Ten Minutes to Death!

"What! What are you trying to do?!" Sasuke growled when he saw Ling Yue still daring to form hand seals at a time like this. He thought she had gone mad.

Naruto was dumbstruck as well. "Yue! Run!"

Zabuza stopped in his tracks, and his single eye beneath the mask seemed to flash with mockery. "Oh? Another little brat who isn't afraid of dying?"

Ling Yue had no time to pay them any attention. All her focus was on forming seals and channeling chakra. She knew only a few ninjutsu, and the only one that might be of any use was...

"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!"

Two water clones identical to her appeared at her side, but they swayed unsteadily and were hardly any better than Naruto's initial clones.

"Heh. Ridiculous." Zabuza snorted and could not even be bothered with such crude clones. He casually swung the Decapitating Carving Knife!

The two water clones were instantly cut apart, turning into puddles of water that splashed across the ground.

But at the instant the water clones were sliced apart, when the spray briefly obscured the view—

Ling Yue moved!

Thunder Breathing surged at full force! Chakra spread beneath her feet!

She did not charge forward. Instead, she desperately retreated to the side and back while rapidly flicking both hands!

Several kunai bound with Explosive Tags shot toward Zabuza! She had spent the last of her money on these life-saving items before setting out!

"Child's play." Zabuza did not even bother dodging. With a horizontal sweep of his blade, he easily knocked every kunai away.

The Explosive Tags detonated around him, filling the air with smoke and dust, but they did not even touch the corner of his clothes.

But that brief interference was exactly what Ling Yue wanted!

She landed and rolled, not pausing for even a moment before forming seals again!

This time, it was not an attack, but—

"Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

A thin, small-scale mist spread out from Ling Yue. Though it was quickly assimilated and swallowed by Zabuza's dense fog, it did make the view in that area even hazier for an instant!

"Hm?" Zabuza was somewhat surprised. This brat had quite a variety of tricks. And that strange breathing rhythm had appeared again.

Seizing that fleeting chance, Ling Yue shouted at the three terrified others, "Spread out! Don't bunch together! Distract him! Buy time!"

Naruto jolted as if awakened. "Right! Shadow Clone Technique!"

A group of clones appeared and charged Zabuza from different directions. They were completely uncoordinated, but they did manage to harass him.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Sasuke gritted his teeth and spat out several small fireballs, trying to block Zabuza's vision.

"Annoying flies!" Zabuza seemed enraged. The Decapitating Carving Knife whirled in an impenetrable blur; Naruto's clones vanished one after another, and Sasuke's fireballs were effortlessly cleaved apart.

The absolute gap in strength could not be overcome with a little cleverness.

Zabuza broke through the clones' obstruction and instantly appeared before Ling Yue!

"You'll be the first one I deal with, you slippery little rat!"

The blade came crashing down with terrifying force! It was unimaginably fast!

Ling Yue's pupils shrank. Paper Arts activated on instinct, and her body bent backward to its limit as if it had no bones!

The tip of the blade swept past almost flush with her nose, severing several strands of hair!

The fierce blade wind carved a thin bloody line across her face!

She had dodged it! But it was not over!

Zabuza flicked his wrist, changing from a downward slash to a horizontal sweep as the blade cut toward her waist!

Ling Yue had exhausted her old momentum before new strength could rise. She was about to be cut in half!

"Yue!!" Naruto shouted as he tried to rush toward her.

Sasuke's Sharingan spun madly as he tried to track the trajectory and throw a kunai to save her, but it was too fast!

At that very moment of life and death—

A ruthless glint flashed through Ling Yue's eyes. Rather than retreating, she lunged forward and dropped low with agility, nearly flattening herself against the ground as she infused her feet with chakra and viciously kicked at Zabuza's lower body!

All the explosive power granted by Thunder Breathing was concentrated into that kick!

Zabuza had never expected such a reckless, life-risking move. To keep his balance, he instinctively stepped back half a pace, and his sweeping blade slowed by half a beat.

That half-step and half-beat were enough!

Ling Yue narrowly rolled beneath the blade. The blade wind tore a large gash in the clothes on her back, leaving it burning with pain.

She rolled up to her feet in a sorry state, gasping heavily as cold sweat soaked her back.

That was close! She had nearly died!

"Interesting." For the first time, Zabuza's tone carried a trace of seriousness. "You're far more troublesome than those other little brats. That strange taijutsu and breathing technique... what are they?"

Ling Yue stared at him intently, not daring to relax in the slightest as her mind raced.

One minute... only about one minute had passed! She still had to hold on for nine more!

"Not talking?" Zabuza stepped closer again. "Then I'll beat it out of you!"

His attack came again, even more vicious than before!

Ling Yue pushed Paper Arts and Thunder Breathing to their limits, struggling to dodge amid the flashing blade light. Every evasion was perilous, and several times she escaped fatal strikes by mere fractions, looking utterly bedraggled.

But she was like a small boat in a storm. Though she seemed liable to capsize at any moment, she always fell just short of it!

Naruto and Sasuke also desperately interfered from the side, throwing shuriken, launching small fireballs, and summoning clones. Their efforts had little effect, but they did keep Zabuza from focusing entirely on Ling Yue.

Time passed second by second.

Three minutes... four minutes...

Ling Yue's chakra and stamina were draining rapidly. Even her Super Recovery Physique could not keep up with such overexertion. Her movements began to slow, and her breathing grew increasingly labored.

She failed to evade in time, and blade wind sliced open her arm. Blood immediately poured from the wound.

"Hiss!" She sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

"Yue!" Sakura cried out.

"This ends now!" Zabuza lost his patience. He raised his blade high, chakra surging violently around it. He was clearly preparing to use a powerful ninjutsu to end the battle!

Ling Yue looked at the blade gathering terrifying chakra, and her heart sank to the bottom.

She could not dodge it!

Was she going to die here?

[Warning! The host's life is under severe threat!] The system prompt sounded urgently.

At that critical moment—

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A massive water dragon instantly surged skyward from the nearby river. With a deafening roar and overwhelming momentum, it viciously slammed into Zabuza just as he was about to strike!

The enormous impact sent Zabuza flying, smashing him heavily into the distant forest amid the thunderous sound of trees breaking.

A figure staggered in front of Ling Yue and the others.

It was Kakashi!

One hand pressed against his still-bleeding waist, his face was pale and he panted heavily, but his Sharingan was fixed tightly on the direction Zabuza had flown.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're alive!" Naruto shouted in delight.

"I'm... I'm alright..." Kakashi's voice was weak, but his resolve was unquestionable. "Sorry I came late... I almost..."

He turned to look at Ling Yue, who was covered in wounds and in a miserable state, his expression complicated. "You did well... You held on."

The instant Ling Yue saw Kakashi, the taut nerves holding her together finally slackened. Her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to the ground, supported only by sheer willpower.

[Ding! Emergency mission completed: Survive ten minutes under Zabuza Momochi's attacks.] [Rewards issued: Dimensional Points x1000, Skill Card Voucher (SR) x1.]

The system prompt nearly made her cry.

She had survived! And made a killing, too!

But before she could be happy for even two seconds—

In the ruins of the collapsed trees in the distance—

Zabuza slowly rose to his feet and rolled his neck. His clothes were somewhat damaged, but he did not appear to be seriously injured.

He stared at the suddenly appeared Kakashi, his single eye filled with fury and killing intent.

"Sharingan Kakashi... you really aren't that easy to kill."

"But with wounds like those, how much longer can you last?"

He raised the Decapitating Carving Knife, and even denser, colder chakra began to spread across its blade.

"Next, I'll chop every last one of you... to pieces!"