"Aaah!"
The cries of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura echoed from within the narrow Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, transmitted directly through the listening devices and headphones into the ears of the four members of Team Minato!
Rin cast a worried glance at Minato Namikaze. "Sensei, should we...?"
"Not yet. They haven't reached their limit. Intervening now would fail the mission—Naruto would be furious," Minato Namikaze replied.
Obito and Young Kakashi turned their heads toward their teacher.
Somehow...
Though Minato-sensei always acted this way, why did they feel he was particularly mindful of Naruto's feelings?
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!"
Sasuke Uchiha's voice crackled through the earpiece. Obito dismissed his earlier thoughts and exclaimed, "As expected of Fugaku-san's son! The fire sounds massive! Since it's ice, we just need to melt it with fire! Why didn't I think of that earlier?!"
Young Kakashi retorted, "Because you're an idiot, the rare exception among the elite Uchiha clan."
Simultaneously, Naruto's voice echoed through the headset, nearly identical to Obito's:
"Exactly! If it's ice, just melt it with Fire Release, right?!"
Young Kakashi: "..."
Truly, he'd habitually wanted to scold Obito, never expecting to end up scolding Naruto too.
Minato, hearing Naruto's spirited voice through the headset, let a faint smile curve his lips.
But—
"Fire Release of this caliber won't melt this ice."
Obito: "That's Haku's voice!"
Immediately followed by another triple scream!!
Seconds later, heavy panting from all three became distinctly audible through the headset.
Naruto: "Damn it! Just like the Mirror room—we have no clue where he'll strike next!"
His words instantly made those who could only hear the sounds understand their predicament.
The three must be trapped within the ice shield ninjutsu of the Haku, under relentless attack in that confined space!
"What should we do? Minato-sensei!" Young Kakashi also asked if they should go in to save them.
Naruto's voice came through the headphones:
"In that case, Shadow Clone Technique!!"
Sasuke: "You idiot, don't—!"
It was too late. Once more, Naruto's agonized scream echoed through the headset!
If they could see, perhaps the members of Team Minato wouldn't be so tense.
The problem was they could hear the sounds but couldn't see what was actually happening in the thick fog. Human imagination tends to gravitate toward the worst-case scenario. Every scream and heavy breath made them want to abandon the mission and rush in to save them!
Minato's face darkened. "Wait a little longer."
Rin glanced at Minato-sensei with concern but said nothing more. She trusted his judgment.
Haku's voice came through the earpiece:
"This ninjutsu uses mirror reflections to create illusory movement. In this space, your speed is indistinguishable from stillness. Especially when relying solely on your eyes to track me—there's no way you'll catch the real me."
Naruto tried to charge forward again, but Sasuke stopped him. "You idiot! Calm down!!"
"I refuse to die in a place like this!! I still have dreams to fulfill! I absolutely cannot die here!!"
"Naruto?!" Sasuke and Sakura's shocked voices also came through the monitoring headset.
Haku: "Dreams?"
"Ah!" Naruto: "I'll become Hokage! A greater hero than the Fourth Hokage! Then the entire village—will acknowledge my existence!!"
The three students of Minato's class showed slight hesitation.
Surpassing Minato-sensei? Young Kakashi genuinely felt Naruto's ambition might be even more unattainable than that fool Obito's.
But what did he mean by acknowledging his existence?
The trio recalled the faint sadness that had flickered in Adult Kakashi's eyes the previous night. 'Because of certain special circumstances, Naruto has no friends.'
Young Kakashi thought to himself, even he had fools like Obito and Might Guy by his side.
What exactly were those 'special circumstances'?
Haku felt an emotional resonance when Naruto mentioned 'making everyone acknowledge my existence'.
"Naruto," he suddenly spoke, "you asked me earlier why I would follow Zabuza-san to the death, right?"
"Huh?" Naruto froze for a moment. "Ah, I did ask that."
Zabuza, still fighting Kakashi: "..."
"Because apart from Zabuza-san..." Haku said, "there's no one in this world who needs me."
"Freedom, dreams—back then, I didn't even have a future. Not being needed by anyone felt like I didn't even exist in this world. The only thing I had was 'death.'"
Naruto stared at Haku in shock. Even though he was still wearing his mask, Naruto felt such a strong resonance that he could almost see Haku's expression as he spoke.
