You Finally Awakened the Sharingan

"One after another, Konoha's ninja all deserved to die." Having run out of senbon, Haku took bamboo skewers from his ninja tool pouch. With a breath of icy air, he instantly froze them solid.

Naruto froze. He had never expected this development and accused him, "You're way too sneaky! When did you get an ability like that? Even I didn't know! You can freeze bamboo skewers just by breathing on them?"

"Sasuke, you're seriously useless." Naruto turned and said, "Did you see that? That guy's getting stronger and has gained a new ability. What about your Sharingan? Hasn't it awakened yet?"

"How do you know about the Sharingan?"

"Everyone in Konoha knows only your clan produces Sharingan."

While Naruto and Sasuke traded barbs, Haku launched a fierce attack. The frozen bamboo skewers shot toward them like a dense rainstorm. Several ice skewers struck Naruto in the back, instantly twisting his expression in pain.

This time, Naruto had truly bitten off more than he could chew. To Haku, Zabuza Momochi was the meaning of his life, the faith that kept him alive.

Years ago, when Haku was still young, he had awakened the Ice Release Bloodline Limit. This power represented war and slaughter. In certain regions, those with Kekkei Genkai were unwelcome and could even be executed.

War and slaughter had brought too much pain to the ninja world, and that pain brewed even more misfortune.

Those who feared war hated ninja and everything associated with them, including people with Kekkei Genkai, even if the one who had awakened it was only a child.

When someone discovered that Haku had awakened a Kekkei Genkai, the first person to raise a butcher's blade was his father. Only through his mother's desperate protection did Haku finally escape his father's blade.

Victims who feared war eventually raised their blades against innocent children, believing that doing so could end this twisted world, unaware that they were only making it uglier.

One snowy winter, Haku met Zabuza Momochi. With nothing more than a glance as they passed each other, they recognized that both had lost their homes. The two homeless wanderers then came together.

Watching Haku's savage offensive, Naruto knew he had touched Haku's sore spot. That was no good thing. One careless move, and he might die miserably at Haku's hands.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto formed hand seals and unleashed Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, instantly creating more than thirty Shadow Clones around himself. He used them as shields to block the ice skewers Haku hurled at him.

"We can win!" Naruto said. "Even if Haku has gotten stronger and gained a new ability, he has to breathe on those bamboo skewers to freeze them. That takes preparation time and lowers how often he can attack."

"Sasuke! I'll use my clones to distract him. You find his opening!"

"I've been looking for an opening this whole time. I never stopped, but he's too fast! My eyes can't keep up with him!" Sasuke widened his eyes.

"It's useless. Even if there are two of you, neither of you will leave here alive today." Haku kept breathing on the bamboo skewers, freezing them before ruthlessly launching them. Naruto could only keep using Shadow Clone Technique to block the attacks, constantly buying time for Sasuke.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Naruto used Multiple Shadow Clone Technique for more than ten rounds in a row, releasing dozens of clones each time to block Haku's attacks. His chakra was starting to run low. Panting, he said, "Sasuke, aren't you ready yet? At this rate, I'll have to die right in front of you."

Sasuke was under no less pressure than Naruto. He gritted his teeth and held on, but as time passed, he noticed that Haku's movements seemed to be slowing down.

"Naruto, can you keep going?" Sasuke said. "I think my eyes can keep up with him now."

"I might as well just die." Naruto said dejectedly, "You have no idea how much those ice skewers hurt when they hit you. It's like getting stung by wasps. If more than ten of them pierce you at once, you'll be painfully killed on the spot."

At that moment, Haku continued firing ice skewers. More than ten pierced Naruto's vital points all over his body. The pain sent Naruto crashing to the ground, where he writhed in agony. Before long, he stopped struggling and lay completely still.

Naruto said weakly, "Sas...uke... I can't... go on... You have to... live... Tell Hinata... that I like her..." After saying that, Naruto closed his eyes and breathed his last.

"Naruto—" Seeing his companion die, Sasuke was overwhelmed by grief and rage. A tremendous change came over his eyes. His pupils changed from black to red, and a tomoe emerged within them. He successfully awakened the One-Tomoe Sharingan.

After awakening the One-Tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke found that the entire world had changed. The wind seemed to have stopped, the leaves seemed to have ceased swaying, and even Haku, who had been darting about as fast as lightning, now moved as slowly as a crawling turtle.

"Got you." Sasuke's eyes finally caught up with Haku's movements. No matter how Haku sped and weaved through the various Ice Mirrors, Sasuke's eyes could follow him.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Sasuke formed hand seals and struck swiftly. He drew in his breath, puffed out his chest, and expelled a spark from his mouth that transformed into a massive fireball rushing toward Haku.

Sasuke calmly inspected the result of his attack. His previous strike had successfully burned away half of Haku's clothing and even left burns on Haku's lower leg.

"I can hit him." Sasuke instantly gained confidence. Since entering the battle, he had not even been able to think of counterattacking. He could not even follow Haku with his eyes and had only been able to stand there and take hits. Now that his Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique could hit Haku, he finally had the strength to fight back.

Haku flew into a rage. He took every remaining bamboo skewer from his ninja tool pouch at once, drew in a deep breath, and exhaled onto them, freezing every one into incomparably hard ice skewers.

Haku did not waste words. He immediately fired all his remaining ice skewers, scattering them like heavenly flowers and turning them into a dense barrage of ice spikes that blanketed a wide area.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Sasuke used Fire Release ninjutsu again, burning a large swath of ice spikes to ashes. However, there were simply too many, and he could only keep retreating to dodge.

"Ow!" Naruto sat bolt upright, covered in ice spikes. He glared and shouted, "Haku! You've gone too far! I already died in battle, so why are you still attacking me? Don't tell me you learned it from me and like to whip corpses too!"

Haku was stunned. Naruto had been hit by so many ice spikes, yet he was hopping around as though nothing had happened.

In truth, only Naruto knew that the Nine-Tails was sealed inside him. The Nine-Tails' unique chakra always helped Naruto heal his wounds. Any external injury healed at incredible speed, and his body's resilience was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Haku demanded angrily, "Why aren't you dead yet?"

"That's a long story." Naruto scratched his head and said, "It starts with the day I was born. A fox came to my village..."

At that moment, Naruto inadvertently glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke wore an expression of delighted surprise. He had truly thought Naruto had died just moments ago, only for Naruto to come back to life. Sasuke was now overcome with both grief and joy.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out. "You finally awakened the Sharingan!"

Naruto turned to Haku and said, "Zabuza Momochi isn't actually dead. Hurry back. If you're too late, the wealthy Kado might kill Zabuza."