"Now let's see if you can still keep up with my speed."
"Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
Twelve ice mirrors appeared, surrounding Sasuke. Haku stepped into a mirror, and his body appeared in every mirror, making it impossible to tell which was the real one.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this? Oh no!" An ominous feeling rose in Kakashi's heart. He immediately leaped toward Sasuke, trying to rescue him.
"Oh! You stupid groundhog, your opponent is me!" Zabuza used Water Body Flicker to appear right in front of Kakashi, bringing the Kubikiribōchō down at his head. "Now that Haku's used this move, that brat is as good as dead."
Kakashi dodged the Kubikiribōchō. "Huh? When did you switch to a saw?"
"..."
Inside the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, Haku said slowly, "Well then, I'll begin!"
"BIU, BIU, BIU, BIU!"
"(╬•᷅д•᷄╬) Why are there sound effects too?!"
Haku's figure shot out of a mirror at tremendous speed, moving back and forth among the ice mirrors with a barrage of senbon. Almost instantly, before Sasuke could dodge, more than a dozen had struck his body.
"Aah!!!!"
"It hurts!!!!"
"Aah!!!!"
Watching from the side, Sakura and Hieimon couldn't bear it anymore either. Hieimon hurriedly said, "Sakura, I'll go help Sasuke!"
Sakura stopped Hieimon. "No, you're no match for him. I'll do it!"
With that, Sakura pulled a kunai from her ninja tool pouch and threw it at Haku's ice mirror.
"You can actually see where my real body is. You're quite an incredible genius too."
Praise was praise, but he reached his right hand out of the ice mirror and caught the kunai. "Bleh, bleh, bleh! You missed!"
Just then, however, a shuriken flew toward him. Haku turned his head to dodge, and the shuriken passed before his face, cutting a gash in his mask and temporarily halting his assault.
"Who was that!!!"
"Naruto Uzumaki makes his entrance!"
Covered in wounds, Sasuke lay on the ground and looked at Naruto. "What a show-off idiot."
Naruto planted both hands on his hips and shouted, "Now that I'm here, there's nothing to worry about! I'm the hero! Yahahahaha!"
Haku straightened up and called to Zabuza in the distance, "Mr. Zabuza, leave these two brats to me."
Zabuza said, "Yes, they're yours. Make sure you teach him a good lesson."
Having recovered some strength, Sasuke stood up and muttered to himself, "What kind of ninjutsu is this, anyway? Is he hiding clones inside the ice mirrors and attacking simultaneously? No, that couldn't be this fast. I can't even make out the paths of the flying needles... These ice mirrors should be the key, and I'm trapped inside them. In that case, I'll have to get Naruto to break them from outside..."
He had barely finished that thought when Naruto appeared in his field of vision. He had actually jumped inside the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. "Yo! I'm here to rescue you! Surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?"
"(°ー°〃) Dude, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm here to rescue you."
"Ninjas need to act cautiously! What the hell are you doing, just charging in here????"
Kakashi sighed. "Ugh, things seem to have gotten even worse."
"Whatever! Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger! Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke spat out a huge fireball that blasted toward an ice mirror. To his surprise, however, after taking the attack, the mirror showed no signs of melting at all.
"That level of attack won't melt my ice mirrors. Watch out, I'm attacking! BIUBIUBIU..."
"What? Your attacks come with sound effects too???"
"Aah!!"
"Aah!!"
Sasuke and Naruto couldn't dodge in time and were driven apart.
"Then I'll smash them with my fists! Multi Shadow Clone!"
More than twenty clones rushed in different directions, forming hand seals at the same time. "Ox, hare, tiger! Wind Blade!"
Twenty invisible wind blades struck the ice mirrors, but likewise failed to shake them in the slightest.
With the wind blades keeping him pinned down, Haku stayed inside the mirrors rather than rashly launching an attack.
"Bang!" Haku threw a senbon, destroying a shadow clone.
"Sasuke! Over there!"
Naruto pointed at that mirror and shouted.
"Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger! Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
"I already told you, that level of attack-"
"Sakura! Now!"
"Ox, hare, tiger! Earth Release: Rock Gauntlet! Shannaro!"
Sakura had been watching the battle from outside all along. After training together for so long, the three already had excellent coordination. Naturally, Sakura wouldn't let this opportunity pass. She used Rock Gauntlet and attacked the ice mirror from outside.
"Boom!" Sakura shattered the ice mirror in an instant, and Haku's body leaped out of it.
"Superhuman Strength? Impressive. But you're still a long way off!"
"Got you!" Naruto and all his clones swarmed forward, attacking Haku.
Haku chuckled. "But... Ice Release: Ice Self-Destruction!"
"Crack!" Countless cracks spread across Haku's body like an ordinary block of ice. Then, with a deafening explosion, his entire body shattered into countless fragments that scattered with tremendous explosive force.
Naruto and Sakura were sent flying by the tremendous impact.
