Encountering Zabuza Again

Gato and Zabuza had still not appeared over the past few days, while the bridge construction in the Land of Waves continued to advance steadily through the villagers' efforts.

Aside from continuing to refine the formula mark for the Flying Thunder God, Duanmu also began trying to gather chakra and leave marks while moving. Though he failed far more often than he succeeded, every steady flicker of blue light at his fingertips brought him one step closer to mastering this profound ninjutsu.

But gradually, Tazuna noticed that fewer and fewer people were taking part in the bridge construction. When he stopped someone to ask what was going on, the man's face showed hesitation and fear, and he stammered that lately people in the village kept being threatened by unknown individuals at night.

After saying that, he broke free of Tazuna's hand and ran off without looking back.

Tazuna stood where he was, his face instantly turning pale. He knew Gato had begun using despicable methods to intimidate the villagers.

Fear spread through the Land of Waves like a plague. The villagers who had originally mustered the courage to help build the bridge, under their families' pleas and their dread of Gato's power, had no choice but to retreat. Early the next morning, when Duanmu and the others followed Tazuna to the bridge construction site, the once-bustling work area had become deserted and cold. Only a few lonely pieces of construction equipment and several old craftsmen who were still holding on remained, their faces full of exhaustion and unease.

Kakashi looked at the empty site, his brow tightly furrowed. He knew very well that Gato was trying to break Tazuna's will from the root, so that this bridge, the symbol of hope, would never be completed. Seeing this, Naruto was so angry that he slammed a fist into the wooden post beside him and roared, "That bastard Gato! He's actually using such low-down tricks!"

Duanmu walked over to an old craftsman who was silently hammering steel bars and asked softly, "Sir, where did everyone go?"

The old craftsman lifted his wrinkled face and sighed. "They were all scared off. Gato's men went door to door last night threatening people. They said if anyone dared come to the site again, they'd burn our houses down, and our families would..." At this point, the old man's voice choked.

And just as everyone was talking, mist gradually began to rise around them. Kakashi instantly grew alert. He swiftly pressed a hand to the ninja tool pouch at his waist, his sharp gaze sweeping through the white fog spreading all around them.

The mist had come far too abruptly. The sea had clearly been calm and still, yet thick vapor suddenly surged up along the shore, and visibility quickly dropped to less than five meters.

A faint chakra presence of rippling water came through the air. This was absolutely no natural phenomenon.

"Careful. There are enemies." Kakashi's voice was low and calm, and his right hand had already gripped the Sharingan beneath his forehead protector. The scarlet tomoe slowly turned in his eye as he tried to pierce the fog and lock onto the target.

Duanmu immediately stopped talking with the old craftsman. Chakra gathered at his fingertips as he warily watched the thickest part of the mist. Though the Flying Thunder God's formula mark still could not be used for combat teleportation, his ability to sense chakra flow had grown increasingly sharp through days of training—he could feel at least two powerful presences rapidly closing in from different directions. One of them was cold and familiar. It was none other than Zabuza Momochi!

Naruto also entered a guarded stance in an instant, his hands rapidly forming seals. Though his body trembled slightly from anger and tension, his gaze was extraordinarily firm. "Is it Zabuza? I won't let him get away with it this time!"

Sasuke tensed his body, his left hand quietly reaching toward the ninja sword on his back. His Sharingan was likewise turning in secret as he tried to catch the enemy's movements.

In the mist, two figures emerged like ghosts. One of them held the enormous Executioner's Blade—it was the Water Release ninja Zabuza Momochi. Standing beside him was a slender young boy wearing a Hidden Mist forehead protector, his face obscured by it, leaving only a pair of cold eyes visible.

"Kakashi, looks like your students have improved quite a bit." Zabuza's voice, hoarse like metal scraping together, came from within the mist. "Too bad. Today is the day you die."

Before the words had even faded, Zabuza charged at Kakashi with the Executioner's Blade in hand, creating the perfect opening for Haku to attack.

Haku's body instantly blended into the dense fog, as if he had turned into an invisible stream of water. Chakra condensed into fine ice crystals at his fingertips, and the surrounding temperature plummeted. Countless ice needles quietly formed in the mist, shooting toward Naruto and Sasuke.

The ice needles were as fine as ox hair, nearly impossible to notice under the cover of the white fog, yet they contained a sharpness capable of piercing flesh.

Sasuke's pupils shrank slightly. His Sharingan caught the faint cold glint refracted by the ice needles, and he shoved Naruto away. "Watch out!" At the same time, he rolled sideways to dodge. The ice needles grazed the corner of his clothes and nailed into the wooden post behind him, leaving behind dense clusters of tiny holes.

Naruto stumbled and steadied himself, breaking out in a cold sweat. Just as he was about to form seals and counterattack, he discovered that Haku's figure had already vanished into the fog. All he could sense were chakra fluctuations coming from every direction, as though the entire mass of dense mist had become the other side's attack range.

The battle between Kakashi and Zabuza was far more direct. The Executioner's Blade came chopping down with a howl that tore through the air, its body wrapped in Water Release chakra. Every collision split the ground open with spiderweb-like cracks.

In an instant, Sasuke seized one of Haku's openings and managed to control one of his hands. Haku's next move, however, shocked everyone present except Zabuza.

Haku formed seals with one hand. "Secret Art: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

As the seals were completed, the mist around him abruptly condensed into countless diamond-shaped ice crystals. These ice crystals reflected one another like mirrors, refracting the surrounding scenery into countless overlapping images and instantly disrupting Sasuke's vision.

Even more shocking was that Haku's figure appeared in every single ice crystal, some attacking, some defending, all moving in perfect unison. It was impossible to tell which was the real body. Sasuke's pupils suddenly contracted, and his Sharingan spun at high speed as he tried to capture the flow of the other party's chakra. But he discovered that these ice crystals seemed to have the ability to absorb chakra perception. Every line of sight was locked firmly inside layer upon layer of illusions.

In the instant he was distracted, the real Haku had already circled behind him like a ghost. His left hand gathered a sharp ice spike, aimed straight at Sasuke's heart from behind—this strike was both fast and precise, carrying an unshakable resolve that left no room to dodge. Clearly, he intended to end the fight in one blow.

Naruto quickly realized that Sasuke had fallen into danger, and without hesitation, he shot a Kunai forward.

The Kunai sliced through the dense mist, accurately flying toward Haku's wrist in an attempt to stop his attack.

Haku's eyes shifted slightly, and he was forced to abandon the strike that had been about to land, turning sideways to avoid the Kunai. The illusions inside the ice-crystal cage also swayed with him, revealing a brief flaw.

Sasuke keenly caught that instant of opening. His Sharingan locked onto the position of Haku's real body, and his body retreated like an arrow loosed from the string. At the same time, his right hand swiftly drew the ninja sword from his back. The blade light carved a silver arc through the mist, slashing toward the pursuing Haku.

Haku leaped lightly between the ice crystals, his figure drifting unpredictably. His fingertips continuously formed new ice needles, firing them densely at the vital points around Sasuke's body. The two began a high-speed battle of offense and defense within the cage formed by the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. The crisp sounds of shattering ice and the wind from the swinging ninja sword intertwined, stirring fierce energy fluctuations through the dense fog.

Sasuke had just been about to call for Naruto outside to help break Haku's ninjutsu, only to see Naruto actually walk into the mirrors by himself.

Sasuke: "Are you some kind of idiot?!"

Naruto: "Huh?"