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Naruto: The Chosen Undead

Reader mode
Think since lordran is in the soul of seals it might tie into hashiramas wood style, and narutos mix of energies that he was subconsciously releasing created life in a similar way. Kinda ties into how lore wise how kekkei genkai pass down like dojustsu, but wood release vanished. Have to have a mix of energies from narutoverse and lordran? or maybe hes more closely tied to nature as an everlasting dragon.
 
Naruto canonically has alot of girls to pick from if he hadn't gone with Hinata. So it wouldn't be a surprise if he gained the heart of Dragon-Waifu-Snuggle-Tail.

As for Jutsu.

Lean into that wind element with Wind Clones. Self moving blenders that can explode with concussive pressure and razor wind shrapnel.

Follow up with an Earth Jutsu of diggy diggy since he's part Dragon now, on top of having a fox in him who are all about diggy diggy. Then he can chase Oscar when he tries to dig to escape.

Then a fire Jutsu, because it never hurts to have more fire.

The wind one is the only one I'm serious about.

Speaking of the Fox, the hell he think of everything going on?
 
Chapter no.52 Naruto New
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    • Chapter no.52 Beneath the Mist, A Knife in Every Hand

    Naruto took a deep breath and gave the best explanation he could manage.

    He told them that a hollow Havel had attacked him and that during the chaos, the knight had turned his blade toward Oscar. Out of fear for the lizard's life, Naruto made a desperate decision.

    He grafted the dragon scale directly onto his soul.

    "I'm not even sure how it happened," Naruto admitted. "I just… felt it. My soul was tearing open, and the scale answered. The rest..." He trailed off, glancing at the floor. "I don't remember. Maybe the cursed pyromancy flame reacted to it and made something... else. Some kind of demonic dragon. I think Havel came back to himself, at least for a moment, and fought it. Maybe even saved me."

    He looked down at his hands.

    "I remember exploding. And then I woke up… like this."

    There was a pause.

    Andre silently reached for his flask and took a long, heavy swig.

    Siegmeyer said nothing at first. Instead, he reached up to the sides of his great helm and pressed two small notches with gloved fingers. The upper half of the helmet cracked open, parting like the shell of a bisected onion, and slowly lifted.

    Naruto blinked in surprise. It was the first time he'd seen the man's face.

    Siegmeyer's features were rugged and expressive. His face was broad and square-shaped, with a strong jawline covered in a short, thick beard. It was neat, more the beard of a well-traveled knight than a wildman. His cheekbones were prominent, his skin sun-weathered and lightly tanned, etched with lines from age and laughter. His lips were full, curled into a soft, knowing smile, like he had just delivered a quiet piece of wisdom. His eyebrows were thick, slightly arched, lending gravity to a gaze that was calm and steady. His eyes, a warm shade of chestnut brown, shimmered with quiet confidence and kindness. Dark brown hair framed his face, medium in length and swept back loosely, with a few errant strands falling forward. Tousled but not uncared for. Like the rest of him, it carried the look of a man who had seen much and still chose to hope.

    Siegmeyer drank from his mug, then exhaled contentedly.

    Naruto and Oscar both stared.

    Andre shrugged and took another sip of his own. "Yeah, this is a bit out of my range. I'm just a poor old blacksmith, lad. If you ever need me to knock the lizard outta you with a hammer, I'd be happy to try." He gave Naruto a playful grin. "Free of service."

    Naruto laughed under his breath, shaking his head. "Thanks, Andre."

    There was comfort in knowing the old man hadn't changed, even if everything else had.

    "Mmm… Hrmmmmm… How do you feel, my young friend?"

    Naruto glanced at Oscar beside him, the crystal lizard chirping softly in support. The young knight smiled, placing a hand gently on his companion's head.

    "I feel… fine. Not normal. I don't feel human, not completely. But when I remember why I did it. I feel like I can manage."

    Siegmeyer's eyes gleamed with a thoughtful light. "Mmm… To be human… What does that mean, really?"

    Naruto frowned slightly. "I… don't know."

    "I've heard," Siegmeyer said, "that hollows are the true face of mankind. That to be human is to be full of desire, noble or not. And when I died, mm! When I returned as undead, I searched for meaning, as all lost souls do…"

    He looked Naruto in the eye, calm and steady.

    "But I found something better."

    Naruto blinked. "Better?"

    Siegmeyer nodded. "Mmm! It doesn't matter. Whether you are human, or lizard, or something yet unnamed… what makes you you are your actions, your ideals, and your memories."

    He straightened his back with pride. "Tell me, Naruto. Are you still the brave knight who once asked me to train him in the art of the blade?"

    Naruto didn't hesitate. "Yes."

    "Hah hah hah! Then what does it matter, hmm? Human, half-dragon, or polished gemstone. You are still Naruto Uzumaki."

    "Thank you, Sir Siegmeyer. That… really helps me see it differently."

    Oscar gave a nod.

    "Well," the blacksmith muttered, standing with a groan and wiping his hands, "being human's overrated anyway. All I need to feel alive is a hammer in my hand and strong drink in my gut."

    He gave Naruto a sideways glance and pulled a large crate onto the table. "And speakin' of feeling better, I've got just the thing."

    He opened the crate, revealing the Elite Knight Armor, cleaned, reforged, and gleaming with soft iron-blue.

    Naruto's eyes lit up.

    He immediately began equipping the armor piece by piece, each plate clicking into place with a satisfying clunk.

    "I missed you," he whispered to the gear as he tightened the last strap, then stepped forward and jabbed the air.

    BOOM.

    A shockwave cracked the air, and the sound barrier shattered like glass. Wind tore through the smithy, rattling chains and knocking the items off Andre's workbench.

    Oscar squawked.

    Siegmeyer blinked, helmet rattling.

    Andre took another drink.

    "Mmm… Hrmm," Siegmeyer muttered as the dust settled. "I see you've yet to get a grip on your new strength."

    Naruto glanced at his trembling gauntlet. "Yeah…"

    He pulled up his interface, reading the glowing status windows that flickered across his vision like ghostly runes.

    [Strength: 24 → 30]

    "Right. Gotta fix that fast."

    "Then let us correct it. Mmm! As I once told you: control without restraint is destruction, but restraint without control is stagnation. One must learn to channel, not contain."

    Naruto gave a crooked smile. "Of course. That's why I bullied those Balder Knights for their rapier style. Good practice, bad company."

    Siegmeyer laughed. "Hah hah! Very good! Shall we head to the courtyard?"

    "Lead the way, onion sensei."

    As they walked toward the open training yard beneath the forge tower, Andre called after them, "Don't punch any more holes in my walls, you two. I've only got one hammer and zero patience."

    Andre glanced over.

    "So," he said, leaning on the table. "I heard from Naruto… you've got a girlfriend."

    Oscar blinked.

    Then, without a word or a chirp, he slowly curled up on the bench, closed his eyes, and decided it was the perfect time for a nap.

    Andre glanced at him, muttered, "Smartest one in the room," and took another long swig from his flask.

    That peace lasted about ten seconds.

    Then came the sound.

    BOOM.

    A violent crack tore through the forge, followed by a deep rumble and a cloud of dust shaking the ceiling beams. Tools clattered. The anvil vibrated. Andre nearly dropped his drink.

    "The hell was that?"

    The blacksmith bolted down the stairwell into the training courtyard, his boots hammering the stone.

    What he saw made him stop mid-step.

    Naruto was on one knee, gauntleted fist buried in the ground. Around him, the courtyard had caved inward, stone fractured in a perfect crater at least ten feet wide. Dust swirled, and small pebbles rained down like it had just stopped raining fists.

    Naruto looked up, sheepish. "At least I didn't destroy the walls."

    Andre stared at him.

    Then looked around the yard. Then back at the smoking crater. Then took a sip from his flask.

    Andre stared at the smoldering crater, then at the two armored maniacs responsible. "Since you two've decided to spar down here," he muttered, rubbing his temple, "give me five minutes to draft my will, or move the hell out."

    "No worries, Master Andre," Siegmeyer replied cheerfully, giving a dramatic thumbs-up. "We shall take our knighthood elsewhere."

    "Yeah, let's just go beat up those Stone Knights in the Garden," Naruto said with a grin, brushing the dust off his gauntlets. "They make excellent punching bags."

    And with that, the duo of knights floofed away toward the woods, footsteps echoing as they vanished into the Basin.

    Andre exhaled slowly and turned back toward his forge. "I'm going to drink myself to sleep," he muttered. "Maybe I'll dream of customers who don't crater my courtyard."

    He glanced at Oscar, who had peeked one eye open from his napping position.

    "You want a drink, lizard?"

    Oscar chirped once, noncommittally.

    Andre raised his flask. "Good lad."

    Then he shuffled back into the forge, the doors closing behind him with a groaning creak.

    Peace, for now until the next boom.

    Zabuza Momochi never knew the luxury of idealism.

    His life was forged in the cold bite of steel, tempered in silence, and drenched in the blood of others. He was born to no clan, just another nameless brat clawing for air in the fog-choked gutters of Kirigakure. And utterly forgettable in a land where names were everything.

    The Land of Water had always bled status. At the top sat the Founding Families, whose power traced back to the Warring States. Below them were the loyalists. And far beneath them… were the rest. Stray dogs like him. Dragged into the academy not by pride, but policy. Stripped of choice, forced to bow beneath flags they never believed in.

    Zabuza grew up in that system.

    Under the Third Mizukage, in the era they would later call the Bloody Mist, graduation meant slaughter. Kill your classmates or die. Simple arithmetic. And Zabuza? He didn't hesitate. He wasn't even supposed to be in that class, just a boy watching from the sidelines.

    But he stepped forward anyway and killed them all.

    That massacre broke the system. Or at least cracked it.

    From that day, they called him The Demon of the Hidden Mist.

    He rose quickly. Earned his stripes in blood. Took up the blade and joined the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Carved his name into the bones of the old world. But nothing changed. The system that made him still stood. Still devoured the weak. Still crowned cowards in noble silk.

    So he plotted a coup.

    Not out of duty. Not for justice. Not to "save" his village.

    Zabuza didn't believe in things like that.

    He wanted power.

    The kind that would let him burn down the pedestals others stood on. The kind that meant never bowing again, never taking orders from men who wore their bloodlines like armor.

    It failed.

    The Mizukage was no mere tyrant. He held the Three-Tails inside him, a monster bound in flesh, made worse by whatever darkness whispered behind his eyes. Zabuza fought, lost, and escaped. Branded a traitor. A ghost in the shinobi world.

    And like all missing-nin… he became a mercenary.

    He drifted through battlefields, took contracts, spilled blood quietly and efficiently. Built a network. Stockpiled ryo. Waited.

    The job in the Land of Waves?

    Just another paycheck. Kill the bridge builder and get paid. The money would fund a second attempt. Maybe. Or maybe he'd disappear for good.

    But then something changed.

    The Wave began to shift.

    It started with whispers. Gato's men slaughtered in a single night. No witnesses. Just corpses. They called the killer The Archer of Providence.

    Zabuza scoffed until he saw it.

    He saw how the villagers began to stand taller. How fear left their eyes. How hope crept back into their voices. It was annoying. Hope was dangerous. Hope made people brave, and brave people got killed. But it also did something else.

    It made him wonder.

    What if… killing didn't have to be hollow? What if, for once, it could mean something?

    For a brief second, Zabuza imagined what it would feel like to not be a weapon. To cut for something greater than coin or survival.

    He nearly turned back.

    Nearly.

    But he was still a practical man. A dead man couldn't fund a revolution. The bridge builder would die. But not for Gato. No. Zabuza would take the job, then turn it on its head. Finish the mission. Get the money and then kill Gato. Take everything the bastard had and leave the Wave standing free.

    "Guess I'll play the hero," Zabuza snorted.

    "What's so funny, Zabuza?" came a voice from behind him.

    Aoi Rokusho.

    The green-haired traitor from Konoha, now flying under Amegakure's banner. He strolled in with that smug swagger and his sleeveless purple jumpsuit, with an umbrella slung casually over one shoulder and the Sword of the Second Hokage strapped to his hip like he'd earned it.

    "Just thinking it's funny. You're fighting the same village you ran from. You really think they'll forgive you if you kill a few of their own?"

    "Forgiveness? Please. Konoha's a pit of hypocrites choking on their own pride. I'd rather see what's left of it burn."

    Zabuza didn't care about the speech. He wasn't here for morals. He liked Aoi for one reason only: utility. The plan was simple. Aoi would stall one of the genin teams. Meanwhile, Zabuza and Haku would handle the bridge builder. Then, once the job was done, they'd regroup and sweep up the survivors, including Kakashi Hatake.

    And after that? Aoi would die.

    Gato, too.

    Maybe Zabuza would let Haku keep the Second Hokage's blade. It'd suit him better than the clown holding it now. Unfortunately, Zabuza's plans didn't last long before something felt… off.

    He had barely stepped into the hideout when he heard voices, more than there should have been.

    Haku opened the door before Zabuza could knock. "Zabuza-sama. You're back."

    Zabuza walked in and saw three figures seated around the low table. A man in his late thirties. Two teenagers. All three with hair the color of snow and eyes like carved amethyst.

    Hōzuki. Zabuza's eyes narrowed. Why the hell were they here?

    Before he could speak, Haku offered the answer, tone neutral. "They were hired by Gato. Reinforcements."

    Liar, Zabuza thought immediately. Gato had already called in Aoi through his name. Bringing in more backup—especially this kind—wasn't efficiency.

    It was insurance.

    Gato didn't trust him. Which meant these three weren't here to help. They were here to make sure he didn't go off script. That no one did.

    Aoi strolled in behind, spotted Haku, and flashed his sleaze. "Hello there, beautiful. What's your name?"

    Haku didn't blink. "A boy."

    Aoi choked. "Wh—?"

    The resulting spit-take was spectacular.

