Whoosh…

Haku's figure enters the ice mirrors surrounding Sasuke. ​​

Shoom… shoom… shoom…

Multiple reflections of Haku appear in Sasuke's vision.

"A cloning Jutsu?!"

A frown appears on Sasuke's face.

Hmm…

He scrutinizes the mirrors and realizes.

"No! They are his images formed by the phenomenon of the light trapped in this mirror. The light reflected from his body suffers a total internal reflection and thus multiple reflections of his forms in these ice mirrors."

Haah…

Sasuke takes a Taijutsu stance ready to intercept Haku's move.

Swish… swish… swish…

Haku and his reflections simultaneously make some hand signs.

"Ice Release: Thousand Stinging Needles of Death"

Multiple ice senbons lock on Sasuke's position.

Swoosh.. swoosh…

The ice senbon barrage attacks him from all directions.

Haah…

Facing the incoming barrage of the ice senbons, Sasuke takes a deep breath and calms himself.

"Sharingan"

Shiing…

Sasuke's eyes changes and a three tomoe Sharingan appears in both of his eyes.

Clang… clang… clang…

Sasuke's body moves at an incredible speed as he smoothly deflects all the incoming attacks. His breathing is normal, and there is no hint of exhaustion or sweat on his body.

"This is…"

Zabuza's eyes widen in shock.

"How is this boy able to keep up with Haku's almost light-speed attacks?" He murmurs to himself.

Soon, he notices the tomoes in Sasuke's eyes and gets his answer.

"No wonder… Haku never stood a chance."

Zabuza sighs and stops resisting.

Swoosh…

Sasuke deflects the final senbon and turns towards a mirror.

"It's time to end this useless struggle."

Swish… swish… swish…

He makes multiple hand signs and takes a deep breath.

"Fire Style: Blazing Fireball Shower"

He spits out a volley of fireballs into the air. The fireballs spread out through the ice dome and simultaneously attack all of Haku's images.

BOOM… BOOM…

The fireballs explode on top of the ice mirrors. Searing flames rise through the ice dome, raising the surrounding temperature rapidly.

Crack… crack…

Multiple cracks form on Ice dome's surface.

BAM…

The jutsu shatters into countless ice fragments which instantly melt in vapors because of the flames.

A figure falls from the air.

Whoosh…

Sasuke flickers in front of the figure.

Haah…

He performs a roundhouse kick and attacks the masked face of the figure.

Bang…

Haku is sent flying by Sasuke's attack.

BAM…

He crashes into a nearby wooden pillar and his hunter-nin mask shatters. Blood leaks from Haku's mouth. His eyes lifelessly stare at Zabuza.

"I am sorry, Zabuza. I failed to fulfill the mission you gave me."

Haku silently murmurs to himself as a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

"Huh! He is…"

Naruto immediately recognizes Haku from the previous day.

"Hey! He is that pretty boy from the previous day."

Naruto immediately rushes towards Haku.

"Seems like you handled the situation well."

Izuna appears beside Kakashi and nods his head.

"It was not much big of a deal. Naruto and Sasuke did most of the job."

Kakashi replies without even turning back.

"I guess! You taught them well." Izuna remarks with a grin.

"Not as well as you did!" Kakashi retorts.

"Anyway, I will take things from here on."

Izuna turns towards Zabuza with a smile.

Gulp…

Zabuza gulps his saliva as he recognizes Izuna.

'The Silent Shinigami Izuna Uchiha. He is a death God in human form. Looks like this is the end for me.'

Hmm…

Izuna walks towards Zabuza and stares at the broken blade in his hand. He picks up the broken blade and draws his finger over the broken edge.

"I hope Mei won't be angry over this matter. It's still one of the famed blades of Seven Swordsman of the Mist."

'The flow of chakra is not smooth in this blade. Also, this blade has durability issues.'

Izuna judges the quality of the blade.

"My blade is much better than this."

He turns his attention to Zabuza.

"As for you… Hmm…"

Izuna ponders over Zabuza's fate.

Gulp…

Zabuza gulps another mouthful of saliva as Izuna's gaze lingers over him.

He breaks out in a cold sweat as in his mind an image of a Shinigami wielding a scythe overlap with Izuna. The Executioner's blade in Izuna's hand glows with a sharp tint as Izuna subconsciously waves it.

"I will let Mei decide your fate. Since you are a rogue shinobi of Kiri."

