The Sakura Legend

Forest

"I don't want to kill you. I only want to protect Zabuza-san. If you just let us leave, I'll release you," Haku said, making a final attempt.

"Are you kidding? That Zabuza wants to kill Dazuna-san. I absolutely won't allow that," Naruto shouted at Haku's image in the mirror.

"Then I have no choice but to eliminate you here," Haku replied, launching his attack.

Senbon rained down from all directions, targeting Naruto. In an instant, Naruto was riddled with wounds, a truly pitiful sight. "Aaaah!" Naruto cried out as he was knocked to the ground, unable to get up for quite some time.

"Naruto!" Sakura rushed over to check on Naruto, preparing to heal him. Naruto's wounds weren't life-threatening, and the senbon Haku used had limited lethality. Senbon were sometimes even used in medical treatments. The senbon aimed at Naruto targeted his acupoints, suggesting that Haku intended to incapacitate them, preventing pursuit.

"Damn it. If that's the case, then I'll use Shadow Clone Jutsu. At least one of them should hit him," Naruto declared, getting up after Sakura healed his wounds.

Sakura didn't stop Naruto from using Shadow Clone Jutsu. She quietly retreated to Sasuke's side, letting Naruto's clones test the waters and see if there were any weaknesses in this jutsu.

A horde of Narutos charged at each mirror, raising their fists to smash the images of Haku. But the images in the mirrors suddenly vanished, and then, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, all of Naruto's Shadow Clones disappeared in an instant.

"Sasuke, did you see anything?" Sakura hadn't been able to discern how Naruto's clones had been taken down. Haku hadn't used any weapons; she'd only seen the images in the mirrors disappear, and then Naruto's clones were gone, followed by Haku reappearing in the mirrors.

"The enemy is moving at high speed between the mirrors," Sasuke explained. His eyes had already transformed into the crimson Sharingan, staring intently at Haku in the mirrors. "The enemy's speed is too fast. We... probably can't keep up."

Sakura looked at Sasuke's Sharingan in surprise. When had he awakened it? Was it Naruto's pitiful state that had triggered it? No matter what, it was a good thing.

"Do you have any way to break this jutsu?" Sakura asked. She couldn't even see Haku's movements.

"The mirrors are the enemy's means of movement. Only by breaking the mirrors can we break the jutsu. The mirrors are extremely strong and immune to Fire Release. It seems the only way is to break out with a speed faster than his," Sasuke concluded after some thought.

Sakura rolled her eyes. She could have figured that out herself after Sasuke's explanation. She didn't need him to tell her. Speed was out of the question. Even if Sakura used all her chakra to activate her body, she wouldn't necessarily be faster than Haku, and her water blades couldn't cut through these mirrors.

Wait a minute, water, ice... Sakura suddenly had a flash of insight. The water blade's ineffectiveness wasn't due to a lack of power, but rather the elemental disadvantage. Ice Release was a combination of water and wind. Using Water Release against it would only strengthen the ice, significantly reducing its effectiveness.

Sakura realized she'd actually been smart for once today.

"Sasuke, I have a way to deal with these mirrors. But I need you to distract the enemy, and you can't be too far from me. Naruto too," Sakura told Sasuke.

"Hmph, so you want the two of us to be your meat shields?" Sasuke said, knowing that Sakura intended to use them as such.

"There's no other way. I don't have much chakra left. I need to use the full power of the Cherry Blossom Impact; otherwise, I can't guarantee I'll break these mirrors," Sakura explained with a smile, trying to reassure him.

Sakura's chakra reserves were low. If her remaining chakra wasn't enough to break the mirrors, she would have to use the Strength of a Hundred Seal. She didn't want to use her stored chakra unless it was absolutely necessary. Haku's attacks only aimed to trap them. If she could break the mirrors, she could escape with Naruto and Sasuke, rendering the jutsu useless.

"Then let's do it," Sasuke said without further hesitation. He knew the power of Sakura's Cherry Blossom Impact.

"Naruto, come back here! Maintain a 'manji' formation!" Sasuke called out to Naruto in front.

"Sasuke, do you have a way out?" Naruto asked, returning to their side and forming the formation.

"Naruto, listen carefully. Keep the formation, move slowly towards a mirror. Sakura will break the mirror, and then be ready to rush out," Sasuke whispered to Naruto.

"Huh? That's all?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

"The prerequisite is that you have to ensure Sakura doesn't fall. Right now, only Sakura has the powerful attack needed to break these mirrors," Sasuke explained.

"No problem!" Naruto immediately agreed upon hearing he had to protect Sakura.

Haku observed the two boys protecting the girl as they slowly moved towards a mirror. He couldn't help but feel curious. He'd been watching the girl's fight with Zabuza's Water Clone. He knew her most powerful jutsu was the water jet she fired from her fingertips, but it couldn't cut through his ice mirrors. Did she have another jutsu?

Haku didn't want any surprises. To protect Zabuza-san, he needed to make them all lie down.

Just as Sakura and the others were about to reach one of the mirrors, countless senbon shot out, the majority aimed at Sakura. Because Sakura was closer to the mirror, there was no way to dodge the senbon directly in front of her. "So you're finally going all out?" Sakura thought, seeing the incoming senbon. She had no choice but to activate the Strength of a Hundred Seal. She had to break out in one go; otherwise, if Haku became wary, it wouldn't be so easy to get close.

Just as Sakura was about to activate the Strength of a Hundred Seal, covering her body with the Hardening Technique and gathering a large amount of chakra in her hands, her vision went black. A figure stood in front of her, taking all the senbon aimed at her.

"Sa... Sasuke," Sakura stammered, stunned. She hadn't expected Sasuke to jump in front of her to block the senbon.

In the instant Sakura was momentarily stunned, Sasuke turned his head slightly and shouted, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and do it!"

Sakura suppressed her emotions, stepped forward, and struck the mirror in front of her. Immense chakra erupted from her hand. Instantly, the mirror shattered into tiny ice shards. From the sensation in her hand, Sakura realized that she had not only shattered the mirror, but also struck someone.

With this mirror shattered, all the surrounding mirrors dissolved into water, flowing onto the ground.