    One of the Hōzuki twins clutched his chest, howling with laughter. The other collapsed sideways, face buried in a pillow to muffle the noise.

    The eldest of the three, still seated calmly, just chuckled and met Zabuza's gaze. "Been a while."

    "Kazan?"

    He hadn't seen that face in over a decade, but it was burned into memory. Kazan Hōzuki. A former Mist shinobi of considerable renown before the bloodline purges.

    "I thought you were dead."

    Kazan smiled faintly. "Most people did."

    "I sent you a message," Zabuza said. "Back during the coup. Asked you to stand with me."

    "I got it," Kazan replied. "But I had a family to move before the Mizukage's purge reached my doorstep."

    "So what brings you crawling out now?"

    Kazan shrugged. "Man's gotta eat. Gato's name's been floating around. Rumor said he was offering a fortune."

    Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "How much?"

    "Five million ryo."

    Zabuza whistled low. That explained a lot. Gato wasn't just funding a hit. He was bleeding money. Desperation… or something worse. A last move. Or a hidden one.

    Zabuza didn't care.

    He looked around again. Aoi, still coughing. Haku, quiet as always. The Hōzuki twins grinning like they were waiting for a signal. Kazan, seated like a war general ready to flip the board.

    Every man in the room had their role. And not one of them was planning to follow through with it.

    The conversation that followed was dry and tactical. Names. Targets. Who would shadow which genin team. Who would strike at the bridge builder. Who would engage Kakashi. No one raised their voice. No one asked more than they needed. Every shinobi in the room was playing their part...

    …and planning who to kill after.

    Morning brought no warmth, just a gray stillness clinging to the sea air.

    Team 7 and Team 8 had split at dawn. One team stayed behind to protect the safehouse. The other escorted Tazuna and the bridge laborers to continue construction.

    Kurenai Yuhi sat beside the open kitchen, sipping tea with Tsunami as the jōnin shared stories from her time in the Earth Nation. Team 8 stood guard in various positions around the house. There was tension in the air, they could feel it. The enemy was waiting for the right moment to strike.

    Thick mist began to seep through the forest. It rolled into the yard in sheets, curling around the wooden walls, slithering through the gaping hole Naruto had blasted open the day before.

    Kurenai was on her feet in an instant.

    Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu, she realized. Her fingers curled into a defensive sign as the air turned cold and the world bleached white. Visibility dropped to inches. The temperature with it.

    Even Tsunami stiffened.

    Hinata was already in motion, pale eyes igniting with the veins of the Byakugan. "Three signatures," she said quickly. "Two with chūnin-level chakra. One… jōnin."

    Tsunami jolted upright. "Inari's still on the rooftop!"

    Kurenai didn't answer. She vanished in a burst of motion. The rooftop came into view, the fog parting for an instant to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered man standing in front of Kiba, while Akamaru barked and shielded Inari with bared teeth.

    Kazan struck first.

    His kunai drove straight into Kiba's skull. A clean kill. Only for Kiba to melt away like wax.

    A genjutsu.

    Kazan narrowed his eyes, already focusing to dispel it but not fast enough.

    Kurenai appeared in front of him, her eyes cold, her arm thrusting a kunai directly into his sternum. His chest liquefied around the weapon.

    "Sorry, doll," Kazan said, unfazed, his body bubbling as it reformed. "You can't hurt me."

    His arm bulged, fingers elongating into watery claws that lashed across Kurenai's body only for her to vanish again. Then a tree grew behind him, wrapped its tendrils around his throat.

    "Then tell me…" her voice whispered by his ear. "Do you feel pain?"

    Kazan's body convulsed as a searing wave of agony coursed through him. Kurenai's genjutsu was precise, forcing his brain to believe his nerves were aflame. He roared, chakra pulsing as he forced himself free.

    But even that was part of the trap.

    From above, Kurenai was in the air holding Inari as they landed on the ground.

    "Water Style: Piercing Lance!"

    Spear-like javelins of compressed water screamed through the air, impaling them both. Or so it seemed.

    They faded.

    Another layer of genjutsu.

    Kazan finally broke free.

    The real battlefield came into focus. Team 8 stood across the clearing. Shino cradled Tsunami in a bridal carry. Kiba held Inari in his arms. Tsunami and the boy both lay unconscious under a gentle genjutsu.

    Better asleep than screaming and becoming liabilities.

    Kurenai opened a scroll and with a puff of chakra flared, Naruto clones sprang forth.

    "Kurenai-sensei, what's going on?" one of them asked, eyes immediately scanning for threats.

    "Take Tsunami and Inari," she ordered. "Get them far from here. Alert your team. Tell them the enemy has engaged."

    "Got it!" the clones said in unison.

    They each took a person and flickered away in bursts of movement. Then the lake behind Tazuna's house exploded. A colossal dragon of water rose from the depths, crashing through what remained of the structure. Its body shimmered with eerie purpose, twisting like a sentient beast.

    "Sensei!" Hinata's voice rang out. "It has a chakra network inside!"

    Team 8 broke into a sprint, weaving through trees as the dragon chased.

    Hinata reached into the lining of her jacket, pulled a bow and arrow. With one swift motion, she notched the arrow outside the bow using a Hyūga grip technique designed for horseback but just as effective on the run. She fired high, angling the shot.

    The arrow curved downward.

    The explosion tag on its tip detonated on the water dragon's spine, sending it reeling and breaking apart into roaring mist.

    From the dispersing fog, laughter echoed as Shōka and Enka, the Hōzuki twins emerged.

    "Did you see that, brother?"

    "I saw it, brother."

    "The prey can actually fight back," said one.

    "Oh, how fun," said the other.

    They giggled in sync, their joy sounding like funeral bells in the mist.

    "Children," Kazan said calmly as he stepped through the thinning fog. "Your father is going to need you to prepare."

    Shōka and Enka pouted in sync.

    "But we wanna..."

    "Go!"

    The twins couldn't argue against their father. So, they vanished into the trees with the unsettling grace of predators pretending to be children.

    Kazan's smile returned.

    He drew a short, hooked dagger from his belt. The blade was blackened from years of use, the edge recurved like a karambit but longer as if built to hook into muscle and tear out chunks.

    Kurenai didn't flinch. She dropped into a stance, knees bent, kunai reversed in her hand, blade running along her forearm.

    Silence then motion.

    Kazan struck first with his left foot forward, dagger slashing in a tight arc aimed at her liver. Kurenai pivoted off the line, parried the inside of his wrist with her left hand, and countered with a rising elbow aimed at his chin.

    Kazan leaned back, the strike grazing his lip, and stepped into her blind spot. She rotated with a spinning heel kick, but he ducked low, sliding beneath the arc and popping up behind her.

    Kurenai spun just in time to block a stabbing thrust.

    The kunai and dagger locked.

    Both pushed.

    She did a foot sweep, pivoted off her shoulder torque but Kazan shifted his weight and rolled over her ankle, twisting midair to land in a crouch. His follow-up was a snapping backhand aimed at her temple. She ducked, twisted into a low stance catching his wrist under her armpit while her heel slammed downward toward his ankle.

    He snarled, let go of his dagger, and trapped her leg with his own then headbutted forward. Her forehead cracked into his, both of them recoiling. Blood ran down Kurenai's brow, but her grip didn't loosen.

    Kazan grabbed her wrist with both hands, spun, and flung her over his shoulder.

    Kurenai rolled with it, absorbing the fall on her back and kicking up her legs. He leapt over her heel just in time, but her second leg twisted into a scissor grip and yanked him down.

    They hit the ground in a scramble.

    Dagger and kunai forgotten.

    Kazan's fist drove for her throat. Kurenai caught it mid-thrust, fingers digging into the tendons. She jabbed with her palm into the side of his jaw, dazing him for half a heartbeat.

    She rolled into top mount. He headbutted again, sending Kurenai flying.

    Fang Over Fang!

    A whirling blur of teeth and fur tore through the mist as Kiba and Akamaru launched toward Kazan like a living drill, chakra spinning off them in violent bursts.

    Kazan's arm flexed. His biceps bulged grotesquely as chakra flowed through his forearm. Ready to swat them like flies.

    But then thwip.

    An arrow embedded into his shoulder with a sharp thunk. Hinata had fired it from the shadows.

    It would have disabled a normal shinobi. But Kazan Hōzuki wasn't normal. His shoulder liquefied, the arrow passing through a gel-like mass of water before being ejected whole. He caught it mid-air and, with a sneer, hurled it straight back.

    It slammed into Shino's torso, pinning him to a tree. The attached explosive tag detonated, engulfing the Aburame in fire.

    Kazan twisted toward Kiba and Akamaru as his hand flared.

    "Water Style: Water Pressure Prison."

    A translucent orb of condensed water formed in an instant around the duo. They stopped mid-spin. They tried to move but couldn't.

    The sphere vibrated with violent pressure.

    Inside, oxygen depleted rapidly. Their limbs slowed. Eyes bloodshot. Akamaru scratched against the walls but couldn't break through. Blood vessels ruptured as flesh strained. Their bodies twisted under the internal crushing force like lungs imploding and bones compacting under an invisible vice.

    Kazan didn't even glance back.

    He was already charging forward.

    "Water Style: Senbon Barrage!"

    Dozens of high-pressure water needles exploded forward, piercing the clearing like a net. Hinata screamed then crumpled as three needles struck her shoulder, thigh, and abdomen. Blood sprayed.

    Kazan leapt high.

    Kunai flashed. He sliced through Kurenai's neck, her body slumping. But the world fractured. His surroundings twisted. Reality itself melted away like a reflection rippling across water.

    Kazan crashed down, not onto victory, but onto stone spikes. Pinned through the gut. He gasped. "…I'm in a genjutsu."

    "Always have been."

    "When?"

    "The moment you and I engaged in hand-to-hand," she replied coldly. "I layered you in illusion after illusion. Everything you experienced was just you dancing in the palm of my hand."

    Kazan strained to move, but his limbs were sluggish. He could feel the pain. Not just mental. The genjutsu was so refined it projected sensory feedback into his nervous system.

    "As expected of a Konoha jōnin," Kazan muttered. "You're tricky. But it doesn't matter. You can't kill me. And my sons… your little genin can't hope to stop them. They've already killed chūnin before."

    "Chūnin, huh? That's cute."

    Then Kurenai gave a half-smile, more like a warning. "My kids? They're in the same generation as Naruto Uzumaki."

    Kazan blinked. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

    "It will." Kurenai leaned in, voice dropping to a razor's whisper.

    "That name is going to shake the world."

    She placed a hand on his forehead.

    "Shame you and your sons won't live long enough to see it."

    The fog churned while trees trembled.

    Kiba landed on all fours, claws extended, lips pulled back in a feral snarl. His breath misted in the cold air, every muscle tensed. Across from him, Shōka Hōzuki stood lazily balanced on a tree branch, grinning like a devil in a boy's skin.

    "Nice dog tricks," Shōka said. "Where's your mutt?"

    Kiba didn't answer. He was already moving.

    Four-Legged Technique.

    His muscles flexed and fur bristled across his skin. His pupils narrowed into sharp slits. With a sudden boom, he launched off the ground.

    Tunneling Fang!

    Kiba spun into a bladed spiral, nails sharpened by chakra, tearing up the forest floor as he barreled toward Shōka who began to liquefy. Kiba passed through harmlessly, slamming into a tree. Bark exploded. He landed, skidding, blood dripping from his shoulder where a branch had sliced him.

    "Tch…"

    "Did you think I'd stand still for that?"

    Kiba spun but was too late.

    Shōka's liquefied body surged from the base of the tree like a wave and slammed into Kiba's side. The Inuzuka was flung like a ragdoll into the underbrush, crashing through a bush and coughing blood.

    Shōka reformed beside him, water dripping from his fingers, forming into razor-like needles.

    Water Gun.

    He fired a burst of pressurized water bullets.

    Kiba rolled, barely dodging, one shot grazing his thigh. He sniffed once, twice and locked in. Then vanished.

    Shōka looked around.

    Kiba burst from beneath the dirt with Fang Over Fang! This time, he slammed partially through Shōka's liquefied body, his scraping flesh even as water dispersed around him.

    Shōka reformed mid-air, now clutching his torn shoulder. He laughed. "That's more like it!"

    Suddenly, Akamaru burst from the side with a bark, bloodied but alive, his fur singed from the earlier explosion. He slid next to Kiba. The boy grinned. "Ready?"

    Bark.

    Double Impact Wolf Fang!

    They split—one left, one right—blitzing Shōka with a flurry of crossing slashes. Kiba slashed from the left. Akamaru bit from the right.

    Shōka staggered, half-reformed, his body pulsing with steam as he pumped water through his muscles. "You're not bad, mutt!" he snarled, veins bulging. "But I've got tricks too!"

    He slammed his fists into the ground.

    Water Style: Calling Flood.

    Water erupted in geysers beneath Kiba's feet. The water came from Shōka's body itself, traveling through roots and capillaries like a living flood.

    Kiba leapt... too late.

    The geyser struck him full in the chest and slammed him into a boulder, shattering it. Blood poured from his mouth.

    Shōka moved in for the kill, forming a spear of water along his arm like a jagged lance. "Say goodbye."

    But Kiba smiled through bloodied teeth as he trusted his teammate to take the shot.

    Hinata knelt a hundred meters away, hidden in the dense forest, her breathing calm, her eyes locked onto her mark through the Byakugan. She loosed the arrow. It arched like a falling star, slicing through mist and silence, landing just inches from Shōka's foot.

    The Hōzuki boy laughed. "Missed..."

    FLASH.

    The arrowhead burst into a searing light. A flashbang hidden in the shaft exploded with a thunderous crack, blinding the world in white.

    Shōka staggered, then came the sound.

    Fang Over Fang: Final Revolver!

