"Then I'll grant your wish."
Haku's voice was icy, devoid of emotion.
Inside the ice mirrors, Naruto and Sasuke stood back to back, trapped in a more desperate situation than they had ever faced.
"You loser, why did you come in here?!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth, his voice full of anger and a hint of anxiety he hadn't even noticed himself.
"How could I just stand there and watch you get killed, you bastard?!"
Naruto grinned. Though he was covered in wounds, his bright blue eyes still burned with fighting spirit.
"Quit talking! Figure out how to get out of here!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Another torrential volley of Senbon came hurtling at them from every direction.
"Look out!"
Sasuke shoved Naruto aside and planted his own body squarely in front of him!
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Dozens of coldly gleaming Senbon mercilessly pierced Sasuke's back, shoulders, and thighs!
He looked like a pincushion, and blood instantly stained his dark blue shirt.
"Sa... Sasuke..."
Watching Sasuke fall while protecting him, Naruto's mind went blank.
"Wh... why..."
Sasuke lay on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth, yet his eyes remained fixed on Naruto.
"I don't know either... my body... just moved on its own..."
With that, Sasuke's eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness completely, his fate unknown.
"Aah!"
At the sight of his companion falling to protect him.
An unprecedented fury erupted from the depths of Naruto's heart like an exploding volcano!
"Unforgivable... I'll never forgive you!"
"Roar!"
An intensely savage, evil red chakra, brimming with destructive power, surged skyward from his body!
Naruto's pupils turned into beastlike slits, and the whisker marks on his cheeks grew thicker.
The Nine-Tails' chakra had leaked out!
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto roared, and hundreds of shadow clones, all radiating the same red chakra,