The man with the greasy beard licked his lips, a twisted smile showing his yellow teeth. He held the scimitar high, enjoying the terror in the boy's eyes.
"Look how brave you are. Did you think a brat like you could change anything?" he sneered. "I'll teach you what happens to heroes in the real world."
"No! Please!" Tsunami's scream broke into a sob. Beside her, the villagers who had tried to fight were either on the ground or backing away, outnumbered and outmatched in brutality.
A few feet away, Kiba was fighting two of Gatō's biggest thugs. Akamaru growled and bit at their legs, but they were too massive for the dog to bring down.
"Get out of my way, you pair of idiots!" Kiba shouted, struggling. "When I get loose, I'm gonna...!"
Kiba watched helplessly as the sword began its descent toward Inari. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The glint of the metal, the boy's terrified face, the villagers' choked screams. "Damn it, damn it, no!" he thought.
A blur of motion. A dull thud, almost inaudible.
The scimitar stopped midway. The bearded man blinked, confused. The command from his brain to complete the swing wasn't reaching his arm. He tried again, but the limb hung uselessly at his side, completely dead.
"What the...?"
Before he could finish the question, the figure who had appeared from nowhere struck him again. The air rushed out of his lungs in a forced hiss and he collapsed backward, landing heavily in the mud, gasping for air.
A bewildered silence fell over the street. The two men fighting Kiba turned their heads to see their fallen leader.
Kiba didn't waste the opportunity. "Now you'll see!" he roared, and punched each of them in the stomach. The men doubled over, breathless, and Kiba leaped away, landing beside Akamaru.
"What happened?" yelled one of the thugs from the front line, lowering his weapon.
"The boss is down!"
"Who did that? Where did that girl come from?"
Hinata planted herself protectively in front of Inari. Her fighting stance was firm, her hands open in the Gentle Fist position. The veins around her temples were pronounced, a sign that the Byakugan was active, scanning the battlefield and analyzing every threat.
"Hinata..." Kiba whispered, a mix of astonishment and relief. He dusted himself off and gave a ferocious grin. "What are you guys doing here?"
Behind her, Shino adjusted his glasses, his face as expressionless as ever. "Our primary mission is still the bridge. However, an analysis of the situation determined that a failure at this point would compromise all objectives. Logic dictated that we should intervene to preserve civilian morale and ensure long term success."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever the walking dictionary says," Kiba interrupted, filled with renewed energy. "Less talk and more fighting! Let's teach them a lesson!"
The momentary chaos among the thugs ended when a burly man with an axe took command. He pointed directly at Hinata. "Forget the kid! The ninja is the problem! Kill her!"
"Don't you dare touch her!" Kiba barked.
A group of five thugs charged toward Hinata at once.
"Hinata, that's too many for you alone," Kiba warned her, preparing to charge in.
"I'll handle it," she said. Her voice was low but surprisingly calm.
Hinata moved. The first thug to reach her swung his sword in a vertical slash. She ducked under the arc of the weapon, slid her hand up the inside of the man's arm, and struck his elbow with her open palm. There was a sickening crack. The man let out a sharp cry and his sword fell to the ground.
Another tried to grab her from behind. Without even fully turning, Hinata pivoted on her heels and delivered a quick, precise strike to the side of his neck. The man's eyes rolled back, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
"She's fast! Surround her! Don't let her move!" the man with the axe shouted, furious.
"That's not happening!" Kiba roared. He got down on all fours. "Akamaru, get ready! Let's go!"
"Gatsūga!" he yelled, and he and Akamaru became a single whirlwind of claws and fangs, crashing directly into the line of thugs trying to encircle Hinata. The impact was brutal. Three men were sent flying, and the formation completely shattered.
"Good distraction, Kiba-kun!" Hinata said breathlessly, taking advantage of the opening to take down another enemy with a precise blow to the knee.
"That's what I'm here for! It's my specialty!" he replied, landing with a grin. He turned to his teammate, who remained in the rear. "Shino! Can you do something about these guys? They're a plague, they just keep coming!"
"My kikaichū insects are already deployed," Shino reported in his usual monotone. "They landed on them the moment we arrived. The chakra draining process has already begun. Their stamina and speed will progressively decrease."
A nearby thug overheard him. "Insects?!" he yelled, frantically scratching his arm. "I feel like something's biting me all over!"
"Ignore it and fight, you idiot!" his companion shouted. "They're just a couple of kids, they can't...!" He couldn't finish the sentence, as the village carpenter, the same one who had been paralyzed with fear earlier, hit him on the back of the head with a hammer. The thug fell face first to the ground.
