"Oww— that hurts!"
Haku emitted a cold little cry as the blow sent the slight figure tumbling into the air before she slammed onto the earth.
"W-what…" Squad Seven stared at the fallen Haku in stunned silence.
They'd been so expectant—eager to learn the supreme secret technique Ayato claimed had toppled a Mizukage—only to watch this… this ridiculous finish.
A crass trick? That beat a Kage?
They couldn't believe it.
"Pervert!" Haku knelt, clutching her sore lower back, every small tremor of her body visible even beneath the white mask. Her cheeks burned with shame and anger as she glared at Ayato.
That technique was obscene!
Ayato must be twisted!
And yet… from another angle, the move might indeed beat a female Mizukage. It was the sort of trick a woman could find devastating—an embarrassing vulnerability exposed. No wonder the Fifth had raged so wildly at the time.
A system chime rang through the air.
[Ding —]
[Side Quest: Squad Seven (all three members) defeat the rogue ninja Momochi Zabuza.]
[Reward: One random gacha reward box — may contain items or cross-world abilities.]
[Time Limit: 7 days.]
[Failing the quest carries no penalty.]
"A side quest, huh?" Ayato raised an eyebrow as the notification blinked. He glanced over at the badly wounded Zabuza. A gacha box wasn't exactly thrilling—but any bonus was a bonus. Maybe it would spit out something amusing—like a Zanpakutō to play with.
"Should we finish him off and count that as the defeat?" Ayato mused.
A soft, feminine system voice replied crisply.
[Negative. Squad Seven must defeat a fully healthy, uninjured Momochi Zabuza.]
"Seven days to take down a full-strength A-rank? That'll be a stretch," Ayato said, watching Squad Seven.
At their current level, they had no chance. Unless he taught Naruto the Rasengan and Sasuke the Chidori in a week—Sakura would need to learn superhuman strength before even touching the Hundred Seals. He couldn't teach everything, but he could at least give them a start: teach Naruto Rasengan basics, Sasuke the Chidori's core, and Sakura some brute-force chakra control.
Failure carried no penalty, so letting them try was harmless—and possibly fun.
Ayato's back-of-the-mind plan, however, required no miracles: Naruto had the Nine-Tails. If worse came to worst, he could trigger the beast's cloak and tip the scales. In short, the side quest was essentially free profit.
Perfect.
Haku, meanwhile, had recovered enough to scramble upright—then she launched another attack without hesitation.
"Ice Release — Column of Explosive Spears!"
The ground around Squad Seven shuddered as massive ice pillars erupted and shot toward them. The sudden change left the three genin scrambling.
"SASUKE!" Naruto's face drained. He shoved Sasuke aside, only to have his cloak snag a spear and be hurtled upward.
Even mid-crisis, Naruto forced a snarky grin at the airborne sight of Sasuke. "You okay, coward?" he taunted—repaying his earlier humiliation in kind if only in jest. The kid held grudges, and he intended to even the score later.
Sasuke, freed from the immediate strike, hissed, "What an idiot!"
Sakura's cry tore free as she watched Naruto dangling from a spear. "Naruto!"
Within moments, Haku scooped Zabuza's unconscious form and used Mist Body Flicker to slip between trunks and vanish. She was shaping her retreat—until Ayato moved.
"Naruto—don't worry about me. Go chase them!" Naruto cried.
"Secret Art — Shattering Ice Prison." Haku clasped her hands; cold sweaters of chakra coalesced, enclosing Squad Seven and Tazuna inside a mountain-sized crystal dome. She followed with one last, desperate assault: "Water Release — Great Waterfall Technique!" A massive, crushing wall of water rose and bore down toward Ayato. Haku had poured everything into this offensive—her chakra was nearly spent.
Naruto's bravado faded as freezing air bit into him; he struggled and sobbed, "S-sorry—sorry, Ayato-sensei! Please save me!"
"Noisy brat." Ayato transformed into a streak of lightning. In a fraction of a second—mere slivers of time—he whisked Squad Seven and Tazuna away to the top of a nearby hill.
Lightning was blindingly fast.
"Whew…" the students exhaled, knees trembling. Had Ayato not acted, the crystal would have obliterated them; for an instant they'd felt their blood freeze.
Ayato used his Tenseigan's clairvoyant sight to sweep the forest; Haku's presence had vanished. The masked ninja had talent—she'd thrown multiple high-level techniques in one breath and still escaped with Zabuza. A capable escape artist indeed—and now another future problem to be collected, later, by Squad Seven as part of their training.
Naruto knelt, contrite. "I'm so sorry—this is my fault he got away."
"You were the ones holding us back, which let the enemy flee," Ayato said coolly, looking down at them. "Atone with your lives."
He said it to sting, purposely chastising them so they'd push themselves to grow in the next week.
"I'm disappointed. Honestly, you're the worst students I've trained. If this target shows again, you're on your own. If you can't handle it, go back to the academy and study properly—don't play at being shinobi." His voice was ice-cold.
Sakura's eyes shimmered. "Sorry…" she murmured, head bowed, shame deep as the sea.
They all drooped—face-to-ground, full of contrition. They understood the truth in his words: their weakness had let their quarry escape. It couldn't happen again.
"I'll give you five days," Ayato declared after a beat. "Train hard. If you don't improve in that span, I'll give up on you."
Naruto sat up and smiled with steadfast determination. "Don't worry, Ayato-sensei. Because of me they ran, so I'll get stronger and make it right!"
Sasuke ground his teeth and lifted his fist. "Sensei—give me strength. I will become stronger."
He could not tolerate weakness. If Ayato abandoned them, Sasuke's path to revenge would die with that mentor. He had to make Ayato stay.
Sakura's voice was firm, small but resolute. "I'll do my best, too."
Ayato pulled the three of them into a lopsided hug, a grin cutting across his face. "You're not totally hopeless. Don't disappoint me again."
The carrot and the stick.
"We'll do it, Ayato-sensei!" they chorused, resolve setting hard in their eyes. In five days, they would change.
"I have matters to handle—go to the Land of Waves for now," he told them. He could sense Haku's chakra with his perception. "She's that way. I'll say a little hello."
Ayato became a crack of lightning and vanished.
Far away, Haku sat slumped, the pain from earlier still flaring as she hugged herself. Overusing chakra had left her fatigued—she'd never exhausted so much before. Ayato was monstrously strong.
A streak of blue lightning flashed; Ayato appeared before her like a friendly breeze.
"Well, hello," he greeted with an easy smile.
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