"One after another, those Konoha ninjas all deserve to die." Since he had run out of steel needles, Haku took out bamboo skewers from his ninja tool bag. He exhaled a puff of cold air onto the skewers, instantly freezing them hard.
Naruto was stunned. He hadn't expected such a change. He accused Haku, saying, "You're so sneaky. When did you acquire this ability? I didn't even know you could freeze bamboo skewers just by exhaling on them."
"Sasuke, you're so useless," Naruto turned around and said. "See that guy? He's getting stronger and has gained new abilities. Where's your Sharingan? Hasn't it awakened yet?"
"How do you know about the Sharingan?"
"Your clan in Konoha is the only one that has the Sharingan. Who doesn't know this?"
While Naruto was bantering with Sasuke, Haku launched a fierce attack. The frozen bamboo skewers shot towards them like a dense rain of needles. Several ice - skewers pierced Naruto's back, instantly distorting his expression.
This time, they really played with fire and got burned. For Haku, Zabuza Momochi was the meaning of his life and the belief that kept him alive.
Several years ago, when Haku was still young, he awakened the ability of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai. This ability represents war and killing. People with Kekkei Genkai abilities were unwelcome in some areas and might even be executed.
War and killing had brought too much pain to the ninja world, and this pain had brewed even more misfortune.
People afraid of war hated ninjas and everything related to them, including those with Kekkei Genkai abilities, even if the one who awakened the Kekkei Genkai was just a child.
When someone discovered that Haku had awakened the Kekkei Genkai ability, the first one to raise the butcher's knife was his father. With his mother desperately protecting him, Haku finally escaped from his father's knife.
Victims afraid of war eventually raised their knives against innocent children, thinking that they could end this distorted world. Little did they know that the world would become even uglier.
On a snowy winter day, Haku met Zabuza Momochi. Just a glance at each other as they passed by, and they both realized that they were both people who had lost their homes. Two homeless wanderers came together.
Seeing Haku's fierce offensive, Naruto knew that he had touched Haku's reverse scale. This was not a good thing. One wrong move and they might end up dead at Haku's hands.
Multiple Kage Clone Jutsu! Naruto formed hand seals and released the Multiple Kage Clone Jutsu. Instantly, more than thirty shadow clones appeared around him. Using the shadow clones as shields, he blocked the ice - skewers thrown by Haku.
"We can win!" Naruto said. "Even if Haku has become stronger and gained new abilities, he needs to exhale onto the bamboo skewers to freeze them. This takes time for preparation and reduces his attack frequency."
"Sasuke! I'll use the clones to distract him. You find his weakness!"
"I've been looking for his weakness non - stop, but his speed is too fast. I can't keep my eyes on him!" Sasuke widened his eyes.
"It's useless. Even if there are two of you, you won't make it out alive today." Haku kept exhaling on the bamboo skewers, freezing them, and then throwing them out forcefully. Naruto could only keep using shadow clones to block them, constantly creating time for Sasuke.
"Multiple Kage Clone Jutsu!"
"Multiple Kage Clone Jutsu!"
"Multiple Kage Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto used Multiple Kage Clone Jutsu continuously for over a dozen rounds. Each time, he sent out dozens of clones to block Haku's attacks. Now his Chakra was almost depleted. Gasping for breath, he said, "Sasuke, aren't you done yet? If this goes on, I'll kick the bucket right in front of you."
Sasuke faced no less pressure than Naruto. He gritted his teeth and held on. As time passed, Sasuke noticed that Haku's movements seemed to slow down.
"Naruto, can you still hold on?" Sasuke said. "My eyes seem to be able to keep up with him."
"I might as well kick the bucket," Naruto said gloomily. "You have no clue how agonizing it is when his ice bamboo skewers stab you. It's like being stung by a wasp. If a dozen ice bamboo skewers stab you at the same time, you'll die of pain on the spot."
Just then, Haku continuously shot out ice bamboo skewers, and a dozen of them pierced Naruto's vital points all over his body. Naruto writhed in pain and lay on the ground. Soon, he stopped struggling and became motionless.
At this time, Naruto weakly said, "Sa...su...ke... I can't... hold on... anymore. You have to... live... on. Please... tell Hinata... I like her..." After saying that, Naruto closed his eyes and breathed his last.
"Naruto—" Seeing his comrade die, Sasuke was filled with grief and indignation. His eyes changed dramatically. His pupils turned from black to red, and a tomoe emerged in his pupils. He successfully awakened the single tomoe Sharingan.
After awakening the single tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke found that the whole world had changed. The wind seemed to stop, the leaves seemed to stop swaying, and even Haku, who was as fast as lightning, now moved as slowly as a crawling turtle.
"I've got you," Sasuke said. His eyes successfully kept up with Haku's movements. No matter how swiftly Haku flew and shuttled through the ice mirrors, Sasuke's eyes could keep up with him.
"Fire Release! Great Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke quickly formed hand seals. He focused his energy in his core, puffed out his chest, and exhaled. The flames from his mouth formed a huge fireball and shot towards Haku.
Sasuke stared intently and checked his result. The fireball just now had successfully burned off half of Haku's clothes, and even left a burn mark on Haku's calf.
"I can attack him," Sasuke instantly gained confidence. Since entering the battle, not to mention counterattacking, he couldn't even keep up with Haku's eyes and could only stand there and take the blows passively. Now that the Great Fireball Jutsu could hit him, he finally had the ability to fight back.
Haku was furious. He took out all the bamboo skewers from his ninja tool bag at once, blew a deep breath on them, and froze each one, turning them into extremely hard ice bamboo skewers.
This section is not over yet. More exciting stuff is on the way!
Without a word, Haku directly shot out all the remaining ice bamboo skewers, which turned into a dense rain of ice spikes like a fairy scattering flowers, covering a large area.
"Fire Release! Great Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke cast the Fire Release Ninjutsu again, burning a large number of ice spikes to ashes. However, there were too many ice spikes, so he had to keep retreating to avoid them.
"Ouch!" Naruto, with ice spikes all over his body, sat up in pain and angrily said, "Haku! You're going too overboard! I'm already a goner in the battle. Why are you still attacking me? Don't tell me you're imitating me and even want to whip a dead body!"
Haku was shocked. Naruto had been hit by so many ice spikes, yet he was still jumping around as if nothing had happened.
Actually, only Naruto himself knew that the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed inside him. The unique Chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox always helped Naruto repair his wounds. His external injuries always healed at an incredibly fast speed, and his physical ability to withstand blows was beyond that of ordinary people.
Haku angrily asked, "Why aren't you dead yet?"
"It's a long story," Naruto scratched his head and said. "It all started on the day I was born. A fox came to my village..."
At this moment, Naruto accidentally caught a glimpse of Sasuke. Sasuke had a surprised look on his face. He really thought Naruto was dead just now. Unexpectedly, Naruto came back alive, which made Sasuke feel a mix of sorrow and joy.
"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed. "You've finally awakened the Sharingan!"
Naruto turned to Haku and said, "Zabuza Momochi isn't actually dead. You'd better go back quickly. If you're late, the wealthy Gato might kill Zabuza."