Phew…

Zabuza heaves a sigh of relief.

'At least it won't be worse than being handled by this Death God.'

Hmm…

Izuna turns his attention towards Naruto and Haku.

"YO! I never expected to meet you so soon."

Ugh…

Haku slowly lifts his head and notices Naruto.

"Na… Naruto…"

He slowly tries to stand up.

"Hey! Hey! Take it easy."

Naruto stops Haku.

"I will tend to your wounds."

He turns around and notices Izuna. Naruto's eyes lit up, and he waves his hand to Izuna.

"Nii-san!… I need your help Nii-san."

"This troublemaker…"

Izuna shakes his head and walks towards them. He notices Haku's injuries and turns to Sasuke.

"You went easy on this boy. It's so unlikely of you, Sasuke."

Swoosh…

Izuna uses Mythical Palm Technique to heal Haku's injuries.

"I did for sure. If not, then a certain knucklehead would pester me to no end."

Sasuke shakes his head.

"Hey! I won't." Naruto retorts.

"Oh! Really…" Sasuke smirks.

"If my facts are correct, then a certain someone exhausted himself while training in the wild and then slept like a log in the wild. If not for me keeping a close eye on you, then a certain someone might have sent you on your one-way trip to…"

Swish…

Sasuke does a cut-throat motion.

Gulp…

Naruto gulps a mouthful of saliva and retorts.

"In the end, I am safe. Nothing happened to me."

"Hmph… I don't know about his intentions. He might have detected my presence and thus I acted as deterrence for him or there might be some other reason." Sasuke snorts.

"OK! OK! Calm down, you both." Izuna calms them down.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" He turns to Haku.

"I… I…"

Haku stammers for a while before he gets hold of his breath. An earnest expression appears on his face as he answers.

"It's true that when I met Naruto, initially I had the urge to kill him and get rid of Zabuza's burden. But… but… somehow the way Naruto treated me made me change my mind. He… he treated me like a friend. Up till now, kids of my age were either afraid of my abilities and adults would try to kill me, once they came to know about them.

Only Zabuza was different. Even if he treated me like a tool; he never saw me with scorn like others. So… so… I was happy to be Zabuza's tool. He was my only family. Sniff… sniff…"

Haku has tears in his eyes as he recounts his past.

Sob… sob…

Tears stream down Naruto's eyes as he bowls his eyes out.

Sigh…

Sasuke shakes his head and pats Naruto's shoulder.

"…"

Izuna silently stares at the group.

'Look at this bunch, acting all grown-up and childish at the same time.'

Izuna only felt a slight sympathy for Haku.

'This is the dark truth of this Shinobi World. Konoha had it quite easy compared to other nations; thanks to the effort of a certain Hokage. Still, we had our cancerous tumors in the past.'

Izuna sighs to himself and addresses the bunch.

"Enough chitchat! I have to take him into custody and present him to Kiri for judgment. Despite his past, he still has committed lots of crimes under the orders of Zabuza. Now is the time to account for them."

"But Nii-san! He is…" Naruto protests but Izuna glares at him.

Naruto gulps a mouthful of saliva and swallows his words.

"It's alright, Naruto! I have to account for my sins. If I get an opportunity in the future, then we will meet again." Haku assures Naruto.

He turns towards Izuna and nods his head.

"I am ready."

'Oh! He is quite cooperative. Maybe his interaction with Naruto changed his mentality. That's the protagonist aura for you.'

Izuna shakes his head and turns to Kakashi.

"Kakashi! With this, your mission is complete. The only thing left for you is to deal with Gato and his goons."

Izuna turns towards the other end of the bridge, where a bunch of hoodlums are marching towards the group.

"Hmm… I will take care of it."

Kakashi nods his head.

Izuna grabs Zabuza and Haku.

"See you later, everyone!"

Ayaka jumps from the top of the tree and lands on Izuna's head.

"Ayaka!!"

Naruto and Sasuke stare at her in shock.

"I couldn't sense your presence till now." Sasuke shakes his head.

"You need more training, Sasuke Nii-san!"

Ayaka sticks out her tongue and teases them.

"I think so too." Izuna nods his head.

"NOOO!!"

Naruto and Sasuke sweat drop and yell in unison.

Haku is amused to see them act like this.

'They are already so strong. What kind of training are they doing?'

It piques Haku's interest.