A few days later.
Thick fog shrouded the unfinished bridge.
The air reeked of blood.
The construction workers Tazuna had brought lay scattered across the ground, their groans rising one after another.
At the center of the bridge, the battle had reached a fever pitch.
Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew.
Kunai in hand, Kakashi fiercely clashed with Zabuza, who wielded the Kubikiribōchō.
Their figures darted through the fog, every clash whipping up a powerful gust.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
A massive cage of ice mirrors rose from the ground, trapping Naruto and Sasuke inside.
"Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
Countless ice mirrors hovered in the air, each reflecting Haku's masked figure.
"Within this domain, I am invincible."
Haku's voice came from every direction, cold and utterly emotionless.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Countless senbon shot from the mirrors like a torrential downpour.
"Aah!"
Naruto screamed as more than a dozen wounds instantly appeared on his body.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan, desperately trying to track Haku's movements, but Haku moved between the mirrors so quickly that even the Sharingan could only catch afterimages.
"Damn it... I can't hit him at all!"
Sasuke, too, was covered in senbon, his clothes stained red with blood.
The two stood back to back, panting heavily, their eyes filled with despair.
"It's over."
Haku raised the senbon in his hand, preparing to deliver the final blow to the two boys.
Just then.
Son Goten, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly opened his eyes.
He had been catching up on sleep in a corner of the bridge-ever since his worldview had collapsed that day, he had been drifting through life in a half-dead, utterly listless state.
But now, he sensed a violent fluctuation in Ki.
It was Haku's Ki.
And Sasuke's and Naruto's Ki, so faint they were about to disappear.
"You dare touch my boys?"
Boom!
The concrete bridge deck beneath his feet instantly cracked apart.
Son Goten vanished from the spot.
The next second.
"Shatter, damn you!"
A furious roar exploded above the bridge.
Like a meteor falling from the sky, Son Goten appeared directly above the seemingly indestructible Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
No hand seals, no ninjutsu.
Just one plain, unadorned punch.
His fist, wreathed in a white aura, slammed into one of the ice mirrors.
Crack!
The Kekkei Genkai ice mirror, which even a Great Fireball could not melt and shuriken could not pierce, proved as fragile beneath that punch as a cheap two-yuan mirror from a roadside stall that even threw in a free comb.
Crash!
Ice shards flew.
One corner of the entire ice cage instantly collapsed.
The massive shock wave blew away the surrounding fog, revealing Sasuke and Naruto inside, both looking utterly dumbfounded.
Forced out of the shattered mirror, Haku tumbled to the ground and staggered back several steps before regaining his balance.
He stared in surprise at the brat who had suddenly barged onto the battlefield.
Son Goten stood amid the broken ice, planted his hands on his hips, then pointed fiercely at Haku.
"Liar!"
"Big fat liar!"
"You're a fraud who toys with an innocent boy's heart!"
That shout instantly turned the battlefield's tense, deadly atmosphere bizarre.
Zabuza's hand shook as he traded blows with Kakashi, and he nearly flung away the Kubikiribōchō.
He glanced back, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Kakashi, is there something wrong with that brat's head?"
Kakashi parried Zabuza's attack with his blade, then helplessly covered half his face.
"Don't ask me. I don't know him."
This was an absolute disgrace to Team 7!
At the center of the battlefield.
Son Goten paid no attention to how many people were watching. His mind was filled with nothing but the "deception" he had suffered that day.
"Today, I'm not doing this for the mission, or to protect this lousy bridge."
Son Goten pointed at Haku, his expression like that of a resentful woman abandoned by a faithless lover, yet also carrying an inexplicable fervor.
"I'm only here to prove one thing!"
"I'm going to tear off that phony disguise of yours!"
"I'm going to prove to the whole world that you're a girl dressed as a boy!"
Behind his mask, Haku's face instantly flushed red.
What nonsense was this brat spouting?!
"I told you, I'm a boy..."
"I'm not listening!"
Son Goten roared, pushed off the ground, and shot toward Haku like a cannonball.
"Once I strip you naked, the truth will speak for itself!"
Haku's expression changed in alarm.
He had faced enemies who wanted to kill him and enemies who wanted to capture him, but never an enemy who wanted to strip him!
"Thousand Senbon Rain!"
Haku rapidly formed hand seals, sending countless ice senbon shooting toward Son Goten.
"These toothpick attacks won't work on me!"
Son Goten neither dodged nor ducked, letting the senbon strike his body.
Clink, clink, clang!
The senbon struck his Ki-reinforced skin with metallic clangs before bouncing away.
How could an attack of this level possibly breach a Saiyan's physical defenses?
In the blink of an eye, Son Goten was already in front of Haku.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
He reached out a grasping hand, aiming straight for Haku's collar.
In his panic, Haku could only use the Body Flicker Technique to hide inside the remaining ice mirrors again.
"You're such a pervert!"
Haku's voice trembled; he was clearly frightened.
"A pervert? This is called pursuing the truth!"
Son Goten gave a sinister laugh, spun around, and shattered another ice mirror with a kick.
"Come out! Let me examine your body!"
The brutal battle to the death abruptly changed tone.
It became a game of hawk and chicks-and an extremely indecent version at that.
Sasuke and Naruto stood dumbly to one side, gripping their kunai, completely unable to intervene.
"Um... should we help?" Naruto swallowed.
Sasuke's mouth twitched. "Help who? Help that pervert strip him?"
On the battlefield, Son Goten moved as fast as lightning.
Although he did not know the Body Flicker Technique, his sheer physical burst of speed was actually a shade faster than Haku's Ice Release Body Flicker Technique.
Crash!
Another ice mirror shattered.
The moment Haku showed himself, Son Goten forced him into a desperate, scrambling retreat.
"Don't run, pretty lady!"
"Lemme look! Just one little peek!"
Son Goten chased him, laughing like a lecher.
"Keep running and I'll just yank your pants down!"
Zabuza could not bear to watch any longer.
This was far too humiliating!
His prized tool was being chased all over the battlefield by some lecherous brat?
"Haku! What are you doing?! Kill him!" Zabuza roared.
Haku was suffering inside.
Kill him? How?
This brat's skin was too tough for senbon to pierce, his strength was terrifying, and he was fast, too.
Most importantly, the brat's attacks were far too dirty!
He went exclusively for below the belt and the collar!
Even the slightest pause put Haku's waistband at risk!
In the instant Haku's attention wavered.
A hand caught his ankle.
"Got you!"
Son Goten lay flat on the ground, his hand clamped tightly around Haku's ankle, an evil grin worthy of a final boss spreading across his face.
"Heh heh heh..."
"Let's see how you run this time!"
"For my first love, and to prove my nose wasn't wrong..."
Son Goten grabbed Haku's pant leg with his other hand and yanked down hard.
"Show me the truth!"
Before you continue