Before heading to the Falls of Truth for purification, the Nine-Tails' chakra could draw out the darkness deep within a person's heart.
For Naruto now, his decades of experience from his past life gave him the mental fortitude to avoid being deeply affected. Plus, with the Nine-Tails absorbing part of the malice, the chakra he received was purer than before.
Naruto could feel a surge of power rushing through every cell in his body. A faint red chakra radiated from him, heating the air around.
Without hesitation, he dug his toes into the ground and shot toward Haku like a thunderbolt, aiming a punch straight at his mask!
At the same time, Sakura whipped out a Fūma Shuriken, spun it once, and hurled it—its target: Zabuza's "corpse"!
It all happened in the blink of an eye!
Kakashi instinctively tried to stop them, but he was too drained. He couldn't move, supported only by Sasuke.
Haku's heart sank. He immediately carried Zabuza and dodged to the side.
Boom!
Naruto's punch cracked through the air with a sonic boom. Flexing his muscles midair, he redirected his body and wrapped chakra around his leg—kicking the missed Fūma Shuriken straight toward Haku!
"Damn, that thing nearly sliced my leg off," Naruto growled with a wicked grin. Thrown forward by inertia, he rebounded off a tree with his foot and launched himself at Haku again. Red chakra wings burst from his back, increasing his speed.
Though Naruto retained basic rationality, his fighting style had become ferocious—almost like he wouldn't stop until one of them was dead.
Haku kicked the Fūma Shuriken's center to deflect it and retaliated by hurling senbon at Naruto's pressure points.
But the Nine-Tails' chakra easily knocked all the needles away. Naruto then slammed into both Haku and Zabuza head-first.
Meanwhile, Sakura had flanked behind Haku.
Rolling several times to stabilize himself, Haku flew into a rage.
"You… how dare you strike Lord Zabuza's beautiful body!" His mask cracked open, hair disheveled, all his previous coolness gone.
Naruto smirked. "So you're showing your true colors, huh, little ladyboy."
"Dominating Young Femme Falls for CEO"? Sounds about right.
Haku began forming one-handed seals, seemingly about to send Naruto off for a family reunion.
And then—chaos erupted!
A horde of masked shinobi in silver armor suddenly swarmed in, charging toward Tazuna.
Sasuke panicked, instinctively throwing every explosive-tagged shuriken he had in his bag and shouting: "Naruto! We need to retreat!"
He felt like a babysitter on this battlefield—protecting Tazuna one minute, Kakashi the next.
He'd done too much for this team...
"Damn it, it's Kado!" Naruto cursed. He couldn't keep chasing Haku—if the enemy snatched the crystal and killed Tazuna, it would be game over.
BOOM!! BOOM!! Sakura's pre-set traps exploded in rapid succession, shredding the enemy ranks. Blood and body parts flew, smoke billowed—it was mayhem.
The trio regrouped. Naruto carried Kakashi, Sasuke carried the terrified Tazuna, and Sakura hurled her remaining weapons at Haku to prevent him from forming his Ice Shield.
Of course, Haku's secret technique required enemies to be within range. Naruto and Sakura both agreed: original Naruto must've had rocks for brains. If he'd just bombarded Haku from a distance with explosive tags, Haku would've been toast.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Amid the chaos, the five fled. Before leaving completely, Naruto summoned shadow clones to run back toward the Leaf Village.
Screw it! So you like using zerg tactics, huh?
I'll just call for reinforcements from Konoha. Let's see how you like facing a whole squad!
Sakura gave Naruto a thumbs-up for his tactical genius.
…
After rushing for hours, the team finally escaped the enemy's encirclement. They asked for Tazuna's home address and debated whether to move him to a safer location.
In the original, Gato's mercenaries specifically attacked Tazuna's home to take his family hostage.
If Naruto hadn't overslept back then, Tazuna's daughter and grandson might not have survived.
"The original story kept them at home for character development—like to show Inari's growth arc," Naruto said seriously. "But now? Not moving is just plain stupid."
Back to his senses, Naruto insisted they move. If not, he'd show them what the so-called 'evil Nine-Tails' was all about.
"For real—Kishimoto doesn't know crap about logic," Sakura agreed. Their conversation didn't go unnoticed.
Sasuke and Tazuna stared at them, confused.
Sasuke cleared his throat and interjected, "Yeah, we shouldn't stay there. We should even avoid the bridge for now."
"Exactly!" Naruto slapped his forehead. "Uncle, just stay with us for two weeks. Once Konoha's imperial troops arrive, we'll regroup and strike back."
Sakura facepalmed. "Imperial troops of Konoha," seriously?!
"Can't!" Tazuna protested emotionally. "The bridge can't stop now—it's the only hope for the Land of Waves…"
His eyes welled up with tears.
Smack! Naruto slapped the back of Tazuna's head, annoyed. "Can you stop being so narrow-minded? We're not saying to give up—just to pause for a bit."
"Besides, pausing might lull Gato into thinking you've given up. Then he won't target your workers, got it?"
"I'll draft the shutdown notice," Sakura offered, feeling a little sorry for Tazuna. Naruto was acting like a bandit. "I used to write promotional posts, so my writing's not bad."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I thought you were a streamer. Turns out you're a government worker?"
"Civil service," Sakura replied calmly.
"Hey," Naruto grinned mischievously, "don't guys feel accomplished dating someone like you? Speedrunner and civil servant?"
In Naruto's eyes, Sakura had a lot of charm. In his past life, he would've totally been friends with a girl like her.
"Sichuan girls are beautiful—cough cough, not counting the few that look like they got hit by a truck."
"Scram," Sakura shot back.
"Got it," Naruto replied cheerfully.
They sped back to Tazuna's house. Sakura explained the situation to his family.
Tazuna agreed to relocate—of course he did. If not, Naruto would've helped him "agree."
"I'm not moving!" Inari shouted, running upstairs.
Tazuna's daughter looked apologetically at the team. "Can we wait a few days? Inari needs time to adjust… and this man also needs care." She pointed at Kakashi on Sasuke's back.
"We move now," Naruto said flatly. "Ma'am, we can't gamble on Gato's mercy. We've already been ambushed twice. If they find us again, it'll be too late."
Then he strode upstairs. Turning back, he smiled at her:
"Don't worry. I won't hit him."
Little kids clinging to home is understandable.