Sharingan! Activate!!

"W-We're done for..." Naruto looked at the two men on the other end of the bridge, their killing intent blazing. His legs were starting to go weak.

Sasuke immediately shielded Tazuna and Sakura behind him. His Sharingan spun wildly as cold sweat slid down his cheeks.

Two against one. The enemy was at full strength, while they had one seriously injured person and one burden to protect.

Ling Yue's heart sank to the bottom. The worst-case scenario had happened! Kakashi still had not woken up, and in her current state, going up against them would only be suicide.

"Tch, only a few little rats left?" Zabuza rested his Decapitating Carving Knife on his shoulder, his tone mocking. "Where's that useless Kakashi? Already dead?"

"Don't insult Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto roared furiously, though his voice trembled slightly.

"Enough nonsense." Sasuke spoke coldly, gripping a shuriken in each hand. "If you want to touch him, you'll have to get past us first."

"Oh? You've got guts." Zabuza seemed to smile as he gestured to Haku beside him. "Haku, the old man is yours. I'll handle these annoying brats."

"Yes, Zabuza-san." Haku gave a slight bow, and his figure instantly blurred.

"Watch out!" Sasuke immediately warned.

But Haku was too fast! In the blink of an eye, he had bypassed Sasuke and Naruto and lunged straight at Tazuna and Sakura behind them!

"Get lost!" Multiple Naruto Shadow Clones appeared to block him.

Sasuke immediately threw his shuriken as well, trying to intercept him.

But Haku's movements were light and swift. He effortlessly avoided every attack, senbon glinting coldly in his hand, his target clear: Tazuna!

"Mr. Tazuna!" Sakura cried out, trying to shield him.

At that critical moment!

A weak yet swift figure suddenly shoved Sakura and Tazuna backward!

It was Ling Yue! Gritting her teeth, she forcibly stirred the pitiful amount of chakra she had left and used the technique from the incomplete [Flash Step] manuscript. She barely managed to push the two of them away, but exposed herself directly to Haku's attack path!

Haku's senbon did not pause in the slightest as it shot straight toward Ling Yue's throat!

She couldn't dodge! Ling Yue's pupils shrank sharply as she could practically feel the sharpness of the senbon's tip!

A kunai precisely knocked Haku's senbon off course!

Sasuke arrived just in time, his Sharingan locked tightly onto Haku. "I'm your opponent!"

He could tell that Haku was incredibly fast in taijutsu, but his strength did not seem especially outstanding. With the Sharingan's insight, Sasuke might be able to hold him off!

"Heh, a Sharingan brat." Haku did not seem concerned. His figure became elusive again as he attacked Sasuke from all directions, senbon flying from every impossible angle.

Sasuke pushed his Sharingan to its limits, barely blocking and evading. He was completely suppressed for a time, able only to defend passively as danger surrounded him at every turn!

On the other side, Naruto's Shadow Clones were chopped apart by Zabuza as easily as vegetables.

"Too weak! Too weak!" Zabuza laughed as the Decapitating Carving Knife swept toward Naruto's real body with terrifying wind pressure!

Naruto scrambled away, and the bridge where he had been standing split open with a huge crack!

"Bastard!" Naruto was shocked and enraged. He formed hand seals again. "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Dozens of clones appeared in an instant, attempting to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.

"Boring!" Zabuza swung his massive blade, and the terrifying blade wind instantly cleared out a large number of clones. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

A water dragon appeared out of nowhere and sent the remaining Naruto clones, along with Naruto himself, flying!

Naruto crashed heavily onto the bridge, coughing up water. For a while, he could not get back up.

The gap in strength was far too great!

"Naruto!" Sakura was frantic, but utterly helpless.

Ling Yue struggled to help, but the moment she tried to circulate chakra, pain stabbed through her meridians and she nearly collapsed.

"Worry about yourself first, little girl." Zabuza's gaze swept over Ling Yue with a hint of mockery. Then he strode toward Naruto, who was struggling to rise. "I'll start by getting rid of you, the loudest bug."

The Decapitating Carving Knife rose high into the air.

"Naruto!" Sasuke was beside himself with worry and tried to rush to his aid, but Haku kept him tightly pinned down. He could not break free at all! Worse, his distraction allowed a senbon to cut a bloody gash across his arm!

"You dare lose focus while fighting me?" Haku's voice remained calm, but his attacks grew even faster.

Zabuza's massive blade was about to fall.

Naruto stared at the huge shadow of the blade, and the fear of death instantly seized him. His body stiffened, unable to move.

Am I going to die? Just like back then... all alone...

No! I don't want to!

I promised Iruka-sensei that I would become Hokage! I promised that I would earn everyone's acknowledgment!

I still have companions I need to protect!

Intense unwillingness and the will to protect erupted in his heart like a volcano!

An incomparably massive orange-red chakra, warm yet wildly violent, suddenly leaked from the seal on his abdomen! It wrapped around his body like flames!