    Kiba and Akamaru, cloaked in spinning flame, shot through the fog like a blazing comet. Their chakra spiraled around them in a drill of molten heat, fire dancing like a serpent down a tornado's spine.

    Shōka's body began to liquefy, too slow. The fire-drill slammed into his torso. Steam exploded. Water hissed. Shōka's form distorted violently as his body reformed mid-collapse.

    Again.

    The flaming vortex twisted in the air, curving like a predator with a second wind.

    Again.

    It struck from the side, shredding Shōka's shoulder as the boy howled, barely keeping his cohesion.

    Again.

    From above. From below. From every angle, Kiba and Akamaru became a storm of death. Each impact forced Shōka to liquefy, each reformation weaker than the last.

    At last, he collapsed into a trembling puddle, his consciousness fading. And then Shino's kikaichū descended. Thousands of insects swarmed over the steaming remains, draining the chakra out of the sludgy water form. The puddle thinned… then dried.

    The unconscious body of Shōka Hōzuki remained, gasping weakly in the mud.

    Kiba landed beside him, panting, covered in sweat and steam. His eyes stared down; not in triumph, but in grim silence.

    He stabbed him.

    Kiba watched the life leave them and he didn't celebrate.

    Elsewhere.

    A tremor shook the fog.

    Shino stood with his hands in his pockets, surrounded by insects. Opposite him was Enka, face twisted in rage.

    "Your brother," Shino said simply, "is dead."

    Enka's face cracked into a snarl. "LIAR!"

    Water surged around him, forming two massive fists the size of tree trunks. They swung down with earth-shaking force as Shino exploded into bugs. The fists struck only air and mist.

    Shino reformed behind him.

    "Stop hiding behind bugs, coward!" Enka spat. "They're useless! They can't hurt me!"

    "Is that so?"

    An arrow shot from the tree line, piercing Enka in the back. He blinked. Blood, not water, trickled from the wound as Enka crumpled to his knees. "W… What did you do to me?"

    Shino stepped forward, adjusting his glasses. "The insects you so kindly absorbed into your water body were carrying larvae. Bred to function in moisture-rich environments."

    Enka's eyes widened.

    "They drained your chakra slowly. Silently. You never noticed."

    Shino nodded toward the trees. "And when your defenses dropped, Hinata took the shot."

    "You monsters…" Enka choked.

    "Be glad you didn't face Team 7."

    "W-what?"

    "They're the real monsters."

    The kikaichū swarmed the boy. Enka screamed once before being drowned in a tide of chittering death.

    Water Style: Grudge Rain.

    The sky split open with a roar.

    Rain poured like a curse, not droplets but thick, heavy sheets that stung the skin and soaked the earth in seconds. Chakra thinned in the air like breath in winter. The mud swelled. The trees groaned. And through it all, Kazan laughed.

    "You should feel honored," he bellowed, his voice a booming echo through the storm. "Not many shinobi are worth this."

    Kurenai gritted her teeth.

    Her boots slipped in the muck as she darted through the thinning canopy, the downpour sapping her chakra with every second. She could feel her chakra draining like blood from an open wound. Her breath came faster. Her limbs felt heavy. But she didn't stop.

    Behind her, the rainwater surged as Kazan's body rose from the soaked battlefield, merging with the flood. He became a pillar of writhing water, tendrils forming like serpents above the column, each one snapping in the air, seeking her like living whips.

    Kurenai ran.

    Her form blurred through the trees. Each step a calculation. Each twist a gamble. Tendrils slammed down where she'd been moments before, shattering bark, cratering the soaked earth. She flipped over one, slid under another, and rolled through the mud.

    Thunk!

    She slammed an explosive tag kunai into a trunk. Another. Then another, marking her path like a trail of sparks.

    Boom. Boom. Boom.

    The forest shook behind her as the tags detonated, momentarily breaking the rhythm of the tendrils. But it wasn't enough. The rain healed Kazan. Her chakra leaked away with every breath.

    She knew.

    She was losing.

    What do I do? she thought, heart hammering. I can't keep this up…

    CRACK.

    A sound like thunder shattered the air, but it wasn't thunder. It was too fast, too sharp, the kind of noise that rattled your bones a second before your brain understood it.

    Kazan's water-body jerked violently as something massive hit it from above. A colossal arrow moving at Mach speed.

    The impact was cataclysmic.

    The water exploded outward in a geyser, spraying vapor in every direction. Shockwaves rippled through the rain, trees bent with the force, and the tendrils collapsed mid-motion. The sonic boom rolled through the trees like the roar of a beast.

    Kurenai stared. And spotted the arrow half-buried in the earth, humming with residual chakra. She let out a breathless chuckle. "I owe you one, Naruto."

    Poof.

    A storage seal near the arrow's notch burst open in a puff of chakra mist and out rolled Oscar, chirping gleefully, shaking his scales from the ride.

    Kurenai blinked. "Of course he also stores summons in arrowheads…"

    From a puddle behind her, Kazan reformed, dripping and furious, a snarl on his lips. "What the hell was that?"

    "That?" Kurenai answered, spinning with a bloody kunai in hand. "That was Naruto."

    Kazan's fury flickered. For the first time… doubt entered his eyes. This job? It wasn't worth it. Too much chakra spent. Too many surprises. He turned. "I'll get my sons. This place isn't worth the trouble..."

    Oscar chirped and aimed. A blue glow lit up around his cannon.

    Kazan scoffed. "Please. I'm a Hōzuki. My liquefaction will make that useless..."

    BOOM.

    The laser fired.

    Kazan was slammed to the ground as a cluster of blue crystals formed and detonated on his chest mid-liquid state due to the chakra coming in contact with magic, piercing straight through.

    The man coughed.

    He reached out, arm trembling, blood mixing with rain.

    Boys… run… Your father… won't be there to protect you…

    He didn't know, but they were already dead.

    Kurenai stared at what was left of Kazan Hōzuki and said nothing for a long while. She knew why Kazan had died so easily.

    Overconfidence.

    The Hōzuki always thought their liquefaction technique made them untouchable. Most of the time, they were right. But not against a lizard with a gun strapped to their back.

    She turned slowly to Oscar, still humming faintly from the shot, his cannon venting warm air like a beast exhaling.

    "…How did you do that?" she asked, still blinking rain from her lashes.

    Oscar chirped proudly, a melodic series of pulses and trills.

    "…Did you just say, Everyone has a plan until they get shot?"

    Oscar gave a chirp that definitely meant yes.

    Kurenai exhaled, dry amusement playing on her lips. "You're terrifying."

    She reached into her pouch, pulled out a kunai, and held it out. "Here. Have a treat."

    Oscar happily crunched it in his jaws, tail wagging slightly as the metal shattered between his crystal teeth.

    The silence returned.

    Kurenai turned her gaze toward the forest where Naruto's clones had gone, escorting Tsunami and Inari to safety. The mist was clearing now, slowly peeling away to reveal the damage.

    It hadn't even been a proper battle. It had been a lesson.

    She glanced back at Oscar, who was pawing curiously at Kazan's remains. And she realized something chilling.

    This wasn't even Naruto at his prime. This was just… a whisper of what was coming.

    Kurenai closed her eyes and whispered, "God help anyone who tries to take that boy lightly."

    A few minutes earlier, on the nearly completed bridge, Naruto was seconds from dying of boredom.

    For the others, it had only been a couple of weeks since they arrived in the Wave. And with only fifteen days to prepare for Gato's next move, tensions were high. But for Naruto, thanks to Lordran's warped sense of time, it felt like he'd been stuck here for two months.

    The waiting was unbearable.

    And since Gato was still hiding like a cockroach under a floorboard, there was nothing to do but stand around and wait for someone to try to kill them.

    So Naruto did what any reasonable shinobi would do under the crushing weight of tedium.

    He started messing with pebbles.

    He focused his chakra. A few small stones rose from the planks beneath his feet, floating like lazy sparks before zipping toward his favorite target.

    "Hey, Sasuke," Naruto said with a grin. "Check this out."

    A pebble arched past Sasuke's head and froze mid-air.

    "...Naruto," Sasuke muttered, tone dangerously flat. "Stop."

    "Stop what?" Naruto asked innocently, moving another pebble between his fingers.

    "Don't."

    "Don't what?" Naruto flicked the pebble toward Sasuke's forehead, stopping it just before impact.

    "I swear, if you hit me with that, I will punch you."

    "I'm not doing anything," Naruto said, arms stretched in an exaggerated pose. "Just standing here. Like this."

    "Do it," Sasuke growled.

    Naruto stared.

    "Do it!"

    Naruto flicked the pebble toward the Uchiha.

    "Naruto," Kakashi's voice interrupted, smooth and patient. He reached out and plucked the stone out of the air without even glancing up from his book. "How much chakra does that trick use?"

    Naruto pouted. "I told you, it's not a trick. It's a technique. A very real, very legitimate jutsu."

    "Does this very real, very legitimate jutsu have a name?"

    Naruto lit up. "Yes, actually. I call it... Gravity-Based Chakra-Enhanced Kinetic Redirection Vector Manipulation!"

    There was a moment of silence. Even the seagulls seemed confused.

    Sakura blinked. "You made that up just now."

    "Nope." Naruto shook his head proudly. "I've been workshopping it for three days."

    "It's literally just moving pebbles with chakra."

    "It's magic," Naruto said.

    Kakashi chuckled. It seemed Naruto was just as bad at naming jutsu as his father.

    "Magic or not, pick a different name," Sakura said.

    "Fine," Naruto muttered. "I'll call it... Chakra Push-and-Pull."

    "Better," Sakura said.

    "Worse," Sasuke corrected.

    "I vote for Power of Ramen-Eating Dragon," Naruto said quietly.

    "No," all three of them answered at once.

    Kakashi's gaze shifted then, sharp and focused. The lazy amusement drained from his expression.

    As a mist began to roll in, curling low around the bridge like a creeping tide. Through the haze came three figures.

    Zabuza, Haku, and Aoi Rokusho.

    The moment they stepped into view, fear washed over the bridge. Tazuna and the laborers instinctively backed away, their bodies reacting before their minds caught up. The killing intent in the air was overwhelming, enough to stir the urge to flee in any sane person.

    Naruto, of course, was not sane.

    "Finally!" he shouted, throwing up his hands like he had just spotted an old friend. "No-Brows is here!"

    Zabuza's brow twitched, which only made Naruto's nickname sting that much more. His eyes locked onto the blonde boy and narrowed dangerously. "You've changed, brat."

    Naruto beamed, brushing a long blond strand out of his face. "Thanks! Still not sure if I should cut my hair or keep it like this. Kinda makes me look cool, right? Like, imagine I beat your ass and then take off my helm, revealing my long hair."

    Everyone behind him sweatdropped.

    Zabuza's expression didn't change, but his eyes flicked toward Haku. The boy had warned him that Naruto wasn't the same kid they fought weeks ago. But what kind of strength had this brat gained to joke so casually in front of him? Was he bluffing? Or was this some kind of mind game?

    Then Naruto clapped once.

    "Anyway! I'll take Zabuza. You guys can pick between the umbrella dude and mask guy."

    "No," Kakashi said, stepping forward with finality in his voice. "You're strong, Naruto. I know that. But you're not taking on Zabuza alone. This isn't a spar."

    Naruto pouted. "C'mon. I've gotten so much stronger since then."

    Before another word could be said, something silver flickered through the mist.

    A senbon needle sliced through the air, aimed for Naruto's throat. Aoi Rokusho had launched it, not interested in banter or theatrics. He wanted the annoying kid dead before he said anything else.

    But the needle never made it.

    It halted mid-flight, hovering just inches from Naruto's neck. Trapped in an invisible force, suspended like a bug in amber.

    Naruto calmly plucked it from the air, his fingers casual and unbothered. With a subtle flick, he infused it with wind chakra. The steel began to hiss and crack.

    Aoi didn't hesitate.

    He unsheathed the Sword of the Thunder God. Lightning surged to life, crawling across the glowing yellow blade. He swung. The wind burst met the blade and was torn apart, cut through with a shriek of power.

    Naruto let out an impressed whistle. "Ooooh… now that's a cool sword."

    Kakashi's voice was low and grim. "It's the stolen sword of the Second Hokage."

    "Oh, well now I have to fight the green-haired guy. I need that sword."

    "You'll have to get my blade from my corpse," Aoi snapped, his grip tightening around the hilt as the lightning intensified.

    "Yeah. That's exactly what I meant. I kill you, then loot your corpse. Standard procedure. Hey, what size is your jumpsuit? Doesn't matter, I'll loot that off your corpse anyway."

    Without warning, water exploded from the sides of the bridge. Half a dozen water clones emerged in a rush, all armed and moving in coordinated formation. Zabuza's sneer had barely taken shape when Sasuke vanished from his place beside Naruto.

    A blur of motion, steel whistling through the mist. Sasuke's claymore cut arcs of light as he tore through the clones. One by one, the water constructs collapsed into puddles, steam rising in the wake of his strikes.

    Zabuza watched closely now.

    This wasn't the same team of rookies he had fought before. No openings. No hesitation. Things were going to be very different this time.

    Haku moved like a whisper, materializing beside Tazuna with a hand already raised. His fingers hovered just inches from the old man's throat. Then he stopped.

    Naruto had his wrist in a casual grip, holding it as if catching a falling cup. His expression was calm, almost tired.

    "Oh," Naruto said. "Guess I'm fighting you then."

    "Yes. And unfortunately for you, it seems I have the advantage."

    His free hand blurred into motion, weaving one-handed signs with practiced speed.

    Naruto smirked and performed his own one-handed signs even faster than Haku. A cluster of shadow clones burst into existence around them, each one snatching up a worker or pulling Tazuna to safety as they flickered the civilians out of harm's way.

    Ice Style: Hail Jutsu!

