The Awakened Soul (Naruto SI)

[Welydora]

I mean, he could have done that as soon as he hit the wall, no? Just send a few clones to other countries, leave some hiraishin marks and farm as many bandits and nukenin as you need. I suppose he could do it in Fire country as well, but the chances of being found out would increase and if that happens Hiruzen would immediately try to murk him out of Orochi PTSD. Then again, he did build a lab in his own basement like a dumbass instead of hiding it somewhere accesible only with hiraishin

Click to shrink...

He could have, and he was already planning to start hunting criminals on his own, but the opportunity to get them basically presented itself.

Hiruzen won`t touch him as long as he`s not putting his own people under the knife like Orochimaru did. The lab is in the village because he needs the logistics, and besides, no one`s actually forbidding it.

 

[Welydora]

In a flash, we found ourselves on a wide street by a river in a small town. Small by the standards of the Land of Fire, anyway. From what I knew from the rather sparse info in the textbooks about this area, this was the second-biggest city in the Land of Waves. It was closest to the mainland of the nearest country on the continent—the Land of Fire—and it was a trade hub. There was another similar city on the other side of the country, to the east, toward the Land of Water. But since the Land of Water was farther away and this city had the better location, this one ended up being the largest.

It was evening; we'd already completed a D-rank mission that day, so it was getting late.

We looked around and spotted two old folks a short distance away, who recoiled when we popped in. Their faces went wide with surprise, and when they noticed Tazuna among us, once again bent over like a pretzel, their jaws dropped even more.

"Is this the right place?" Sakura asked curiously, looking around. "There are no tall buildings at all and… wooden buildings with sloping roofs?"

Sasuke was looking around too, his gaze so contemptuous you'd think the buildings were made of shit.

"Exactly," I confirmed. "This is the merchant quarter. See that tower on the river, the one with part of its floor collapsed into the water? That's city hall. But in the locals' defense, it's not all bad. It doesn't reek here, which is already an achievement. I've been to some port towns in the Land of Fire. Our countrymen could learn a thing or two."

"Also…" Tazuna finally straightened up and added heavily, "the Land of Waves is famous for its mangrove forests, haaah."

"Yeah, because we've never seen a forest in Konoha," I turned to the old man. "Lead us to your house. We'll start organizing your protection."

Nodding, he led us to the place. The walk wasn't very long, but the whole time, walking in front, the old man tried to stay close to Kakashi and as far from me as possible. He kept shooting me side‑eye, too.

Tazuna's house turned out to be pretty big, even if it was shabby and looked poor. The wings of the house spread maybe twenty meters across, and part of the building jutted out over the Kanzoku Sea, making a good spot to sit and stare at the water on the horizon.

Soon a woman with dark blue hair in a pink dress came out to meet us. Waving a hand, she walked up and bowed in greeting.

"Welcome to our home. Are you the shinobi protecting my father?"

She nodded toward the old man and got a nod back from him. Even though she'd asked us, yeah.

"Good day," our jonin began, a bit formally. "I am Kakashi Hatake, the team commander. That is correct. May I ask—"

"Oh, forgive me. My name is Tsunami," she covered her mouth for a second, looking us over. "Shall we go inside? We were expecting you later, so the meal after your trip isn't ready. But I'll think of something."

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi kept the conversation going. "We used a space–time technique, so the journey took less than an hour."

"Wow… Shinobi can do things like that?"

While those two were talking, I gave Hatake a fresh look. Turns out he can talk without all his "M‑ma, M‑yeah, A‑aaah, E‑eeeh," and the rest of the "master orator" phrasebook.

As for Tsunami… I liked the client's daughter way more than the client himself. In a whole minute of talking she hadn't insulted us even once. Plus, she was polite.

Soon we went inside. In the hallway we ran into a dark‑haired kid in a fisherman's hat. He looked gloomy.

"Inari, say hello to these people. They're the ninja who are protecting your grandfather."

"Why?" he turned to his mother—Tsunami, apparently. "They're just going to die soon anyway."

"Now that's some fatalism," I noted, focusing on him. "Care to explain your reasoning?"

"Gato. Don't you know? He runs everything here… And if you try to stand up to him, you'll die. Just like the people before you…"

"Hmph." I gave him a skeptical look and, just in case, once again proved who the biggest smartass in the room was. "Your assertion lacks empirical support and is derived not from observable facts, but from subjective a priori assumptions. Since your argumentation is built on biased premises and a cognitively limited perception, any further continuation of this discourse on your part appears irrational. Refrain from making assertions that can't withstand elementary logical scrutiny."

"…What?" He didn't get it.

