops Haku.
"I will tend to your wounds."
He turns around and notices Izuna. Naruto's eyes lit up, and he waves his hand to Izuna.
"Nii-san!… I need your help Nii-san."
"This troublemaker…"
Izuna shakes his head and walks towards them. He notices Haku's injuries and turns to Sasuke.
"You went easy on this boy. It's so unlikely of you, Sasuke."
Swoosh…
Izuna uses Mythical Palm Technique to heal Haku's injuries.
"I did for sure. If not, then a certain knucklehead would pester me to no end."
Sasuke shakes his head.
"Hey! I won't." Naruto retorts.
"Oh! Really…" Sasuke smirks.
"If my facts are correct, then a certain someone exhausted himself while training in the wild and then slept like a log in the wild. If not for me keeping a close eye on you, then a certain someone might have sent you on your one-way trip to…"
Swish…
Sasuke does a cut-throat motion.
Gulp…
Naruto gulps a mouthful of saliva and retorts.
"In the end, I am safe. Nothing happened to me."
"Hmph… I don't know about his intentions. He might have detected my presence and thus I acted as deterrence for him or there might be some other reason." Sasuke snorts.
"OK! OK! Calm down, you both." Izuna calms them down.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" He turns to Haku.
"I… I…"
Haku stammers for a while before he gets hold of his breath. An earnest expression appears on his face as he answers.
"It's true that when I met Naruto, initially I had the urge to kill him and get rid of Zabuza's burden. But… but… somehow the way Naruto treated me made me change my mind. He… he treated me like a friend. Up till now, kids of my age were either afraid of my abilities and adults would try to kill me, once they came to know about them.
Only Zabuza was different. Even if he treated me like a tool; he never saw me with scorn like others. So… so… I was happy to be Zabuza's tool. He was my only family. Sniff… sniff…"
Haku has tears in his eyes as he recounts his past.
Sob… sob…
Tears stream down Naruto's eyes as he bowls his eyes out.
Sigh…
Sasuke shakes his head and pats Naruto's shoulder.
"…"
Izuna silently stares at the group.
'Look at this bunch, acting all grown-up and childish at the same time.'
Izuna only felt a slight sympathy for Haku.
'This is the dark truth of this Shinobi World. Konoha had it quite easy compared to other nations; thanks to the effort of a certain Hokage. Still, we had our cancerous tumors in the past.'
Izuna sighs to himself and addresses the bunch.
"Enough chitchat! I have to take him into custody and present him to Kiri for judgment. Despite his past, he still has committed lots of crimes under the orders of Zabuza. Now is the time to account for them."
"But Nii-san! He is…" Naruto protests but Izuna glares at him.
Naruto gulps a mouthful of saliva and swallows his words.
"It's alright, Naruto! I have to account for my sins. If I get an opportunity in the future, then we will meet again." Haku assures Naruto.
He turns towards Izuna and nods his head.
"I am ready."
'Oh! He is quite cooperative. Maybe his interaction with Naruto changed his mentality. That's the protagonist aura for you.'
Izuna shakes his head and turns to Kakashi.
"Kakashi! With this, your mission is complete. The only thing left for you is to deal with Gato and his goons."
Izuna turns towards the other end of the bridge, where a bunch of hoodlums are marching towards the group.
"Hmm… I will take care of it."
Kakashi nods his head.
Izuna grabs Zabuza and Haku.
"See you later, everyone!"
Ayaka jumps from the top of the tree and lands on Izuna's head.
"Ayaka!!"
Naruto and Sasuke stare at her in shock.
"I couldn't sense your presence till now." Sasuke shakes his head.
"You need more training, Sasuke Nii-san!"
Ayaka sticks out her tongue and teases them.
"I think so too." Izuna nods his head.
"NOOO!!"
Naruto and Sasuke sweat drop and yell in unison.
Haku is amused to see them act like this.
'They are already so strong. What kind of training are they doing?'
It piques Haku's interest.
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