Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

"Glug... glug..."

After struggling underwater for a while, Zabuza had nearly reached his limit.

He could no longer break free through his own strength.

He hadn't dived into the water voluntarily.

He had been blasted into the sea after taking a heavy blow.

Naruto's Rasengan was no weak technique.

Worse, it had struck near his lungs.

Falling into the water after suffering that kind of impact had already left him short on air.

Before he could properly recover, another Water Dragon Bullet had forced him deeper into the sea.

At this moment, even Zabuza had to admit it.

He had been completely defeated.

He couldn't even think of a method to escape.

But what he couldn't understand was why.

He had not been careless.

His Silent Killing Technique was refined enough to control even his killing intent.

Together with the Hidden Mist Technique, which blocked both vision and chakra detection, it should have been impossible for that brat to defend against him.

Back in Kirigakure, even the Fourth Mizukage hadn't sensed him immediately.

He had gone all out against this Konoha kid.

He had prepared perfectly.

And yet, he had been the one struck first.

Then came those Water Release techniques, fired off one after another, suppressing him completely.

Their power was nothing like what someone his age should possess.

As the endless force of the water dragon continued pressing down on him, a thought rose in Zabuza's mind.

Even in a direct battle of Water Release ninjutsu, he might not win.

Damn it.

Are all Konoha brats this freakish?

Even jōnin aren't this strong.

Don't tell me this kid is Konoha's next Kage or something!

Despair filled Zabuza.

At this point, he had run out of options.

As long as the opponent didn't cancel the Water Dragon Bullet, the pressure could continue indefinitely.

Then—

He suddenly felt the force restraining him begin to weaken.

The Water Dragon Bullet had been released?

No.

His technique was interrupted!

Zabuza endured the weakening current.

Something seemed to pass behind him.

A trace of cold brushed against his back.

Then his body pressed against something icy, stopping his continued descent.

He turned slightly.

Behind him was a familiar mirror of ice.

Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

It was Haku's technique.

The instant the pressure vanished, Zabuza's spirit reignited.

That's right.

He still had Haku.

If one person couldn't win, then two would.

Shinobi battles weren't decided purely by who had more chakra.

Even injured and with poor underwater visibility, Zabuza remained an elite former Kirigakure ninja.

Using the ice mirror that had appeared behind him, he adjusted his posture.

Gritting through suffocation and pain, he gathered what chakra he could.

His hands formed seals.

Then he surged upward through the water like a fish.

Meanwhile, Naruto stood atop the sea.

His hand seal had already been released.

Water Dragon Bullet was a sustained jutsu.

As long as the user continued supplying chakra, the dragon could persist.

But if the caster stopped maintaining it, the dragon would collapse back into ordinary water.

Naruto had chosen to trust his negative-emotion sensing.

So he released the technique.

From beginning to end, the masked person had shown no killing intent toward him.

Maybe that person really wasn't an enemy.

But...

"You're different!"

The moment Zabuza broke the surface, Naruto shouted.

His figure appeared directly above him.

The Rasengan he had prepared in advance smashed downward toward Zabuza's head.

BOOM!

The ocean surface erupted in a towering splash.

Yet the Zabuza struck by the Rasengan shattered into water.

"A Water Clone?"

Naruto paused.

The spray from the impact obscured his vision.

By the time the water fell back into the sea, Naruto turned and saw Zabuza surfacing some distance away.

Despite choking on seawater, he gulped down several desperate breaths.

So that's what he did.

To avoid my sensing, he moved together with a Water Clone.

Then he let the clone surface first to draw my attack while the real body escaped.

Naruto understood immediately.

He had to admit Zabuza's battle experience was impressive.

But even so—

All Zabuza had bought himself was a few seconds to breathe.

In his current condition, escaping was impossible.

Yet Zabuza merely glanced at Naruto.

Then he suddenly looked around, as if realizing something.

His eyes locked onto Naruto.

"Cough... cough..."

"Haku... where is Haku?!"

"Haku?"

"Is that your companion's name?"

Naruto's gaze instinctively flicked toward the water.

Zabuza's expression changed instantly.

Without another word, he dove straight back into the sea.

"...What's going on?"

Naruto froze.

"Naruto, be careful!"

Kurenai shouted from the shore.

"It may be a trap!"

"They're Kirigakure missing-nin. They're extremely skilled at water combat!"

Naruto nodded.

But he still didn't quite understand.

When Zabuza dove, Naruto did sense a sudden spike in killing intent and hostility.

However—

The one carrying that hostility was moving farther and farther away from him.

Underwater, Haku's body continued sinking.

The Mist mask he had worn had already been swept away by the current.

Although Naruto's Water Dragon Bullet had vanished, Haku did not possess Zabuza's powerful physique.

After being struck by the water dragon's force, he no longer had the strength to swim upward.

Yet on that delicate, almost feminine face—

There was no fear of death.

Only a satisfied smile.

At this moment, scenes from Haku's life flashed before his eyes.

First—

Family.

The scene froze on his parents' madness after witnessing his bloodline awakening.

That man had raised a blade toward his own child while crying.

"Kill him!"

"I don't need him!"

"His bloodline will awaken!"

"He'll get us all killed!"

His father had been right.

In the end, Haku had killed them.

Even in his childhood memories, he hadn't truly understood what was happening.

It had simply been survival instinct.

But his Kekkei Genkai had activated.

Ice pillars erupted.

Piercing through his home.

And Haku personally took the lives of his family.

Then—

Wandering.

From that day onward, Haku lost every place he could belong.

He drifted through streets and alleys.

Unwanted.

Unseen.

Unneeded.

"Get away, filthy beggar!"

"Leave. We don't need you here!"

"Where did this wild brat come from...?"

Haku never wanted to hurt anyone.

He only wanted to know where he could go.

Where someone might still need him.

Then—

The meeting.

"A homeless brat with power and ability, yet you would rather wander aimlessly without fighting or stealing?"

"Are you trying to die in the gutter?"

That face wrapped in bandages.

The Demon feared by others.

Looked down at him.

But to Haku, he didn't seem frightening.

If anything, he felt similar.

As though they were both searching for something.

"You want to be needed?"

"Then become my tool."

"Be useful to me."

To the Haku who had been curled up alone on the street—

Those words, and everything that followed, brought a smile to his face.

That was Haku's salvation.

Zabuza-sama...

Please survive.

I am your tool.

If I can help you, then that is my greatest value.

If this is how it ends...

Then this ending is enough.

Haku slowly closed his eyes.

Even as consciousness faded, he felt no regret.

Then—

A figure rushed toward him from the distance.

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