414 Chapter 14

Title: Battle of Convinction

***

[Analyse

Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Combat Prowess: C+(???)

]

This was the information Shown at the top of Naruto's head as the mist surrounding him dispersed. Sasuke, with his skill, analyse, still active, widened his eyes at the information.

'Wha-?'

Meanwhile, Naruto quickly looked around, and in his intelligence, he said. "You know how the story goes, things look bleak, till the Hero arrives... And then POW! Bye bye bad guys."

'Exasparating little-' Kakashi almost cursed internally. 'What we needed was an ambush. Instead, he all but paints a target on himself.'

Be it Tazuna, Sakura, Sasuke... All of them had varying reactions to Naruto's flashy entrance.

Even Zabuza had to look him over, not to mention Haku who just speechlessly looked at him.

She had met him a few days ago, and what he had said to her still rang in her mind.

As everyone was caught up in Naruto's little diversion. Zabuza smirked and hurled a couple shruiken at him while Haku also sent his Ice Senbon his way

Naruto tensed and brought out his Kunai to defend, however, to the surprise of everyone in the vicinity, Haku's Senbons intercepted the Shruiken thrown by Zabuza. Even Zabuza himself was at a loss.

"Haku... What are you doing?" He asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Zabuza-sama, please let me have this boy. I want to fight him in my own way." Haku politely asked, however Zabuza felt his unwavering resolve.

"So you want me to Keep my hands off him eh, Haku?" Zabuza asked. "How charmingly naïve of you...as usuall."

'That guy... Naïve? Yeah right?' Sasuke thought as he clenched his teeth in pain. 'Look at me... It's like I'm being cut to ribbons by a thousand needles..'

Sasuke's previous arrogance was gone, and its place was a calm and analytical mind. The skill analyse had told him Haku was slightly dangerous, meaning he had a good chance against him.

'For Naruto to have the same combat Prowess as Haku... Looks like my only chance is to concentrate on the battle here...and trust Naruto to set me free from outside-'

"Yo! Sasuke! I'm here to rescue you."

For a moment, Sasuke felt his brain short circuit at what he heard and saw.

Naruto, in everything that made him a Shinobi, was squatting in front of him while giving him a greeting...

That wasn't the point of his brain freezing... No. The cause was, Naruto was inside the Very domain of Ice mirrors!!.

Taking a very deep breath, Sasuke ignored the pain he was currently feeling. "Y -You IDIOT!! No STEALTH! No CAUTION! And you call yourself a Ninja!? Now that you've gotten yourself trapped here with me... Just do what you want, I don't really care anymore."

"Y-You! Oh, FINE!! I went through hell just to rescue you, and this is the thanks I get?!" Naruto, for some reason, didn't see his fault and decided to shout back at his friend.

'Leave it to the team's clown.' Kakashi thought as he watched them exchange words. 'Once he starts 'helping', things go from bad to worse.'

Kakashi stood as he thought of how to go about the situation. Going to help the boys would mean giving up on Tazuna, yet, he knew he couldn't give up on them too.

Zabuza too, was thinking along the same line, however, he had the upper hand. He knew he had Kakashi right where he wanted him, yet, he knew Kakashi wasn't someone so easily handled.

He for one, knew that he didn't have as much Chakra as the copy Ninja, hence his reluctance to use the shadow clone technique (Water Clone in this case).

The moment he used one, Kakashi would surely counter with his own, and the circle will continue until one of the outsmart the others.

...

As the two boys argued, Haku slowly stepped into her mirror once more. The mirror Naruto had shattered from the outside, repaired anew.

Immediately, his figure appeared in all the mirrors surrounding the boys. This caused them to stop bickering and focus on their opponent.

Sasuke, who had keeping watch of his surroundings with his Sharingan noticed something and made for his kunai. 'So that's how it is. His real body is over there.'

However, as he was about to make the throw, he heard.

"Over here."

