Southwest Coast of the Land of Waves
Rocks and sediment tumbled from the cliff into the sea, turning the already dark waters around the island even murkier.
The boiling seawater had cooled, and damp steam filled the sky. The brilliant golden sun tore through the clouds, its light refracting through the moist air into a rainbow of colors.
In midair, Hikari's turbine-like wind wings roared, countering gravity. Clad in her Wind-Thunder Armor, she clutched a black, hair-covered heart and descended.
Boom!
The ground shuddered, a deep crater forming as shattered stones flew outward.
The newly built port plaza in the Land of Waves was now a wreck.
The spot where Hikari had stood was a massive pit, the ground baked into crystalline shards by intense flames. The mist-tide bricks paving the surface were blasted apart by shockwaves.
The Black Hoe Clan and Cardo's men, still in their coffins, had been scared to death by Hikari's fear aura. Their bodies were pierced by flying debris, blood, guts, and brain matter oozing through the cracks in the bricks.
The surrounding land was fractured, spiderweb-like cracks over a foot wide stretching for kilometers.
Old man Dazna had his work cut out for him again.
Hikari scratched her head lightly. This was why she avoided moving too much.
Normally, her graceful steps paired with earth-release worked fine.
But when she moved fast, her hundred-ton-plus weight, combined with the kinetic force of her steps, sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, indirectly wrecking a city's economy and infrastructure.
It might look like she'd only trashed a port, but the nearby civilian city in the Land of Waves probably just felt a small earthquake.
Crackle!
Her five fingers, gripping the heart, flared with purple, flame-like light. The hairy Earth Grudge Fear heart twitched like it'd been shocked.
As the scalding steam dissipated, the heart's veined, scarlet surface bore clear finger marks. The tentacles clinging to Hikari's arm went limp.
Crack!
Yang-Release chakra sprouted to life, water and earth chakra intertwining. Layers of brown wood formed a box, fresh green leaves decorating the lid for a touch of vitality.
Using Wood Release for the first time, Hikari was curious, poking at the budding flower until she'd had her fun. Then she placed Kakado's heart inside.
His proudest moment was attempting to assassinate the First Hokage.
Now, using the First's Wood Release to craft his coffin seemed like a fitting burial.
Bang!
Dust exploded.
Sealing the wooden box into a curse mark on her arm, Hikari pulled out clothes and shoes from another seal. She scanned the area, unleashing wind blades to finish off any surviving Black Hoe members.
Then she deactivated her Wind-Thunder Armor and slipped into a loose kimono.
Aside from non-combat seals for storing items, she had four jutsu etched into her body:
1. A concealment jutsu to block Byakugan and other sensory techniques, also protecting allies from her fear aura and superheated breath.
2. A super S-rank elemental jutsu, the Wind-Water Floating Cannon, for long-range attacks that could slice through anything.
3. A versatile water-earth combo jutsu for creating tsunamis, hardening ground, or stabilizing water for her to walk on.
4. The Wind-Thunder Armor, which had just obliterated Kakado. Built on a Lightning Release chakra mode, infused with Black Lightning and Gentle Fist: Wind Release Rotation, it was a War God Armor—Wind-Thunder Mode.
To keep the wind release from slicing through the lightning armor, she'd used over ten thousand curse seals to perfect it.
She'd hoped to use wind release for flight, but her weight made that impossible. At best, she could hover slowly.
So she gave up on flying and maxed out the speed of her Wind-Thunder jutsu. The Lightning Armor already surpassed neural reflexes, and with turbine-like wind wings on her back, she was faster than a supersonic jet from her past life.
Once activated, lightning coursed through her cells, and wind threads erupted from her pores. Anything approaching her faced piercing lightning damage, then got shredded by wind.
It was the ultimate armor for obliterating anything in her path.
But the wild wind-thunder chakra destroyed everything she wore, so even with Black Lightning covering key areas, she avoided using it. She was still working on improvements.
After making sure her clothes were secure and nothing was exposed, Hikari finally turned her attention to Kakashi and the others' fight.
To her, Hidan was no threat.
At sea, he couldn't draw his blood array, and she'd already spilled his immortality secret. Facing a Team 7 far stronger than in the original story, he should've been taken down by now.
Thinking this, Hikari activated her Byakugan to scan the sea, only to find no one near the coast.
Huh?
The odd situation made her raise an eyebrow. She poured more chakra into her Byakugan, and five bright chakra signatures appeared.
"Naruto!!"
Seeing Naruto suddenly cough up blood and collapse into the sea, Sasuke's crimson eyes spun wildly, his two tomoe nearly merging into a third.
Memories of their five years together flashed through his mind—training, school, sparring, and their annual all-night parties as five lonely souls.
They weren't blood-related, and their personalities clashed, but to Sasuke, Naruto was a brother.
Crackle!
Lightning chakra surged through Sasuke's leg muscles, scorching his skin bloody. He dove into the sea, legs kicking furiously toward the sinking figure.
The underwater world was eerily silent.
His charred legs stung and itched in the saltwater. Strange rocks and purple algae swayed in the current.
Bloop, bloop!
Bubbles rose as Naruto, eyes shut in pain, bled from his mouth, the red spreading in the water. Sasuke gritted his teeth, swimming faster. Up close, he saw the gruesome wound on Naruto's right chest.
Naruto's breathing was ragged, face twisted in agony from choking on water. Sasuke hoisted him onto his back, charred legs kicking to break the surface.
