Sasuke Uchiha clenched the threads between both hands and his teeth, pulling with all his strength.
Unaware of what was happening, Haku found himself completely bound by the threads attached to his entire body.
Naruto Uzumaki hesitated for a split second when he saw Haku completely bound by those threads.
Sasuke actually did it.
"I'm from the Uchiha Clan! We excel at throwing ninja tools—how could I possibly miss? Every finger on your hands is now controlled by these threads. You can't form hand seals anymore. Right now, you're just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. This fight is ours to win! Naruto! Deliver the finishing blow!"
Sasuke shouted toward Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto had already charged toward Haku.
[Wind Breathing: First Sword Type – Dust Cyclone Slash!]
Naruto rushed close to Haku and swung his blade at him.
However, what neither Sasuke nor Naruto expected happened—one by one, the threads binding Haku began breaking until all finally snapped.
Haku's seal formation speed increased again. In an instant, he formed a thick wall of ice in front of him to block Naruto's blade.
Sasuke's pale face turned extremely grim.
The extreme cold had made the threads brittle.
"Ahhh!"
Naruto roared, trying to slice through the ice blocking Haku with wind blades.
Ice shards continuously flew as wind blades struck the ice wall.
Haku started forming seals with one hand.
[Ice Release: Frostbite Spear!]
Above Naruto, numerous sharp ice spears formed and rained down toward him.
Faced with Haku's attack, Naruto had no choice but to abandon attacking Haku directly and instead deal with the incoming ice spears.
[Wind Breathing: Fourth Stage – Ascending Dust Storm!]
Naruto slashed upward, sending five wind blades flying that cut through all the ice spears.
But Haku took this opportunity to deliver a heavy kick into Naruto's abdomen, sending him flying away.
Naruto landed beside Sasuke.
Sasuke spat out some blood and struggled to get up.
Naruto held Sasuke back, "Don't push yourself. Leave this to me now. You need to stop the bleeding from your wound."
But Sasuke refused to listen—he couldn't accept being so weak that he couldn't even fight alongside Naruto anymore.
He still had an ocean of vengeance to settle—he wouldn't allow himself to remain this powerless.
Naruto frowned while persuading him, "Didn't you say earlier you wanted to kill someone? If you die here, you won't be able to fulfill that goal. Let me handle things while you recover."
When Sasuke heard Naruto's words, complicated emotions surged inside him.
If he died here, he'd never be able to take revenge against Itachi Uchiha.
Weak—too weak. Why was he so weak? Hadn't he worked hard enough?
Back then, he'd been powerless against Itachi—and now, once again, he was helpless.
Sasuke's Dual Single-Tomoe Sharingan had evolved into the Double Tomoe Sharingan.
But gravely injured as he was, even this new evolution of his Sharingan could do nothing to aid him now.
Sasuke Uchiha sat up on the icy surface and began staunching his own wounds, planning to continue fighting once he had stabilized.
Sasuke Uchiha wasn't about to back down from this fight. If he died before avenging his loss to Itachi Uchiha, it would only mean he wasn't worthy of that vengeance in the first place.
In his current state, it was indeed unwise to keep fighting alongside Naruto Uzumaki, because he could end up being a burden.
Sasuke Uchiha would never allow himself to become a liability.
Seeing Sasuke Uchiha begin healing, Naruto Uzumaki also felt relieved.
He'd already tried talking sense into him. If Sasuke insisted on fighting regardless, there was nothing else he could do.
He had to let Sasuke choose his own path.
Just at that moment, mirrors made of ice appeared around Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, completely surrounding them.
[Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Thin Ice!]
Haku entered one of the ice mirrors and merged inside, and at the same time, copies of Haku appeared in every mirror.
Faced with this jutsu from Haku, Naruto didn't know its power, but he had a very bad feeling about it.
Gripping the ninja sword tightly, Naruto rushed toward the mirror Haku had just disappeared into.
[Wind Breathing, Second Form: Claws of the Ko Wind!]
Naruto swung four Claw-shaped Wind Blades at the mirror.
Yet when the full-powered slash hit the mirror, instead of shattering, it merely caused some ice fragments to break off.
"Naruto! Watch your back!"
From behind Naruto, several senbon needles shot toward his back.
Naruto dodged aside.
Somewhat shocked, Naruto realized these needles had come from behind — meaning Haku must now be inside one of the mirrors behind him.
When had he moved?
Sure enough, Haku's real attack followed immediately.
Haku rapidly transferred between the mirrors, and during each transfer, threw countless senbon needles.
Naruto could only defend passively.
But the senbon were simply too numerous, and there was no way of predicting where the next strike would come from.
Many senbon had already pierced Naruto's body.
"Aunt Miyuki, please loosen your grip..."
Uzumaki Sōnagi winced with pain as a tense Uzumaki Miyuki gripped his arm tightly.
"Oh, sorry, Sōnagi."
Uzumaki Miyuki released her hold on Uzumaki Sōnagi.
Rubbing his arm, Sōnagi comforted Miyuki, "Don't worry, Aunt Miyuki. Although Haku's attacks look intense, the damage is actually minimal. For Naruto, they're nothing but light injuries."
Mm...
Miyuki Uzumaki responded absent-mindedly while continuing to stare fixedly at where Naruto stood.
Haku's wave of attacks ended, and Naruto fell to the ground, turned into a veritable human pincushion.
"Naruto!"
A weakened Sasuke Uchiha anxiously called out to Naruto.
Naruto stood up again. He definitely looked like a mess, but as Sōnagi said, appearances can be deceiving — those weren't serious injuries at all.
After all, Naruto had the Nine-Tails to heal him. Even without the Nine-Tails, they wouldn't be anything to worry about.
Naruto Uzumaki glared nervously at Haku trapped within the Ice Mirrors. He knew they weren't on the same level anymore—if things kept going like this, he was definitely going to lose. He couldn't tell which Ice Mirror Haku was hiding in, and his strength just wasn't enough to break through them.
"Nine-Tails, help me!"
The Nine-Tails grumbled, "Fine."
Gritting his teeth, Naruto reached out for the Nine-Tails' power. His pupils turned into red beast-like eyes, and red chakra surged from within him, forming a Tailed Beast Coat that covered his body, with one tail emerging.
At the same time, the Senbon needles embedded in his body were expelled by the Tailed Beast Chakra.
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