Sakura's Mouth Escape

Chapter 25: Sakura's Mouth Escape

Meanwhile.

Two figures moved swiftly through the dense forest. A closer look revealed Naruto and Sakura's true bodies were rapidly heading towards Zabuza's hideout.

After simply treating Sakura's wounds, she insisted on joining Naruto in the fight.

Thump, thump, thump...

Naruto sensed something and spoke gravely to Sakura beside him, "All my Shadow Clones have been dispelled, but Sasuke's Sharingan has awakened. Both are Double Tomoe, which is better than expected."

"Mhm, then there shouldn't be any suspense," Sakura said calmly. "I observed Sasuke's training. He's much stronger than in the original story now, especially his Fire Style Jutsu and Shurikenjutsu. Haku won't be able to defeat him."

"I'm just worried Gato might have some contingency. To be safe, let's use the Nine-Tails to travel and end this fight as quickly as possible."

"Okay."

With that, Naruto picked Sakura up from behind. Giant wings instantly unfurled from his back. He swung them forward forcefully, and their speed increased tenfold!

After reaching an agreement with the Nine-Tails and beginning to supply Chakra, Naruto's control over the Nine-Tails Chakra improved by leaps and bounds.

He didn't understand the reason behind it and could only research it slowly after returning to the village.

Of course, the main reason for flying so fast was to prevent the embarrassing situation of the enemy already being dealt with from happening again...

Can't they learn that three strikes and you're out?

Sakura: "Oh, right. There's one more thing I need to discuss with you."

Naruto: "What is it?"

Elsewhere, Zabuza and Kakashi's battle had escalated to a fever pitch.

Thanks to the continuous explosions, Kakashi had also begun to deliberately use Fire Style and Lightning Style Jutsu, preventing Zabuza from gaining too much advantage.

"Ninja Art: Mist Technique!" Zabuza vanished again, creating distance from Kakashi.

"You must be proud of your Mist Technique," Kakashi pulled out a scroll and formed the tiger hand seal. "Unfortunately, I happen to be a master tracker."

Saying that, he threw the scroll to the ground.

"Ninja Art: Summoning! Earth Style Fang Pursuit Jutsu!"

The runes on the scroll immediately burrowed into the ground!

"Don't waste your effort. You can't possibly see me... Wait, what is this?"

Several Ninja Dogs suddenly burst from the ground at Zabuza's feet, restraining all parts of his body!

Just like in the original story, Kakashi didn't track with his eyes but with his 'nose'.

"Ughhhhhh!" Zabuza immediately began to struggle desperately.

"Give up. Your future... is death!"

Kakashi's expression was solemn and grave. He formed hand seals again, gathering lightning in his hands.

"Wh-what?!" Zabuza's eyes widened. "He can clearly see the Chakra in his hands..."

Another battlefield.

Sasuke's clothes were tattered, and he had multiple external injuries, but his aura was powerful, his gaze sharp, and his expression was one of cold indifference.

"Naruto ran off, huh..." he murmured softly. In front of him was Haku, entangled by a spiked wire.

Haku looked like a pathetic mess.

Haku looked at Sasuke and spoke with difficulty, "Congratulations... You can kill me now."

"Kill you?" Sasuke sneered and shook his head. "What meaning does that have for me? You're just a stepping stone. Besides, defeating Naruto now is far more meaningful than killing you."

After awakening his Sharingan, Sasuke exuded an overwhelming aura, aiming for a grand and magnificent victory.

However, the thought of the trigger for his awakened Sharingan being related to that dead last made Sasuke feel so miserable he wanted to lose his memory on the spot.

Now, he desperately needed a cathartic victory to restore his unbalanced state of mind.

Whether he killed Haku was not important; the main thing was to find an opportunity to beat up Naruto as soon as possible.

Just then, Haku felt a strong premonition.

He abruptly turned in Zabuza's direction.

Mr. Zabuza!

A massive Chakra fluctuation erupted around Haku's body, instantly breaking free from the wires piercing him. He was determined to rush to his rescue immediately.

Sasuke didn't look back. In the time it took for a thought, he appeared beside Haku. Haku blocked Sasuke's Kunai with his hand and then formed a hand seal with one hand.

Bang!

A muffled sound!

Haku felt his vision go black and fell straight to the ground. His sense of conviction allowed him to barely support himself, but he was quickly pushed back down by Sasuke.

"Your aura is impressive, but your speed is too slow," Sasuke commented indifferently.

As Haku gripped his right hand with a single hand, Sasuke's entire body flipped instantly, and a clean, sharp kick landed on Haku's nape, sending him to the ground.

Perhaps because Sasuke had been taking beatings from Naruto, most people overlooked his already monstrous growth talent.

Even Haku, who had unleashed his potential, could only sigh.

"Mr. Zabuza..." a thin layer of tears welled up in Haku's eyes.

"Three seconds, two seconds, one second..."

In one second, Zabuza would completely die by Kakashi's Raikiri.

"Bang!!"

Suddenly, a giant crimson hand lunged towards Kakashi. Kakashi quickly dodged, allowing Zabuza to escape the fatal blow.

"Naruto, Sakura?" Kakashi looked at the two in surprise.

Naruto, standing on a tree trunk, retracted the Nine-Tails Chakra back into his body and said awkwardly, "Boss, if I told you I was just controlled by the Nine-Tails, would you believe me?"

Kakashi's eyes widened. He was actually starting to seriously wonder if Naruto had been possessed.

"I told Naruto to stop you," Sakura said, walking out and gesturing for Naruto to deal with the remaining grunts while she spoke to Kakashi.

After Naruto left, Sakura jumped down from the tree trunk and walked towards Kakashi, saying, "Teacher Kakashi, please spare Zabuza's life and send him to Konoha."

Kakashi frowned slightly. "Zabuza is a rogue ninja from Kirigakure and has committed numerous assassinations. If he lives, more innocent people will die."

Sakura nodded, her gaze remaining calm, as if Kakashi were merely discussing a trivial matter.

"Teacher Kakashi, I noticed you said Zabuza is a Kirigakure rogue ninja, right?" Sakura said calmly. "Kirigakure has designs on Konoha as well, and if Konoha can detain Zabuza, it will surely gain another political bargaining chip."

"Kirigakure most dislikes sharing its ninjutsu with others, which is why they created a pursuit force. Their fundamental purpose is to make rogue Kirigakure ninja disappear completely, so that enemies cannot find any clues to their techniques from their corpses."

"Teacher Kakashi, a living Zabuza is more valuable than a dead one."

Kakashi stared blankly at Sakura. He hadn't expected Sakura to think from a strategic perspective.

Most importantly, when Sakura spoke of Zabuza, it was as if he wasn't a person, but merely an object...

Kakashi remained silent, only throwing a few Kunai to disable Zabuza's arms. He then said to Sakura, "Sakura, while what you say makes a lot of sense, I don't believe you would suddenly start caring about the village's major affairs."

"Why not be more direct and tell me your true objective?"

Ten minutes earlier, Naruto had asked Sakura the same question.