"That's it! Don't let them regroup!" the carpenter yelled to the other villagers, his voice ringing with newfound confidence.
Inspired by his example and the arrival of the ninja, several others joined the fight with renewed vigor. A fisherman used his harpoon to keep a swordsman at bay, while two farmers with pitchforks cornered another. The tide was turning.
"Hinata, three on your right!" Kiba shouted, dodging a sword slash and countering with a spinning kick.
"I have them," Hinata replied, her Byakugan already locked on the group.
She moved toward them without hesitation. The two on the sides attacked first, thinking they could overwhelm her. She blocked one's arm, dodged the other's knife, and in one fluid motion, struck both of them in the solar plexus. The two men staggered back, bent over and breathless. The largest man roared in rage and charged straight ahead.
Hinata waited until the last second. Just as he was about to run her over, she ducked and, with incredible precision, struck both of his knees with the palms of her hands. The giant's legs gave out and he fell forward with a cry of pain, unable to get up.
"Incredible!" Kiba exclaimed, taking down his own opponent. "Akamaru, left flank! Don't let them get near Shino!"
The dog barked energetically and ran, intercepting two men who had seen Shino as an easy target and were trying to attack him from the side. Akamaru launched himself at one, knocking him down, while the other stumbled trying to dodge him.
"My safety was not a priority concern," Shino said, not moving from his spot. "But Akamaru's action is tactically efficient in preventing a potential distraction."
"Just say 'thanks,' you weirdo!" Kiba panted, looking for his next opponent.
Team 8 communicated with short, direct phrases, covering each other's backs and pointing out threats as if they had done it a thousand times.
"Kiba-kun, behind you," Hinata warned calmly as she neutralized a man with a strike to the shoulder.
Kiba spun around just in time to block the descending axe with his forearm. The impact sent him back a step. "Whew, I owe you one! Shino, I need these guys to be slower! This guy with the axe is a real problem!"
"I am already on it," Shino replied. "Logic dictates that his muscle energy output will decrease significantly in the next ten seconds. I suggest you maintain a defensive posture until then."
"Ten seconds is a long time in a fight like this!" Kiba yelled, straining to hold back the axe wielder's brute force. The thug grinned, pressing down with all his weight.
"It's over, pretty boy."
Suddenly, the man with the axe stumbled. His arms trembled visibly. "I... I can't... lift it... What's wrong with me?"
Kiba didn't give him time to think. "My turn!" he shouted, and taking the opening, he hit him with a direct punch to the face, sending him backward to the ground. "Ha! Looks like your bug magic works after all, Shino!"
The thugs were completely demoralized. Their leader was out of commission, they felt inexplicably weak and tired, and their coordination was broken. The villagers, on the other hand, fought with the fury of those defending their home.
"They're getting tired!" a fisherman shouted, as he and another man disarmed a mercenary.
"Keep pushing! Don't give them a break!" the carpenter answered.
Finally, one of the thugs, whose shoulder had been dislocated by Hinata, looked around in panic. He saw his comrades falling, his leader still on the ground, and the three Konoha ninja moving among them almost untouched. It was too much for him. He threw his sword into the mud.
"To hell with this! I don't get paid enough to die here!" he screamed. He turned and ran desperately toward the forest.
His panic was contagious.
"He's running!"
"Wait! Don't leave us alone!"
In a matter of seconds, the mercenaries' fragile discipline completely shattered. What was left of them threw down their weapons and ran in all directions, pursued by the victorious and defiant shouts of the villagers.
When the last of them disappeared among the trees, an exhausted silence fell over the street. Then, a villager let out a nervous, shaky laugh. Another followed. And soon, the entire street erupted into a deafening cheer. They had won.
Kiba leaned on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Akamaru trotted to his side and licked his face.
"We did it..." Kiba panted, smiling. He straightened up and walked over to Hinata, who was helping an injured villager to his feet. He gave her a friendly pat on the back. "Hey. Seriously. What was all that?"
Hinata blushed, the intensity of the battle fading and her usual shyness starting to return. "I... I don't know, Kiba-kun. I just... moved."
"No, it was more than that," Kiba insisted, looking at her intently. "I've seen the normal Gentle Fist in training hundreds of times. That was different. It looked like your hits had more... power. Is it a new technique you haven't told us about?"
"It's... something I've been working on," she admitted quietly, not meeting his eyes.
"Well, keep working on it, because it was absolutely incredible," Kiba said with a genuine, respectful smile. He turned to Shino, who was observing the scene with his usual calm. "And you? Aren't you going to say anything? Not even a 'good job, team'?"