    From above, the clouds convulsed and split open. Shards of dense, compact ice rained down in a punishing storm. Each chunk of hail slammed into the ground with the force of thrown kunai but worse still, every piece of ice carried a hidden bite: a subtle chakra-draining property that sapped energy on contact, pulling from reserves with every strike.

    It was Haku's Ice Style variation of Water Style: Grudge Rain.

    Normally, Haku wouldn't pull out his strongest card, but he knew that unless he gave it his all against Naruto, they couldn't win.

    For Naruto, the chakra drain was negligible. His monstrous reserves made it feel like nothing more than a dull pinch. His armor also made sure that the hail literally never hit his body.

    But the temperature was the real threat.

    His cold blood responded poorly to the sudden drop. Muscles tightened. Reflexes dulled. His limbs felt just a bit heavier. Every movement came with a moment of resistance.

    Naruto was a cold-blooded individual, and Haku knew this. He took advantage of it to debuff the boy. The knight launched a kick straight at Haku's midsection, but the ice ninja twisted away.

    Naruto stumbled slightly, the cold biting deeper now. His hand found the Estus Flask at his belt. He drank without hesitation.

    A wave of golden warmth surged through him. It was like drinking sunlight. The cold melted from his nerves, burned away from his joints. His senses sharpened again. He could feel his fingers. His breath no longer misted in front of him. For now, he was whole. And then came the memories of his shadow clones.

    His pupils dilated as the Hawkeyes activated.

    He zoomed in toward the direction of Tazuna's house, where Kurenai was locked in a desperate battle against a water monster.

    "Kurenai-sensei needs help," Naruto murmured.

    A sound sliced through the hail as Haku flew toward him with senbons ready in hand.

    Naruto reached into his inventory and tossed a storage scroll across the icy floor. A new squad of shadow clones sprang to life instantly, already in motion. They didn't wait for orders. They charged at Haku, a blur of steel against the white storm. Then, carefully, Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled Oscar out. The crystal lizard was still asleep, curled tightly.

    "Buddy," Naruto whispered, cradling him gently. "You're going to Hinata and the others, okay?"

    Oscar chirped groggily. His tail flicked, and he gave a slow, sleepy blink.

    A rush of air. Haku appeared again, too fast for most eyes to follow.

    "I can't let you do that," he said. He lunged, but the clones intercepted, wind bullets firing in bursts and forcing him back into the storm.

    Naruto planted his greatbow on the bridge with a thunderous thud, the sound echoing across the water like a drumbeat of war. The sheer weight of the weapon made the concrete beneath him groan, and for a moment, the entire battlefield paused.

    All eyes turned to him.

    In a fluid motion, Naruto used the storage seal etched onto his arrow. A soft poof of chakra smoke curled outward as Oscar vanished into safety. He loaded it—no wasted motion.

    A breath in.

    His fingers tightened on the bowstring. Muscles pulled taut. He adjusted his stance and angled the greatbow not straight, but at a long arc; calculated by eye, measured by instinct.

    A breath out.

    The arrow vanished in a single heartbeat. A crack split the air. A sonic boom followed, trailing in the arrow's wake as it tore across the bridge like a meteor shot from the heavens.

    Haku moved on reflex. One-handed signs flickered. An ice mirror erupted in its path but too slow.

    Naruto's hand twitched.

    The arrow curved. Mid-air, the arrow veered upward, spinning violently. Telekinesis twisted it in a spiraling dance. Each rotation left behind a ripple of sound, low and thunderous. It wasn't just fast. It was overwhelming.

    Sakura gasped audibly. "What the hell is that?"

    Sasuke didn't even answer. His eyes were wide, reflecting the arrow's light as it spun overhead.

    Zabuza didn't wait. Kakashi didn't hesitate. Both men locked eyes for a heartbeat and then vanished, diving off the bridge and plunging into the lake's depths. Their chakra flared as they disappeared into the mist below.

    The sound of the arrow roared behind them like a vengeful god.

    Aoi Rokusho stood unfazed. His eyes sharpened as he raised the Sword of the Thunder God, the air around it buzzing with ozone. He wasn't impressed. He was bored.

    "Great," Aoi muttered, his grip loosening. "I get to fight the two weak genin."

    "I'll attack. You defend," Sasuke said quietly, stepping forward with his claymore resting against his shoulder. Sakura gave a short nod, fingers already slipping a kunai into her grip.

    Aoi grinned. Lightning danced along the edge of his weapon. "Let's see what Konoha's little genin can do."

    He moved first.

    A sharp step forward. A clean, diagonal cut from shoulder to hip. Sasuke met it with a powerful block, the broad claymore bracing against the slash. The moment of impact sent a jolt down his arms. The Sword of the Thunder God hummed with built-in voltage, trying to crawl down the metal like a snake. But Sasuke had prepared for that. Blue sparks arced off his hands as he forced lightning chakra through his own weapon, creating a barrier of matched polarity. The charge canceled out barely, and Sasuke shoved Aoi back.

    "You've trained?"

    Sasuke didn't reply. He took a low stance, grounding his feet. With a short breath, fire chakra followed the lightning through his blade. The edge shimmered faintly, a layer of superheated air enveloping the claymore. Sparks jumped. Heat rippled.

    Their next exchange was brutal.

    Steel met plasma in a thunderclap of force. Sasuke struck high, then low, the weight of the claymore turned into controlled swings powered by short bursts of chakra. Aoi sidestepped one blow and ducked another, answering with rapid jabs from his lightning blade that hissed through the air.

    Each time they clashed, the energy crackled across the bridge.

    Aoi's movements were elegant, meant to outmaneuver. He slipped inside Sasuke's reach with a sudden spin, slashing at the midsection. But Sasuke dropped his stance, dragged the claymore up from below, and caught the strike on the flat of the blade. Their feet scraped across the stone as the pressure mounted.

    Then Sasuke stepped in, shoulder-checking Aoi. The older man slid back, smirking as he twisted into a low cut aimed at Sasuke's ankle.

    Sasuke jumped, flipping once in the air, then came down with a two-handed strike. Fire flared from the claymore just before impact. Aoi raised his sword to meet it, but the heat forced him to retreat, boots skidding across the bridge's damp surface.

    Sakura made her move.

    She tossed a kunai, not at Aoi, but in front of him. A smoke bomb detonated midair, obscuring vision.

    Aoi didn't panic. He stepped out of the cloud and turned straight into a shoulder slam from Sasuke. The boy had circled through the mist. His next strike was clean and vicious, fire-laced, aimed for Aoi's weapon arm.

    Aoi caught it. Barely.

    The two swords clashed again. Sparks exploded between them. This time, the lightning from Aoi's blade surged harder. Sasuke's blade vibrated, metal groaning from the sheer voltage. But Sasuke gritted his teeth and channeled his chakra natures through his arms and into the claymore.

    The blade ignited.

    For a second, both weapons locked, howling against each other in a collision of raw power.

    Sakura, from behind, hurled another kunai with an explosive tag. Aoi saw it too late. He deflected it, but the blast threw off his balance. Sasuke capitalized. One step. A twist of the hips. A final overhead cleave, chakra bursting from his core into his blade.

    Aoi raised the Sword of the Thunder God again.

    The two weapons met, and the explosion of elemental force rocked the bridge.

    When the light cleared, Sasuke was crouched low, breathing hard. His claymore was intact, smoke curling off the blade. Aoi stood opposite him, the edge of his own sword flickering, unstable for the first time.

    "You're better than I expected," Aoi said, his grin gone.

    "And you talk too much," Sasuke replied coldly.

    His Sharingan spun faster.

    Aoi shifted his stance, one foot sliding back as he prepared for another heavy exchange. His eyes stayed locked on Sasuke's hands, reading the tension in the boy's posture. He was expecting an attack.

    He wasn't expecting Sakura.

    The kunai flew, not at Aoi, but at Sasuke.

    Aoi's eyes flicked toward it in confusion for only half a second. But Sasuke didn't hesitate. He caught the blade and plunged it into the ground at his feet.

    A pulse rippled out.

    Sakura's hands flashed through a final sequence of signs, the chakra network in her body lighting up as her sealing technique activated. A cube of energy erupted around Aoi in shimmering walls. A trap, anchored by every kunai she had thrown earlier. Each one a calculated placement.

    A plan only the two of them had known.

    Aoi's expression tightened, amused but wary now. He ran his hand along the inner wall of the barrier. The surface sizzled against his skin. "What's the point of trapping me in a barrier if it will last you only a few seconds?"

    "That's all I need."

    Outside the cube, Sasuke weaved signs quickly. His chakra surged, brighter and wilder than before, lightning flickering like a storm condensed into a single point.

    Chidori.

    He launched forward. The bridge cracked beneath his feet, energy screaming from his arm like a comet in full burn. He closed the distance with terrifying speed.

    Sakura deactivated the barrier at the precise instant he struck.

    Aoi met him with a step into the opening and a raised blade.

    Chidori met plasma.

    The sound was deafening.

    Sparks screamed across the bridge. Sasuke strained against Aoi's strength, but the older shinobi absorbed the blow, sliding back only a few inches. His sword hissed with controlled lightning. The ground beneath his feet glowed faintly.

    "You've got power," Aoi said. "But power without mastery is nothing. Your form is off. Your focus is split."

    Sasuke's teeth clenched. His Sharingan spun, trying to read the next move. Too late.

    Aoi twisted his sword, sending a pulse of lightning directly through the clash point.

    Sasuke cried out as the surge tore through his arm and shoulder, smoke rising from his skin. His Chidori sputtered out, and he dropped to one knee.

    Sakura's hands blurred again. The barrier flared back to life, this time thinner and faster, sealing Aoi before he could finish Sasuke off. He stepped back into the shimmering cube with a calm expression.

    "Interesting," he muttered, tapping the edge of the barrier with a knuckle. "You made it thinner for speed. But that makes it fragile, doesn't it?"

    He smirked.

    "And I planned for this."

    Sakura's eyes widened as she realized, too late.

    Before the barrier could seal shut, Aoi had already made his move. His umbrella twirled through the air like a glinting coin. With a click, it opened mid-flight, catching the wind and the trap had been sprung.

    A moment later, the hissing began.

    Dozens, no, hundreds of senbon needles rained from the sky in a spiraling storm of death.

    Sasuke knelt at the center of it all, body still twitching from the voltage Aoi had pumped through him. His limbs refused to move. His eyes could only watch as death fell.

    And Sakura stood frozen, hands still locked in the seal keeping Aoi trapped within her barrier. If she dropped it to protect Sasuke, they would both be exposed. If she held it, he would be torn apart.

    Her jaw clenched, and then she moved.

    Sakura threw herself between Sasuke and the storm.

    The senbon struck her almost immediately. Thin metal needles slammed into her shoulders, her back, her arms. Several embedded deep in her thighs. One drove straight through her bicep, punching out the other side. Another sliced her cheek open. Blood sprayed from the gashes in tight arcs, glistening in the cold light.

    The worst wasn't the blood.

    It was the poison.

    Within seconds, her limbs burned with numbness. The agony was a dull roar behind her eyes. A thousand needles tearing and freezing her all at once.

    But she didn't fall.

    Sakura stood her ground, trembling, knees buckling but unyielding. Sasuke looked up at her, his voice barely a breath. "Why...?"

    She gave him a strained smile, blood streaking her chin. "My body moved before I could think."

    "A noble act," Aoi murmured. "Tell me, was it because you realized the Uchiha's the stronger one? Because you wanted to keep me caged? Or was it some pitiful crush you mistake for love?"

    Sakura didn't answer.

    Aoi stepped forward inside the cube, his movements slow and deliberate. He raised the Sword of the Thunder God and pressed the glowing edge to the inner barrier wall.

    Sakura's eyes widened in horror. "No—"

    The blade slid through the barrier like smoke through a crack. The plasma didn't clash with the chakra. It bypassed it.

    The illusion of safety shattered in an instant.

    Aoi didn't hesitate.

    He drove the blade straight into her stomach.

    Sakura jerked violently. Her body went rigid, every nerve lighting up in white-hot agony. Her lips parted but no scream came. Only a gasp. Air. Blood.

    The Sword of the Thunder God didn't slice.

    It invaded.

    Aoi leaned close, his voice low and cruel. "This isn't a blade that cuts," he whispered. "It burns. It sears everything it touches. Your nerves, your stomach lining, your lungs are boiling from the inside. This is no bleeding. Just pain."

    Then he twisted the handle.

    The scream tore from Sakura's throat at last. Sasuke lunged but he was too slow. The barrier shattered into fragments of light as Aoi stepped back, the damage already done.

    Sakura collapsed into Sasuke's arms, her breath shallow, her hands limp. Blood gurgled in her mouth, spilling past her lips as her eyes began to glass over.

    Aoi stared down at her, eyes blank, tone devoid of care. "That's one name I'll never remember," he said. "Not worth it."

    Sasuke didn't speak.

    He simply knelt beside Sakura, his eyes fixated on the cauterized hole in her stomach. Her skin was pale. Her breathing, faint. Her expression... empty.

    With trembling fingers, he reached into his palm. A storage seal etched there by Sakura herself unfurled with a flicker of chakra. From it, he drew a single Estus Flask, Naruto's gift for emergencies.

    He wasted no time.

    He pressed the flask to her lips and tilted it gently. Golden light spilled from the mouth of the bottle, cascading over her like sunlight through mist. The glow seeped into her wounds, knitting torn organs, softening the burns. Her breathing stabilized, faint but steady.

    Sasuke exhaled. Just once. Then he leaned in, gently closed her eyes, and whispered, "I'll handle the rest."

    Across the bridge, Aoi made no move because he couldn't. The moment Sakura collapsed and Sasuke's gaze met his, the genjutsu had snapped into place. A simple illusion, but timed perfectly.

    Aoi thought he was standing over their lifeless bodies. He didn't notice the shift. The genjutsu veiled reality just long enough for Sasuke to act.