"I'm saying I doubt you know enough about me and my team to be drawing conclusions. So don't spread doom and gloom for no reason. Go mind your own business. Go beat some nettles with a stick, or whatever it is you do."

Throwing me a disgruntled look, the kid walked out of the house and headed for the pier.

"Please… forgive Inari. He doesn't mean any harm," Tsunami started.

"Kids." I waved it off so she wouldn't think I was offended or waste brain cells on it. She gave me a strange look in return.

Soon we were settled into different rooms—turns out this Tazuna was quite the rich guy by local standards, with a really not‑small house. After that, the locals left my team alone in the main hall.

"Well, I propose we discuss our information‑gathering strategy," I began, sitting in the center of the room across from Kakashi, with Sasuke on my left and Sakura on my right. "For now it'd be smart to interrogate Tsunami and Tazuna. After that, we can split up: Sasuke and Sakura, staying together for safety, will question the locals. Kakashi and I will handle deeper recon and separately infiltrate places where the enemy's concentrated. We'll regroup in the evening and build a plan…"

Kakashi cut me off with a raised hand.

"Naruto, none of that is necessary right now," he waved his hand dismissively, and my eyebrow twitched. "Well, it is necessary. But you'll do it tomorrow. Consider it training."

My eyes went wide at the balls on that masked bastard, who had basically just said he wouldn't be doing any recon. Like… what? That went against everything I'd been taught.

If you've got a chance to scout in a dangerous situation, you take it. Information is what can give you a huge edge over the enemy. And this guy… this guy… if only Koharu were here to see him—spouting such crap!

Tomorrow… he says. When we might not have the advantage anymore, and they might already know about us… That's bullshit.

I tried to lay all that out, but Hatake just waved his hands again, like I was worrying too much.

"It's already evening. Questioning the locals won't get you anything now; everyone's already gone home."

"If we hurry, it could still give us a lot," I pointed out.

"Or it might not," he spread his hands. "You'll get up tomorrow and start working on it. It's just a C‑rank mission, after all."

"Don't play dumb, Kakashi. You know about Gato. And that he could easily have hired shinobi."

While we argued, Sakura just moved her head back and forth between us, while Sasuke sat there with his eyes closed, looking all mysterious and wise.

"M‑ma," he looked away. "Yeah, I know. The local shipping monopolist, a fairly wealthy guy. Maybe he did hire shinobi, but don't bother your head with that. It's unlikely to be anyone even at genin level. Hiring strong shinobi on a permanent basis for shady work is not easy at all, you know. Naruto, you think too much. Go get some sleep."

"So we're just supposed to sit here and wait until we get attacked?" I clarified, my face clearly showing what I thought of that plan.

But he just waved his hand again.

"If something extraordinary does happen," Kakashi drawled sarcastically, already tired of this conversation, "the two of us can handle it."

"Hn," was Uchiha's contribution.

"I agree with Sasuke. And yeah. If you're so smart, you're going in first if something does happen."

"Deal," Kakashi said irritably, folding his arms across his chest. "But this conversation isn't over yet. Naruto, I decided to ignore it before, but I'll say it now. What you did at the gate was a gross violation of shinobi protocol. I'll mention it in my report and file a complaint against you."

"Hah," I snorted. "Be my guest. Write it in triplicate if you want. You're not getting anything out of it anyway."

"That was highly irresponsible."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. It would've been better if I'd started threatening Tazuna outside the village? When he was completely dependent on us?"

"…That's not what I meant. But yeah, that would have been better. For now, I suggest we wrap this up."

"Good idea. You, 'Kakashi‑sensei,' could use some sleep too, before your head turns completely to mush."

"Mngh." He showed me the middle finger, and I cheerfully returned the gesture. Then he left the room.

"Sakura, Sasuke. What do you think of my ideas?" I asked the two who were left.

"According to my regimen, I've got evening training," the boy said, then got up and left too.

"…"

"…"

Sakura and I watched Uchiha's back disappear.

Apparently my authority isn't that high, hmm. Then again, I didn't use any heavy leverage to make them do what I want.

"Sakura, be a sweetheart, please. Interrogate Tazuna and Tsunami according to the A6 structure and give me an oral report in two hours."

She sighed, dragging her gaze away from the door Sasuke had vanished through.

"Fine."

"Thanks." I gave her a warm smile, patted her on the shoulder, and stood up. "My mark is on you. I really doubt you'll be in any danger. But if something unforeseen happens, just release your chakra and I'll show up right away. For now I'm going to do some recon…"

"Naruto…"

"Hm?" I'd already reached the doorway.

"I just wanted to ask: what do the words on your kunai mean?" She looked away, like she'd asked something inappropriate. "And on the markers… 'Ruthlessness,' 'Right,' 'Love.'"

