Intermediate Flash Step

"Your opponent here is already hard enough to deal with, and you still have the mind to look elsewhere!" Sasuke complained about Naruto's lack of focus.

Still, he glanced over at Su Bai from the corner of his eye.

"What?!" Su Bai was actually holding his own against Zabuza!

Last time, he had been beaten badly even by Zabuza's Water Clone.

That brief distraction proved costly—a silver needle immediately struck his thigh.

Sasuke knew that Haku had held back just now.

If Haku had truly wanted to kill him, the needle should have been aimed at his vital organs when he lost focus.

"Damn it, Su Bai, I won't lose to you!"

His eyes turned crimson as the Sharingan abruptly opened.

After fighting for some time, Zabuza had to admit that with taijutsu and swordsmanship alone, he could not gain the slightest advantage over Su Bai.

So, Zabuza decided to bring out his trump card—ninjutsu.

Their weapons clashed, and the two pulled apart.

"Kid, what's your name?" Zabuza asked.

"Su Bai," Su Bai answered calmly.

"I admit you're strong, but only in swordsmanship and taijutsu. You know what I'm best at."

That was right. Zabuza was best at assassination.

Su Bai immediately understood what Zabuza meant and quickly retreated.

"Teacher Kakashi! Switch!"

Seeing this, Kakashi immediately followed his agreement with Su Bai and swiftly traded places with him.

Su Bai was then responsible for protecting Dazna.

"Su Bai, you know your limits." Zabuza formed hand seals.

In an instant, thick mist spread across the bridge, sharply reducing visibility. It was Zabuza's specialty, the Hidden Mist Technique.

Seizing the opportunity, Kakashi summoned a pack of ninja hounds. Relying on their keen sense of smell, they quickly located Zabuza.

The Hidden Mist Technique was thus broken.

On the other battlefield, Sasuke gradually adapted to Haku's attack patterns.

Then, an unexpected scene unfolded.

Seeing Zabuza in danger, Haku finally decided to stop holding back.

He fired senbon at Naruto, who had already lost the ability to move.

To protect the fallen Naruto, Sasuke stepped forward and was pierced through by Haku's silver needles.

He looked like a porcupine covered in barbs, blood streaming down his body.

Naruto woke amid shock and grief. Seeing Sasuke risk his life for him, he was overwhelmed by sorrow and fury.

"Why? Why did you save me?" Naruto was utterly stunned.

He could not understand it. Sasuke clearly hated him, yet he had blocked those lethal silver needles for him.

Sasuke collapsed into Naruto's arms.

Naruto shouted, "I didn't ask you to meddle!"

"I don't know what happened either. My body moved on its own..."

Sasuke was barely clinging to life as his eyes slowly closed.

Naruto's pupils shook. The Nine-Tails' chakra could no longer be suppressed and came pouring out.

The surging chakra blew away Haku's silver needles, and Naruto subdued Haku in a single strike.

Seeing this, Su Bai was thrilled.

He had already picked up quite a bit of experience from his battle with Zabuza.

He was now on the verge of reaching a 5% fusion rate.

He quickly absorbed the combat experience from Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku's battle.

[Ding! Ninja combat detected nearby. Obtained 8000 experience points.]

[Ding! Ninja combat detected nearby. Obtained 9000 experience points.]

[Ding! Ninja combat detected nearby. Obtained 10000 experience points.]

[Ding! Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto template fusion progress: 5%. Current experience: 10000/1000000.]

Then another system notification appeared in his mind:

[Basic Flash Step has been upgraded to Intermediate Flash Step!]

Su Bai checked the interface:

[Host]: Su Bai

[Fused Character]: Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto

[Zanpakutō]: Ryujin Jakka

[Current Fusion Rate]: 5% (10000/1000000)

[Shikai]: None

[Bankai]: None

[Hand-to-Hand Combat]: Mao Spiritual Arts Academy Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat

[Kidō]: Hado No. 4: "White Lightning"

[Footwork]: Shin'ō Academy Intermediate Flash Step

[Swordsmanship]: Mao Spiritual Arts Academy Basic Swordsmanship

"Intermediate Flash Step!"

