Battle Against Haku

Nine-Tails Chakra had an exceptionally powerful healing effect. In the anime, whether Naruto had been turned into a pincushion by Senbon or had his chest pierced by Sasuke's Chidori, he could rapidly recover with the support of Nine-Tails Chakra.

With a thought, Naruto guided the tamed Nine-Tails Chakra throughout his body.

Warm energy wrapped around every wound from within, and his cells began to divide and regenerate wildly. Damaged tissue healed at a visible rate.

The tiny puncture wounds left by Haku's Senbon quickly contracted and closed as Chakra flowed through them, and the beads of blood seeping out were stopped as well.

The countless scrapes and bruises left from his earlier fight with Zabuza's subordinates vanished at that moment like pencil marks erased by a rubber.

In just a few breaths, every injury on Naruto's body had fully recovered.

Naruto rolled his neck, producing a crisp crack of bone, then slowly raised his head to look at Haku ahead.

Haku wore a Hidden Mist ANBU mask. His slender figure looked as though a breeze could knock him over, and his long black hair drifted lightly in the morning wind.

The surrounding ice mirrors reflected the faint sunlight, shrouding Haku in a cold, clear glow.

"You're finished."

The corner of Naruto's mouth curled slightly as his voice reached Haku's ears.

Meanwhile, outside the battlefield.

Kakashi and Zabuza stopped their Kunai at the same time. Almost simultaneously, they turned to look toward the area enclosed by the Ice Crystal Magic Mirrors.

A pillar of dark red Chakra soared into the sky there, carrying a terrifying aura that made their scalps tingle. Even these two battle-hardened elite Jōnin felt a chill and tremor rise from their bones.

"Has the Nine-Tails' Chakra gone berserk?"

Kakashi's Sharingan widened sharply. His expression beneath his forehead protector changed drastically, and his body instantly shifted into a stance to charge toward that area.

"Kakashi, our fight isn't over yet. Where do you think you're going?"

Zabuza tilted the Kubikiribōchō slightly to block Kakashi's path, letting out a deep, meaningful snort.

"This is troublesome..."

"Looks like I'll have to deal with Zabuza first!"

With that, Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals.

Inside the Ice Crystal Magic Mirrors, Haku's expression visibly wavered.

The red Chakra surged and rose around Naruto like tangible flames. The air warped slightly under the pressure of that power, while gravel on the ground seemed to lose its weight and float up, only to be ground into dust by an invisible force the next instant.

Within the Demonic Mirror barrier, the temperature was rising at an unnatural rate.

"Impossible..."

Haku's voice carried a hint of tremor. "He actually materialized Chakra to this extent..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Because he saw that the blond boy's gaze had changed.

Moments ago, his eyes had held the madness of an out-of-control beast. Now, there was only an almost cruel calmness.

Within those azure eyes, dark red Chakra glowed like tamed flames, burning quietly in the depths of his pupils without even a trace of berserk energy leaking out.

Naruto had no intention of slowly explaining things to Haku.

What a joke. He had only just recovered from the dizziness of transmigrating less than five minutes ago. The memories of two lives were still clashing in his mind, and he had only just managed to suppress the Nine-Tails Chakra within his body using Zetsu Absolute Control. The most urgent matter was taking down Haku first; everything else could wait.

Honestly, if it had been anyone else who had just transmigrated, faced with a life-or-death battle like this, their first reaction would definitely be to run—Zetsu—or simply play dead and lie down.

But Naruto was different.

The Zetsu Absolute Control ability gave him complete knowledge of his own body. The exertion of every muscle, the rhythm of every breath, the path of every flow of Chakra—all of it was clearly displayed in his consciousness.

The sense of control brought by that omniscience canceled out Zetsu's vast majority of his fear and unease.

With Nine-Tails Chakra in hand, his combat power had been pushed directly to the limit of his current stage. If he didn't fight now, when would he?

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."

Naruto rapidly calculated the number of Ice Crystal Magic Mirrors in his mind.

His brain operated at an efficiency far beyond that of an ordinary person. The mirrors' positions, the distances between them, possible blind spots, and where Haku's real body was most likely hiding—

All that information was compiled into a clear tactical map in less than half a second.

This was a habit Naruto had developed after enhancing his brain in his previous life.

Before a fight, calculate everything clearly. Once it was understood, strike. If he did not move, then so be it; but once he did, he would end the battle as quickly as possible.

Naruto formed a cross-shaped hand seal.

This was the first advanced ninjutsu he had learned, and also the signature technique of "Naruto Uzumaki."

Poof, poof, poof, poof, poof...

A dense series of white smoke clouds burst open, and more than a dozen identical Naruto clones emerged from within.

Every Shadow Clone was covered in a thin coat of dark red Chakra.

The clones stood in a row, their clenched fists cracking loudly as more than a dozen pairs of eyes fixed on Haku within the Ice Crystal Magic Mirror Formation.

"Go!"

Naruto's original body calmly spat out two words.

When in doubt, send in the clones first.

That was the core tactical logic of the Shadow Clone Technique: simple and crude, yet extremely effective.

Especially with the support of Nine-Tails Chakra, each clone's individual combat power had been raised to another level. They were no longer mere cannon-fodder decoys like in the anime, but true combat units capable of dealing damage.

In an instant.

More than a dozen Narutos became streaks of afterimages at once, charging toward the Ice Crystal Magic Mirrors surrounding them from different directions and angles.

Dark red Chakra burst beneath their feet. Every step left a shallow crater in the ground, and they moved so fast that their trajectories were nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye.

The enhancement from Nine-Tails Chakra was comprehensive. Speed, strength, reaction, recovery—everything had been pushed to a level a Genin could never possibly attain.

"So fast!"

Haku's pupils shrank sharply.

He saw blurry red figures darting and turning between the mirrors, so fast that it seemed as though they occupied more than a dozen positions at once.

Haku's fingers instinctively condensed several Senbon, which he held between his fingers before violently hurling them at the charging clones.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The Senbon tore through the air with sharp whistling sounds.

The Naruto clone at the front suddenly lowered his body while sprinting at high speed. Several Senbon barely grazed his golden hair before embedding themselves in the ground behind him, their ends buzzing and trembling.

"Missed!"

The clone grinned and sprang back up with a rolling motion.

While Haku dealt with that clone, the remaining Naruto clones had already reached their respective mirrors.

Without the slightest hesitation, the clones clenched their right fists. Dark red Chakra rapidly gathered over their knuckles, forming a visible layer of Chakra.

"Shatter!"

The fists of more than a dozen clones struck out at the same time.

Crack...

The first Ice Crystal Magic Mirror shattered in response.

Spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread outward from the point where the clone's fist had struck. Then the entire mirror exploded into countless fragments, refracting thousands of scattered rays in the morning light.

Crack...

Crack...

Crack...

The sounds of shattering rang out without pause, as though someone were playing a tightly paced percussion piece.