"Sakura! Naruto!" Sasuke shouted. Numerous ice spikes protruded from Naruto's and Sakura's bodies, and blood kept pouring down.
"That was only my ice clone. With them out of the way, you're the only one left. What will you do now?" Haku's voice rang out leisurely.
Sasuke's eyes filled with rage. "I'll see through you!"
Seeing Naruto and Sakura fall one after the other, Kakashi grew frantic. "I can't drag this out any longer."
With that, he pulled up his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan. Zabuza seized that moment to attack. "Finally using your Sharingan again?"
Shhk.
The Kubikiribōchō pierced Kakashi's right hand, and blood dripped to the ground. The two remained locked in a stalemate. "You say that, but deep down, you're still afraid of the Sharingan... aren't you, Zabuza?"
Zabuza gave a strange laugh. "Hehehe, a ninja can't just casually show his secrets to the enemy."
With that, he leaped away. "Even if you can beat me, you can't beat Haku. He's much stronger than I am. The curse of a kekkei genkai."
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!" The mist grew thicker, and Zabuza's figure vanished into it once again.
Kakashi straightened up and chuckled. "Could you stop bragging? How boring. When you use this ninjutsu, you shouldn't be able to see either, right?"
"Of course. But I can pinpoint your positions using sound alone."
"Oh no!" Kakashi suddenly realized something and immediately ran toward the rear.
Zabuza appeared behind where Tazuna and Hieimon stood, swinging the Kubikiribōchō at Hieimon. "Rookie, you can die first."
Naturally, Zabuza knew Hieimon's identity too and deliberately wanted to test his strength.
Although Hieimon was a nuclear bomb jinchūriki, his combat experience was far from sufficient. Caught off guard, all he could think to do was crouch. The Kubikiribōchō sliced off a few strands of his hair.
Having missed his strike, Zabuza didn't pursue him, because Kakashi had already reached Tazuna's side. He hid in the thick mist again.
Seeing that both were unharmed, Kakashi felt a little relieved.
"I'm a little short on chakra, but there's no other choice. Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
As expected, the strong wind dispersed the thick mist again. Zabuza was still just as he had been before, crouching and tiptoeing with the nick-covered Kubikiribōchō over his shoulder, preparing to circle around behind them.
"I see you, Zabuza. I won't fall for the same technique twice."
"Liver, neck... (╯'-')╯︵┻━┻ How the fuck am I supposed to fight like this?!"
Watching Zabuza, Kakashi took a scroll from his ninja tool pouch, quickly unrolled it, and smeared the blood on his hand across it. "Then let's end this fight with this technique!"
"Summoning Technique: Earth Release, Tracking Fang Technique!"
The ground stirred, and Zabuza seemed to realize what was about to happen. "Summoning Technique combined with Earth Release? You really are a genius, Kakashi."
With that, he leaped upward. At the same moment, the ground burst open, and seven ninja dogs of different sizes sprang out from underground. They were even faster than Zabuza and soon surrounded him.
"So fast! Demon Blade: Ten Consecutive Slashes!" Zabuza unleashed his sword technique. Ten flashes of blade light appeared, and the ninja dogs blocked them, only to be knocked away by the tremendous force.
"Heh, your summoned ninja dogs aren't much either."
"Monkey, hare, ox! Lightning Blade!" Chakra gathered in Kakashi's right hand, a mass of lightning surged out, and he leaped upward.
Zabuza was still in midair, and with his Sharingan active, Kakashi's movements were swift and precise. Dodging was simply impossible. "Oh no! I can't dodge!"
In his panic, he held the Kubikiribōchō horizontally, blocking the space between them.
"Aayayayaya!!!"
The lightning of Lightning Blade touched the Kubikiribōchō, and its electrical power instantly surged into Zabuza's body.
"Thud!" Zabuza fell to the ground, his entire body convulsing from the shock. Barely able to stand, he propped himself up with the Kubikiribōchō. "A hero of the Ninja War, all right!"
"Still going online? ପ(˘ᵕ˘)੭☆."
"Huff, huff. Well then, it's time to finish this." Kakashi was somewhat exhausted too. "One more to finish you off! Lightning Blade!"
At some point, the seven ninja dogs had circled behind Zabuza. They swarmed him and sank their teeth into him. Blood instantly gushed out, and he couldn't move.
Kakashi lunged forward, his Lightning Blade about to strike Zabuza. "Heh. My ninja dogs are all jonin!"
"Ice Release: Ice Wall!"
Just then, the water on the ground froze, forming a square ice wall in front of Zabuza. Although Kakashi's Lightning Blade pierced through the ice dog, his body was pinned in place as a result.
"Ice Release: Ice Senbon!"
Several senbon made of ice shot out of the ice wall, precisely striking the seven ninja dogs. All the ninja dogs vanished at once.
"Hehehe, you forgot I still have a partner."