Reality, in its crudest, most unadulterated form, tore apart Haku's last illusion.
The Chakra flow inside the Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals instantly fell into destructive chaos.
"Crack... crunch..."
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the ice mirrors. What was once Haku's proud masterpiece, a perfect embodiment of his will and power, now looked like a discarded piece of glass, fragile beyond measure.
His face beneath the mask had long lost its color. Shock, humiliation, and the dazed feeling of being stabbed in the back completely destroyed his will to condense Chakra.
The ice crystals melted, turning into water vapor, returning to the surrounding thick mist.
Naruto calmly watched Haku kneel on the ground, not pursuing. He merely stated a fact that had already occurred.
"Now, you see the real 'sand.'"
"Do you still want to build a ship with it?"
These words, like a red-hot iron nail, pierced Haku's soul.
"Crash—"
The last ice mirror shattered.
The standoff on the bridge came to an abrupt halt. Kakashi and Zabuza stopped at the same time, looking at the empty space where the Chakra had dissipated.
Sasuke's condition had recovered slightly. He swayed as he stood up, just in time to see this scene.
Haku, the enemy so powerful he made Sasuke feel despair, was now bowing his head in silence, like a student who had made a mistake.
And in front of him, Uzumaki Naruto stood with his hands behind his back.
"Haku!" Zabuza's roar ripped through the mist, "You..."
"Lord Zabuza."
Haku interrupted him. He didn't turn around, but slowly faced Zabuza, and with an unprecedented posture, knelt on one knee.
It wasn't a tool's obeisance to its master.
It was an admonition, mixed with sadness, awakening, and determination.
"We... took the wrong path."
His voice was not loud, yet it was incredibly clear.
Zabuza's mind went blank, then he recalled the scene when he had just defected from the Hidden Mist Village and met Haku on the road.
They traveled together, and Haku, holding snowflakes condensed by Ice Release, said to him:
"Lord Zabuza's dream is my dream."
And at this moment, the thick mist that had plagued everyone, as if having completed its mission, began to dissipate rapidly.
The sunlight once again pierced through the clouds, illuminating the entire bridge.
It also illuminated the other end of the bridge, where a dense mass of figures stood.
Gatō, the short, fat-faced man, stood at the forefront. Behind him were hundreds of thugs and ronin armed with machetes, spears, and iron rods. The expressions on their faces were a mix of greed, cruelty, and foolishness.
They surrounded all the Ninja on the bridge.
"Hahahahaha!" Gatō let out a shrill laugh, triumphantly pointing his cane at Zabuza, "Zabuza the Demon? What an expensive piece of trash! I spent so much money on him, and he can't even handle a few Konoha brats!"
Zabuza's body stiffened.
He looked at the smug Gatō, then at Haku, who was kneeling on the ground, admitting he had "taken the wrong path."
For the first time, his heart, filled with ambition and hatred, felt a cold bewilderment and the anger of being utterly betrayed.
"Zabuza Momochi, your usefulness has run out." Gatō spat, "I originally wanted you all to fight until you were both wounded, and then I'd clean up the mess. Now it seems you can't even manage that much."
"But it doesn't matter." He waved his cane, "The result is the same anyway. Chop them, along with that old man who built the bridge, into mincemeat! This bridge, and this country, all belong to me, Gatō!"
The thugs let out a roar of excitement, tightening their grip on their weapons.
In their eyes, these legendary Ninja were nothing more than a few trapped beasts.
Zabuza was plunged into immense humiliation. He had spent his life using others, treating people's hearts as tools, yet he never expected that he himself would eventually become an expensive tool, used and then discarded.
Just then, Haku stood up.
He didn't look at the thugs, but instead stood in front of Zabuza.
"Lord Zabuza, that Konoha boy told me that loyalty is wood, which can build a ship to sail far. But a contract built on interests is sand, which scatters with a single blow."
He used his own words to relay the theory that had completely overturned his understanding.
"Our dream is to establish our own order in this decaying world. This is our 'ship.'"
"Working for someone like Gatō is just using sand to fill holes in the ship. We were wrong from the very beginning."
His voice was incredibly calm. The coldness of a weapon was still there, but the core had changed.
"I am loyal to your dream. Not this mistaken method."
"So, please trust my choice this time."
Zabuza gasped violently. He looked at Haku's back; he was a tool Zabuza had picked up from the snow, his sharpest blade. But now, this blade had a will of its own.
This made him angry, yet he couldn't refute it. He couldn't ignore the blatant reality.
He looked at Naruto in the distance.
The blond boy had merely stood quietly from beginning to end, as if the encirclement by hundreds of people, this life-and-death betrayal, was just a drama he had anticipated.
Everything was under control.
Sasuke clenched his fists. If it were just a gap in strength, he could still find a direction to catch up, but Naruto's actions had already exceeded his comprehension.
How could he learn the ability to defeat enemies without fighting, just by talking, and even pull them to his side?
He looked at Naruto's figure, unconsciously feeling a sense of longing, thinking that as long as he had the same will, revenge and killing Uchiha Itachi would only be a matter of time.
"Am I admiring him?" Sasuke suddenly shivered.
"Impossible, he's just a tool that can help me get revenge."
While everyone on the bridge was caught in their own internal struggles, Naruto took a step forward.
Naruto walked past Kakashi, past Zabuza and Haku, and stood alone, facing the hundreds of armed thugs.
Gatō saw him and laughed even more wildly.
"Oh? Another brat who isn't afraid of death? Do you want to be chopped up first?"
Naruto didn't look at him.
His gaze swept over the distorted faces, driven by money and desire.
Then, in a flat, emotionless tone, he announced the verdict.
"In the name of Konoha Hidden Village, all illegal armed forces within the Land of Waves will be forcibly purged."
"Lay down your weapons, clasp your hands behind your head, and kneel on the ground, and you will receive basic humanitarian treatment."
His voice paused, and in his blue eyes, there was not a trace of pity.
"All resistors will be considered hostile combatants."
"And eliminated."
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