Naruto Gojo

Wave Arc Final

Chapter 7: The Demon, The Sharingan, and The Honored One

By the end of the week, Team 7 was a different unit. Sasuke and Sakura, under Kakashi's tutelage, now moved with a new understanding of their own chakra, their bodies humming with enhanced potential. They were ready.

On the other side of the island, Zabuza was also ready. His wounds had healed, his chakra was restored, and his killing intent was honed to a razor's edge.

As Team 7 departed for the bridge, Naruto's true body remained behind, creating a single, potent Shadow Clone to watch over Tsunami and Inari. The real Naruto, cloaked in the shadows of the forest, would observe the battle from a distance, a silent arbiter waiting for the opportune moment.

---

A thick, unnatural mist rolled across the bridge, blanketing it in a ghostly silence. The construction workers lay scattered across the scaffolding, all of them unconscious, but alive.

"What happened here?" Tazuna asked, his voice trembling.

"This mist..." Sakura whispered, her hand tightening on a kunai. "Sensei, it's Zabuza."

A chilling voice echoed from the fog, seeming to come from all directions at once. "Kakashi... I see you still have those brats with you. Pitiful. One of them is still trembling."

Seven identical figures, each a perfect Water Clone of Zabuza, materialized from the mist, surrounding them in a circle of silent menace.

Sasuke let out a sharp, feral grin. "Trembling? No. This is excitement."

"Go on, Sasuke," Kakashi said, his Sharingan already spinning. "They're all yours."

What happened next was a display of pure, refined skill. Sasuke exploded into motion. He didn't just rush; he flowed between the clones, a black and blue blur of motion. A kunai flashed in a precise arc, severing one clone's neck. He spun low, his leg sweeping out to shatter another's ankles. He used the momentum to spring upwards, driving an elbow into a third's face. In less than three seconds, all seven clones dissolved into puddles of water, and Sasuke was back in his original position, not even breathing heavily.

From the mists, two figures emerged: Zabuza, and at his side, the masked Hunter-nin.

"It seems you have a rival, Haku," Zabuza grunted, impressed despite himself.

"So it seems," Haku replied, her voice soft and level.

Sasuke and Haku stepped forward, a silent challenge passing between them. Sasuke drew his kunai; Haku produced a single, deadly senbon. They charged.

The sound of their clash was a high-pitched, rapid-fire shing-shing-shing. It wasn't a brawl; it was a lethal dance. Sasuke thrust, and Haku parried with the shaft of her needle. Haku aimed for a pressure point, and Sasuke deflected with the back of his hand. Sasuke was a storm of aggressive, powerful strikes, but Haku was like water, effortlessly flowing around his offense, her speed a perfect match for his own.

"We are only after the bridge builder," Haku said, her voice never wavering as she blocked another strike. "If you back down, we don't have to fight."

Sasuke ignored her, his focus absolute.

"You are at a disadvantage. Surrender," she advised calmly.

"How?" Sasuke scoffed.

"First, we are surrounded by water, my element," she explained, locking his kunai-wielding arm. "And second, I have blocked one of your hands. Now watch."

With her free hand, Haku blurred through a series of one-handed seals. "Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death!"

She stomped her foot. The puddles from the defeated clones erupted into the air, forming a dome of hovering water droplets around Sasuke. With a flick of her wrist, every droplet sharpened into a lethal needle of ice and shot inwards.