"Oh…" I leaned against the doorframe, slowly spinning a kunai with three characters on it between my fingers. "'Ruthlessness for the Right to Love,' if you want the full version. I'm afraid this might turn into a bit of a long monologue."

She nodded silently, showing she was ready to listen.

"Life is a cruel thing," I started anyway. "It's filled with light, sure. But you need strength if you want to be able to fight for what matters to you… I guess I should've told you this after you talked with Tazuna and Tsunami, but whatever, this works too. Let's back up a little: did you see the people on the street?"

The girl nodded carefully.

"Dirty. And under those sackcloth rags you couldn't see it, but they were hungry too. They had the right to a life—maybe not a rich one, but a good one. I'm sure there are plenty of skilled people here; they could be providing for themselves and for their country. But you saw how the buildings on the street were all wrecked. That's because this Gato showed up with his cartel and took away their right to a normal life. He robs them and does far worse things, because he's stronger, and with that strength he just hands himself that right. All those rights are worth nothing if you can't protect them. The world isn't the Academy. Hardly anyone out here is gonna listen to your arguments. The strong devour the weak and take their rights. That's the law. There's almost no third option.

"Ruthlessness is what I have to pay for strength. It's the readiness to do what others can't, or are afraid to do, to protect what you believe in. For years now I've been working hard, digging through corpses… Can't say it's all that hard on me. But it's what I have to do to move forward. To get stronger and at least try to earn the right to live the rest of my life the way I want. For years I've worked so that now, knowing we're up against a danger hundreds of people couldn't overcome… I can just sit here calmly talking to you. And know we'll be fine.

"Right now… I have to go do something else cruel. So that in the future, my loved ones and I will again have the chance to just smirk in the face of a threat. Even if that threat becomes way bigger than this one. That's the path… By walking it, I keep the abyss away."

When I finished, I only then noticed my eyes had gone unfocused and I was just staring straight ahead with a glassy look. Snapping out of it, I looked at Sakura and saw her gaze was practically bursting with mixed emotions: surprise, pity, sympathy, sadness… and a bit of understanding?

"So… that wasn't just you being a jerk? You just wanted to—" she started, then cut herself off.

"..?" My face made it clear I was interested and she could go on.

"No… nothing. Thank you… I don't have any more questions. G‑good luck… out there."

It was obvious Sakura suddenly really wanted to be alone.

"Thanks… And hey, about my request for the interrogation…" I was about to say she didn't have to do it, but she interrupted.

"It's fine."

I don't believe you.

"I'll do it."

"…," I stared at her for a moment, then just nodded in thanks.

Leaving the room, I headed for the exit. I wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.


After creating a few dozen clones, we got to work.

Finding the main hideout of this "Gato" was easy. I walked up to the first local I saw and made sure it was that building on that island. The entire Land of Waves basically consisted of about two dozen such islands, with rivers flowing between them.

When I reached the round three‑story building, I didn't even have to go inside. Taking on the appearance of some unremarkable guy, I slipped into a nearby bar and calmly drank juice while the whole HQ lay open to me like it was in my hand, thanks to my soul Sphere‑Sight.

Fifteen minutes later I had all their paperwork, an approximate headcount for the cartel, their concentrations, and Gato's plans in my head. Reading texts that aren't visible to normal sight with Sphere‑Sight is an obvious application for me. But reading separate sheets of text pressed right up against each other—that was a skill I'd only developed less than a year ago, and it took some work.

Gato himself, as you'd guess from the reports and his record, was one corrupt… ahem. Also rotten, cruel, and greedy bastard, ready to do anything for his business. Short but stocky, with medium‑length spiky brown hair. Black suit, yellow shirt, purple tie.

Once I had the basic info, I pushed it through our link—to the clones. A plan started putting itself together in my head. The main goal was to herd all these rats into one place, so we wouldn't have to run around hunting them down.

The plan had several points…

And the clones started carrying each one out in parallel.


On the roof next to yet another bar, an invisible figure sat lazily, legs dangling over the edge. Slowly turning his head from side to side, he watched the conversations of the already tipsy crowd.

This bar was where one of Gato's closest associates was hanging out. While he drank, he was talking about some shinobi that had shown up in one of the Land of Waves' towns.

"It's all bullshit, guys," a muscular man with a bare, scarred torso went on. This was him, one of Gato's deputies. "There are three kids and only one real shinobi."

His words set the whole bar roaring with laughter.

"Our little demon will carve 'em up like a butcher carves a…" He snapped his fingers.

"A cabbage?" one of the guys laughing the loudest prompted—and immediately got smacked on the back of the head.

"What fucking cabbage, you idiot? You a sheep or what?"