'Nani?' he thought as he froze. 'Disnt she enter from here? This skill also isn't helping. How can she be everywhere?'

Sasuke thought in frustration. The analyse skill was still functioning, but the problem was, all the Haku had the same status floating above their heads

Without missing a breath, Sasuke formed some handsigns, with determination in his eyes, he knew he needed a quick and powerful move to turn the tide.

He swiftly gathered a moderate amount of chakra, [Katon: Homura Bakuhatsu](Fire style: Ember Burst)

A burst of flames erupted from Sasuke's mouth as he brought his hand to his mouth, creating a focused explosion in the immediate vicinity of the mirrors.

The flames blazed as it impacted the mirrors, however, to Sasuke's disbelief and Naruto's shock.

"It's not even making a dent." Naruto exclaimed.

"That pitiful flame will barely touch my ice mirrors." Haku didn't forget to mock the Uchiha .

"Ugh.." Sasuke groaned at the insult. He felt humiliated, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Haku(The one theyre facing), not wasting any time simply raised his hand holding a few Senbons, and in the next instant, Sasuke and Naruto were bombarded with needles.

From an outside perspective, she was out to kill, but any experienced Ninja would think otherwise.

Of all the wounds on the two Genins, none was life threatening. One could also assume she merely missed, but this was someone who managed to (fake)kill a Jounin from a couple metres away, without any one the two Jounins noticing His presence.

"Which one of you Is real?" Naruto shouted in anger and hurt as he tried to find out where the Senbons are coming from.

"Your eyes will never see the truth. I can't be caught." Haku replied, telling them the truth and a loophole, yet they both failed to listen.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Naruto said and crossed his fingers. [Kage bunshin no Jutsu]

"Idiot! Stop!" Sasuke cried out but it was too late. Ten's of Naruto's clones appeared and made their way to each of the mirrors.

In a speed faster than any of the two could follow, Haku step out of the mirror and in less than a second, she was back to her calm.

The only difference being, all of Naruto's clones were gone.

...

"Damn! Now that's some natural speed right there. There's no way I'm allowing this lad to die young." Shun watching their exchange from the mirror dimension spoke in admiration.

True to what Haku had said, following her with the eyes is nothing but a fool's dream.

She was basically reflecting herself from one mirror to the other. Basically, she was as fast as light.

No human could actually follow the speed light moves on. Hence the inability of both Sasuke and Naruto winning this fight.

"If only Naruto had attacked from the outside..." Shun wondered as he shook his head at Naruto's attitude.

...

"The technique I'm using is the art of teleportation. And the only tool I need to perform it is the mirror that hold my image." Haku began. "I move so fast that the two of you might as well be standing still."

As she said this, Kakashi finally understood why he felt Haku was dangerous. Both Shun and Yasuno had this same ability.

Yasuno moved so fast in her Ice Domain that rarely anyone lives to tell the tale. He only knows die to the sparing.

Basically, once she unleashes her domain, you had lost.

Shun was even more unreasonable. Wherever his eyes could see in his domain, he was basically there. That level of speed wasn't something Minato could even achieve with his Hirashin no Jutsu.

"I never imagined someone could master such a technique at such a young age." Kakashi said in genuine admiration.

"Hehehe." Zabuza merely laughed but said nothing.

"Such a technique?" Sakura asked.

"It's a skill, one that comes with a Kekkai Genkai. It can be passed from generation to generation, yet it could also be mastered without a Kekkai Genkai." Kakashi said.

"You basically explained nothing at all." Sakura deadpanned.

"Hmm, Shun would have more grasp on the principles than I do. But basically, it's a skill everyone with a certain bloodline could acquire." Kakashi said and Sakura being the intellectual girl she was understood.

"You mean..."

"Exactly. It of the same order as the Sharingan. Similar to how a Sharingan can't copy a copied technique, it can't also copy something of this calibre. It is unique in its own right." Kakashi replied.

