Kakashi vs. Zabuza

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke looked at the figure standing before him, shocked and overjoyed. His tightly wound nerves finally loosened a little, and he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Sakura burst into tears. "Sensei! Hurry and save Yue! She's not going to make it!"

Kakashi did not turn around. His Sharingan locked tightly onto Zabuza, who was struggling to rise in the distance, his voice suppressing extreme fury. "Sakura, do everything you can to stabilize her injuries! Sasuke, can you still move? Protect them!"

"Yes!" Sasuke gritted his teeth and straightened up, shielding Ling Yue and Sakura despite being covered in wounds himself.

"Cough, cough..." Zabuza propped himself up with the Decapitating Carving Knife, its blade covered in cracks. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his one eye filled with shock and rage. "Sharingan Kakashi... You really are hard to kill! Looks like not finishing you off last time was a mistake!"

"A mistake?" Kakashi slowly straightened, Lightning Cutter gathering in his right hand once more with a chilling screech. Even the air around him seemed to tremble. "Your greatest mistake was laying a hand on someone you shouldn't have touched."

His killing intent slowly spread from his body, even more concentrated and ice-cold than Zabuza's!

"Hmph, you're at the end of your rope!" Zabuza spoke harshly, but his gaze was incomparably grave. He could feel that the Kakashi before him was completely different from before. There was a resolve to stake everything on this fight. "You're more badly injured than I am! Let's see how long you can hold out!"

"Long enough to deal with you." Before Kakashi had even finished speaking, he vanished!

A flash of lightning!

Zabuza barely raised his blade to block, only to be sent staggering back again by Lightning Cutter's terrifying impact. The cracks in the blade widened further!

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!

Seizing the chance, Zabuza formed hand seals, and a massive water dragon roared toward Kakashi.

Kakashi did not dodge at all. His Sharingan spun wildly as his left hand formed seals just as quickly!

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!

A water dragon no smaller than Zabuza's crashed into it!

The two water dragons annihilated each other, turning into a torrential downpour that rained from the sky!

"How is that possible?!" Zabuza was horrified. His technique had been copied perfectly?!

"All your ninjutsu are meaningless before these eyes." Kakashi's voice appeared at his side, Lightning Cutter stabbing straight at his ribs!

Zabuza rolled away in a miserable scramble. The ground where he had been standing was blasted into a charred crater by Lightning Cutter!

"Damn it!" Zabuza was thoroughly enraged, his hands flying through hand seals.

Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!

An even more massive torrent surged toward him!

Kakashi still neither dodged nor avoided it. His Sharingan saw through everything as he formed the same seals!

Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!

The two floods collided once more, and the entire bridge shook violently, as if it might collapse at any moment!

"It's useless, Zabuza!" Kakashi weaved through the curtain of water, lightning flashing left and right as he forced Zabuza to retreat and block again and again in utter disarray. "Your hand seal habits, your chakra flow, your attack intentions—I can see them all clearly!"

Absolute perception, combined with a mad fighting style that traded wounds for lives! Kakashi completely suppressed Zabuza!

On the other side, Haku watched Zabuza fall into an absolute disadvantage and could no longer stand by.

His figure flickered as he tried to go support him.

"Don't think you're getting past!" Sasuke immediately hurled shuriken to stop him, his Sharingan fixed on Haku. "I'm your opponent!"

Though he had almost no chakra left, his evolved Sharingan gave him greater confidence.

Haku lightly evaded the shuriken. Looking at Sasuke blocking his path, then at Zabuza in dire straits in the distance, his voice beneath the mask carried urgency for the first time. "Move!"

"In your dreams!" Sasuke charged forward on his own initiative, using his Sharingan's perception to engage Haku in close combat, refusing to let him approach the main battlefield.

Sakura desperately tried to stop Ling Yue's bleeding, tears mixing with rain and blood as they streamed down her face. "Hang on! Yue! You have to hang on!"