    But the Sword of the Thunder God didn't tolerate weakness. It shocked Aoi with a snap of voltage, jolting him back into reality just in time to see Sasuke rushing toward him. The Sharingan spun faster than ever. Red veins pulsed across Sasuke's face.

    The first blow came like a hammer.

    Sasuke's claymore crashed down, exploding in sparks as it struck Aoi's blade. Lightning met steel, and the bridge trembled.

    Aoi gritted his teeth, parrying, but Sasuke didn't give him time to breathe.

    A savage follow-up, then another. Each strike came with fire. Literally.

    Sasuke's chakra flared, and his next swing was wrapped in flame. The blade screamed through the air, the heat distorting the space around it.

    Clang.

    Aoi blocked again, but the fire licked his arm, scorching his sleeves.

    Sasuke spun, drove his foot into Aoi's ribs, sending him stumbling. Before Aoi could recover, Sasuke launched back, hands forming signs with violent speed.

    Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!

    Meanwhile…

    Sakura heard only fragments.

    Voices that were warbled and distant, like echoes underwater. Her body lay still, motionless, the agony long since replaced by a cold storm coursing through her veins. She should have been unconscious. Dying, even.

    Instead, she was standing.

    The world around her stretched into a vast, endless void.

    Beneath her feet: rippling water, impossibly black. Above her: her reflection was staring back with piercing eyes.

    Only it wasn't just a reflection.

    "Shannaro! Looks like we finally meet."

    Sakura blinked. "You... I know you."

    "Of course you do," the reflection replied, leaning closer. "I'm the voice in your head. The one you've been ignoring for years."

    "Wh-what's going on?"

    "Oh, you're dying," Inner Sakura said bluntly. "Your organs? Liquid soup. Mind? Hanging by a thread. Heart? Slowing like it's stuck in molasses. And that green-haired, glowstick-swinging bastard?" Her grin vanished. "Officially my least favorite color now."

    Sakura let out a weak chuckle. "Sasuke-kun will save us... Naruto gave us those Estus things..."

    Inner Sakura rolled her eyes. "Why don't you save us, bitch?"

    "Hey!" Sakura flinched, but the bite in her voice faltered.

    Inner Sakura's expression didn't change. If anything, the anger beneath it sharpened. "I'm tired," she said. "Tired of waiting. Tired of you standing on the sidelines, praying someone else will win your battles. You want to survive?"

    A pause.

    "You want strength?"

    Sakura hesitated.

    Inner Sakura's smirk returned... wider, wilder, unstoppable. "Then switch."

    A hand shot up from the dark waters and grabbed her by the collar, yanking her down with a splashless pull.

    As the void swallowed her, a voice echoed through her mind: Let me show you what we can do.

    Sasuke panted heavily, lungs burning as he lowered his guard just a fraction.

    Then Aoi stepped through the flames.

    The fireball had struck him head-on, and the damage showed. His jumpsuit was charred and smoldering, melted into his skin at the shoulder and chest. Blistered flesh cracked as he moved, the burns angry and raw, oozing beneath blackened, warped fabric. Steam hissed from his body as chakra tried to cauterize and heal the wounds mid-battle. And yet... he smiled.

    "You think this is pain?" Aoi growled, voice warped with agony and hatred. "I'm going to boil you from the inside out, Uchiha. You'll pay in screams."

    He raised the Sword of the Thunder God and swung.

    A bolt of searing lightning exploded forth, streaking toward Sasuke like a divine judgment.

    BOOM.

    A chakra barrier surged up, crackling with radiant light, blocking the bolt midair. Sparks flew across the bridge.

    Sasuke blinked, turning sharply.

    Sakura was standing. Her skin glistened with steam as chakra pulsed visibly beneath it. She held an Estus Flask in one hand. Her other gripped a war axe freshly unsealed from her storage seal.

    "I said don't stand there looking pretty," she called, her voice hoarse but alive. "Charge up the Chidori. I'll give you the opening."

    Then she tossed him the flask. "Let's fuck this bastard up. Shannaro."

    Sasuke stared, stunned, as he saw her sclera had turned ink-black. Her pupils burned a brilliant white, and her chakra rose around her in waves of angry violet. It shook the air and made Sasuke's hair stand up.

    "You okay?"

    Sakura tilted her head, smirking. "I mean... you could kiss me to make me feel better."

    Inner Sakura had properly taken over as she stepped forward. "But I'll ask for that after we finish this."

    Sakura vanished in a flicker of chakra.

    The war axe came screaming down like a falling guillotine. Aoi raised his plasma blade just in time to block, sparks and light shrieking into the air. But she didn't pause. Didn't reset.

    She cackled. And swung again. Harder. Uglier. More chaotic.

    Her arms blurred in erratic, unnatural arcs like a marionette with severed strings. No form. No stance. Just speed and hatred. Each strike came from an angle no normal fighter would use. From behind her back, under her armpit, and even while mid-air twisting sideways.

    She was dancing, if the dance was performed by a lunatic with bones made of glass and rage.

    Then her fingers twitched.

    Chakra threads, almost invisible, snapped out like spidersilk. Kunai ripped from the ground—four of them. They spun midair in unnatural formations and hurtled toward Aoi from behind as she pressed the axe forward. He ducked one. Blocked another. The third grazed his thigh. The fourth embedded into his shoulder.

    He stumbled.

    And she laughed again.

    From behind her, the kunai flipped back on their own. Sakura yanked them with her chakra threads and whipped them forward again. They were her claws. Her fangs. Then came the boom.

    A kunai tagged with a paper bomb, hurled between her own legs mid-spin, detonated.

    Krakoom.

    The fire swallowed both of them. But only one emerged.

    Sakura burst from the smoke and fire like a demon torn from myth. Her skin glowed behind a net of violet chakra threads, like cracked glass fused to muscle. Her lattice barrier hissed with the strain, thin lines of red oozing where needles and heat had scorched her.

    She was bleeding.

    She didn't care.

    Her right leg swung up mid-run. Her heel slammed down like a sledgehammer into Aoi's kneecap.

    Crack.

    He screamed.

    And she was already moving.

    Her chakra threads reeled in her half-melted axe from the ground, slamming it into his ribs mid-return.

    Whump.

    He staggered, blood spraying from his mouth, the wind ripped from his lungs. He swung wildly.

    She jumped on him, war axe floating beside her like a loyal beast, chakra strings coiled around its haft.

    "You wanted a sword fight, asshole?!" she roared in his face, hair wild, sclera black, pupils glowing white. "Try surviving me!"

    Aoi activated a chakra pulse. The Sword of the Thunder God spun in his grip, and lightning erupted in all directions.

    Sakura didn't flinch. She tore herself backward with her chakra threads attached to the bridge mid-swing, leaving a paper tag on his chest. Then whispered, "Kai."

    Boom.

    Aoi roared, smoke enveloping him. He ripped off the half-burnt tag and tossed it, only to look up and see Sasuke. Chidori shrieked, causing the man to raise his sword to block. But his wrists froze.

    Chakra threads wrapped from behind.

    Sakura stood back up, panting hard. Pulling on Aoi like a puppeteer yanking strings from a broken doll.

    "Go," she hissed.

    Sasuke's hand punched through Aoi's chest with a crack of bone and lightning.

    The light died.

    Aoi spasmed. His sword clattered to the ground. Blood leaked from his lips in slow drips. "Wha... the hell... are they feeding you freaks in Konoha...?"

    Sasuke didn't respond.

    Aoi chuckled weakly. "This is... so unfair."

    And then, he collapsed.

    "Now that's done," Sakura panted, wobbling slightly on her feet, "kiss me."

    Sasuke blinked. "What?"

    "Come on, read the room, Sasuke," she huffed, her black sclera fading back to normal. Her breath was heavy, but her smirk stayed wild. "I saved your ass. Don't be stingy."

    "We're... outdoors," Sasuke muttered, "and we just killed a man."

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shy boy trying to play cool. Look, I'm the reason you even won this fight. Shannaro. Do something nice for Sakura."

    Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, noting the way she said Sakura like she was referring to someone else. Like there were two people in there. A split.

    He nodded.

    "Good boy," Inner Sakura said with a grin, then reached out, slapped Sasuke's butt, and immediately passed out in his arms.

    Sasuke caught her with a sigh.

    "Team7..." he muttered, "at this point is just different shades of insanity."

    But as he looked down at the half-laughing, half-broken girl in his arms, a tired smile found its way onto his lips.

    He wouldn't have it any other way.

    Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

    A sound like shattering glass echoed across the mist-drenched bridge.

    Twelve perfect mirrors bloomed into existence, rising out of the frozen mist like lotus petals made of ice. They spiraled around Naruto, forming a dome of crystalline death. Each one catching and reflecting not just his form, but Haku's as well.

    The air hissed as the temperature plummeted.

    Frost curled along the Elite Knight pauldrons hugging Naruto's shoulders. His breath steamed, and the mist turned to rime beneath his boots.

    Naruto exhaled slowly, murmuring a quiet thanks to Sasuke for teaching him fire chakra manipulation. Sasuke had intended for him to use it for the Fireball Jutsu, but the young knight had repurposed it, channeling a steady stream of heat around his armor. The warmth insulated his body, helping his cold-blooded system function properly in the freezing air.

    "I'm sorry," Haku's voice rang out, gentle as snowfall. "But I'm going to have to kill you."

    Naruto didn't respond immediately. His eyes flicked from mirror to mirror. The Way of Focality hummed behind his hawkeyes, whispering something was off. The motion between attacks, the position resets... there were discrepancies.

    Then, a blur.

    Haku's image launched from the left mirror.

    Naruto tried to sidestep, but it was too late. A kunai screeched across his breastplate, scraping sparks over the enchanted metal.

    Shit.

    Haku vanished into another mirror and performed another strike.

    Naruto pivoted, fist flashing, but there was nothing there. "What the hell?" he muttered, pulling a black-edged rapier from his inventory with a snap of compressed space.

    "You're a greatsword user," Haku said from everywhere at once. "Why the switch?"

    Naruto slid into a low duelist's stance, one arm back, tip forward. "If I use the Zweihander," he said calmly, "you die in three seconds."

    The ice quivered.

    "I've spent a long time preparing for you. If I fought seriously, you'd be dead before the first breath left your lungs. And honestly? That'd be boring. So let's play a little. I want to see what you can do before I take your soul."

    Haku didn't laugh. He didn't think it was arrogance. He just moved.

    Attack. Attack. Feint. Attack.

    Each Haku launched forward in a staggered rhythm. Not quite simultaneous, but enough to disorient. Wind-infused kunai sliced toward Naruto's head, hips, neck. Each cut intended to bleed or blind, not kill.

    Naruto leaned just enough for each strike to glance. He could feel the wind chakra wrapped around Haku's kunai. To counter it, Naruto began channeling his own wind chakra into the Elite Knight armor itself, reinforcing the metal so that the moment Haku's blades struck, the energies would clash and cancel out.

    It worked.

    But it also meant his body had to deal with the stupid cold.

    Naruto's eye twitched. I need to figure this jutsu out quickly and counter it...

    A kunai grazed his thigh.

    He lunged forward and stabbed a mirror, and Haku was gone before the blade even reached the surface.

    He frowned.

    You're not teleporting. You're transmitting... like light.

    Haku appeared again, this time behind him.

    CLANG!

    Naruto parried blindly over his shoulder, sparks screaming as rapier met kunai. Then he spun with dancer's grace, stabbing mid-spin at a second angle. The tip of his blade nicked Haku's sleeve.

    Haku vanished back into the mirrors.

    The boy inside the dome wasn't grinning. He was calculating.

    "I'm tracking your moment of exit," Naruto said, slowly. "There's a delay between the strike and your return. Not much. But enough."

    Haku hesitated.

    For the first time, there was a gap between attacks.

    Naruto used it. He plunged the rapier into the ground. The blade hummed with chakra. He'd laced it with wind.

    A pulse.

    A sonic hum exploded through the frozen mist, rippling into the mirrors like a radar ping. Naruto's eyes sharpened. A single mirror vibrated too long. Too late.

    "There."

    He threw a kunai at a mirror.

    BOOM.

    The kunai detonated with an explosive seal as shrapnel splintered upward, catching Haku mid-transition. One shard tore a line down his thigh before he fell back into the mirror. Blood hit the ice.

    Naruto's armor hissed with fire chakra, burning off frost before it could sap his mobility. He surged forward. No wasted movement. Rapier stabbing straight into the mirror.

    Haku phased out.

    But Naruto was learning. He feinted. Let the blade glide past the next mirror, then twisted, reversed grip, and stabbed behind him.

    Haku yelped as the edge grazed his hip.

    "You're not fast," Naruto said softly. "You're predictable."

    "You... figured it out so quickly," Haku whispered, now breathing harder. His kunai dripped with chakra, but even they were starting to dull from Naruto's reinforced armor.

    Haku launched another strike, this time with three wind-infused kunai at once, weaving them in a spiral pattern meant to blind and skewer.

    Naruto deflected one. Let the second bounce off his hip. Then he moved into the third, shoulder-first.

    It hit him dead-on.

    But his reinforced armor didn't even have a scratch left behind.

    Naruto strangely threw the rapier back into his inventory. In its place, he summoned a new weapon.

    The +5 Uchigatana.

    A black blade shimmered under the mirrored dome. It hissed faintly, as though remembering every soul it had cut through. Naruto exhaled slowly and shifted into a defensive stance with his feet shoulder-width apart, sword low, angled, edge pointed slightly forward.

    Haku surged forward, vanishing in a blur of motion.

    Ting.

    Naruto's arm didn't move more than a centimeter, but the edge of his blade deflected Haku's kunai cleanly, sending the boy skidding across the dome. Another blur at another angle.

    Ting.

    Again deflected. Then another. Then another.

    The sound of metal-on-metal echoed like wind chimes in a graveyard. Every time Haku struck, Naruto met it with minimal movement and maximum precision, cutting only where he needed to, never more.

