The End

Bloodshed! Carnage! Horror! Those were all that filled Kanna's mind.

Up ahead, a young man with his face wrapped in white bandages held a long sword aloft. His eyes seemed to hold ice that had remained frozen for ten thousand years. Like a wolf among sheep, he was slaughtering them.

Friends, brothers, sisters—it didn't matter who they were. Every candidate who had come to the exam site today was being slaughtered to the last.

Even with blood spattered across his face, he showed no emotion. Even when the cries of his companions rang in his ears, he didn't waver. Even when an opponent fell, he stabbed the body again to make sure they weren't faking death. Even those who fled in different directions were pursued one by one and cut down.

In this lawless place, not even the proctors had the authority to stop Zabuza's slaughter. Kirigakure was finally paying the price for the cruel order it had maintained for decades.

One student after another was struck in a vital spot and toppled to the ground. Some who hadn't died on the spot let out pained cries, making Kanna's scalp prickle.

What should he do? What could he do?

Run? Kanna had seen with his own eyes how Zabuza had killed the first ones to flee. Like a lion hunting buffalo, he took down anyone foolish enough to get separated from the others.

If he played dead, Zabuza would stab him, too.

As for fighting, all Kanna had to do was look at the bodies around Zabuza and the bloodstains on him to imagine how that would go. It was the worst possible choice, one to make only in utter desperation.

Kanna's opponent, the pretty girl, had also gone quiet after drawing her weapon. Zabuza's ferocity and incredible skill had frightened her, too.

Many of these people had never even killed a chicken. Asking them to suddenly kill someone, let alone their friends and family, was already pushing them too far. And now there was someone even more ruthless among them. From the looks of it, he wouldn't stop until he'd killed every last one.

"Too weak!" Zabuza suddenly shouted as he slaughtered his way through the crowd. He slowly pushed the impaled body off his blade, then flicked his sword, sending a curved spray of blood flying.

"What, can't a single one of you land a hit on me?" Zabuza sneered, his body still trembling with excitement. "Or are you just so weak at this little ninja game that you can't even touch the hem of my clothes? Hm?"

Zabuza was telling the truth. In the few dozen seconds Kanna had been watching, more than once someone had stopped taking the exam and tried to gather people to attack Zabuza together. But children this age, unless they were precocious and gifted like Zabuza, could manage little more than the basic Three Body Technique and throwing kunai. They were far, far below Zabuza's level—not even close to the same league. He darted and leaped among the blades, slipping in and out of reach, and not a single person managed to hit him! That kind of Taijutsu was rare even among Chunins. Kirigakure's low-ranking ninja had always been renowned throughout the Shinobi World, yet all of them together were still being routed by Zabuza.

Rapid footsteps sounded behind him. Kanna turned and saw his opponent—the girl—running desperately toward the exit. By now, everyone still at the site had either fled in the chaos or been reduced to a few weaklings too terrified by the carnage to move.

Kanna didn't move. It wasn't that he didn't want to run. To be honest, even though his mind was far more mature than this body's, the sight of bodies strewn everywhere didn't frighten him that much. But he still felt sick and chilled to the bone. Unfortunately, he'd sensed that he was different from the others ever since he arrived: he still didn't know how to use a ninja's energy—chakra.

Without knowing how to use chakra, he could only run on physical strength. There was no way he could leap four or five meters like the others fleeing, so escape was hopeless. And he had no chance of fighting Zabuza, either. Kanna had found a kunai on the ground that had been cut clean in half. Even if Zabuza was wielding a fine sword, the fact that it could cut through steel showed just how much force they'd brought to their fight.

On top of that, Kanna could feel his muscles growing stiff, as if the slightest movement might make them cramp. It was only making things worse. He could almost smell the heavy scent of death gathering around him.

Was he going to die? Was he really going to die so soon?

Kanna's breathing grew ragged. With a grim expression, he undid the clasp on his pouch and awkwardly drew out two kunai, one in each hand. He held them out like a pair of crossed blades, facing Zabuza.

"You disgusting maggot!"

Beside Kanna, a girl who had been wounded in the thigh by her opponent at the very start of the exam and was now curled up on the ground, unable to move, suddenly screamed at Zabuza. There was no fear on her face, only fury as she shouted, "Butcher! Executioner! Don't you have a shred of humanity? If you keep this up, you'll only—"

A blur flashed past. From the corner of his eye, Kanna saw a long, thin blade emerge from the back of the girl's neck, cutting off her final words.

"P-please!"

The fat boy who had been so frightened at the start of the exam that he'd collapsed on the ground was still there. Now he was in even worse shape, trembling all over. When his eyes happened to meet Zabuza's, he wet himself in terror. Forget running—he could barely even speak.

Zabuza frowned slightly, then slashed sideways with his sword. He didn't even glance at the fallen boy as he walked toward Kanna, the last person still standing, holding a defensive stance.

In those final moments, Kanna thought of many things. For instance, his opponent—the girl who was practically his childhood sweetheart, the one he'd played with since they were little—might suddenly appear and risk her life to save him. Kanna believed that if Hinata and Naruto Uzumaki were in the same situation, Hinata would summon the courage to save Naruto Uzumaki, wouldn't she? He also wondered what this was all about. Maybe it was just a nightmare, and when he woke up, he'd be back in his familiar bed.

He also wondered if Zabuza might praise him for facing death with some dignity. Maybe he'd say, "Not bad," or "You did well." Or perhaps Kanna would break through his limits just before dying and awaken some bloodline limit hidden in this body. There were plenty of people with bloodline limits in Kirigakure at this time, after all.

Would someone gather the fleeing survivors and return with a large force to surround Zabuza? Would a proctor notice something was wrong and forcibly stop the exam?

A few seconds passed in the blink of an eye. Kanna thought of many, many things, but no miracle came. Zabuza didn't even spare him a second glance. He gave his hand a casual flick and thrust, and Kanna felt a jolt run through his arm. His kunai flew from his grasp. The next instant, a blade gleaming with cold light filled his vision and pierced his left chest.

"It hurts so much..." Kanna was a little dazed. To be honest, his mind couldn't keep up with Zabuza's speed at all. His hand had gone numb, a silver flash had flickered before his eyes, and then his chest had been pierced.

"Is it over? That really was..."

With a trace of sorrow and unwillingness, Kanna's vision darkened. He lost consciousness.

With a wet squelch, Zabuza pulled out his sword. His expression didn't change in the slightest. He didn't linger, but chose a direction and continued his pursuit.