Kill… the Mist rogue ninja?
Sasuke raised his head to look at Naruto, almost instinctively frowning.
With just the three of them, could they really kill a jōnin on the same level as Kakashi?
Not to mention that Zabuza had a masked boy of unknown strength by his side—how could that even be possible? It was sheer madness.
Sakura stared at Naruto in shock, almost thinking her ears had failed her."Naruto, we're just genin! Killing a jōnin… that's impossible, isn't it?"
"I can." Naruto lifted his hand, molten heat surging across his palm.
"This is…?" Sakura froze in place.
"I don't know how I learned it either." Naruto scratched his head, pretending to be innocent. "It just came out once when I was in a tight spot."
Sasuke fell silent, his gaze drifting. Ever since leaving the academy, the gap between them had only widened.
That person had once said the other squads were mostly clan ninja—many of them had inherited secret techniques just like the Uchiha once did.
But now, the Uchiha clan no longer existed…
For an instant, Sasuke's eyes dimmed with helplessness, though it quickly vanished.
"What should we do?" Sasuke raised his head, eyes hardening.Either grow stronger in battle, or die in battle. If he stayed as he was, he would never kill that man.
"Strike while they're weak!" Naruto said decisively. "Kakashi-sensei is still badly injured, and Zabuza was at a disadvantage back then. That masked kid's arm is half-ruined. This is our best chance!"
"Naruto!" Sakura's mind went blank—she finally realized they were serious about going after those two jōnin.
"But we don't even know where they are."
"I do!" Naruto suddenly smiled. "They can't run far. They're definitely holed up somewhere in the forest—maybe a cabin, maybe a house."
Sakura looked from Naruto to Sasuke. Seeing the resolve in both of them, she knew there was no turning back.
"Isn't this too risky?" she asked nervously.
Both boys turned to look at her. Flustered, she stammered, "W-what is it?"
"Nothing," Naruto said. "But Sakura, if we don't act now, things will get even more dangerous once they recover. We have no retreat left. Behind Zabuza is Gato—you heard that drunkard Tazuna, didn't you?"
"Gato commands plenty of rogue ninja and mercenary samurai. If we don't eliminate Zabuza and the masked kid, we'll have to face both forces at once."
He held up four fingers."There are only four of us—one jōnin and three genin. If we face both Gato and Zabuza, it's hopeless. Right now, we're just three, but only need to take out a masked boy with half an arm gone. No matter how you see it, striking now is the best plan."
His words made perfect sense. Sakura widened her eyes but couldn't refute him. Finally, she bit her lip and nodded.
Seeing this, Naruto scanned the two of them, his expression serious."Trust me. This time, we will win. Once Zabuza is gone, Gato is nothing more than an insect."
And he wasn't exaggerating. Zabuza was the strongest ninja Gato could hire. A greedy, ruthless businessman like Gato would never pay the high price for a legitimate shinobi.
His so-called forces were just rogues and thugs. He only hired Zabuza because he was a missing-nin—cheap and expendable.
The truth was simple: Gato wanted Tazuna, the bridge-builder, dead. When he found out Tazuna had hired bodyguards from Konoha, he called in a "side job."
But Gato never intended to pay. He planned to let both sides wear each other down and then reap the rewards.
Night fell.
Team 7 set out on their first independent operation, moving stealthily into the forest.
"Found them." Naruto returned after scouting, lowering his voice. "They're in that two-story cabin in the woods."
Sakura tensed instantly.
"I'll go frontal. You flank. Sakura provides genjutsu support," Sasuke quickly laid out the plan.
"Good!" Naruto nodded. "But there's one thing I need to confirm."
"What is it?"
"The Uchiha are famous for their Sharingan," Naruto said casually. "Sasuke, you'd better go all out from the start. That way Sakura's safer. The longer the fight drags on, the more danger she's in."
"M-me?" Sakura was confused, but tension surged through her. "Don't worry about me—I can take care of myself!"
"Sakura, fighting isn't your strength," Naruto said, meeting her eyes. "You don't need to overdo it. Sasuke and I will handle the combat. What we need from you is support with illusions—if things go wrong, we'll depend on you to cover our escape."
Hearing this, Sakura felt a wave of emotion. She nodded firmly."Don't worry. I can do it!"
Whether she could or not, Naruto didn't know. But he knew that with Zabuza and Haku so close, if he and Sasuke went all in from the start, Haku wouldn't stand a chance.
The three took positions around the cabin.
Exchanging quick glances, Sasuke moved first. Sprinting forward, he flicked three shuriken at sharp angles toward the house.
Naruto circled around, his entire body wreathed in dark red chakra. Lava release poured out of him, burning with killing intent.
Sakura inhaled deeply, timing her handsigns to match Sasuke's shuriken. As the window shattered, she cast her genjutsu.
Naruto smashed straight through the cabin wall, molten chakra igniting the structure.
Haku staggered out with Zabuza on his back, his blackened arm dangling uselessly.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke was already blocking their path, his scarlet one-tomoe Sharingan spinning open.
Haku, caught mid-handsign, froze for an instant—long enough for Sakura to strike with another illusion.
"Die!" Naruto's blood-red eyes blazed with madness.
In that moment of hesitation, he charged, molten heat consuming his body, piercing straight through Haku's chest.
The lava burned through Zabuza as well, too weakened to move. Their eyes widened in disbelief as death claimed them both.
[Gato's treasure has been stored in the inventory.]