    Haku was no longer attacking. He was watching, slack-jawed behind his mask.

    "I figured out your mirror technique," Naruto said casually, not even winded. "You use the reflections between the ice panels as a light channel, bouncing images and chakra through them to project your presence from one surface to another."

    Haku's eyes widened behind the mask.

    "But it's more than that," Naruto continued. "You don't just send a clone. You send a chakra apparition, which acts as a medium for your mass to reattach once it reaches its destination. Very efficient."

    Haku's breathing grew heavier.

    "But…" Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Since your body moves at relativistic speeds, you can't track your own position once you initiate. Your eyes can't keep up. Your attacks all come in perfectly straight lines. Linear. No mid-course correction."

    Haku was stunned. He had trained for years. No one—not even the elite of Kirigakure—had cracked the true principle behind Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. But this boy had read it in battle.

    "W-Why are you telling me this?" Haku asked, shaken. "You're not supposed to explain how you beat someone."

    Naruto smiled, tapping his temple. "I figured if I showed you how smart I am and dismantled your jutsu, you'd reveal something new. Something better."

    "And if I can't?" Haku asked, voice brittle.

    Naruto vanished.

    Every mirror lit up simultaneously with an afterimage. Then the blade came down.

    Wind Style: Vacuum Blade.

    A swirling vortex of slicing air surged along the length of the Uchigatana. Then a second surge of deep red wind spun around it. The Nahr Alma's Sigil had activated, turning the wind chakra into a blood-colored spiral. The blade howled.

    SHHRRKKKK!

    It cut through the mirror like it was made of paper.

    Haku jumped away just in time, but the tip nicked his thigh.

    A shimmer erupted beneath his skin. A burning sigil branded itself across his body, pulsing like molten wire. Haku gasped as a dozen hair-thin gashes opened across his body, blood spurting from nowhere.

    [Name: ?]
    [HP: 50/300]

    Naruto glanced at the HUD. Huh. Mask must be interfering with your name readout.

    He looked back at the bleeding shinobi.

    Naruto raised an eyebrow, briefly wondering if the enemy's name wasn't displayed because of the mask. A minor curiosity. He didn't care enough to press it. What mattered was the bloody mess collapsed on the bridge, barely clinging to consciousness.

    "I hope that's not all," Naruto said coldly. "Because if that's your best…"

    His gaze hardened.

    "…I'm going to be very disappointed."

    Behind his silence, memories replayed every torment, every trial, every monster he had clawed past in Lordran to get this strong.

    And if this... if this was all his enemy had to offer, then it wasn't just disappointing.

    It was insulting.

    Meanwhile, Haku's eyes quivered in fear, doubt, and dread. He had faced powerful shinobi before, but this wasn't a shinobi.

    This was a monster.

    And if this monster marched beside Kakashi… Zabuza-sama would die. Haku's hands clenched. His resolve hardened. I won't let that happen.

    With shaking fingers, he pulled a black capsule from inside his sleeve. A chakra pill used only by Mist ninja during suicide missions. Once ingested, it would flood his body with chakra… but at the cost of cell stability, heart strain, and possible total organ failure.

    He bit down.

    Crack.

    The air exploded.

    A freezing shockwave of chakra burst out of Haku's body, tearing through the snow around him like a gale. The frost deepened. Crystals formed midair. His breath came out in clouds thick as smoke. Even the shattered remains of the earlier mirrors started reforming into jagged ice pillars from the sheer ambient chakra.

    [Name: ?]
    [HP: 200 / 300]

    Across the bridge, Naruto grinned behind his helmet. "Now that's more like it."

    He sheathed the Uchigatana and flickered forward, thrusting a straight jab at Haku's core.

    Crack!

    An ice mirror surged into existence mid-punch. Ripples traveled outward from the impact like a gong had been struck.

    Naruto's smile widened beneath his helm. "Not bad."

    He channeled chakra into his arm. Bracing, grounding, and shattering the mirror with a second burst of strength. But Haku had already vanished into the swirling mist of his next jutsu.

    Ice Style: Yuki-Onna.

    A blizzard erupted inside the dome. Howling winds and biting snow enveloped Naruto from every direction. It was more than just disorienting, it was maddening. The wind pressure cut visibility. The chill numbed reflexes. It twisted sound. Shapes became illusions. Motion was smeared.

    Naruto raised a gauntleted arm as a blade of ice slammed into him.

    Ting!

    The Grass Crest Shield shimmered into being, blocking the strike.

    When the smoke cleared, Haku stood before him wielding a massive ice greatsword—its edges curved like fangs, the spine serrated with glacier ridges.

    Naruto exhaled and finally summoned the Zweihander.

    "You can use a greatsword," Naruto muttered. "Zabuza must've trained you himself."

    Then they clashed.

    Haku attacked first, his ice greatsword rising overhead as he brought it down in a vertical cut.

    Naruto moved cleanly, stepping off the line at a diagonal deflection. The massive blade crashed down just inches from his shoulder, kicking up frost and mist. With the momentum already flowing, Naruto swept his Zweihander low in a crooked cut, aiming to buckle Haku's knees.

    Clang!

    Haku blocked with the flat of his sword, sliding back. Then the wind rose. The blizzard wailed through the bridge. The air warped. Snow whipped in dense, shifting patterns. Naruto's visibility dropped to mere inches.

    It didn't matter. He advanced.

    But Haku used the cover brilliantly. From behind the blinding veil, Haku unleashed ice kunai, timed precisely. Naruto intercepted the first—ping!—with a short parry, but three more came from odd angles. One grazed his vambrace. Another shattered against his helmet. The third clipped his thigh.

    A flicker of motion to Naruto's left.

    He turned too late.

    Haku darted in, using the mist to mask a horizontal cut aimed at Naruto's ribs.

    CLANG!

    Naruto caught it with his blade's flat and shoved back, creating space. But even as he advanced to retaliate, the snow swirled violently. A mirror briefly flashed; not from jutsu, but ice bent by light. Haku's silhouette split into two, then three.

    Naruto's eyes narrowed.

    "Clever," he muttered as he reached into his inventory and pulled out a massive tower shield, the steel slab glinting despite the howling blizzard.

    "Turtle Formation," he said lowly, forming a cross sign.

    In a burst of chakra, twelve clones shimmered into existence, each one conjuring their own reinforced shield and locking into a protective phalanx. A shell of interlocking defenses taught to him by Siegmeyer during his training in Lordran.

    "Shields high! Lock tight!" the clones shouted in unison.

    The dome clicked together with audible thunks as steel met steel. Their formation was perfect. A wall of unbreakable resolve, unmoving even as the wind screamed around them.

    Haku, hidden within the blizzard, knew he needed force. A clever tactic met with clever defense. But overwhelming power crushed cleverness. His hand blurred.

    Ice Style: Ice Dragon Jutsu.

    From the storm itself, a serpentine behemoth burst forth. An enormous dragon of pure ice, its body formed from river water and frozen using ice release. Its mouth opened in a shriekless roar, and it slammed into the turtle shell like divine punishment.

    CRASH!

    The first wave cracked the outer shields. The second shattered three clones instantly, their bodies bursting into steam. The final impact detonated through the phalanx, sending the remaining clones flying.

    The original Naruto was launched into the sky, limbs splayed, his body spinning above the bridge like a ragdoll. But even as he rose, his eyes locked onto something in the storm.

    Mirrors.

    Hundreds of ice mirrors now spiraled vertically, forming a twisting tower that rose into the sky beside the bridge. They'd been hidden, camouflaged by the blizzard.

    This was Haku's final gambit.

    Ice Release: Blade Against Heaven.

    From the base of the spiraling tower, Haku launched upward, flickering from mirror to mirror, each movement faster than the last. The space between jumps compressed, velocity stacking with every phase. The mirrors weren't just reflections. They were railguns.

    And Haku was the projectile.

    Naruto's pupils narrowed, tracking the blur of motion. "He's not just moving," he murmured. "He's accelerating. Compounding speed. Using chakra, gravity, and angle like a slingshot..."

    His gaze sharpened.

    "He's turning himself into a blade. A single, perfect strike meant to cut me clean in half."

    The thought excited him.

    A weaker shinobi would've panicked. But Naruto? He smiled as he created a handsign. "Genius."

    Boom.

    From below, chakra surged. A colossal spiraling column of shadow clones rose into the air, forming a counter-tower. Each clone held the one above it with their left arm, balancing with core strength and reinforced chakra. With their right palms extended forward, they synchronized.

    A thousand red eyes opened.

    CRACK.

    The structure shuddered violently as each clone began to pull at the tower of mirrors with raw telekinetic force.

    Cracks spiderwebbed through the delicate formation. The mirrors began to twist out of alignment.

    Haku felt it instantly. The precise rhythm of his movement, the seamless transitions from mirror to mirror, was collapsing beneath him. He tried to compensate, correcting his trajectory with ice platforms, but it was too late.

    The mirrors vanished beneath him, pulled apart and torn free by Naruto's clones, leaving nothing.

    Only open sky.

    Haku's body was carried upward by sheer momentum, but he could no longer guide it. He couldn't reach Naruto, who remained above them all like a dragon sitting upon heaven's throne.

    Naruto clenched the talisman. An orb of white energy began to form, rippling with compressed shockwaves.

    "Emit Force."

    The orb pulsed once, then launched like a divine projectile. A cannon blast of pure miracle energy slammed into Haku mid-air.

    BOOM.

    The explosion rang out across the bridge. Haku's mask shattered into fragments. His body jerked violently in the blast, sent tumbling in slow, painful spirals through the smoke.

    [Name: Haku Yuki]
    [HP: 1 / 300]

    The clone tower puffed away, dispelled as Naruto descended gently.

    Haku; broken, bloody, and limp fell through the sky, a bloody comet trailing mist. He closed his eyes.

    I'm sorry… Zabuza-sama… I can't win.

    But he never hit the ground.

    At the last second, Naruto's palm eye flared red as telekinesis catching Haku mid-fall. The force slowed him gently, cradling him before setting his body down softly on the bridge.

    A mercy.

    "...You," Naruto whispered, recognition dawning as he floated down. "You're that nice girl from the forest."

    Haku just chuckled. "Just for that… you spare my life?"

    Naruto tilted his head slightly, eyeing the broken ice mirrors, the melting frost at their feet, the cracked mask lying like a broken identity between them. "Call it… a moment of curiosity."

    "Then… will you kill me after that curiosity fades?"

    Naruto didn't answer right away. It wasn't even clear if Haku was asking or requesting.

    "You are already dying?"

    Haku turned his face upward. The smile that met Naruto's question wasn't joyful. It was resigned, fragile, like the last snowflake before spring.

    "That should be my fate. I'm a failed tool. A weapon that couldn't serve its purpose is cast aside."

    "So being a tool for Zabuza… that's your life's purpose?"

    "...Yes."

    "That's pathetic," Naruto said, but not unkindly. "Because when we met in that forest, you weren't a tool. You were a person. You talked about precious people… about getting stronger to protect them. Where's that person now?"

    Haku's gaze fell to the ice at his feet, cracked and slowly turning back to water. "Precious people…" he murmured, almost too quietly to hear. "I used to think… my parents were mine. I loved them. I trusted them."

    Naruto leaned in, attentive.

    "And yet…" Haku went on, his voice like glass. "My father murdered my mother… just for her bloodline. And he tried to kill me too."

    Naruto's eyes widened.

    "The Land of Mist," Haku continued, "has been a graveyard of war for generations. And we, those born with kekkei genkai, we're seen as curses. Monsters. Abominations."

    His voice trembled, but only barely. "Even after the wars ended, the hate didn't. People like me had to hide, afraid our blood would betray us. My mother did. My father found out. And then… before I could even think... I killed him."

    Naruto didn't speak. The weight in Haku's voice wasn't something you interrupted.

    "I remember that moment more vividly than any other. Not because of the death. But because it was when I truly understood. I was alone. Superfluous. Unwanted. I wasn't a person... I was a mistake."

    Naruto closed his hand into a fist.

    "And then Zabuza found me." Haku's lips curled; not quite a smile, not quite pain. "He saw what I was. My bloodline, the thing that made me hate myself… he didn't just accept it. He needed it. He needed me."

    Tears traced his cheek, but his voice didn't break.

    "For the first time… I was something someone could use. I wasn't invisible. I wasn't a mistake. I was a tool, but I mattered. That's all I ever wanted."

    Naruto swallowed. "You call that love?"

    Haku didn't answer at first. His breathing was shallow. Frost still clung to his eyelashes.

    "I don't know," he said finally. "But it felt like it. He gave me a reason to live. Even if that reason was just to die for him… it was still something."

    "...And what if he never saw you as anything more than a tool?" Naruto's voice was quiet but firm. "What if Zabuza only ever valued your usefulness? What if the person you'd give your life for wouldn't even flinch if you died?"

    "Then I would still be grateful. Because a tool doesn't feel the cold of being alone."

    "That's messed up."

    Haku looked up, startled.

    "Really messed up," Naruto repeated. "I get being loyal. I get wanting to protect someone you care about. But what you just said? That's not love. That's giving up on yourself."

    Haku didn't speak.

    "Why are you telling me this?"

    "Because," Haku said slowly, "I think you'll understand what I say next." He looked directly into Naruto's eyes. "Did I give you the kind of fight you were hoping for?"

    "Yeah. You did."

    Haku's shoulders sagged with relief. "Then… please. Save Zabuza-sama. I know it's a selfish thing to ask. But if I'm going to die anyway, let it mean something."

    "No."

    Haku blinked. "What?"

    "I'm not going to save him."

    "...I see." Haku looked down again, voice barely audible. "That's fair. You have no reason to."

    "I didn't say it because I hate him," Naruto added. "I said it because I won't make promises I'm not sure I can keep."

    Haku stood there, quietly trembling.

