On the other side of the battlefield, Sako and Haku had already reached the forest, roughly a kilometer away from Naruko and the others.
The two faced each other in silence.
Neither moved.
Neither spoke.
Yet an invisible killing intent spread between them, heavy and suffocating, as if the forest itself were holding its breath.
The next instant, dozens of senbon and kunai burst from their hands at the same time.
"Clang! Clang! Clang—!"
The sharp sound of metal colliding echoed through the trees. But then, something unexpected happened—
After colliding with Haku's kunai, one of Sako's senbon rebounded at a precise angle, as if it had been carefully calculated beforehand. It curved unnaturally through the air and shot straight toward Haku's pale neck.
A thin line of blood appeared.
"What terrifying precision…"
Haku touched the wound, his expression darkening beneath the mask.
He had been genuinely startled. If he hadn't reacted at the last moment and twisted his body aside, that strike would have pierced his throat and ended the battle instantly.
I can't treat this girl like an ordinary subordinate…
With that thought, Haku slammed his palm against the ground, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
In the next moment, an overwhelming chill erupted from beneath his hand.
"Ice Release—!"
The ground froze instantly.
A terrifying cold surged outward like a tidal wave, white frost spreading in every direction. The earth hardened into ice inch by inch, the temperature plummeting as the frozen terrain swallowed the entire area in seconds.
However—
Just as the ice finished spreading, Sako, the original target, was gone.
Haku's gaze swept across the battlefield, but he couldn't find even the slightest trace of her.
"Where did she go?!"
Suddenly, a scorching wave of heat crashed down from above.
Haku's pupils shrank as he looked up—only to see a massive fireball, as large as a house, descending straight toward him.
"What overwhelming Fire Release!"
There was no time to dodge.
Haku brought his hands together instantly.
"Ice Release: Ice Dome!"
An ice wall erupted from his body, forming a defensive barrier just as the fireball smashed into it.
"BOOM—!"
Fire and ice collided violently, devouring each other. Thick white steam surged upward, blanketing the forest in fog.
When the vapor finally dispersed, Haku stood at the center of the battlefield.
The ice dome around him had melted by more than half. His clothes were torn, scorch marks visible across his body, and wisps of smoke still rose from the ground.
She looks so young… yet her ninjutsu power is terrifying.
At the very least, she's already at jōnin level.
And she's absolutely not someone insignificant.
Haku stared at Sako, his expression solemn beneath the mask.
"Is that all you can do?"
Sako looked at him calmly, boredom flickering in her eyes. Seeing that Haku didn't dare to advance recklessly, she shifted her gaze toward the distance and muttered to herself.
"Naruko's side should be finished by now."
Her casual confidence sent a chill through Haku's heart.
There was something deeply unsettling about this team.
Not only was the leader clearly an elite shinobi, but both Naruko and the girl in front of him carried an inexplicable pressure that made his instincts scream in warning.
His thoughts drifted involuntarily to Momochi Zabuza.
Please… don't let anything happen to him.
Haku and Zabuza were bound far more deeply than master and subordinate.
Haku had been born over a decade ago in a small village of the Land of Water. At the time, the villagers feared war and despised those who possessed kekkei genkai.
When his father discovered Haku's Ice Release bloodline, tragedy followed.
Driven by fear, the villagers—led by his own father—killed his mother.
Cornered, terrified, and on the brink of death, Haku's power awakened in an instant. Ice engulfed the village, and everyone who threatened him died.
From that day on, he wandered the Land of Water alone.
If not for Zabuza taking him in—teaching him how to survive, how to fight, how to live as a shinobi—Haku knew he would never have survived until today.
For Zabuza's sake…
He could not afford to lose here.
Therefore, in Haku's eyes, a life that must not be lost was far more important than his own.
He slowly removed his mask, revealing a face delicate enough to be mistaken for a woman's. His eyes were clear, filled with quiet resolve.
"I have to return to Zabuza-sama."
Taking a deep breath, Haku brought his hands together. An immense surge of chakra erupted from within his body, the air around him instantly dropping in temperature.
He stared straight at Sako and spoke each word with absolute determination.
"Here… I will defeat you."
"Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
The moment the technique was activated, dozens of ice mirrors formed around Sako, enclosing her at the center. Haku's body retreated and dissolved into the nearest mirror, his reflection appearing and disappearing as he moved freely between them.
His presence became impossible to track.
"Water Release Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles!"
From within the mirrors, Haku formed senbon entirely out of Water Release chakra. In the blink of an eye, thousands of water needles rained down toward Sako like a torrential storm, dense enough to blot out her silhouette.
Yet Sako remained calm.
Her expression didn't change in the slightest as the three-tomoe Sharingan slowly spun in her eyes.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."
Dozens of fireballs burst forth, dancing across her body in controlled arcs. The intense heat instantly vaporized the incoming water needles, turning them into thick clouds of steam before they could reach her.
Sako's gaze followed Haku's movements as he flickered rapidly between the mirrors.
Then—
Lightning exploded from her right hand.
"Chidori Senbon."
Countless razor-thin lightning needles shot outward in every direction, each one formed through extreme shape transformation of Lightning Release chakra. They pierced through the air with terrifying speed, striking the ice mirrors simultaneously.
Crack—crash!
Dozens of ice mirrors shattered at once, exploding into fragments.
Haku was forcibly expelled from the technique, his body thrown out of the mirror network. Lightning scars crisscrossed his body where the Chidori Senbon had struck.
"Pfft—!"
A mouthful of blood spilled from his lips.
Haku struggled to steady himself, his face pale as he looked at Sako, disbelief and resolve warring in his eyes.
(End of Chapter)
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