Naruto: The Strongest Suiton User

Chapter 30: The Demon's End

By the time Sakura arrived at the bridge, the battle was already nearing its end.

She saw a furious Naruto with a massive, oppressive chakra erupting from his body, standing before another person.

Long black hair, a beautiful face—it was the character Sakura had once liked the most, Haku Yuki.

"Kill me, Naruto," the beautiful youth, as pure as snow, had already lost his will to live. "I cannot win against you. I am no longer a useful tool for Zabuza-san... So, I beg you, I no longer have a reason to live..."

Sakura's heart tightened. She looked to the side and saw Sasuke lying there, his body pierced with senbon, covered in blood, his condition unknown! That black-faced Sasuke who always bickered and argued with her, that stuck-up, poker-faced Sasuke who always looked like someone owed him money!

Haku... killed Sasuke?

An indescribable sense of absurdity enveloped Sakura's heart.

Am I... too late?

A wave of anger and fear surged uncontrollably from the bottom of her heart! Sakura's only thought at this moment was to hope that Haku had shown mercy, just like in the original story!

Sakura had always been very fond of the character Haku.

At first, she liked him because she was moved by his tragedy. The first time she saw that part of the story was in her wild, youthful years, and she had been moved to tears for him. Later, she continued to like him because she was touched by his character. Only someone who has struggled in society would know how difficult it was, in the twisted world of Naruto, to practice one's own creed of not killing.

After transmigrating, Sakura had also fantasized about her first meeting with him, fantasized about coincidentally meeting Haku while he was out gathering medicinal herbs, fantasized about saving this snow-like youth, thought about verifying whether Haku was male or female, thought about becoming close friends with him...

But the real world was always so cruel, so easily able to shatter fantasies.

Sakura was not a person who lived in a fantasy. That's why she didn't find various reasons to leave the village to find Haku and bring him back before she even became a ninja. In that situation, Sakura and Haku would have been identified as spies one hundred percent of the time. Nor would she seek opportunities to contact and talk with Haku after Zabuza's attack, and then let Naruto and Sasuke be attacked. Sakura didn't wait for Haku in the training clearing, because that was just a coincidence in the original story. And this time, Zabuza hadn't faked his death but had his arm broken, so the medicine he needed was different.

Because they were enemies, they had to fight the moment they met, even though Haku didn't want to hurt anyone, and Sakura didn't want to hurt Haku.

At this moment, seeing Sasuke lying on the ground, Sakura understood their positions as opposing enemies. The image of Haku Yuki that she had yearned for in her heart was shattered at this moment. All that was left was Haku Yuki, the enemy.

Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Sakura quickly rushed to Sasuke's side and checked his pulse. Fortunately, Haku hadn't dealt a killing blow; Sasuke had only fainted.

Sakura let out a huge sigh of relief, and the murderous aura in her eyes also diminished a lot.

And just as Haku had developed the will to die, the battlefield on the other side, which had been shrouded in thick fog, slowly began to clear. The battle between Kakashi and Zabuza was also about to be revealed!

Two figures gradually emerged from the mist. Sakura strained her eyes to see. Kakashi was bathed in blood, his body covered in cuts of all sizes from swords and kunai. It was a tragic sight! But Zabuza was even worse off. One of his hands was pierced by a kunai, hanging limply, and his entire body was pinned down by ninja hounds. His decapitating carving knife was propped carelessly on the ground nearby.

The ground was spattered with large patches of blood. Broken kunai and the severed remains of several ninja hounds were scattered everywhere!

"Zabuza, your ambition is too dangerous. To think you would associate with someone like Gato... For the hope of this country, I must finish you here!"

Chakra gathered madly in Kakashi's hand, turning into a dazzling blue light that erupted with a thunderous roar!

"Raikiri!"

"With this blow, I will bury you along with your ambition!" Kakashi's eyes were fixed on Zabuza, his killing intent rolling like dark clouds. Amidst the lightning and thunder, his voice was so clear!

Raikiri, charge!

The seriously injured Zabuza was pinned down by Kakashi's ninja hound squad, unable to move! The dazzling blue light made Zabuza's face deathly pale. Zabuza's eyes widened as he watched Kakashi rush towards him in despair!

"Zabuza-san...!!" On the other side, Haku, seeing Zabuza in a desperate situation, let out a mournful cry and actually broke free from Naruto's grasp. He condensed two ice mirrors in the air, intending to rush over through the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals to stop Kakashi!

"Don't even think about it!" Sakura shouted angrily. In a flash, she used her ninjutsu without hesitation!

Water Style: Super Water Gun Jutsu!

The whitish line of water, fired after Haku had moved, hit him without any suspense, shooting out from his back. Haku's movements froze in mid-air, the final anxiety and determination on his face solidifying like ice. Then—he fell to the ground, closing his eyes forever.