The moment his Flash Step skill advanced from basic to intermediate, he felt as though his body had become lighter and more agile.

Every movement was faster and nimbler than before.

It was as if his body and will had become one. As long as he wanted to go somewhere, he could appear there the very next second.

So this is what Intermediate Flash Step feels like? It's incredible!

Su Bai marveled inwardly.

He could clearly sense the flow of chakra through his meridians and feel every cell in his body clamoring for more battle.

Su Bai could not help recalling how he had used Flash Step against Zabuza just now.

Back then, merely mastering Basic Flash Step had already allowed him to suppress Zabuza in terms of movement.

And now, his Flash Step had actually advanced to the intermediate level.

That meant that without using ninjutsu, Zabuza no longer even had the right to fight him evenly.

Kakashi and Zabuza's battle was also nearing its end.

Things were progressing according to the original plot.

Kakashi used Raikiri, intending to finish Zabuza.

Haku, who had been defeated by Naruto, used all his strength to block Kakashi's Raikiri. He was gravely injured as a result and ultimately died from exhaustion.

Although Zabuza used his superb swordsmanship to contend with Kakashi, he had ultimately lost the Hidden Mist Technique and could not deal with the Sharingan. He was no match for Kakashi.

Both of his arms had been injured by Kakashi, and he could no longer wield a sword in battle.

At that moment, Gatō arrived late with a group of subordinates.

He was extremely dissatisfied with Zabuza and Haku's performance and sneered, "Zabuza, I never thought I'd see you like this. You can't even handle a few brats? What a worthless piece of trash! And that Haku was nothing special either. What a waste of my money!"

Upon hearing this, Zabuza was consumed by rage.

He knew Gatō had already achieved his goal, and he no longer had any reason to keep fighting.

Zabuza turned to Kakashi and said calmly, "Kakashi, our battle ends here. I no longer have any reason to kill Dazna."

At that moment, Naruto was checking Sasuke's injuries.

To his surprise, Sasuke was still alive.

It seemed that Haku had still held back in the very end.

Zabuza walked over to Su Bai. "Su Bai, can you lend me your kunai?"

Su Bai knew what he intended to do.

Next, he would hold the kunai in his mouth and kill Gatō.

"Here." Su Bai tossed the kunai to Zabuza.

With that, Zabuza turned toward Gatō, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

Like a ghost, he charged into the crowd surrounding Gatō.

He did not hesitate to trade wound for wound, and in the end, he killed Gatō with the kunai.

Zabuza could no longer move.

Su Bai carried him over to Haku's side.

"Su Bai, thank you."

After thanking him, Zabuza reached out and caressed Haku's face, tears pouring down like rain.

"I truly hope that after death, I can go to the same place as you."

Tears even flowed from Haku's closed eyes.

In the end, Zabuza and Haku died together.

Snowflakes began to drift from the sky, as if mourning their story.

This escort mission to the Land of Waves had finally come to an end.

Gatō was dead, but his ill-intentioned subordinates were unwilling to leave empty-handed.

They clamored for compensation, their words vicious, as though they might draw their blades at any moment.

Just then, Sakura and Inari arrived with the villagers and confronted the thugs.

Gatō's subordinates were armed to the teeth. Even after losing their master, they refused to back down.

The situation reached a stalemate. Seeing this, Naruto decisively used the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.

However, because he had consumed too much chakra in the battle just now, he could only create five clones.

Although Kakashi was exhausted as well, he still stepped forward. "I have very little chakra left, but it should be more than enough to intimidate these people."

However, Su Bai raised a hand to stop Kakashi. "Teacher, you've already overtaxed your Sharingan. You need to rest. Leave these people to me."