Chapter 4: The Mist and the Void
The journey to the Land of Waves had been tense. Every time Naruto walked near a puddle, he felt the "pulse" of chakra within it. He was becoming hyper-aware of the energy in others, like a shark sensing blood in the water.
As the team crossed the sea in a small rowing boat, the fog rolled in.
"Something's wrong," Naruto whispered, his hand twitching.
"It's just the Mist, kid," the boatman muttered.
But it wasn't. Naruto could feel two distinct "signatures" ahead. One was heavy and jagged, like a serrated blade. The other was cold and sharp, like a needle of ice.
The Ambush
The moment they stepped onto the unfinished bridge, the air grew heavy. Killing Intent—the physical manifestation of a killer's will—slammed into the Genin. Sakura fell to her knees, gasping. Sasuke's hands shook so violently he had to grip his wrist to steady his kunai.
Then, the mist parted.
Zabuza Momochi stood atop his massive sword. "Kakashi of the Sharingan," he rasped. "Give me the old man, and I might let the brats live."
"Not happening," Kakashi replied, lifting his headband to reveal his spinning red eye.
The battle was a whirlwind of water clones and steel. But while Kakashi and Zabuza traded blows, a dome of mirrors suddenly erupted around Naruto and Sasuke.
The Mirror Trap
Haku moved through the Demonic Flashing Ice Mirrors at the speed of light. To any other ninja, it looked like teleportation. To Naruto, it looked like a flickering circuit board.
Needles. Pain. Blood.
Sasuke was moving faster than ever, his Sharingan tracking Haku's reflections, but he was reaching his limit. "Naruto! Stand up!" Sasuke yelled, coughing up blood as he stepped in front of a volley of senbon meant for Naruto's heart.
Sasuke collapsed, his body looking like a pincushion.
The "void" in Naruto's gut, which had been a dull ache since the Mizuki incident, suddenly tore open. The Nine-Tails didn't offer orange chakra this time. It offered space. It opened a door in Naruto's mind and invited him to fill it.
The Extraction
Naruto stood up. He didn't scream. He didn't grow the Fox's cloak. Instead, his skin turned a deathly, pale white, and his eyes became pits of pure black.
"You're fast," Naruto said, his voice echoing as if two people were speaking. "But speed is just energy moving through a path. And I own the path."
Haku launched another attack. Naruto didn't dodge. He reached out and caught a senbon needle mid-air. The moment his fingers touched the needle—which was made of Haku's chakra—it turned from ice back into water and was absorbed into Naruto's skin.
Haku froze. "How did you...?"
Naruto sprinted. He didn't use a jutsu; he used the sheer vacuum of his existence to pull Haku toward him. He slammed his palm into the center of the ice dome.
"All For One," Naruto whispered.
A horrific sound, like glass being ground into sand, filled the air. The ice mirrors didn't shatter; they began to melt toward Naruto, flowing into his arm like a river. Haku tried to retreat, but the "pull" was magnetic. Naruto grabbed Haku's wrist.
The scream that left Haku's throat was one of pure existential terror.
Naruto felt the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai being ripped out of Haku's DNA. It felt like pulling a tooth with deep roots. The "Blueprints" for Haku's unique bloodline flooded into Naruto's mind.
Ice. Wind and Water. The secret of the mirrors. The stillness of the frost.
When Naruto let go, the dome was gone. Haku fell to the ground, shivering. He wasn't dead, but he was "dim." The bright, vibrant chakra signature that made him a prodigy was gone. He was now just a boy—powerless, empty, and civilian.
The Result
Zabuza stared in horror. He saw his apprentice, his "weapon," lying broken. He saw Naruto standing there, his right arm covered in a layer of black, crystalline ice that he shouldn't be able to possess.
"You... you stole it," Zabuza whispered, his voice shaking with a fear he hadn't felt in years. "You didn't kill him. You erased him."
Naruto looked at his hand. A single flake of black ice drifted from his palm.
"I didn't mean to," Naruto lied, though the "echo" of Haku now living in his mind told him exactly how much he had enjoyed the taste of the power.
The Internal Ledger (End of Chapter 4)
Slot Ability Stored Origin
Slot 1 Shuriken Shadow Clone / Chunin Taijutsu Mizuki
Slot 2 Kekkei Genkai: Ice Release Haku
Slot 3 Empty -
Slot 4 Empty -
Slot 5 Empty -