    "Then," he whispered, "please kill me. If I can't protect him… if I can't even slow you down… then at least let me die with some dignity."

    There was silence.

    Then Naruto spoke, and his voice shook with something Haku couldn't name.

    "I know what that's like."

    Haku's head snapped up. "What?"

    "I know what it's like to want to be useful… to be needed so badly you'd give up everything." Naruto looked away, like he was remembering a different life. "Before Team 7. Before Kakashi-sensei. Before Oscar… I didn't matter to anyone. No one looked at me like I was real. Not even to use me. I was just… there. A ghost."

    Haku stared at him, stunned.

    Naruto looked back. "So yeah, I get it. That kind of desperation. That kind of pain. I understand why you think dying for Zabuza is the only thing left for you."

    Then he stepped closer, slowly. "But I won't kill you."

    Haku's breath hitched. "Why… not?"

    Naruto's voice was quiet. Strong. "Because you're not a tool. And if you really are, then let me be the one who breaks that part of you."

    Thunder cracked across the river.

    Chidori.

    A flash of light, somewhere distant.

    Zabuza and Kakashi were reaching their conclusion.

    Haku turned his head. The chakra signatures told him what was happening. Zabuza was losing.

    "Please," Haku said. "You don't understand. If Zabuza-sama dies… then none of this meant anything. I have to fight. I have to protect him. He saved me. I owe him…"

    "No." Naruto cut in gently. "You don't owe him your death."

    "But I don't have anything else!"

    "You could." Naruto pointed to his own chest. "You could live for something else. You don't have to be someone else's weapon."

    "But what would I even be without him?"

    "You'd be Haku. And maybe that's enough."

    Haku's body trembled.

    "I'm not going to make the choice for you," Naruto said. "But maybe… maybe it's time you asked yourself if dying for someone is really the same thing as living for them."

    And then, warmth.

    Haku gasped softly as a golden light wrapped around him. The Heal miracle had taken hold.

    "...Why?"

    Naruto looked at him. "Because someone healed me back then. So I'll be that person, for you."

    A beat passed.

    Then Haku turned his gaze toward the mist, toward Zabuza's fading chakra.

    "...Thank you," he whispered.

    And then, in a blur of frost and breath, Haku vanished into the mist.

    A Few Minutes Ago

    Zabuza and Kakashi landed with practiced ease atop the cold waters of the bay, ripples echoing outward with every step.

    "You either a fool or suicidal for fighting me on water," Zabuza growled, shifting his stance. The Kubikiribōchō rested heavy against his shoulder, mist beginning to coil around his feet.

    Kakashi simply stared at him, calm and unreadable. Then he raised his forehead protector, revealing the dull red glow of his Sharingan.

    "I think you're the fool who forgot who almost killed you last time on the water," Kakashi said. His voice was casual, but cold. "You know my Sharingan can see into the future, right? And in that future… you don't live to see tomorrow."

    Zabuza gave a rasping laugh. "Cute bluff."

    He pressed his hands together. Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu.

    Thick fog exploded across the water like a suffocating blanket. But this time, it wasn't normal mist. It was denser, chakra-packed, almost gelatinous in how it clung to everything.

    "You like it, Kakashi?" Zabuza's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. "I developed this version just for you. It blinds your Sharingan's ability to read hand signs."

    There was silence for a moment until Kakashi's low chuckle rolled over the water.

    "You really don't get it, do you?" Kakashi murmured, hands forming a seal. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. The man with a thousand jutsus."

    He inhaled.

    Wind Style: Wind Breakthrough!

    A concussive gust blasted outward, shredding the mist like tissue paper. The wind slammed into the water's surface, parting the fog and flattening waves as the battlefield became clear once more.

    Zabuza leapt forward, Kubikiribōchō coming down like a guillotine.

    Clang!

    Kakashi raised his gloved hand, stopping the blade with his arm. The impact rang like a bell. Then he vanished in a flicker of movement.

    Zabuza's eyes widened too late.

    A foot slammed into his ribs, hard enough to make him cough blood. He was airborne before he even knew he'd been struck. He twisted midair, sword spinning, but Kakashi was already there.

    Another flicker. Another blow. Another fall.

    Zabuza tried to turn his body into a slide as he landed on the water, but Kakashi didn't give him the chance.

    It was a dogwalk.

    Zabuza swung again, wild and wide, but Kakashi stepped into the arc, trapped Zabuza's wrist, and headbutted him straight in the bridge of the nose.

    Blood spurted.

    Zabuza stumbled back, gasping.

    "Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!" Zabuza shouted, trying to regain distance as he formed rapid seals.

    But Kakashi was already ahead of him.

    "Water Style: Great Waterfall!" he said a half-second faster.

    The lake heaved. A massive cascade of water erupted like a tsunami, dwarfing Zabuza's half-formed wave and obliterating it. Zabuza barely leapt clear before the wave struck, his landing awkward and uneven. The water churned beneath him like a boiling sea.

    That's when he saw the eye.

    Kakashi's Sharingan glowed, and suddenly everything felt wrong.

    Zabuza blinked, and chains erupted from the water.

    Genjutsu Art: Four Cardinal Chains.

    Black iron chains lanced up like spears, piercing through his limbs and shoulders, coiling around his chest, dragging him down. He screamed inside his own mind as the illusion tightened. His body couldn't move. His chakra felt sluggish.

    He growled. "How… how did you get this strong?"

    Kakashi raised one glowing hand. The Chidori crackled in his palm, bright as a star, high-pitched and shrieking like a thousand birds.

    "Let's just say a miracle happened to me," Kakashi murmured with a rare smile. His Chidori crackled in hand, illuminating the water's surface in flashes of blue lightning.

    He stepped forward to finish it when suddenly...

    "Kakashi-sensei, dodge!"

    Naruto's voice thundered across the bay. Kakashi turned just in time to see the sky filled with arrows, dozens of chakra-tipped projectiles fired in unison by hundreds of clones stationed along the bridge. They weren't just aiming blindly. They were tracking something fast.

    Before he could move, Kakashi felt an unseen force grab him. His body was yanked violently back, skimming the water like a skipped stone under Naruto's telekinesis. And then, his Sharingan caught it, just barely.

    Haku, moving faster than any normal shinobi, appeared behind Zabuza, inserted a needle into his neck, and with the ice of his mirrors blooming around them, the two vanished into an ice mirror.

    The arrows landed where Zabuza once stood. The air burst with chakra shockwaves. The water roiled beneath the power, but the targets were long gone.

    Kakashi exhaled slowly, letting the Chidori fizzle out with a faint crackle in his palm. He pulled his forehead protector back over the Sharingan with a practiced tug.

    "...Damn," he muttered, surveying the bridge through the thinning mist. "Got away."

    Naruto dropped beside him a moment later, crouched low, wind tugging at the hem of his cloak. He looked up toward the sky, squinting like a kid whose firework fizzled too early. "Aww, shucks. They slipped through."

    "You say that like it wasn't on purpose."

    Naruto grinned, tilting his head with exaggerated innocence. "Me? Let the enemy escape? Perish the thought."

    "Uh-huh." Kakashi crossed his arms. "So why'd you let them go?"

    There was a pause.

    "You're too smart for your own good, old man."

    "I'm not that old," Kakashi said flatly.

    Naruto didn't reply at first. He just sat back on his heels and finally explained what had happened between him and Haku. He didn't dramatize it. He just told it as it was.

    When Naruto finished, Kakashi stood in silence for a long moment, then slowly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Good grief, Naruto…"

    "I know, I know."

    "After you wiped out Gato's entire gang like a divine executioner, I thought you'd start acting a little more… ruthless. You know. Pragmatic. Controlled."

    Naruto shrugged, calm. "I killed Gato's men because I decided they needed to die. They were scum. Abusers. Killers. That decision was mine."

    "And Haku?"

    "I looked at him," Naruto said, his tone shifting, more grounded. "And I didn't see someone who needed to die. I saw someone who didn't know how to live."

    Kakashi frowned. "...And if he comes back to haunt us?"

    "Then I'll deal with it. If it was a mistake, it's my mistake. I'll take responsibility."

    He tapped his chest with two fingers. "That's what it means to be a knight. Not just fighting, but choosing what kind of world you want to protect."

    Kakashi sighed again, deeper this time, as if the entire bridge weighed on his shoulders. "What am I going to do with you…"

    Naruto smirked. "Love me. Feed me. Let me stab people."

    "Great," Kakashi muttered.

    "Just think of it like this," Naruto added, holding up a finger. "A heroic knight saves a beautiful, tragic girl trapped in a life of darkness."

    Kakashi blinked at him. "...Naruto. Haku's a boy."

    There was a beat of silence.

    Naruto stared at him. "Surely… you jest."

    Kakashi's expression didn't even flinch. "ANBU captain, Naruto. Trained medical knowledge. Sharingan. Trust me. I know what I'm seeing."

    Naruto's face crumbled like wet clay. He dropped to his knees on the water, arms limp at his sides.

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!"

    His voice echoed off the mist and mountains like some kind of mythic heartbreak. Naruto sat up suddenly, water dripping from his sleeves. "Alright. I'm over it."

    Kakashi sweatdropped.

    "Haku… what the hell is the meaning of this?"

    Zabuza's voice was rough but not angry.

    Haku stood a few paces away, head bowed. His hands were shaking, slightly.

    "I'm sorry, Zabuza-sama," Haku said quietly. "But… the situation was unsalvageable."

    Zabuza slowly turned his head, only one eye visible behind matted hair. There was no fury in that look. Just calculation.

    "You left the field," Zabuza muttered. "You never leave the field."

    "I had to. If I hadn't…" Haku hesitated. "I wouldn't be standing here. And neither would you."

    Zabuza was silent.

    The only sound was the soft creak of the hideout's ceiling and the gentle crackle of the nearby oil lamp.

    "Zabuza-sama… it wasn't Kakashi. It wasn't the numbers. It wasn't a tactical disadvantage. It was him."

    Zabuza blinked. "Him?"

    "Uzumaki Naruto."

    Zabuza sat a little straighter, his eye narrowing. "You're telling me a loudmouth genin was the threat?"

    "No," Haku said, shaking his head slowly. "Not a loudmouth. Not anymore. He was… something else. I don't even know how to explain it. The way he fought… the way he thought. He dominated me in everything. The only reason I live is because he decided it."

    Zabuza stared. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out.

    "And Aoi…" Haku hesitated. "He's dead."

    "You're sure?"

    "I saw his body. Naruto's teammates took him down. And since the Hozuki family isn't back, it's fair to say they have been eliminated."

    There was a long silence.

    Finally, Zabuza leaned back and let out a breath like the air had been knocked from his lungs.

    "Well, shit."

    He lay down again, throwing an arm over his eyes. "Guess you made the right call, after all."

    "What's the next step?"

    Zabuza didn't answer for several seconds.

    "We pull back," he said at last. "Regroup. Go back to the main hideout. Lick our wounds and figure out who we want dead next."

    "And the mission?"

    Zabuza snorted. "Abandoned. To hell with it. Gato wants miracles for pocket change. He can shove it."

    There was a rare stillness after that for the next hour as the duo rested. They didn't speak. But something in the air gnawed at them. A creeping feeling, cold and formless, like the moment before the mist turns red.

    And then the world exploded.

    A deafening roar ripped through the roof as a crystal dragon burst downward like a divine hammer, its jagged pink body spiraling through timber and stone like paper.

    Zabuza and Haku flickered away on instinct, narrowly escaping the crash.

    When the smoke cleared, they stood amid the wreckage, weapons drawn, eyes scanning the destruction.

    And then they saw them.

    A group of shinobi watching them from the shadows.

    From the darkness emerged a woman.

    She wore an outfit that split the line between elegance and death: a flowing coat like an executioner's robe. Her spiky blue hair was tied neatly. Her face powdered pale. Lips blood-red.

    She brought a radio up. "Zabuza. Haku. I'm disappointed."

    That voice on the radio was Gato's.

    "You know," the radio continued, "I invested quite a bit into you two. A lot. I even held up my end of the deal, gave you men, supplies, safehouses… and for what? You lost. Worse, you ran away."

    Zabuza's grip on his sword tightened.

    "And let's not forget," Gato added with oily smugness, "you let your little boyfriend fall to some brat in armor."

    "Careful what you say next," Zabuza growled.

    "You think you're scary, demon boy? You're a relic. Washed-up. I've already found someone better."

    The blue-haired woman gave a polite wave. "Hello, boys."

    "Meet Guren," Gato said. "Your replacement."

    "Say that again. To my face, you cowardly little parasite."

    "I'm not interested in words anymore," Gato replied, the malice bleeding through the static. "I'm here to collect the debt you owe me."

    A pause.

    "Zabuza… your head will fetch a fine price. But Haku?" Gato chuckled darkly. "That body's got potential. I've already arranged buyers. They're very interested in what a pretty little ice-user can do."

    The radio clicked off.

    Silence fell.

    Zabuza stood like a statue. Haku said nothing, but the stillness in his expression was no longer calm.

    Guren stretched her arms over her head like she'd just woken up from a nap. "Well, that's enough preamble. I'll make it quick. Try not to scream too loud."

    She cracked her knuckles.

    The mist grew heavier.

    And Zabuza, still staring into the fading static of that radio, said only two words.

    "He dies first."

    Haku didn't ask who.

    He already knew.

    Zabuza rolled his neck with a sickening pop. Every muscle screamed, joints aching from the bruising blows he'd taken, but his grip on the Executioner's Blade never wavered.

    "Tch. Been a while since I felt this banged up."

    Across from him, Guren flicked her wrist like a painter preparing her brushstroke. In an instant, a storm of razor-sharp crystal shuriken shimmered into being, mid-air, refracting moonlight in fractured rainbows. They hissed toward him with deadly grace.