Ling Yue's breathing had grown incredibly faint, her face so pale it seemed transparent, as though she might fade away at any moment.

The battle on the bridge reached a fever pitch.

Kakashi completely disregarded his own injuries. Lightning Cutter tore through the air again and again, forcing Zabuza back step by step. More and more cracks appeared in the Decapitating Carving Knife, and it was nearly about to break.

"It's over, Zabuza." Kakashi's breathing had begun to grow unsteady as well. The lightning flickered faintly; he was clearly nearing his limit, but the killing intent in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest. "Lightning Cutter!"

The final strike! Lightning condensed to its utmost limit and stabbed straight toward Zabuza's heart!

Zabuza's pupils shrank to pinpoints as he desperately held the battered blade horizontally before himself!

With an explosive crack, the broad blade of the Decapitating Carving Knife was forcibly shattered in half by Lightning Cutter!

Half the broken blade spun away through the air!

Lightning Cutter did not slow, plunging viciously into Zabuza's chest!

"Pwah!" Zabuza spat out a mouthful of blood, his body hurled backward by Lightning Cutter's immense impact. His chest was charred black as he crashed heavily to the ground, struggled a few times, then went completely still.

"Mr. Zabuza!!!" Haku let out a grief-stricken cry and tried to rush over without regard for anything else.

Sasuke fought desperately to stop him, but Haku's reckless attacks forced him back again and again, adding several more wounds to his body.

Kakashi dropped to one knee, gasping violently. Lightning Cutter dispersed, and his Sharingan closed. His face was frighteningly pale, and the blood from his waist had nearly dyed half his body red.

He glanced at Zabuza's "corpse," then looked toward Haku, who was still attacking madly. Forcing himself to stand, he said, "Sasuke, fall back."

Hearing that, Sasuke immediately leaped backward and withdrew from the fight.

Haku did not pursue. He simply stared blankly at the motionless Zabuza in the distance, his body trembling slightly as though all strength had left him.

Kakashi walked toward Haku step by step, his voice weary yet unquestionable. "Give up. He's already dead."

Haku slowly raised his head. His eyes beneath the mask were filled with despair and lifelessness. He suddenly removed the mask, revealing the delicate face of a young boy streaked with tears.

"Mr. Zabuza... is dead?" he muttered. Then, as if he had made some kind of decision, his hands began forming seals.

Kakashi's gaze sharpened. "What are you trying to do?"

"Since Mr. Zabuza is gone..." Haku's eyes became hollow and resolute. Extremely dangerous, unstable chakra fluctuations radiated from his body. "Then this world has no meaning either."

He was going to take them all down with him!

Kakashi's expression changed drastically. He wanted to stop him, but his body was too heavy for him to move at once.

Sasuke and Sakura also sensed that destructive aura, their faces turning pale.

At that moment of extreme danger

"Cough... cough, cough..."

A faint yet distinct coughing sound suddenly rang out.

Everyone abruptly turned their heads.

Ling Yue, who lay in Sakura's arms and should have been on the verge of death, had somehow opened her eyes!

Her face was still pale as paper, but her eyes were unusually clear, even carrying a trace of... strange radiance.

With difficulty, she raised one hand. Her fingers trembled slightly, as though sensing something.

[Ding! The host's near-death experience has triggered a special mechanism. Skill [Super Recovery Physique] has advanced into [Resilient Body] (greatly increases the recovery speed of physical strength and chakra, while slightly increasing resistance to abnormal conditions and severe injuries).]

[Ding! Detected the host's powerful will to survive and a special energy environment (Nine-Tails chakra residue + high-intensity Lightning Release stimulation). The comprehension level of hidden skill [Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Fire God of Thunder] has slightly increased.]

The system's notification sounded in her mind.

But that was not what Ling Yue cared about right now.

She looked at Haku, who was preparing to self-destruct, then at Zabuza's "corpse" in the distance. Using every last bit of strength, she spoke in a weak yet clear voice:

"He... isn't dead..."