"Haku!"
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness."
Almost simultaneously with Zabuza's roar, a cold, genderless voice rang out.
Also appearing was a thin figure wearing a mask and a massive, oval-shaped ice wall.
Sasuke's Great Fireball Technique was effortlessly blocked by the ice wall.
"What?! He has allies too?"
Seeing a new enemy join the battlefield, Sasuke's heart sank.
"Sasuke!"
At that moment, Sakura's voice called out from behind him. At the same time, two kunai shot precisely toward the water spheres holding Naruto and Kakashi.
Clink! Clink!
The kunai were intercepted mid-air by ice needles and knocked aside.
"Stay back!"
Reacting swiftly, Sasuke raised a hand to stop Sakura from advancing further.
"Your job is to protect the old man. Leave this guy to me."
Hearing this, Sakura bit her lip and fell silent.
Witnessing her teacher and teammate being trapped by the enemy was an overwhelming pressure for a young girl like her.
But Sakura also understood her duty as a Ninja.
Based on what Tazuna had explained about the current state of the Land of Waves, if she abandoned her post and Tazuna, the client, was killed, it wouldn't just mean failure for Team 7. It would also mean the bridge project in the Land of Waves would never be completed.
But torn between her companions and her duty as a Ninja, making a decisive choice was far too difficult for Sakura.
On the other side, after not hearing the sound of Sakura continuing to move, Sasuke also felt relieved and focused all his attention on the masked figure who suddenly appeared in front of him.
'This guy… uses ice-based Ninjutsu?'
Before Sasuke could take action, the masked Ninja, who is referred to as Haku, launched his attack.
He used the long senbon needle as a melee weapon, thrusting toward Sasuke at high speed.
Haku's quick movements made Sasuke's pupils contract slightly, his entire body tensing.
Clang!
The kunai in Sasuke's hand clashed against the senbon several times before the two locked in a stalemate.
'Damn it, this guy is fast.'
Sasuke's brows furrowed. Then, to his shock, he watched as Haku used his free hand to perform one-handed seals.
"Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death."
As Haku's voice fell, the surrounding moisture condensed into countless ice senbon mid-air, all shooting toward Sasuke at once.
'Damn it! Damn it!'
'Am I going to die here?'
Facing the life-or-death crisis, Sasuke's heart filled with unwillingness. His peripheral vision caught Naruto, who seemed to have already lost consciousness from suffocation, and the man's figure appeared in his mind again.
'No, I can't die!'
'I will never die here before I kill that man!'
The terror of imminent death sent an intense shock through Sasuke's psyche. Unconsciously, his eyes turned blood-red, and a small tomoe appeared in each pupil.
One-Tomoe Sharingan… awakened!
In an instant, everything around Sasuke seemed to slow down.
The senbon raining down from above, Haku's movements, and even Sakura, who had already thrown several kunai in a desperate attempt to deflect the needles, all became clear to him.
'I can react!'
Sasuke's movements accelerated instantly. He twisted his body, dodging Haku's assault, then deflected dozens of ice senbon with precise strikes of his kunai.
'Good… I have a chance!'
Seeing Sasuke's red eyes, Zabuza, whose hands were still restrained, let out an intrigued chuckle.
"Oh? Those eyes… You're from the Uchiha Clan of Konoha, aren't you?"
The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan is a very famous Dojutsu in the entire Ninja World.
Back when the Uchiha Clan hadn't been wiped out, their clansmen had carved out a fearsome reputation on the battlefield with those very eyes.
"Too bad, your clan should have been wiped out by now."
Hearing this, Sasuke whipped his head around, his eyes glaring fiercely at Zabuza.
"You still have time to look away?"
Just that momentary distraction was enough, as more ice senbon came flying at him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal filled the air.
Realizing that Sasuke could react to the speed of his senbon, Haku immediately increased his Chakra output, creating even more ice needles to attack.
The sudden increase in attack power made Sasuke, who had just felt a little confident, feel heavy again.
'Not enough…'
'This still isn't enough.'
As early as when he was seven years old, he witnessed his own brother slaughtering his own clan. And at that time, he had awakened the One-Tomoe Sharingan.
Under normal circumstances, Sasuke couldn't use it freely.
But today, under strong stimulation, he had finally managed to use the Sharingan in actual combat. This sudden increase in combat strength had indeed given him the illusion that he could turn the tables at a certain moment.
However, under the enemy's relentless assault, the One-Tomoe Sharingan was already showing its limits.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three more kunai shot from behind Sasuke, knocking aside several senbon and buying him a split second to dodge.
"I'll help you, Sasuke!"
'Tch, unnecessary.'
Looking at Sakura, who had rushed to his side, Sasuke wanted to snap at her. But seeing the determination in her eyes, he couldn't say the words.
As if she knew what Sasuke wanted to say, Sakura turned around and added, "It's fine. I've already hidden Tazuna-san in a safe spot. Now, we just need to take them down and rescue Naruto and Kakashi-sensei."
"...Got it."
For once, Sasuke didn't ignore Sakura's offer. Instead, he met her gaze and nodded firmly.
A flicker of joy flashed through Sakura's heart at his response.
But before they could say anything else, Haku had launched another attack.
"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
He formed hand seals, and this time, instead of senbon, massive blocks of smooth ice, each as tall as a person, rose around Sasuke and Sakura.
"What is this?!"
Sakura and Sasuke stood back to back, ready for the enemy's attacks.
"Now, I'll get serious."
After saying this, Haku walked into one of the ice mirrors, right before the two's stunned eyes.
Then, his figure reflected endlessly across the polished surfaces, multiplying until his image filled every single mirror.
Then, every reflection of White drew senbon and threw them forward.
Miraculously, real senbon shot out from each mirror.
In an instant, Sasuke and Sakura were surrounded by an inescapable storm of senbon.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Even though the two of them cooperated with each other and used their kunai and shuriken to knock these senbon away, there were still many that slipped through and hit them.
"Ah!"
Soon, Sakura's shoulders and arms were covered with scars from being cut by the senbon.
Sasuke wasn't faring much better. While he hadn't been directly hit, maintaining the Sharingan was draining his stamina rapidly.
However, what made them despair was that Haku had taken out more Senbon and attacked the two again.
This time, even Sasuke was struggling to keep up.
Whoosh!
A single senbon shot from Sasuke's blind spot, straight toward his head.
"Look out!"
Sakura was using the kunai in her hand to block another senbon. But upon seeing this, she didn't care about anything else and threw her hand up to intercept it.
Thunk!
The senbon pierced straight through her palm, but the impact slowed it enough for her to grab it.
"S-Sasuke… I'm fine."
Sakura's face was pale, her voice weak. Blood dripped from the wound.
Sasuke, whose face was splashed with Sakura's blood, instantly showed an angry expression. The warm blood seemed to have ignited something in him.
In Sasuke's red pupils, another tomoe quietly appeared.
At the same time, Naruto, who had been wrapped in a water sphere, opened his eyes without anyone noticing.
Looking at Sasuke and Sakura who were in a tough battle, his eyes were no longer as lazy as before.