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Code: CBA84
Ending: 10/08/25
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Haku's mirrors glowed with icy chakra as he launched himself at Sasuke with inhuman speed, needles flashing in a deadly storm.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
Sasuke twisted his body midair, dodging some of the senbon, but three needles embedded into his left arm, and a fourth grazed his cheek, drawing blood.
Thuck!
"Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice rang out, but he could do nothing—Zabuza stood firm, blocking his way.
Yet, amidst the clash, one person remained completely unfazed.
It was Naruto. He stood still, arms folded, watching.
Kakashi noticed. His one visible eye narrowed as he turned slightly toward him.
Why?
Why wasn't Naruto stepping in?
Was he… expecting something?
Kakashi clenched his fists. This wasn't the time to just stand back...
"Naruto-sama~"
A soft, sweet voice whispered close to Naruto's ear.
Sakura leaned in, her warm breath tickling his skin. Her delicate fingers brushed his hand, seeking his attention—not just as a teammate, but as something far more devoted.
She furrowed her brows, eyes flickering between him and the battle inside the ice mirrors.
"Would that overconfident guy be able to handle it?"
Her voice was low, intimate, meant only for him.
Despite everything, Sakura was worried.
Even if Sasuke was arrogant, even if he always acted superior, he was still her teammate. Watching him get stabbed by a barrage of needles made her stomach twist.
Would Naruto really just stand by?
Naruto turned his head slightly, his lips mere inches from her ear.
"No need to worry," He whispered, voice smooth and amused.
His breath sent an uncontrollable shiver down Sakura's spine.
"Let him try first... if things get out of hand, I will interfere."
Sakura's heart throbbed.
The way he said it—so confident, so absolute.
She swallowed, her face warm, as she nodded.
Yes. Master knew exactly what he was doing.
She bit her lower lip.
She shouldn't doubt him.
Not when he was always right.
----
Inside the ice prison, Sasuke clenched his fists, his breathing heavy.
Damn it.
Haku was faster. Even with his chakra enhancing his movement, he couldn't keep up.
Unless he used it.
Sasuke exhaled sharply, pushing past the pain, and then his eyes snapped open.
The Sharingan burned in his irises.
His pupils were red, piercing, and seemed deadly.
Yet something had changed. As they no longer had a single tomoe spinning within his pupils.
His eyes had evolved again, gaining two tomoe in each eye.
His eyes had grown stronger, sharper, and faster.
Naruto's eyes gleamed.
Looks like our sparring sessions weren't useless after all…
He had pushed Sasuke again and again, breaking his limits, and forcing him to evolve.
That training had paid off.
Haku's needles came again—but this time, Sasuke saw everything. His body moved on instinct, slipping through the attacks, his hands already forming seals.
Haku's eyes widened.
"You also possess a bloodline limit?"
The words were calm, but there was a faint hint of surprise in Haku's voice.
He had noticed.
Not only had Sasuke awakened the Sharingan—but he already had two tomoe per eye.
Which meant… he had awakened it a long time ago.
"Hmph! Are you scared?" Sasuke smirked, his usual arrogance returning.
But Haku simply tilted his head.
"Scared? No… But you see, my technique is also a bloodline limit."
Sasuke's smirk faltered slightly.
Haku lifted a hand, gesturing toward the surrounding ice mirrors.
"This technique… is something no one has ever broken before."
Kakashi's face hardened, his visible eye narrowing as he studied the situation.
"So… it is a Kekkei Genkai after all."
His voice was low, laced with understanding and a hint of concern.
Zabuza scoffed, his broad shoulders shifting as he adjusted his grip on Kubikiribōchō. The massive blade rested against his shoulder, its metal gleaming under the pale light of the bridge.
"Hmph. Looks like you finally get what you're up against."
His voice carried an unmistakable mockery, but beneath it, there was something else—a sliver of caution.
Kakashi's gaze didn't waver.
Zabuza's eyes flickered toward the battle within the prison of ice, his expression unreadable. Then, without looking at Kakashi, he spoke.
"Who is that brat fighting Haku?"
Kakashi didn't hesitate.
"Sasuke… Sasuke Uchiha."
For a moment—just a fleeting moment—Zabuza's grip on his sword stiffened. His fingers curled tighter against the hilt, his knuckles subtly shifting as his shoulders tensed.
"Uchiha…?"
He muttered the name like it was a bitter taste on his tongue, his eyes darkening.
Damn that clan.
A clan whose very name sent shivers through battlefields, their blood-red eyes bringing devastation to those who dared stand before them.
Zabuza had never personally fought a Uchiha, but the stories—the legends—were enough.
The Sharingan!
The power to see through movements. The ability to copy any jutsu. The overwhelming genjutsu prowess that could turn an entire battlefield into a nightmare.
He had heard firsthand accounts from shinobi who had faced Uchiha warriors in the past and almost all of them had a shadow left in their hearts.
And yet… a slow smirk crept onto Zabuza's lips, sharp as the edge of a blade.
"Tch… It doesn't matter."
He sneered, casting a sidelong glance toward the crystalline prison where Sasuke was ensnared.
"Nobody—" Zabuza's voice dropped into a low growl, filled with confidence. His eyes gleamed with absolute certainty as he watched the glimmering ice mirrors engulf the battlefield.
"—has ever broken Haku's technique before. Not even once."
----
Meanwhile, within the crystal mirror
Inside the prison of mirrors, Sasuke stood still, his Sharingan spinning, reflecting the cold blue glow of the ice around him.
Haku, standing within his mirrored world, spoke softly, his voice carrying a quiet sorrow.
"Once again... If I can help it, I don't want to kill you."
His fingers lightly traced the edge of a senbon, his eyes downcast, but his resolve unyielding.
"Neither do I want to be killed… But if you insist on coming after me—"
Haku's eyes hardened, the soft warmth in them disappearing.
"—Then I shall kill my feelings and completely become a machine of death."
Sasuke's brows furrowed. This guy… Why does he sound like he's grieving?
Haku turned his head slightly, gazing past Sasuke, toward the outside world—toward Zabuza.
The man he owed everything to.
"This bridge is the battleground that connects each of us to our dreams."
His fingers tightened around the senbon, his heart steadying itself for what was to come.
"I, for the sake of my dream… And you, for the sake of yours."
He took a deep breath and his voice grew sharper. "So please don't hold it against me… I only want to protect the person dear to me."
Sasuke's eyes flickered.
Haku wasn't lying.
His every word rang with sincerity, with a pure devotion that Sasuke rarely saw in anyone—besides maybe Naruto.
"I work for the sake of that person." Haku's grip on his senbon tightened. "I fight for that person."
The air grew colder and the mirrors gleamed brighter.
"I want to make that person's dream a reality."
His breath came out in a small mist, his body now fully at ease.
This was it.
His resolve. His purpose.
"That is my dream!" Haku's eyes snapped open, his chakra surging. "And for the sake of that dream—"
He disappeared instantly.
Shing!
The moment his body vanished into the mirrors, a dozen senbon flashed toward Sasuke.
"—I will completely become a shinobi… and kill you!"
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