I... Accept

A warm, pure stream of chakra filled with life energy slowly flowed into his body.

Ling Xuan had appeared beside the two of them at some point. He watched the master and student struggling on the brink of death, his expression calm.

"Your road hasn't reached its end yet, Zabuza Momochi."

The green glow of the Medical Ninjutsu in Ling Xuan's hand was faint, but it precisely stabilized Zabuza's heart meridians, which were on the verge of collapse. At the same time, he unfolded the scroll in his other hand, prepared in advance and covered in complex runes, before them.

"I saved your tool. Now I can save your life, too." Ling Xuan's voice was like a demon's whisper, filled with an irresistible temptation.

"But there's no such thing as a free lunch. I'll give you a future in which you can live and stay together. In exchange..."

"Your lives, your power, your loyalty... From this moment on, they all belong to me."

"Sign this contract, and you'll be reborn. Refuse, and you'll both die."

Zabuza looked at Ling Xuan, then at Haku in his arms, whose tears streamed down his face because Zabuza was still alive. He smiled.

It was a smile of utter relief.

"So... you wanted us from the very beginning..."

Summoning the last of his strength, he reached out with a bloodstained finger and pressed it hard against the contract scroll that represented both rebirth and bondage.

"I... accept."

The moment Zabuza's bloodied thumb pressed firmly against the scroll, a sudden change occurred.

The scroll seemed ordinary, but the complex, profound runes Ling Xuan had drawn across its surface with his own hand seemed to come alive the instant they touched Zabuza's blood.

Dark red light flowed along the runes' paths like living veins, radiating an ancient, dignified, irresistible presence.

"The pact is sealed."

Ling Xuan calmly uttered those three words.

The dark red light on the scroll suddenly flared, then transformed into two thin streams of energy. One silently burrowed into Zabuza's chest. The other flew toward Haku, who was caught between shock and elation at Zabuza's "return from the dead."

Haku instinctively tried to dodge, but the energy stream was too fast and seemed to be locked onto him by some irresistible force. It plunged into his body in an instant.

A dark red mark, formed from countless tiny runes, appeared on Zabuza and Haku's skin at the same time, right above their hearts. The marks flashed twice, then sank beneath their skin like brands, vanishing from sight.

"What is this..." Zabuza could feel an extremely strange connection forming between himself and Ling Xuan, one that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. He could sense that his life was bound tightly to this unfathomable boy before him by an invisible thread.

"A Master-Servant Life and Death Pact," Ling Xuan explained coolly, without a trace of emotion. "It's a Sealing Jutsu I created. Its effect is simple: your life force is linked to mine. As long as I don't die and don't sever the link myself, you won't die from your previous injuries."

"But on the other hand, with just a thought from me, or if you harbor any intention of betraying me, this mark will instantly destroy your chakra network and stop your hearts."

"This is... a slave's contract!" Haku supported his injured body as he looked at Ling Xuan, his eyes filled with anger and resentment.

"No." Ling Xuan shook his head. "I never waste time enslaving mindless tools. What I've given you is rebirth with your will and thoughts intact. You can choose to serve me, or you can choose to die right now. The decision is yours."

He paused, then turned his gaze to Zabuza.

"The contract is signed. Now it's my turn to keep my promise."

Ignoring the complicated expressions on their faces, Ling Xuan crouched down and placed both hands on Zabuza, whose injuries were the most severe.

"Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique!"

Unlike Sakura's Mystical Palm Technique, which could barely stop the bleeding, the green chakra Ling Xuan released was pure and steady, and brimming with rich life energy.

Even more incredible was the way he performed the technique.

At that moment, the Eye of Truth was like an ultra-high-precision MRI scanner. Every injury inside Zabuza's body—his broken bones, damaged organs, blood vessels depleted by blood loss, and meridians corroded by the enemy's chakra—

appeared in Ling Xuan's mind as a three-dimensional image.

His chakra transformed into tens of thousands of surgical needles finer than a strand of hair, beginning to repair and rebuild Zabuza's body at the deepest, cellular level.

First, he stabilized the heart meridians on the verge of collapse. Then, using Chakra Threads, he stitched the severed blood vessels back together one by one, stopping the fatal internal bleeding.

Next, Ling Xuan stimulated the regeneration of bone cells, making the broken ribs begin to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. Only then did he begin to clear away the tainted chakra that had invaded the body and repair the damaged meridians.

It was a process that demanded immense concentration and chakra.

Before long, fine beads of sweat appeared on Ling Xuan's forehead, and his face began to pale. But his hands remained as steady as stone, without the slightest tremor.

Nearby, Kakashi, who had only just been freed, silently watched it all. The shock in his eyes was beyond words.

The precision and depth of this Medical Ninjutsu far exceeded the bounds of the usual Mystical Palm Technique. This wasn't healing. It was creation!

Ling Xuan wasn't learning ninjutsu; he was redefining it! The Sealing Jutsu was the same, imbued with an ancient yet unfamiliar aura...

Who was he? Teacher Sarutobi... What kind of monster had Konoha unearthed?

For the first time, Kakashi felt that his title of Copy Ninja seemed laughable in the face of this boy's intellect. He copied techniques, while Ling Xuan seemed to understand the principles behind them.

Sasuke watched in silence as well. He couldn't understand the intricacies of Medical Ninjutsu as Kakashi did, but he could understand the other kind of power Ling Xuan was demonstrating.

It wasn't the power to destroy, but the power to control life and change fate. Ling Xuan had not only defeated Haku in battle, but had also made a defiant strongman and his companion his own after the fight.

This way of turning enemies into his pawns filled Sasuke with an inexplicable chill that came from deep within, as well as a yearning he hadn't even realized he felt.

Naruto looked confused. He scratched his head and whispered to Sakura beside him, "Sakura, Ling Xuan is amazing! Is he saving them? Does that mean they won't have to die anymore?"

"Mm..." Sakura nodded. "I think... so."