"I analyzed fourteen possible outcomes when we arrived in the village," Shino said, adjusting his glasses. "In eleven of them, we suffered significant casualties, either our own or civilians. The combat efficiency demonstrated by Hinata drastically changed the probability variables in our favor. It was a logically unexpected but welcome conclusion."
Kiba rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, Shino, I really think you speak another language. Could you just try saying 'you were great, Hinata' next time?"
Shino looked at him for a second. "Your contribution as a shock force was also fundamental to breaking their lines. A seven out of ten."
Kiba laughed. "Coming from you, that's almost a compliment!"
Inari and his mother, Tsunami, approached them. The woman knelt in front of Hinata and, to her surprise, took her hands. Her eyes were filled with tears of gratitude.
"You saved my son. You saved our village. There are no words in the world to thank you for what you've done."
"It was nothing, really..." Hinata murmured, clearly uncomfortable with so much attention and praise.
"Of course it wasn't nothing!" Inari chimed in, his eyes shining with admiration. "It was amazing! You were like a whirlwind! Bam! Wham! And all the bad guys went down! I want to be that strong someday!"
Inari's direct and simple comparison made Hinata let out a small smile. "You were the bravest one of all, Inari-kun. You stood up to them first, when everyone else was scared. That's harder than any ninja technique."
"It's not over yet," Shino said, his calm voice cutting through the celebratory mood and bringing everyone back to reality. "The main threat is still on the bridge. Kakashi sensei, Sakura, and the others are in a numerically disadvantaged situation."
Kiba's smile vanished instantly. "He's right. Party's over. We have to go. Now!"
The villagers nodded, their expressions turning serious again.
Team 8 nodded in unison and, without another word, they set off, running at full speed down the path that led to the bridge.
The atmosphere on the bridge was silent. Zabuza's dense fog had almost completely dissipated, revealing a landscape of destruction. The remains of Haku's ice mirrors covered the surface of the bridge.
In the center of it all, Sakura was kneeling, holding Sasuke in her arms.
His back was a mess of ice needles, embedded so deeply they looked like part of his uniform. He wasn't moving. His head hung lifelessly, his dark hair hiding his face. Blood had spread in a dark pool beneath him, mixing with hers where the needles had grazed her.
A few feet away, Haku stood, visibly trembling with exhaustion. The hunter nin mask, broken in half, lay at his feet, revealing a young, tired face. Zabuza watched everything from inside his water prison, his face expressionless, while the trapped Kakashi looked at his students with silent desperation.
"Sasuke kun..." Sakura whispered. "You said you wouldn't die... you said you had to avenge your clan... you can't give up now... please, wake up..."
Haku looked down. There was no trace of triumph in his voice. "He's not going to wake up. I did what I had to do to protect the person important to me. He did the same for you. This is the way of a shinobi."
"You... you did this to him..." Sakura hissed, looking up. Her green eyes, normally bright, were drowned in a pain that was quickly turning to hatred.
"I didn't want to," Haku answered sincerely. "But in a battle, there can only be one winner. That is the only rule."
At that moment, the sound of footsteps splashing in puddles interrupted the tense scene. Gatō appeared at the end of the bridge, flanked by the dozen thugs who had managed to escape the village. His face, normally plump and rosy, was red with anger.
"This is what I'm paying so much money for?" he shouted, his high pitched voice echoing in the silence. "For some masked brat to take an eternity to kill two other brats? Zabuza promised me results, not cheap excuses!"
He kicked a large piece of broken ice, which slid across the bridge. "Look at them! A bunch of useless and overrated ninja! They cost me a fortune and they can't even handle an old man and a few kids!"
He stopped and assessed the scene: Kakashi trapped, Haku visibly exhausted, Sasuke on the ground, and Sakura crying over him.
"Well, I suppose it's not a total loss," he said, rubbing his hands together. He pointed his cane at Haku. "You! The one in the dress! Stop loafing around and finish the damn job! Kill the girl! And make sure the other one is good and dead! Now!"
Gatō nudged one of his men. "Come on, come on, time is money. Finish them off so I can pay this useless demon what I owe him and get out of this dump of a country."
Haku turned slowly to face his employer. The look in his tired eyes hardened, becoming cold.
Sakura stopped crying. With a gentleness that contrasted with the fury on her face, she laid Sasuke's head on the wooden ground. She rose slowly, her knuckles white from how tightly she clenched her fists. The tears were gone, replaced by pure hatred.