The bar exploded in laughter again. No one noticed the black Bingo Book—where all wanted shinobi are listed with info on them—appear out of nowhere on one of the tables. But when it slid off and hit the floor, opening to one of the pages, one of the regulars, a tall man, finally noticed.

"What's this?" he bent down for the little book. What he saw inside froze him for a few seconds. "Boss!!"

He screeched it, jabbing a finger at the book.

"Shut the hell up, you bolt, before I strip your threads. Say what you're yelling about."

"S‑rank shinobi! It's him! Our guys saw him!"

"Wha…" The book was in the "boss's" hands almost instantly. "Yeah, we're screwed."

Gato's deputy—whose name, by the way, was Shinto—chewed on his lip.

"Fucking hell!" he repeated his favorite word and turned to his subordinates. "Alright, you disgraceful bastards. I'm going to the boss. There better be booze left for me, or I'll, you know… and you'll, you know. Got it?!"

"Yes, boss!" came the ragged chorus.

"That's more like it." Flashing a gap‑toothed grin, he swaggered proudly out of the bar.

The rumor about how strong the new shinobi were had been planted.

At the same time. On another island

Another bar. Me—one of the other clones—really liked manipulating drunk people.

Such pliable material.

An invisible thread latched onto one of the local gang members. The local boss wasn't that expressive; the real ringleader here wasn't him but some random thug.

The thread, slowly and imperceptibly feeding chakra into him, kept planting more and more fake images and thoughts—ones I wanted said out loud.

After a few minutes of work, we got the result we needed:

"And that demon swordsman… Did you see how bandaged up he is? That Mist scum… Why do you think he needs all those bandages? I heard someone saw him limping…"

"Definitely got wounded back in Kiri," a voice came from the back.

"Exactly!" the local loudmouth agreed, then went on babbling nonsense.

But that didn't matter anymore. Gato's attentive but silent associate remembered everything and was going to bring it up with his boss.

The rumor that Zabuza might not be all that invincible was successfully set loose.

Another island, again

One more of the gang's, so to speak, local governors, and another of Gato's deputies, wasn't in a bar or any other fun place. But the role he was meant to play was the most important…

A skinny man with cunning, but currently relaxed, eyes was just getting ready for bed. He lived alone, but with good security outside by local standards. So he didn't worry about anything.

But when he walked out of the shower in his robe into the dark room, he didn't even make it to the light switch before a steel grip clamped around his throat.

He was forced to his knees.

The horror that hit him was so strong he couldn't even twitch, never mind make some futile attempt to scream.

There was nothing to see in the darkness in front of him—until two blue spotlights lit up out of it.

"The pirates from the Land of Noodles found out about the bridge and Gato's money. Word is they're going to attack and take it all for themselves while everyone's busy dealing with the ninja," the blue light spread, screwing itself into his head. "In four hours your scouts will report this to you. You'll go straight to your boss and tell him he needs to hurry. As for me, you'll forget…"

The grip loosened, and the man's body dropped to the floor.

Like a wind‑up toy, he repeated what he'd been ordered.

"Excellent…"

A green, healing light flooded the thug's vision. When it faded, the blue spotlights were gone.

The man, without a single mark on his neck, simply got up and headed for his bed. The toy had been wound, and soon it would wake again to do exactly what had been programmed into it.

This rumor would force Gato to move. And more importantly, it would force him to gather his forces into a single fist so that, taking the previous rumors into account, he'd quickly stage a fight between the arriving shinobi and the Demon Zabuza. The newcomers might be too dangerous to deal with separately, and then he could finish off whoever lost. Zabuza might be wounded and weak, and there was a good chance he'd lose to the arrivals. But against worn‑out and most likely injured shinobi, Gato's combined army would handle it. And he wouldn't even have to pay for an elite shinobi's services—profit everywhere.

All so that afterward, according to plan, he could just as quickly move on the southern port, on the side where the Land of Noodles lies. Luckily, that wasn't far from the first position, and organizing it wouldn't be too hard.

And a light genjutsu suggestion, if needed, would definitely help him make the decision I wanted.

---

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[Lillie Jones]

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[Despacitoleo]

Umazing chapter

 

[Welydora]

Morning. Original Uzumaki Naruto's POV

Stretching, satisfied and actually rested for once, I walked into the big kitchen, where everyone but me had already gathered.

Sitting down at the table, I greeted everyone, thanked them for the food, and dug in.

Last night I'd managed to shove a small wad of cash into Tsunami's hands so our whole pack could actually be fed properly. On top of that, I'd slipped some money to a local merchant so he'd drag some pre-marinated meat over here by morning. So breakfast turned out pretty damn good. Could've been even better if the woman hadn't fought off my offer to help with the cooking so fiercely—but it was still very good.

