The Sakura Legend

Forest

"Kakashi-sensei, leave this to us. You should rest nearby and keep an eye on things," Sakura said to Kakashi.

Kakashi could only nod and follow Naruto's Shadow Clone to the rear to rest. His current condition was poor, and he needed to recover some chakra quickly. He wouldn't be of much help here right now. He'd assist once he regained some strength. Seeing how well the three had performed, he believed they could hold their own against the boy for a while.

Haku, his identity revealed, only wanted to take Zabuza and leave quickly, but the three genin clearly wouldn't allow it.

"Sakura, are you sure he's an enemy?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm certain. If he were a hunter-nin, he'd only need to take the head as proof of the kill and then incinerate the body on the spot. But he wants to take the entire body, which isn't efficient," Sakura explained to Sasuke.

"Hmph, as long as we're sure," Sasuke smirked. "Naruto, can you still fight?"

"Of course! I'm not that fragile!" Naruto immediately drew his kunai, a confident smile playing on his lips, his gaze resolute as he looked at Haku.

"Let's go. Be careful, he's probably going to try to escape with Zabuza. Sasuke, Naruto, if you get a chance, attack Zabuza. We have to kill him," Sakura laid out her plan to Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura herself would take advantage of her strengths and find a chance to deliver a decisive blow from behind. First, they would send in Naruto's Shadow Clones to probe.

Haku saw Sasuke and Naruto charging at him with Shadow Clones, realizing he'd missed his opportunity to retreat.

"Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"

Haku used the water scattered around from the earlier Water Dragon Jutsu, forming countless tiny needles and launching them at Naruto's swarm of Shadow Clones. One by one, Naruto's clones were punctured and burst.

Smoke filled the area from the exploding clones. From within the smoke, a kunai flew out, not aimed at Haku, but at Zabuza beside him.

Haku raised his hand, using a senbon to deflect the kunai. But trailing the kunai was a silvery-white water bullet—Sakura's water bullet.

Sakura had followed behind Sasuke. After Sasuke threw a handful of kunai, she'd launched a water bullet with the same force. This water bullet contained sharp, earth-enhanced stone shards, ensuring its piercing power.

By the time Haku deflected the kunai, it was too late to deal with the trailing water bullet. The plan was good, in theory.

Haku, having knocked away the kunai, noticed the water bullet too late. Unable to deflect it, he threw himself in front of Zabuza. The water bullet slammed into Haku's leg, drawing a pained grunt.

Seeing the three's flawless coordination, and realizing he had to split his attention to protect Zabuza-san, Haku was at a severe disadvantage. He grew increasingly anxious.

From his observations, Haku determined that the blond boy had a massive chakra reserve, able to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu repeatedly without showing fatigue. However, his attack patterns were simple and easy to counter.

The dark-haired boy seemed proficient in Fire Release, had decent taijutsu, and was skilled with kunai throwing. He was well-rounded! However, his chakra reserves weren't as large as the blond boy's, and he was already showing signs of exhaustion.

The girl's ninjutsu was quite powerful, and she was a long-range fighter, but she lacked experience and seemed to have limited chakra reserves.

Haku silently analyzed the three's strengths and weaknesses, formulating a plan.

While Haku observed them, Sakura was also studying Haku. He hadn't used Ice Release earlier, only Water Release. She wondered what his Ice Release techniques were capable of.

Their earlier coordinated attack had caught Haku off guard and injured him, making him wary. It wouldn't be so easy to hit him now that he was prepared.

Before Sakura and the others could act, Haku stood up and began forming hand seals. Sakura tensed, but the expected attack didn't come. Instead, an ice wall encased Zabuza behind Haku.

Heh, protecting Zabuza first so we can't attack him, huh?

"I have no intention of fighting you. I only want to take Zabuza-san," Haku said.

"Zabuza won't let us go. We have to eliminate him here," Sakura retorted.

"Then I'll have to kill you," Haku's demeanor changed, becoming cold and detached.

He threw senbon at the three genin and then charged, engaging them in close-quarters combat.

Although Sakura knew the Powerful Fist, her taijutsu was terrible. She'd focused her energy on chakra control and ninjutsu development, leaving little time for taijutsu practice.

But the awkward part was that her current chakra reserves were insufficient for large-scale ninjutsu. Her fighting style still relied heavily on taijutsu and sneak attacks.

Haku's taijutsu was truly excellent. He was holding his own against all three of them with ease. Sakura tried to sneak attack, but Haku dodged, nearly hitting Sasuke instead.

Distracted, Haku kicked Naruto, sending him flying. Then, he leaped out of Sakura and Sasuke's encirclement.

Sakura was puzzled. Why had Haku suddenly abandoned close-quarters combat? But it suited her. Taijutsu wasn't her forte. She immediately formed a water blade and shot it at Haku.

"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

Suddenly, a large amount of water condensed into mirrors, surrounding the three genin.

Sakura's water blade struck Haku, but it was blocked by one of the mirrors and couldn't penetrate.

This was the second time her water blade had failed. The first was during training with Tsunade-sensei, who had overpowered it with her immense strength. This time, it couldn't even pierce Haku's ice. This ice was harder than stone. Kekkei Genkai were indeed troublesome.

Sakura looked around. Without realizing it, their battle with Haku had moved to the water's edge. Sakura suddenly understood why Haku had initially engaged them in taijutsu. It wasn't just to get away from Zabuza; it was to choose a favorable terrain.

Sakura didn't know how many times she'd been led by the nose by her enemies today. Perhaps she, a modern person, really wasn't suited to be a ninja.

"Sakura, do you know what this ninjutsu is?" Sasuke asked. Only a few of the genin in their class knew that Sakura had been training with Tsunade for three years. Sasuke hoped Sakura might have encountered something similar.

"I don't know. I've never seen it before. But it's probably a kekkei genkai. Based on its appearance, it's Ice Release. These mirrors are very hard; my water blade can't cut through them," Sakura shared what she knew with Sasuke.

"Ice? Then we'll use Fire Release," Sasuke said, a smirk forming on his face. He began forming hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"It's useless. That level of Fire Release won't melt this ice," Haku's voice echoed from behind the ice.

"Damn it, then we'll just charge out!" Naruto exclaimed, seeing the large gaps between the mirrors. He stood up, ready to rush out.

"Naruto, don't be rash!" Sasuke shouted, but before he could stop him, Naruto had already charged forward.

Haku stepped into a mirror outside the ice formation, and then his image appeared in all the mirrors. Just as Naruto was about to break through, a "whoosh" sounded, and Naruto was sent flying back.

"Damn it," Naruto cursed, wiping the dirt from his face, his eyes burning with anger as he looked at the surrounding mirrors.

"Sasuke, have you noticed anything?" Sakura asked. After the series of setbacks, she had seriously begun to doubt her own battle IQ and had no choice but to seek Sasuke's help.

In this situation, someone could easily die. If she made another wrong judgment, she would be devastated.