Chapter 156: Another Beginning
After the thunderous impact of the punch connecting with the mask, even though Naruto had deliberately pulled back most of his strength at the last moment, the remaining force was still devastating.
Haku's figure flew backward like a kite with a severed string, tumbling awkwardly across the ground several times before finally coming to rest on the bridge surface.
With Haku's defeat and the rapid depletion of his chakra, the "Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals" technique that had trapped Naruto and Satsuki could no longer be maintained. All the ice crystals forming the prison instantly lost their shape, dissolving into countless clear water droplets that cascaded to the ground with a splash.
Haku struggled to prop up his upper body with trembling arms. His mask had shattered and fallen away, revealing a delicate face filled with shock and despair.
He saw that Naruto had long since dispelled that terrifying crimson chakra cloak, his aura stable and calm. Far from being injured, he didn't even show the slightest visible scratch.
Looking at himself by contrast—not only was his chakra nearly exhausted, but his body ached from the impact, making it difficult even to stand steady.
I'm sorry, Zabuza-san... I... I'm no match for this boy. Endless despair and self-reproach instantly overwhelmed Haku.
What surprised him, however, was that Uzumaki Naruto didn't press his advantage to deliver a finishing blow to this defeated enemy who had lost all fighting capability. He simply stood quietly in place, watching him.
"Why... won't you kill me?" Haku's voice trembled slightly from exhaustion and emotional turmoil, filled with deep confusion. For him, failure often meant the end of all value.
Hearing this, Naruto showed a puzzled expression. "That's really a strange question. I never wanted to kill you in the first place... Besides, we've met before. Don't tell me you actually want to die?"
"What Zabuza-san needs is a useful ninja who can help him achieve victory." Haku lowered his head, his voice and eyes equally hollow. "I lost to you, which proves my incompetence... You've taken away my reason for existing."
Looking at this youth who was actually only a few years older than himself, whose eyes had lost all light like extinguished candles and who sought nothing but an end, Naruto felt a complex emotion surge within him.
Children of the ninja world... How many more times will I have to witness this psychology that doesn't match their age...
Is the loneliness of not being needed actually more terrifying than death?
"Please... I'm sorry this will dirty your hands... but please give me an end."
Haku's voice carried a heartbreaking plea, as if death was the only dignified conclusion he could choose for himself.
Naruto looked at him silently while rapidly calculating in his mind. The battle on Kakashi-sensei's side... should be ending soon too.
The process was probably going as expected... Judging by the timing, Gato and his thugs should be appearing soon as well.
In Naruto's perception, Menma and Kakuzu's presence were clearly positioned in a hidden corner not far away. So that's how it is... everything was already in place.
Seeing Naruto show no intention of coming forward to finish him off, and Satsuki slowly approaching from behind with wary eyes, the last glimmer of light in Haku's hollow eyes was extinguished. He slowly, resolutely raised the sharp metal senbon in his hand, aiming it at his own throat.
"Don't move!"
Naruto suddenly barked a sharp command, instantly stopping Haku's suicidal action. "Your life doesn't need to end in such a manner yet!"
Haku's arm froze in midair, his eyes full of confusion, completely unable to understand why Naruto would stop a failed enemy from seeking release.
But in the next instant—Haku suddenly understood the unfinished deeper meaning in Naruto's words! An indescribable emotion mixed with shock, realization, and faint hope surged in his heart.
"Thank you..."
Although still unclear why Naruto would do this, Haku instinctively whispered his gratitude. Immediately after, without any hesitation, he used the last traces of his remaining chakra to complete a final hand seal at maximum speed.
A crystalline ice mirror instantly formed beneath his feet! Haku's body sank into the mirror surface like melting into water. In the next second, he used this final ice mirror teleportation to race toward the other decisive battlefield!
On the other battlefield, victory and defeat were already clear.
Kakashi's summoned ninja hounds were firmly biting down on Zabuza's limbs and torso, leaving him completely immobilized. In Kakashi's right hand, the "Lightning Blade" formed from highly compressed lightning-nature chakra emitted a hair-raising electric hum, blazing with deadly blue light.
Zabuza's heart filled with unprecedented tension and panic. He never expected that Kakashi had deliberately allowed himself to be injured in the subsequent close combat so his ninja hounds could memorize the scent of his blood and execute a tracking jutsu!
Damn it... my arms are completely locked down, I can't form seals at all.
"Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi's voice carried the weight of judgment, "your ambitions have led to far too many sacrifices. This is not behavior befitting a ninja. What you're trying to destroy is precisely the hope this country desperately struggles to maintain."
"What do I care!" Even facing certain doom, Zabuza still stubbornly growled, his eyes flashing with obsessive light. "I fight for my own ideals! That will never change!"
"Then let me end your ambitions here." Kakashi said no more, his body suddenly dropping low. Accompanied by piercing thunder, he charged at the immobilized Zabuza at tremendous speed! The lightning aimed directly for Zabuza's heart!
Is this the end...
Feeling his body still unable to move and the ever-enlarging blue light of certain death before his eyes, Zabuza's heart surged with intense unwillingness, yet he could only watch this scene in despair.
!!—
The sound of piercing flesh exploded! Warm blood splattered everywhere!
However, Kakashi's "Lightning Blade" had not penetrated Momochi Zabuza's chest.
At that critical moment, an ice mirror appeared from nowhere in front of Zabuza. Haku's figure leaped out from within, unhesitatingly using his frail body to precisely block the path of the Lightning Blade.
The violent lightning completely and mercilessly pierced through Haku's chest!
The summoned ninja hounds disappeared as their jutsu was completed.
Both Kakashi's and Zabuza's pupils contracted violently in that moment, staring in disbelief at this sudden, blood-soaked scene before them.
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