See, I "wasn't supposed" to be doing any of that—paying for groceries and all—since she's the one running the house, I'm the guest, plus a couple other excuses. In the end, the only help she couldn't refuse was my clone doing an evening run through the market, since I wasn't sleeping anyway. As for her trying to talk me into sleeping in a bit longer in the morning—fine, I gave in.

And it was worth it. Even though I'd farmed the work out to my clones so everything would go smoothly, I still had to stay up late. But six hours of sleep was more than enough for my body.

Not everyone at the table was in a good mood, though. Sakura sure as hell wasn't. After grilling Tazuna and Tsunami and really diving into what life is like for people under a crime cartel's heel, she wasn't exactly feeling upbeat. She'd been pretty down yesterday when she gave me her report.

It was actually important overall; it helped me tweak my strategy for manipulating the cartel, and gave me a few key details for manipulating Gato himself—stuff that came out of his personality and the people around him. He was especially scared of the pirates from the Land of Noodles—who really do exist out here, even if the reports don't show it, since they haven't made direct contact yet. That made it easier and safer for me to push him into making sure what's about to happen… happens.

As for Sakura herself, well, she couldn't sleep last night. I really am sorry I let her see how brutal the world can be. But on the other hand, that's what'll make her stronger.

Breakfast wrapped up soon enough. My team and Tazuna were just about to head to the bridge when one of the few guards from the construction-materials warehouse came running up.

"Tazuna-sama!"

The old man was almost bowled over by a kid of about fifteen, right as we were heading out from the living room.

"The Demon Swordsman! He's on the bridge, ha—" The guy bent over, unable to get it all out in one breath. "He said… if the shinobi don't hand you over, he'll start slaughtering civilians."

Tazuna went pale.

Tsunami, walking behind us, brought her hands to her face in fear.

I turned my head toward Kakashi, who'd been acting all indifferent till now. My face was screaming "I told you so" so loud they could've heard it back in the Leaf.

Yeah, I set this up. But all I really did was speed things up. They'd have reacted to us anyway. And with Gato's personality, things could easily have played out almost the same.

We quickly questioned the kid, and from his description our silver-haired sensei guessed, based on the weapon and appearance, that this might be a certain Momochi Zabuza, one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Hatake's expression darkened.

"This just got very serious," he said.

"Yeah, who could've seen that coming," I said, slightly sarcastic. "Alright. We've 'waited' long enough. Let's go to the bridge."

Two clones popped out of me right away, one of them immediately taking on Tazuna's appearance.

"Old man, hide in the house with your family. My clone'll protect you." Then I turned to the kid who looked older than me. "You wait here too. We'll be back."

Leaving the extras somewhere safe, our little group headed for the bridge.

Sasuke looked as gloomy as always. Sakura looked similar, but also tired, and there was a clear flicker of anxiety on her face.

We moved at a brisk pace so the "ordinary person" in the form of "Tazuna" could still keep up.

"Remember our deal, Kakashi?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That you're the one who goes in first. Mister Wait-and-See."

He grimaced.

"Yeah. I'll do that."

As we approached the bridge, we noticed the surroundings getting more and more choked with mist.

"The Hidden Mist's signature technique. Their shinobi can navigate this fog just fine; it's saturated with their chakra," Kakashi warned us.

I nodded to confirm it.

Soon we were out on the bridge itself, stretching out for dozens of meters ahead and wide enough that forty people could walk side by side without bumping into each other.

The mist thickened until visibility dropped to maybe seven meters.

Farther off, we saw the silhouette of a massive sword, close to two meters long, stuck into the bridge. Perched in a crouch on its guard was the silhouette of a big man, the tails of his headband slowly fluttering behind his head.

"The Kubikiribōchō," Kakashi immediately recognized one of the Legendary Swords of the Mist as we stopped. "Momochi Zabuza, I presume?"

"So it is you," a rough voice came, and the figure jumped down. With a smooth motion he grabbed the long hilt, ripped the sword out of the bridge, and slung it over his shoulder. "The Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi."

When the man came closer, we could finally see him clearly: short black buzz cut, tall and heavily muscled. Blue pants with vertical blue stripes, camo-print arm guards, bare torso, and bandages covering half his face.

"Go on, hero," I patted Kakashi on the shoulder and pointed at the swordsman.

Zabuza focused his gaze on the trembling "Tazuna." The clone was playing the role perfectly, even matching his chakra to Tazuna's. The identical face went without saying.

"I don't know what you let your genin pull," Zabuza said, getting straight to the point as he threw me a look. "But I need the bridge builder. Hand him over and we can all walk away."