Haku: "Naruto, do you know when a person truly dies?"
Sasuke and Sakura glanced at Naruto beside them and saw the fear he couldn't hide. Sasuke even noticed the hand gripping his kunai was trembling slightly.
"True death isn't when your heart stops beating."
"It's when no one in this world notices you, remembers you, looks at you, or is willing to tell you… that you're still alive."
Aside from Haku's calm voice, the headphones were filled with deathly silence.
A heavy, inexplicable pressure settled on Minato Namikaze's chest, like a stone.
"I know this all too well, Naruto."
Haku: "You have the same eyes as me… and Zabuza-san."
Zabuza turned his head and muttered, "Too talkative."
Though reluctant to admit it, he remembered how shocked he'd been years ago when Haku had said those words to him with a bitter smile.
Just a clueless brat—
Yet somehow he'd seen straight through the heart of a monster who'd killed countless people…
Haku: "I don't want to kill you, Naruto. But for Zabuza-san's dream… Zabuza-san's dream is my dream. For his dream, I can kill you—someone who shares our eyes—without the slightest hesitation."
Naruto clenched his fists, a nameless frustration tightening in his chest with nowhere to go. He had no idea where the fault lay between himself, Haku, and Zabuza.
Just like he'd never understood what he'd done wrong, or why everyone hated him like they hated the Nine-Tails.
When he was the one the Fourth Hokage had sacrificed!!!
"Naruto, do you have someone important to you?" Haku asked.
It was the same question Haku had asked him when they met yesterday morning.
"Naruto, do you have someone important to you?"
"To protect those important to you, one day you'll become stronger and stronger—far stronger than you can even imagine right now."
Haku: "I also have someone precious I want to protect. For that person, I'll become stronger than you, stronger than all of you! Then I'll guard that person's dreams and ambitions!!"
"Please don't resent me." If blame was needed, then blame the Fourth Mizukage.
Obito almost sneezed, but Young Kakashi, standing beside him, pressed him down just in time.
He took a deep breath and forced the urge to sneeze back down. Through the headphones, Obito heard Sasuke's voice: "Work with me, Naruto!"
"Huh?"
"Don't space out! Focus, dead last!"
"Oh!!"
Naruto was still caught up in Haku's words. When Sasuke called for his cooperation, he suddenly realized—Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, and everyone back in Konoha were all important to him!
To protect the people he wanted to protect, he had to keep getting stronger…
"Shadow Clone Technique!!!"
Shadow Clones again?! That move was useless against a Kekkei Genkai like that. The difference in level was way too big!
Young Kakashi grew anxious inside.
Beside him, Obito held back another sneeze. "This time is different!"
What did he mean?!
Rin said, "That boy named Haku… he really helped Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura ignite their fighting spirit!"
Kakashi was puzzled. "They've never lacked fighting spirit. It's just that the gap in strength is too big."
Obito was annoyed that he still didn't get it and didn't even want to talk to him.
Rin looked a little troubled. "Kakashi, you really didn't notice? Up until now, Naruto and Sasuke had absolutely no teamwork."
And that was exactly what Young Kakashi himself lacked—the will of teamwork.
Because of that, even a genius like Young Kakashi completely overlooked the growing synchrony in Naruto and Sasuke's movements that was coming through the radio.
Naruto used Shadow Clones to attack every mirror Haku appeared in, forcing him to continually shift between them, while Sasuke focused on pinpointing which mirror Haku was truly hiding in.
Then he'd unleash a stronger, more concentrated Fire Release attack.
Sakura's job was to use her kunai to block Haku's attacks whenever Sasuke was concentrating, so he could stay fully focused!
Their breathing sounded rough, but…
Naruto: "We hit him!!"
"Just…" Sasuke panted, "…just the hem of his robe."
Naruto's confidence surged. "But if we do it a few more times, we'll definitely beat him! Right, Sakura?!"
"Yeah!" Light flashed in Sakura's eyes as well, all trace of her earlier confusion gone.
Sasuke's lips curved upward, drawn along by Naruto's determination. "For some reason, he's looking slower and slower to me."
Hearing this, a possibility immediately flashed through Obito's mind!
"Could it be…"
"Awakening his eyes?!"
...
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