...

"I've had enough." Naruto suddenly said from his seated position inside the Ice Dome.

They had spent the past few minutes being skewered by Ice Senbons and were already bleeding so much that the ground was basically dyed red.

"So is that it?" Haku asked surprised while Sasuke looked shocked at his brother.

This was the first time he had heard Naruto say something of this calibre, but before he could jump into conclusion, Naruto continued.

"It can't end like this. I've got a dream to fulfill. People to meet and answers to get." Naruto said and shakily stood up.

Haku looked on as he remembered his declaration to become the strongest in his village and get the acknowledgement he deserves.

He was once helpless as well, thankfully, he met with someone who acknowledged his existence and took him in.

He has just killed, or rather, attempted to kill the Mizukage and was on the run when they found eachother.

Shaking his head, Haku pushed away those random thoughts and looked at the standing Naruto.

"I... Find it difficult to embrace the full Shinobi philosophy." Haku began. "I can't help but prefer that the two of you not force me to have to Kill you."

"However, if you two are going to come at me, I shall kill my own heart with my blade - Just as the 'Shinobi' was originally the words 'Heart' and 'Blade' - And act as a full fledged Shinobi would."

"This bridge is a Nexus of our destines. And all of our dreams and futures balance on the edge of a knife." Haku continued. "I have my own dreams, as you have yours... Please try not to resent me..."

"However, I'm willing to do whatever it takes, to protect the one I care most about... To fight, kill or die to fulfill that person's dreams. Doing so is my own dream. To that end, I will become a true Shinobi, and I shall kill you both "

Haku finished her monologue, but no one on the bridge had any words to refute her. Naruto wanted to, but he knew... Doing so would be to undermine her determination.

"As Shun once say, it is impossible for two people on two different path to see eye to eye in this world." Naruto began with a smile. "That is why I will defeat you and prove my Shinobi way!"

With Naruto's declaration, Sasuke smiled and stood back up as conviction burned brightly in their eyes. This battle wasn't about the bridge any longer.

It was about two parties trying to prove their very own convinction. To prove that the path they had chosen wasn't false or wrong.

Haku, a path of self sacrifice. A path where his entire being exists just to see the fulfilment of another's dream.

Naruto, a path of compassion. A path where he stood on the side of what was right for the people around him.

Sasuke, a path of vengeance. A path where he would surmount all manner of obstacles in his way. A path where he would fulfill his promise to his brother.

To surpass him, defeat him and get the answers he deserves.

Even Sakura, despite knowing she was no match against this masked man, knew one thing for certain. They had to win.

"Sasuke! Naruto! Don't you dare lose to.a person like him!" She yelled loud enough for the two boys to hear her.

"Stop encouraging them Sakura!" Kakashi berated.

"Huh?"

Being the realistic person he was, Kakashi knew no matter of motivation or conviction would bridge the gap that exists between the two Genins and Haku.

"Even if we knew a way to counter his technique, your teammates still wouldn't be able to defeat that boy." He said.

Sakura was alarmed by this. "What do you mean?"

"Hehehe " Zabuza laughed softly. "Those two haven't developed the psychological strength to turn their hearts to ice and take a human life."

"That boy has lived with the kind of emotional anguish that prepares him to be the True Shinobi. No True Shinobi could ever be born of a place like your Village. A place of weakness...of peace."

"You don't live with death, or grow up needing to kill to ensure your own survival. In you, those skills and mindset they require, die stillborn."

Ignoring the bandaged Jounin's words, Sakura asked. "Kakashi-sensei, what do we do?"

Kakashi stayed silent for a good minute before he brought his hand out of his pocket and to his eye. "You'll forgive me... If I put an end to this..."

Zabuza grinned maniacally as his body trembled in excitement. "Hehehe. Going to use the Sharingan? What a vulgar maneuver, so obvious, so lacking, in finesse."

And in that split second,....

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