Kakashi also shot me a very unhappy look, then stepped forward and answered:

"Unfortunately, we'll have to fight."

"Hmph, really?" Zabuza rumbled from his chest, lifting his head and looking, as if from above, past Kakashi at the rest of us. "You'd rather drag them down with you?"

"Protect the client," Kakashi ordered instead of replying, and drew a kunai.

The swordsman's face twisted into a crazed grin under the bandages.

"So be it," Zabuza said—and a powerful violet aura erupted from him.

I felt my teammates flinch. The clone collapsed to the ground, still acting his part.

The air filled with killing intent.

"Watch closely, you slugs. I'm about to tear your commander apart. Then I'll start on you."

With that, the swordsman lunged forward. Kakashi mirrored him.

Sasuke and Sakura stared, spellbound, as two shinobi of elite jōnin strength clashed.

Which is why they didn't react when ice senbon nearly reached their necks.

One quick movement, and a spray of shuriken from my hands knocked down more than a dozen senbon aimed at them, me, and "Tazuna."

"Hey. Don't listen to the enemy," I said after the ring of metal on metal, my words finally snapping my teammates out of it. "Enemy at nine o'clock."

Seeing my shuriken lying near him, Sasuke moved the way I'd pointed.

"He's mine."

"Wait, Sasuke-kun… We're a team," Sakura cut in, having come back to her senses.

The Uchiha was about to snap something back, but I cut him off:

"You'd better listen to Sakura."

His teeth ground.

She's faster than you and smarter about movement. You're better in a straight-up clash. Use your strengths instead of measuring your egos. Otherwise you'll both die, my voice sounded in their heads.

Sasuke's face darkened, but he still nodded.

A silhouette appeared in the mist: a slim figure in a Mist Hunter-nin mask and a green haori. His name was Haku.

"I don't want to kill you," came a soft, almost musical voice. "But you're not getting past here."

"We'll see," Sasuke growled, and, not waiting for any order, rushed in, sending a fan of shuriken flying.

Sakura, come in from the right! I ordered mentally.

To her credit, Haruno had a great sense of space. She could dive deep into the fog and pop out exactly where she needed to.

While the two of them were starting their own fight, the main bout was already in full swing. Kakashi had clashed with Zabuza in a vicious melee. The air rang with steel—Kakashi's kunai against the enormous Kubikiribōchō. Their movements were so fast Sasuke and Sakura probably couldn't follow them at all.

Kakashi, to my surprise, was being pretty damn cocky—no Sharingan, and he was sticking to close combat. Only from time to time did he and Momochi trade Water Style techniques.

Zabuza was strong—a veteran of the Mist's blood-soaked wars, a master of silent killing. And he handled that giant sword expertly. Both of them hit hard. The bridge under their feet cracked from the force of the blows.

At one point, after batting Hatake away with a swing of his sword, Zabuza formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!"

His exact copy rose out of a puddle beside him. Kakashi frowned, bracing to fight two at once. Both Zabuzas rushed in from different sides. The fight got even nastier. Kakashi had to give it everything just to parry attacks from both of them.

From the very start Hatake hadn't activated his Sharingan and never took the free advantage. Now they weren't just keeping him from getting that edge—they were starting to dominate him.

Finally, Kakashi spotted an opening in one of the Zabuzas' defenses. Throwing a feint, he slipped past the sword swing and drove his kunai into "Zabuza."

The clone burst into water. It was a trap.

"Idiot," the real Zabuza's voice came from right behind him.

Kakashi didn't have time to turn. Strong arms grabbed him, and a dense sphere of water snapped into place around him—the Water Prison Technique.

Standing next to "Tazuna," I just rolled my eyes.

What the hell, man?

"Got you, Copy Ninja," Zabuza sneered, holding Kakashi in the prison with one hand. "Your famous Sharingan didn't save you. And you're pathetic as hell if you fall for such a basic textbook trick."

Not true. To be fair to Hatake, that's far from the simplest trick. But yeah, yeah, keep talking, blowhard…

I turned my head toward Kakashi, and when our eyes met, my own flared with chakra. My genjutsu. Through it I told Kakashi I was handing this fight over to Sasuke and Sakura so they'd grow more as shinobi. That I'd pull them out if things crossed into lethal territory. That he needed to listen to me and follow my orders on intel work and tactics. That I could handle Zabuza. And, last of all, that sitting in this bubble was his punishment—so he could sit there and think about what he'd done.

Zabuza didn't notice this quick information dump, or the way Kakashi suddenly really wanted to tell me to go to hell but couldn't. The swordsman threw me a meaningful look instead, his widening grin still clearly visible through the bandages, then turned away.