"Aaaaargh!" Naruto let out a roar that barely sounded human. His eyes turned into beastlike vertical pupils, and fox-like markings resembling whiskers appeared on his face!

"Hm? This is..." Zabuza's blade paused as he looked in surprise at Naruto, who was slowly rising while wrapped in orange-red chakra.

"The Nine-Tails' chakra?!" Sasuke, still fighting Haku, shot a shocked glance in Naruto's direction.

Behind his mask, Haku's brows furrowed slightly as well.

Ling Yue watched Naruto erupt with power and felt slightly relieved, but her heart immediately tightened again. This was only the beginning!

"Bastard!!" Naruto's speed and strength surged in his Nine-Tails cloak state. He charged at Zabuza and slashed out with his claws!

Zabuza blocked with the hilt of his blade, yet the impact forced him back half a step!

"Interesting!" Rather than being alarmed, Zabuza was delighted. He swung his blade and clashed with Naruto!

Naruto, transformed by the Nine-Tails' chakra, had no technique or strategy. He attacked wildly on instinct and with berserk chakra, yet for a moment, he actually fought Zabuza evenly!

But Ling Yue knew it was only temporary. Naruto had no control over this power at all.

Meanwhile, seeing Naruto suddenly erupt with strength, Sasuke felt as if something had stabbed deeply into his heart.

Why... why can that dead last always unleash this kind of power?

And I... I can't even defeat this guy!

Unwillingness, jealousy, and a trace of something he was unwilling to admit even to himself... fear.

Fear of being surpassed, fear of losing someone again, fear of being unable to take revenge!

Under the stimulation of those intense emotions, he felt his Sharingan burn hotter than ever before. Everything in his vision became slower and clearer!

Haku's movement paths, the flow of chakra, even the subtle angles of the senbon in flight... he could see them all with perfect clarity!

"I can see it!" Sasuke growled, his Sharingan spinning wildly!

He no longer merely blocked and defended. Instead, he spotted a gap in Haku's attacks and suddenly lunged forward, his kunai stabbing straight at Haku's vital point!

Haku lightly retreated while firing several senbon to block him off.

But this time, Sasuke seemed to have predicted all of his movements. His body twisted with the smallest possible motions, perfectly avoiding every senbon. His speed suddenly increased, and his kunai followed Haku like a shadow!

The kunai finally cut through Haku's clothes and even grazed his skin!

For the first time, Haku was forced into a somewhat disheveled retreat. He took several steps back before steadying himself, surprise filling his eyes beneath the mask.

"The Sharingan... evolved?" he murmured.

Sasuke stood where he was, breathing lightly as he felt the new power flowing from his eyes. Two tomoe! Under the extreme stimulation of emotion, his Sharingan had finally evolved!

He could see more clearly. He could see faster!

"Hmph." Sasuke's confidence surged as he took the initiative and attacked Haku again!

The battle seemed to stabilize for the moment due to Naruto's burst of power and Sasuke's evolution.

Ling Yue breathed a slight sigh of relief and tried to regulate her breathing, hoping to recover even a little chakra as quickly as possible.

But just then!

"You've had enough fun." Zabuza, who had been fighting Nine-Tails Naruto, seemed to lose patience. He suddenly sent Naruto flying back with a slash, then rapidly formed hand seals!

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

An even larger torrent surged toward Naruto like a tsunami! This time, Naruto failed to dodge. The massive flood blasted him away, dimming the Nine-Tails cloak around him considerably. He slammed heavily into a bridge pillar and passed out.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed.

Zabuza did not even look at Naruto. His gaze turned toward Sasuke, who was fiercely battling Haku, and killing intent flashed in his eyes.

"Haku, fall back."

Hearing that, Haku immediately feinted and withdrew.

Zabuza strode toward Sasuke, his terrifying killing intent pressing down on Sasuke, who had just evolved and was still immersed in the thrill of his increased power!

"A Sharingan genius? Let's see how many seconds you can last under my killing intent."

That terrifying killing intent, forged through countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood, instantly engulfed Sasuke!

The confidence on Sasuke's face froze. The joy brought by his newly evolved Sharingan was completely drowned by fear! His body could not move, and even breathing became difficult!

The Sharingan could see his opponent's movements, but his body... simply could not keep up!

Fear strangled every reaction!

"Sasuke! Run!" Ling Yue shouted anxiously, enduring the agonizing pain as she tried to rush over.

But it was too late!

Zabuza appeared before the frozen Sasuke in an instant. The Decapitating Carving Knife swept horizontally at his waist with the force to destroy everything!

"Uchiha brat, die!"

In Sasuke's pupils, the cold blade drew closer and closer, and the shadow of death swallowed him whole.

Was he... going to die?

At that one ten-thousandth of a second!

A figure faster than the limits of sight stepped in front of Sasuke!

The dull sound of a sharp blade cutting into flesh was especially piercing.

Blood splattered across Sasuke's face.

Warm.