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"Hah... hah... hah..."
On the battlefield, Naruto and Sasuke were panting, drenched in sweat.
"He's so strong!" Naruto said, staring at Haku with a grim expression.
Only after he had joined the fight were he and Sasuke, by coordinating their attacks, barely able to trade blows with Haku.
But after all that, their opponent had only sustained a few shallow cuts, while the two of them were covered in wounds.
"You are both very skilled, but I cannot delay any longer," Haku said, glancing over at Zabuza's battle in the distance.
He knew he had to end this fight as soon as possible. He formed a hand seal. "Secret Art: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
As his voice fell, dozens of crystalline ice mirrors rose from the ground, surrounding Naruto and Sasuke. Haku himself vanished into one of the mirrors.
"What is this?!" Naruto and Sasuke looked around, alarm bells ringing in their minds.
In the next instant, swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Countless senbon needles shot out from the ice mirrors on all sides, piercing towards them at a speed they could not react to.
"Aaaahhh!!"
Faced with such an assault, the two of them were utterly powerless, able to do nothing but endure the relentless barrage of senbon.
A short while later, the attack ceased. Both boys involuntarily fell to one knee.
Their bodies were covered in a fresh layer of gruesome wounds, each one a testament to the ferocity of the attack.
But strangely, though the scars looked horrific, they had only lost a small amount of blood, and none were fatal.
"Let this be the end. You are no match for me, and I do not wish to kill you," Haku said calmly, stepping out from one of the ice mirrors.
Although he considered himself Zabuza's tool, willing to do anything he was asked, at his core, he was a kind person who disliked killing.
Unless it were necessary, he would not take anyone's life.
"Damn it!"
Naruto and Sasuke helped each other struggle back to their feet.
Though they always acted like they couldn't stand each other, deep down, they acknowledged one another's strength.
That's why they had been able to coordinate their attacks earlier and were now helping each other without any awkwardness.
"What kind of technique is this?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth.
"How should I know?" Sasuke retorted irritably.
"It seems you are still unwilling to give up?" Haku sighed helplessly as he watched them stand strong.
"Of course not! We both have people we want to protect!" Naruto wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression resolute.
"People... to protect?"
Hearing Naruto's resounding answer, Haku's eyes, hidden behind the mask, seemed to lose focus.
He remembered a time when he, too, had people he wanted to protect: his mother and father.
But tragically, his father had killed his mother, and then he had accidentally killed his father.
Overnight, he had become a homeless orphan. That was until Zabuza found him and took him in, giving his life new meaning.
From that point on, there was only one person left in his heart that he wanted to protect: Lord Zabuza.
Returning to his senses, he looked at Naruto and spoke softly. "I have someone I want to protect, too."
In the next instant, a storm of senbon needles appeared once more, flying toward Naruto and Sasuke like a swarm of angry bees.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
At the critical moment, two figures suddenly appeared in front of and behind the boys.
They quickly formed hand seals and slammed their palms on the ground. Instantly, two semi-circular earthen walls rose, blocking all of the incoming senbon.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried out in delight upon seeing the familiar figure in front of him.
"Looks like I wasn't too late," Kakashi said with a slight smile, dispelling the shadow clone that had appeared behind them.
After accepting Goku's wish to fight alone, he rushed over to their location. As soon as he arrived, he saw that Naruto and Sasuke were in grave danger.
He had immediately created a shadow clone and used the Body Flicker Technique to appear on the battlefield, raising two earthen walls just in time to protect them.
"Kakashi-sensei, the opponent is strong," Sasuke said after a moment of silence. "It's frustrating to admit, but I don't think we can beat him."
Even someone as proud as him had to concede that, for now, this opponent was beyond his abilities.
"Sasuke! How can you give up so easily!" Naruto, who never knew when to quit, yelled, jumping to his feet.
"Hmph! Idiot."
"What did you say?!"
With their leader back, the two of them immediately started bickering again.
"Alright, that's enough, you two," Kakashi said, feeling a headache coming on.
He cut them off, his gaze then hardening as if he sensed something. He stepped out from behind the protection of the earth wall to look.
To his surprise, the ice mirrors had vanished, and Haku was also gone. A jolt of alarm went through him, and he instantly looked toward Sakura and Tazuna.
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, seeing that they were safe. He then scanned the surroundings again and finally spotted Haku on the battlefield where Goku and Zabuza were.
Let's rewind the clock a little.
When Goku blew apart the water column with a ki blast, Zabuza's heart was heavy with dread. He had realized that Goku's technique required no hand seals.
'A no-seal jutsu?' In the ninja world, almost all jutsu require hand seals. Only a rare few, known as no-seal jutsu, did not.
This type of jutsu was so uncommon that he had only ever heard of it. He never imagined he would actually encounter one today.
"Hey, do you have any other moves?" Goku asked, landing on the ground with his hands on his hips. "If not, you're about to lose."
He looked at Zabuza with sincerity, but his words dealt a massive blow to the rogue ninja's pride.
"Damn you! Don't you dare underestimate me!" Enraged, Zabuza cast aside all thoughts of no-seal jutsu, raised his greatsword, and charged at Goku.
But before his sword could even swing down, his eyes bulged, and his entire body bent over like a cooked shrimp.
A fist was slowly retracting from his abdomen. Its owner was Goku.
"Ugh..."
After Goku pulled his fist back, Zabuza clutched his stomach and slowly knelt, his face contorted in agony.
"Damn it! H-how are you so strong?" he forced out through the pain, looking up at Goku with a ferocious expression filled with disbelief.
He had been taken down with a single punch? Just then, a gust of wind swept by. A figure appeared in front of him.
"I am sorry, Lord Zabuza. I am late."
"Cough, cough... Haku, what are you doing here?" Seeing the familiar figure, a strange emotion flickered in Zabuza's eyes.
"I am here to protect you, Lord Zabuza," Haku replied, his head slightly turned.
However, Zabuza did not accept Haku's kindness. "Tch, I don't need your protection," he said in an icy tone.
"But..."
"No buts! Get lost!!"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Haku spoke softly. "Lord Zabuza, after I became an unwanted, uncared-for orphan, I could not find a reason to exist.
"It was not until you took me in that I discovered I had at least some small meaning. My purpose is to protect you, to be your tool."
"Now, you are taking that purpose away from me. I no longer have a reason to live in this world."
As soon as he finished speaking, Haku drew a kunai and moved to slit his own throat.
"HAKU!!!" Zabuza's pupils constricted as he roared.
Just moments before, as Haku had poured out his heart, Zabuza's expression had remained unchanged, but his unconsciously clenched fists betrayed the turmoil within.
The world knew him as a cold-blooded killer, but they didn't think he was without feeling.
Though he had initially taken Haku in merely as a tool, after so much time together, he had long since come to see him as family.
That was why, knowing that Goku's strength was far beyond what either of them could handle, he had tried to force Haku to abandon him and flee.
He never imagined Haku would say something so moving, or resort to such a drastic measure.
He wanted to stop him, but his body was wracked with pain and wouldn't move. He could only watch in horror as Haku brought the kunai to his neck.
Just then, Goku, who had been listening to their conversation in silence, suddenly reached out and grabbed Haku's wrist, stopping his action. He then placed his other hand on Haku's head and closed his eyes.
For some reason, Haku offered no resistance, simply watching Goku in silence.
A short while later, Goku opened his eyes and looked at Haku seriously. "I think I understand what you've been through now."
"Old Master Roshi once told me something that I've always kept in my heart."
"He said—"
"Work hard, study well, and play, eat, and rest a lot. Live a full and fun life with gusto."
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach the top 100)
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