"Haku!" he shouted toward the second fight. "Quit playing with those runts! I want you to show them what happens when you cross Momochi Zabuza! Take them out!"

Right then, the fight between Sasuke and Sakura shifted. Hearing the order, Haku stopped holding back.

He didn't hesitate—he immediately attacked with a hail of senbon. Sasuke, already used to the rhythm of the fight, knocked them aside with his kunai, while Sakura used Shunshin to dart away and swing around the flank again.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Sasuke yelled, exhaling a huge ball of flame to light up the mist and box Haku in.

Haku, moving a bit faster than before, slipped out of the line of fire. At that moment, Sakura came in from the side with a chakra-charged kick. Haku caught it on his arm at an angle, parried it, but still had to retreat a few steps.

A short clash followed, during which Sakura quickly switched places with Sasuke, forcing Haku even farther back.

They worked in sync, making him constantly move. But it still wasn't enough.

"Time to stop playing," Haku's voice went cold as he formed special one-handed seals. "Ice Style: Demonic Ice Mirrors!"

Around Sasuke, massive ice mirrors instantly formed from the moisture in the air, growing into a deadly cage around him.

Sakura, left on the outside, ran straight up and started hammering on the ice in desperation.

"Sasuke-kun!"

From inside came the ring of steel and Sasuke's cries of pain.

Haku's image appeared in every mirror at once. He began to move rapidly between them, driving senbon into the Uchiha from all angles. Sasuke was too slow to dodge them all. The storm of senbon from Haku, flickering between mirrors, tore into him mercilessly.

"Sakura! Break them from outside!" Sasuke shouted, dodging another attack.

Haruno stopped. She drew back her right fist, while her left hand formed a concentration seal, packing more chakra into her right arm.

She struck, and with a burst of Sakura's chakra the mirror webbed with cracks.

Haku, noticing, appeared in one of the mirrors near the girl, ready to throw needles at her.

Sasuke saw it. This was his chance.

"Stay out of it, Sakura!" he shouted.

To the side! my voice sounded in the girl's head at that same moment.

She hesitated, hit by two different orders at once, trying to grasp what exactly the Uchiha wanted from her.

Holy shit… Instead of warning Haruno about the attack, Sasuke had just distracted her with some vague command. Then he calmly focused chakra inside himself for a technique, as long as the needles weren't flying at him.

So what, he decided to use her as bait? Or is he just an idiot? You don't pull that crap in the middle of a fight…

While Haku was aiming at Sakura, Sasuke exhaled a powerful Fire Dragon Flame Jutsu straight at that mirror.

Haku was forced to shift position, but his attack had already been released. A dozen senbon shot straight toward Sakura, frozen in place by the Uchiha's yell.

She didn't react in time. The needles slammed into her body, and she crumpled to the bridge without a sound. Her last look—full of shock and betrayal—was fixed on the ice prison holding Sasuke.

Yeah… Maybe I should've just teleported her after all. But the senbon trajectories shouldn't have hit anything vital… And this is their fight. Better she learns the important lessons while I'm right here and it's still safe.

"SAKURA!"

Seeing her fall and realizing what he'd just done, Sasuke roared with rage and guilt. Crimson light flared in his eyes, and two tomoe in each eye spun in a sinister dance. The Sharingan had awakened, and now the Uchiha could track Haku's movements. Rage gave him strength; Sasuke started batting the needles away, and his speed spiked.

But it was just the lead‑up to his loss. His attacks lost all strategy and turned into pure blind fury. Haku, perfectly calm, just waited. The ice ninja let Sasuke burn himself out, drain his last reserves. When the Uchiha finally slowed for a moment, panting hard, Haku struck. A series of precise senbon hits—and Sasuke, like Sakura before him, went stiff and collapsed, unconscious.

Silence. Haku stepped out of the mirrors, which were already starting to melt away before our eyes, and looked down at the two defeated genin. The fight was over.

I traded a look with Zabuza.

Kakashi was already out cold inside the water prison.

"You're next," the swordsman said, almost savoring it.

Only a tired sigh came out of me as Haku moved toward me.

Three clones burst out of me at once, sprinting off along three different paths—two curving around toward my teammates, one heading straight for Zabuza.

Head snapping back and forth, still closing in on me, Haku tried to keep track of me and the copies. I didn't even bother turning his way.

When the distance was perfect for a senbon throw and his arm had already come up, it was a huge shock to Haku how fast the previously-shaking old man suddenly moved at him. He barely managed to twitch aside before a brutal blow to the head shattered his mask to bits. The frail little body slammed into the bridge, sending tiny cracks out through the concrete.

