Final Kill

Kill a rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist?

Sasuke looked up at Naruto, his brow furrowing almost instinctively.

The three of them wanted to kill an Elite Jonin as strong as Kakashi?

Not to mention that Zabuza had a masked boy beside him whose strength they knew nothing about. How could that possibly be done?

It was insane.

Sakura stared at Naruto in shock, almost wondering if her ears had stopped working.

"Naruto, the three of us are still Genin! Killing a Jonin... that's impossible, isn't it?"

"We can." Naruto raised a hand, scorching Lava Release surging over his palm. "If we seize the chance, I can kill them."

"What is that?" Sakura froze instantly.

"I don't know how I learned it either." Naruto scratched his head, feigning innocence. "I used it once when I was in a pinch."

Sasuke said nothing. His gaze began to drift, as though he had only just realized that the gap between them had started widening ever since they left the Ninja Academy.

That guy had seemed to mention before that the other teams were almost all made up of clan ninja, probably with inherited techniques like those once possessed by the Uchiha Clan.

But the Uchiha Clan no longer existed. Sasuke's eyes dimmed for an instant as a sense of helplessness rose in his heart, then vanished just as quickly.

"What do we do?" Sasuke raised his head, his gaze turning resolute.

Grow stronger in battle, or die in battle. If he kept going like this, he would never have any hope of killing that man.

"Strike while he's down!" Naruto said decisively. "Kakashi-sensei was seriously injured, let alone Zabuza, who was at a disadvantage then."

"That masked boy has already lost the use of one arm. This is the best opportunity!"

"Naruto!" Sakura was dumbfounded as she listened. She finally understood—they really planned to kill those two Jonin.

"But we don't even know where they are."

"I know!" Naruto suddenly smiled. "They can't have gone far. They must be hiding somewhere in the forest."

"Maybe in a little cabin, maybe in some house."

Hearing that, Sakura looked at Naruto, then at Sasuke. She knew that by now, the two of them had made up their minds. There was no turning back.

"Isn't this too risky?"

At those words, Naruto and Sasuke both looked at her.

Sakura was a little bewildered and immediately grew flustered, asking with a stammer.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Naruto said, "Sakura, if we don't act now, it'll be even more dangerous once those two recover."

"We have no way out anymore. Gato is behind Zabuza. Didn't that old drunk Psyduck tell us already?"

"Gato has many rogue ninja and wandering samurai under him. If we don't get rid of Zabuza and that masked boy, we'll have to face an attack from both forces later."

As he spoke, Naruto held up four fingers.

"There are only four of us: one Jonin and three Genin. Against Gato and Zabuza, we would stand almost no chance."

"Right now, there are three of us, and we only need to deal with a masked boy who has lost the use of one arm. No matter how you look at it, acting now is the best option."

Naruto's argument was sound. Sakura's eyes widened, but she had no way to refute him. In the end, she gritted her teeth and nodded.

Seeing this, Naruto swept his gaze over the two of them and spoke seriously.

"Trust me."

"We'll definitely win this time. Once Zabuza is dealt with, Gato will be nothing but a bug."

He was not exaggerating. Zabuza was the strongest ninja Gato could hire. A merchant like Gato, who valued profit above all else and would stop at nothing, would never be willing to spend a fortune hiring a legitimate ninja.

After all, the people under Gato were a bunch of rogue ninja and wandering samurai—in plain terms, thugs and hooligans. He had hired Zabuza only because of his status as a rogue ninja, hoping to get a job done for free.

That made the whole situation easy to understand. Gato wanted to kill the bridge-building expert Psyduck Tazuna. But after learning that Psyduck had paid Konohagakure to find him bodyguards, he had called in a hired fighter as well.

Gato wanted something for nothing, so rather than going through official channels to hire muscle, he privately sought out Zabuza and promised to pay him after the job was done.

But Gato had never intended to pay. He wanted to wait until both sides were badly weakened, then rob the survivors.

Night fell.

For the first time, Team Seven acted together without Kakashi, slipping into the forest under cover of darkness.

"Found them." After scouting out the situation, Naruto jumped back to the other two and lowered his voice. "They're in that two-story cabin in the woods."

Sakura could not help growing nervous at those words.

"I'll attack from the front. You go around the back. Sakura, provide Genjutsu support. How does that sound?" Sasuke quickly laid out a battle plan.

"Okay!" Naruto nodded. "But there's something I want to confirm first."

"What is it?"

"The Uchiha Clan can awaken the Sharingan and all that." Naruto said casually. "Sasuke, you'd better go all out from the start. That'll actually make Sakura safer."

"The longer we drag this out, the more dangerous Sakura's situation becomes."

"Me?" Sakura did not quite understand, but she still became even more nervous. "Y-you don't need to worry about me. I can protect myself."

"Sakura, combat isn't your strength." Naruto gave Sakura a deep look. "You don't need to force yourself. Sasuke and I will take responsibility for the fighting."

"You just need to support us with Genjutsu. If the situation changes, we'll need your help to get out too."

Sakura could not help feeling moved at his words and nodded heavily.

"Don't worry, I can do it!"

Whether she could or not, Naruto did not know. But he knew Haku and Zabuza were right before them. If Sasuke and he unleashed their killing moves from the start, Haku alone would not be able to stop them.

The three took their positions, appearing on opposite sides of the two-story wooden cabin.

After exchanging a glance, Sasuke moved first. Still using a running start, he instantly threw three Shuriken, which flew toward the cabin at strange angles.

Naruto went directly around the back, dark-red chakra enveloping his entire body as scorching Lava Release covered him. This time, he released all of his chakra, seeking only to kill in one blow.

Sakura took a deep breath and tracked the Shuriken Sasuke had thrown to where they would land. The instant they smashed through the window, she formed hand seals, and her Genjutsu activated at once.

Naruto crashed straight through the cabin. The scorching Lava Release instantly set the wooden house ablaze. Haku fled the cabin in a sorry state with Zabuza on his back, one blackened arm hanging before him, completely useless.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

At that moment, Sasuke stood in the path Haku and Zabuza were trying to escape through, his scarlet one-tomoe Sharingan opening abruptly!

Haku, who was still forming hand seals with one hand, was caught off guard and froze on the spot. Even though it lasted less than a second, Sakura still seized the opportunity to cast Genjutsu again.

"Die!" Naruto was nearly mad, his pupils a sea of blood-red.

The instant Haku froze again, Naruto, covered in searing heat, slammed into the two of them and pierced straight through Haku's chest.

The scorching magma burned through the severely weakened, immobile Zabuza. Their eyes widened in disbelief. In the end, they had been undone by a fatal misstep.

Gato's treasure has been placed in the warehouse.