I killed my once-favorite character with my own hands...

Sakura stared blankly as Haku fell.

And on the other side, Haku's intervention only made Kakashi's movement deviate slightly. The Raikiri passed through Zabuza just below his heart, shredding his internal organs. Although he wasn't killed instantly, everyone knew he was beyond saving...

"It's all over..." Kakashi pulled out his hand. Blood and fragments of internal organs immediately gushed out like a spring!

"To think, cough cough," Zabuza said, leaning on his great sword to stand with difficulty, blood uncontrollably coming out with his coughs. "that my dream would end here..."

"I only hate that brat for being too weak... cough cough, he couldn't even save me... I really raised a useless piece of trash for nothing!"

"How can you be so cold-blooded!" Naruto shouted angrily at Zabuza. "Wasn't he your comrade?!"

"We only had a relationship of use and being used, just like me and Gato... I only... saw Haku as a tool!" Zabuza said weakly.

Just as Naruto was about to refute, an unpleasant voice suddenly cut into their conversation.

"Ahaha, you guys really fought hard, didn't you!" The speaker was a fat man wearing sunglasses. Seeing that the battle was coming to an end, he eagerly led his thugs out. "This is perfect. May I invite you all to die here?"

"Gato...! So this was your plan!" Zabuza's voice was very low. In the final moments of his life, to be faced with the betrayal and conspiracy of his client, the anger in the Demon's heart seemed to give his weak body new strength!

"That's right! I never intended to pay you, Zabuza. You're just a bunch of rogue ninja anyway! After you and the enemy are both seriously injured, I'll be the fisherman who reaps the benefits, kill you all, and then take control of this country without spending a single cent!! Zabuza, in my eyes, you're nothing but a clown! Hahaha!"

Gato walked up to Haku's body and forcefully stomped on his face!

"Stop!" Sakura shouted angrily! Even if he was an enemy, even if she had no position to defend the dignity of an enemy's corpse, Sakura would never allow Gato to insult Haku like this!

On the other side, Naruto was also angrily questioning Zabuza, "Zabuza, are you just going to watch?! Are you just going to stand there and do nothing?!"

"Haku is already dead...!" Zabuza said with his head lowered, his voice dim. "Just... a useless, dead tool!"

"How can you say that! Haku, he loved you so much! He always, saw you as the most important person!" The more Naruto spoke, the more agitated he became!

"For your dream, he gave up everything. To save you, he didn't even care about his own life! He's not a tool!"

Tears gathered in Naruto's eyes...

"His body is being insulted by this scum, and you, you're just indifferent to it! You don't care about him at all!"

Sakura listened quietly, watching the tears in Naruto's eyes gradually overflow. Her own vision suddenly became blurry.

"Do you really... not care at all?!"

"Haku died for you... died to fulfill your dream... but he didn't even have a dream of his own..."

"He saw you as the most important person, was willing to become your tool, to die for you, yet this is how he ends up... This is really... too cruel...!"

Tears streamed down his face; Naruto was already sobbing uncontrollably! And on the other side, Sakura, standing silently, closed her eyes and also shed quiet tears.

A ninja shouldn't have to die like this. And Sakura was the one who had killed Haku. Sakura knew she wasn't wrong, but this correctness made her heart feel even heavier.

"Don't say any more, brat..." the Demon Zabuza said in a hoarse voice. This man, who hadn't even frowned in the face of desperation, at this moment, tears quietly streamed down his face. "Please... don't say any more..."

"Perhaps you're right. Ninja... in the end, are just ordinary people. We can't become emotionless tools... Haku, ah, he was just too kind. It was I who failed him..."

"I lost... Let me do one last thing for Haku—"

Lifting the great sword with one hand, this man, who was already on the verge of death, incredibly weak, drew strength from somewhere and charged madly towards Gato!

Gato's thugs frantically attacked Zabuza, but the man ignored all the swords and injuries that pierced his body, rushed up to Gato, and cut him in two with a single slash!

Blood gushed out like a fountain. Gato's remains fell to the ground, like a rag in the wind. This man, stained with sin, ended his life here. The thugs were frightened by the undying Zabuza. They all dodged his beast-like gaze, clearing an open space with Zabuza at the center.

The Demon Zabuza, whose flame of life was so weak it was about to be extinguished, did nothing more. He just dragged his broken body to Haku's side, fell to his left, and used the last of his strength to turn his head, gazing at Haku's flawless and lifeless face.

Perhaps for the Demon, to be able to fall beside the one he loved in the end, although somewhat unexpected, was also a kind of happiness!

But in the final moment of his life, a miracle still occurred—