The clone, having used the scraps of chakra left in the original Tazuna's reserves, just dissolved into the air.

At the same time, the two clones who hadn't yet reached their targets skidded to a stop. The enemy was down, the distraction had worked, and they could drop the extra caution.

They just teleported hundreds of kilometers away—to Konoha's hospital—while a second later, a stream of blue chakra appeared straight from the sky above my teammates. The mist pulled back a few meters from two points at once.

A flash—and in place of Sakura and Sasuke, two clones appeared. One immediately dispersed into the air, this time dumping its remaining chakra back into me, the original. The second teleported away to the hospital—he had people to look after.

At the same time, the last clone, now in close with the swordsman, slipped in on Zabuza's flank. Zabuza had already whipped the water sphere with Kakashi around in front of himself as a shield.

He was forced to drop the prison immediately and bring up the Kubikiribōchō to block the tanto.

The tanto's blade flared with chakra, transferring a sealing formula onto the other blade. In a suicidal attack, the clone reached out and touched Momochi, leaving another seal script on him before dispersing—so I wouldn't feel the pain of Zabuza's kunai, which had nearly gutted him.

Another clone stepped out of me, right in front of me.

A flash—and Kakashi's body was suddenly in my arms, while the clone that appeared next to Zabuza drove a heavy blow into his chest.

Momochi spun through the air, flying several meters before he managed to slow himself, digging his huge sword into the bridge. I lowered Kakashi and sent him sliding along the wet bridge deck a good ten meters back behind me.

"…What the hell is this?!" a wild‑haired Zabuza roared. In all his experience, he'd never been in a fight like this.

"Preparation," I said coldly. "And it's finished."

Another clone stepped out in front of me.

A flash—and Zabuza's sword vanished right out of his hands, while the newly appeared clone beside him struck again, knocking him back.

I grabbed the hilt of the Kubikiribōchō that had appeared by me. Looking over the hilt—where most of the sealwork was layered—I snorted.

My hands slid up to the base of the blade.

Tension.

Already getting back to his feet, Momochi stared in shock as I snapped the blade in my bare hands.

Crack.

"Don't need this," I said, lazily tossing the heavy chunk of metal aside. It hit the bridge with a loud clang. With my other hand I brought the remaining part of the sword up to my bracer and sealed it away.

"Who the hell are you…?"

Disarmed, Zabuza tensed up.

Yin and Yang ground together, and a powerful blue wave of chakra burst out of me, blowing the mist back for dozens of meters.

The air vibrated, filled with a low hum. The wind that had been blowing across the bridge shifted direction—now it only blew from me.

Zabuza's tension cranked up even more.

"Still can't guess?" I raised my hand, and the pressure spiked.

The bridge shuddered, and the water beneath it rippled.

Momochi started to say something, but the humming in the air suddenly cut off.

Instead of the hum, a high note bored into the ears and rolled out across the world—like the echo of a quiet moan from a thousand doomed throats.

Then the world turned red.

The spreading seeds of terror were reflected in the swordsman's eyes… This was the strongest killing intent he had ever felt.

"No…" I turned my head away. The world's colors snapped back to normal. The rush of wind filled my ears again. "There's too much I can squeeze out of you. So you're staying alive."

Zabuza hunched over and let out a sharp, shaky breath.

My raised hand closed around my tanto's hilt.

"You… You're just like Him."

"The Mizukage? I think I'm worse."

The swordsman only had time to blink before he saw a clone step out of me. He didn't even get to brace for the next strike—because in the flash, it turned out he was the one who'd been moved.

Held horizontal, the blade rammed into Momochi's back and out through his gut, and then I lifted his body like it weighed nothing.

Seventy‑two kilos? That's it? Don't make me laugh.

Chakra rushed down the blade without delay. An instant later, lightning wrapped the swordsman's entire body.

"A‑A‑A‑A‑A‑A‑A‑A‑A‑A!!!" A scream of agony tore across the bridge.

The all‑encompassing torture went on for about twenty seconds before Zabuza finally went limp and passed out.

Lowering the blade, I watched without much interest as the charred body slid off it and hit the bridge.

"Didn't even have to go all out. Again," I sighed. "That's what happens when you play to your strengths."

I pressed my chakra back down and noted how the hum around me faded.

Still… this is only the first act of the play.

I looked around.

They're dragging their feet… Guess I'll start patching Zabuza up. He's not gonna bleed out from the burns, but his body definitely isn't feeling great right now.

After that, I'll deal with the ones who are just getting here.

---

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[Lillie Jones]

impressive
Thanks for the chapter
Continue on
Cheers!

 

[AAAustinYu]

I really wanted him to throw a Hiraishin kunai and watch Zabuza shit himself