    Haku moved before Zabuza could lift his sword. Senbon snapped through the air, intercepting the crystals with pinpoint precision. Each shuriken shattered into harmless dust before it reached its mark.

    "Zabuza-sama," Haku said. "You need to go. Now."

    "The hell are you saying? You think I can't handle some kunoichi?"

    "No," Haku replied. His tone held no insult, only certainty. "I know you could. If you were at full strength. But you're not. You spent most of your chakra fighting Hatake. You're still bleeding internally from my senbon during the last mission. Right now, staying means you die. And if you die… everything dies with you."

    Zabuza scoffed, but it was weak.

    Haku turned slightly, just enough for Zabuza to see the faintest, bittersweet smile curve his lips.

    "Do you remember what you said to me? When you found me in the snow? You said you didn't need loyalty. Or companionship. Just a weapon. One that could never betray you. One that would kill when ordered."

    The words hung heavy.

    "I tried," Haku whispered. "I really tried to be that. I killed for you. I bled for you. I let go of everything else so I could stay at your side. I smiled too much. I hesitated when I shouldn't have. I know I was never the perfect tool. But… I hope I was good enough."

    Zabuza looked at him.

    For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, slowly, he stepped forward. His hand trembled as he reached out and placed it on Haku's shoulder.

    "You weren't a good weapon."

    Haku flinched.

    "But you were a great partner."

    Haku's breath hitched. That word landed harder than any punch. Not tool. Not pawn. Partner.

    "Buy me time. I swear to you, this won't be the last time we see each other. You better be alive when I get back. That's an order."

    "Yes, Zabuza-sama."

    Zabuza leapt into the trees.

    A moment later, movement in the mist. Guren's men charged to pursue.

    They didn't get far.

    Ice Mirrors bloomed, stretching from mist and moonlight. Haku flashed through them like a ghost. His senbon were no longer gentle. They struck with surgical violence.

    One by one, Guren's men fell.

    Guren watched, interested rather than alarmed.

    "Fascinating," she said. "Such elegance in your murder. That kekkei genkai of yours... it's even more stunning in person. Orochimaru-sama will adore you."

    The curse mark on her neck pulsed. Black lines slithered down her throat, writhing like snakes.

    "Let's not waste time. You have so many experiments to be part of. And I am not a patient woman."

    Haku didn't respond. His fingers were steady. His senbon were ready.

    He was not afraid.

    Meanwhile, Zabuza ran.

    Branches tore at his arms. The wind howled past his ears. Every leap through the canopy was a heartbeat closer to what, he didn't know. Redemption. Forgiveness. Maybe just the chance to say one last thing before it was too late.

    He wasn't fleeing. He was chasing the one thing he never admitted he needed.

    Haku.

    "How long…" he muttered under his breath, teeth clenched against the cold. "Since the moment I picked him up off that snow-covered street? Did I ever see him as anything but a tool?"

    The weight of the Kubikiribōchō on his back was nothing compared to the truth pressing against his ribs.

    "I hated the Mist," he snarled, voice rough. "Swore I'd burn that cursed system to the ground."

    And yet...

    "I became it. I took a boy with kind eyes and made him sharpen them into needles. I broke him before the world could. And I told myself it was mercy."

    His pace didn't falter.

    "No more."

    He launched off a thick branch, landing hard atop a sloped ridge. The village shimmered in the distance, faint and clouded by mist.

    "If I have to crawl through the dirt… if I have to beg the Konoha shinobi for help… then so be it."

    Pride had always been his armor. Now it was a chain he ripped off without hesitation.

    "I don't care what it costs me."

    Zabuza didn't slow.

    "Please," he whispered to the silence, to the ghosts, to anyone listening. "Just let me make this right."

    And the darkness swallowed him whole.

    Author's Note:

    Well, wasn't that an exciting chapter?

    Let's take a moment to address a few recurring questions. But I'm sure you all have one burning question regarding this chapter.

    Q: How the hell did Inner Sakura take over Sakura's body?

    The answer is simple: humanity.

    Remember the whole "Naruto used a piece of humanity to help Sakura survive"? And when she was unconscious, she had a dream of Inner Sakura? Well, during that dream, Sakura received a humanity buff, and when Naruto looked at Sakura's soul, he saw a second face—like Tomie Kawakami's second face from Junji Ito.

    Long story short, those were the hints that Sakura now has another entity inside her body. Inner Sakura. Her darkness. Her humanity.

    Now, before I dive into my thoughts on this, I want to give a shoutout to a user who made a very well-educated guess about this whole darkness gets humanity debacle.

    User Wolf07 from SpaceBattles commented:

    "I would honestly say that humanity has both a benefit and a price to its use; you can see the healing aspect without whatever else you cook. But the negatives would be the pygmy, and the ties to the abyss now finding a new world to grasp onto. For example, her negative Ying grows from said use of humanity, which leads to chakra control slipping slightly, along with her inner self being able to control her when asleep or even when knocked out at times. It would be a great use of Inner Sakura since she gets forgotten after the timeskip."

    Honestly, Wolf07 was the closest to this whole thing, and I just thought it was cool to shout him out. Some of you readers have had really good guesses for the future, and when a giant reveal happens, I'll definitely be shouting you out in the author's note.

    Now onto my thoughts.

    Honestly, darkness, humanity, and the abyss are some of the most vague things in Dark Souls lore. And that's saying something, considering it's Dark Souls.

    Despite all that, we know that humanity is a fragment of the Dark Soul and is a key component of identity and existence.

    Humanity can also be given willpower. We know this from the Pursuer's spell:

    Sorcery of Manus, Father of the Abyss.
    Grant a fleeting will to the Dark of humanity, and volley the result.
    The will feels envy, or perhaps love, and despite the inevitable trite and tragic ending, the will sees no alternative, and is driven madly toward its target.

    Now let me point you toward Inner Sakura.

    Who is she?

    Inner Sakura is a manifestation of Sakura Haruno's inner emotions, representing Sakura's true opinions when she outwardly displays something completely different. And you can sort of see my thought process.

    Humanity + the will of Sakura (Inner Sakura) = the formation of a new entity.

    Makes sense, right?

    Now why did I do it?

    Because this is a crossover fanfic, and I thought it would be cool to explore what Naruto does when blending both worlds.

    Why specifically make Inner Sakura a thing?

    Because I honestly really like Inner Sakura. It adds an interesting layer to Sakura's character in canon. It shows why she hides her true feelings behind a fake smile. Inner Sakura was a great way to explore Sakura's inner turmoil and conflicts—something Kishimoto really hinted at. And yet, by the time the series hit Part II, Inner Sakura all but disappeared.

    The reason behind this is that Sakura no longer needed to hide behind a false image of herself. She had fully come into her own.

    Which, honestly, was disappointing to me.

    It felt like Kishimoto erased so much of what made Sakura interesting, leaving her as just a "Tsunade clone" without the interesting trauma, personality, or depth that she could have had.

    Anyway, let me know what you think of Inner Sakura being a thing, and her more primal, hyper-aggressive fighting style. Does it make her more interesting as a character? Or do you think it takes away from the original version?

    Q – Is Dark Souls Naruto Overpowered?

    Yes. He is. Let's not kid ourselves.

    But here's the thing—when I say he's OP, I mean it. This isn't one of those fanfics where the author claims Naruto is overpowered, but then he struggles more than canon Naruto ever did. You know the ones where the story insists on his strength, but he still gets clowned by Sasuke or random Chunin.

    In this fanfic? I've written Dark Souls Naruto to be overpowered. That's the point.

    Dark Souls Naruto is actually OP. And the fact that this is coming up so often in the comments just proves I'm writing him that way successfully.

    Now, just for fun, let's break it down:

    Who Would Win: Wave Arc Canon Naruto vs. Wave Arc Dark Souls Naruto?

    Feats:

    Canon Naruto defeated Haku. With a rage-boosted Nine-Tails amp, sure. But that was his big moment.

    Dark Souls Naruto defeated a stronger version of Haku—one who took a suicide soldier pill, used more advanced jutsu, and fought at full intent. And DS Naruto still won, without getting bailed out by the fox.

    Stats:

    Smarter: DS Naruto figured out Haku's mirror mechanics within a minute.

    Stronger: He's shown lifting strength, AOE damage, and high-speed movement.

    Skilled: He uses multiple elemental jutsu, sword styles, miracles, magic, and hybrid combos that canon Naruto would not survive.

    Equipped: His armor literally no-sells most of what canon Naruto could throw at him—even if he was amped.

    This isn't just "a stronger Naruto." This is a trained warrior with experience, strategy, and gear far beyond anything twelve-year-old Naruto ever had.

    Q: But... Haku Was Stronger Than Kakashi?

    Let's unpack this.

    Zabuza says, "Haku is stronger than me." Kakashi immediately calls BS. So why does the Naruto powerscaling community cling to this statement like it's gospel?

    Kakashi literally refutes it in the story. Zabuza was hyping up Haku to psych them out. That's it. It wasn't fact. It was bragging.

    Q: Isn't Haku Lightspeed?

    Ah yes. The databook statement.

    It claims Haku moves at "light speed" in the Demonic Ice Mirrors. But let's be real:

    These are the same databooks that say Temari can blow away the universe.

    And that Madara's Susanoo can cut anything in the universe.

    So no. That's not literal. That's flavor text.

    Also, if Haku really was lightspeed, then:

    Sasuke with a one-tomoe Sharingan would be lightspeed too, since he was tagging Haku mid-mirror.

    And if Genin Sasuke is lightspeed, why is Kakashi cutting a lightning bolt later considered a big deal?

    It doesn't hold up.

    Dark Souls Naruto low-diffs canon Kyuubi-amped Naruto. It's like Arima vs. early Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul. Calm, controlled execution versus raw, chaotic power.

    And honestly? That's the point. This is a Dark Souls Naruto story. It's an RPG. He's been grinding. He's earned that power.

    So yes. DS Naruto is overpowered. I'm pretty sure I tagged the story that way. And even if I didn't… come on. You knew what this was.

    But let me flip the question back to you:

    What version of canon Naruto do you think could beat current Dark Souls Naruto—without using Everlasting Dragon mode (his second phase)?

    Seriously. Let's make this fun.

    Q – Doesn't Naruto Being So OP Break the Story?

    No. And here's why:

    It only "breaks" the story if you think this is just a slightly modified version of canon Naruto.

    It's not.

    In Naruto: The Chosen Undead, Naruto's entire journey is different. The tone is different. The scaling is different. The threats he faces aren't designed for a genin squad with basic missions and filler arcs. They're designed for a dark fantasy world where survival is never guaranteed.

    Yes, my Naruto could probably no-diff most of early canon.

    But that's not the story I'm writing.

    This is a different Naruto story. That's why the Wave Arc is so long in this fanfic.

    I've put a ton of time, detail, and tension into it—not because I'm padding, but because I'm building something bigger. Something earned.

    In The Chosen Undead, Naruto doesn't break canon.

    He rewrites it.

    Q – Let's Talk About Dark Souls Lore (and Why Naruto Is Still Screwed)

    A lot of you think Naruto being OP makes future fights boring.

    But if you actually look at Dark Souls lore, you'll realize he's still very much in danger.

    Let's go over a few bosses.

    Early Game Bosses:

    Gaping Dragon:     Lore-wise, this is an Everlasting Dragon. Think tailed beast level. Naruto fights it early.

    Chaos Witch Quelaag: Not just some sexy spider lady. She's a warrior who's slaughtered dragons, commands lava and chaos magic, and survived the collapse of Izalith. She's a walking apocalypse.

    Mid-Game Bosses:

    Ornstein and Smough:     Literal dragon slayers with millennia of battle experience. They are what Havel could've become if he hadn't gone off the deep end.

    Havel: As strong as a Seventh Gate Guy tier character, and that's before magic enhancements.

    Late-Game Bosses:

    Artorias the Abysswalker:     Stronger than Havel. Fought the Abyss alone. Has feats of resisting mind-corrupting horrors.

    Black Dragon Kalameet: One of the strongest dragons in franchise history. The gods fear him.

    Manus, Father of the Abyss: Arguably the most broken being in DS1 lore. So powerful he pulled the protagonist backward through time.

    And that's just Lordran.

    You don't even want to know what I'm cooking up for Naruto's future enemies in the Elemental Nations.

    I'm building a world where Naruto being strong doesn't spoil the story. It escalates it.

    Because just like in any good Souls game... the stronger you get, the worse the world becomes.

    So yes, Naruto is powerful. That's by design. But trust me when I say…

    He's going to need every ounce of it.

    Q – Big Question: The Team-Up

    So, I left you on a cliffhanger for a reason. I need your help deciding:

    What kind of Konoha + Zabuza team-up would you love to see most?

    Full Team 7 + Team 8     backing Zabuza against Guren and Orochimaru's agents?

    Mixed reactions among the Leaf ninja—some support Zabuza, some don't, leading to tension and conflict?

    Stealth mission: just Naruto and Zabuza going into the shadows together to take Guren down?

    Comment your favorite idea below. Or pitch your own if you've got a twist in mind.

    That's It… For Now.

    And if you can't wait for the next update, the next chapter drops on July 14th! You can read ahead to Chapter 95 on Patreon.

    Thank you all for your support—you make writing this story such an incredible journey! As always, thanks for reading.

    —Adam
     
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    • I'm perfectly fine with a writer taking some liberties with the source material in order to tell an interesting story. If canon is so sacrosanct then why are we reading fanfiction?

    Great to read more from this story. I like seeing this story have good heart to heart moments between characters but also being able to have some light-heartedness.

    Adamos_Amet said:
    So why does the Naruto powerscaling community cling to this statement like it's gospel?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Because powerscalers (and fandom in general) seem to forget that characters are capable of exaggerating, understating things, or just strait up lying. It also boils down to "my favorite character could beat up yours" and cherry picking evidence.

    It can be a fun thought experiment, but some people get really serious about it.
     
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