Splash!
They burst out of the sea.
"Huff, huff—"
Hair plastered to his forehead, Sasuke panted, laying Naruto on the water's surface.
The usually lively Naruto was unconscious, a deep, bloody crater in his chest exposing his beating heart.
Through the Sharingan's unique vision, Sasuke saw sun-like chakra surging around Naruto's heart. Three green points—head, collarbone, and another—connected, releasing power alongside an evil, red chakra from his abdomen. The three forces fought to heal the chest wound, stopping the bleeding in moments.
Those three green points… Did Naruto open the Third Gate of the Eight Gates in a near-death state? But what was that sinister red chakra?
Sasuke's eyes flashed with relief, but the third tomoe he was on the verge of awakening stalled.
As new skin grew over Naruto's chest, Sasuke tried to stand, but his charred leg muscles trembled, refusing to move.
Damn!
His reckless lightning use had burned his skin and numbed his leg nerves.
But it didn't matter.
Seeing Naruto's wound heal and his breathing stabilize, Sasuke, sitting awkwardly on the water, flashed a rare smile.
"Cough, cough…"
Naruto, still unconscious, hacked up murky water. His ocean-blue eyes opened, filled with confusion. He glanced at the calm sea, then at Sasuke's charred legs, emotions flickering.
"You just…"
"No need to thank me!" Sasuke waved it off, reverting to his usual cold demeanor.
"I was just—"
"You're the one who knocked me out, right?!" Naruto, fully recovered, scrambled up, glaring at the kneeling Sasuke, unable to stand.
Sasuke's expression shifted from fake coolness to shock.
"No, it wasn't—"
"Don't lie! Look at your legs, all messed up! I knew it—my back hurt, and then I blacked out. You must've lost control of your lightning and hit me!"
Naruto's brain worked overtime, piecing together his "genius" theory.
"You suck at controlling lightning. Use it less."
Sasuke's Sharingan spun again, his anger flaring.
He swore, if his legs worked, he'd kick this ungrateful idiot into the sea!
"Forget it, I'll carry you to Hikari for healing."
"No way!"
That made Sasuke even madder. Done arguing with this moron, he turned to the bridge pier, where two dark figures lay.
He remembered the moment Kakashi pierced Hidan, Naruto had coughed up blood and collapsed.
There had to be a connection.
Sasuke realized Hidan's body had turned black-and-white after Naruto's attack.
He likely had some kind of damage-reflection ability that required land to activate.
Then it hit him.
Hikari had warned Kakashi about Hidan's immortality—only decapitation could stop him temporarily.
If Hidan had a damage-reflection ability, Naruto could still be in danger!
"I've gotta tell Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke's legs shook, but he couldn't stand.
"What's the intel?" Naruto, still convinced Sasuke had knocked him out, blinked in confusion, totally lost.
Sasuke sighed, looking at Naruto, whose chest was now clean of blood, washed by the sea.
Some guys just have dumb luck.
---
Under the Hero Bridge
On a massive stone pier, a strange array was drawn. Hidan stood, letting Raikiri pierce his chest, his face twisted in manic glee.
"Cough, haha! You killed your own teammate, you idiot!"
Hidan's words shook Kakashi, who spun to look back.
Naruto, mid-sprint, collapsed into the sea.
"Why—?!"
Kakashi was lost, the scene dragging up painful memories.
"Idiot, my body's linked to your teammate. Whatever damage I take, he takes too!
You killed him yourself, hahaha!"
Hidan's bloodshot eyes gleamed, hammering Kakashi's mental defenses.
His ability was exposed, and they wouldn't give him another chance to kill, so he might as well rub it in.
Right now, he just wanted to savor his enemy's pain.
"So that's how it works."
Kakashi, eyes clouded with pain, calmed. He slowly pulled his Raikiri-charged arm from Hidan's chest.
"You're not—?"
Hidan gagged, shocked at Kakashi's sudden composure.
Did this guy feel no guilt for killing his teammate?
He'd seen countless ninjas—some wept with regret, others burned with guilt-fueled rage, and the worst at least lashed out in shame.
But this guy was so calm?
"Surprised?"
Kakashi deactivated Raikiri, a smile creeping under his mask.
"I didn't hit your heart. Your pain receptors are probably numbed by the lightning. My Raikiri only grazed the outside of your heart.
No damage to your lungs or heart—just some skin and a couple of blood vessels. My teammate's not dead!
Idiot."
Kakashi's smile was sharp as he spat out the final word. Hidan's face twisted with visible rage, hatred, and humiliation.
"Impossible! How did you know—?"
He roared, armless and stuck in his Blood Ritual, unable to even kill himself.
As an expert in this field, he knew better than anyone: biting your tongue to die was just an old myth.
With his ability exposed, he'd lost any chance of turning the tables.
"Your ability's weird. I didn't notice the connection between the array at your feet and your body's changes at first," Kakashi said, eyes serious.
Misled by Hikari's intel, he'd seen Hidan's strange movements on the pier and rushed to stop him.
His plan was to use Raikiri's speed to slice Hidan's head in half. He'd nearly done it, but—
Above the pier, on the bridge's side, a strange mist dissipated, revealing a tall, burly, eyebrowless man.
"Thanks."
Kakashi's eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Zabuza.
As he'd swung Raikiri at Hidan's head, his Sharingan caught the mist on the pier forming a coded signal, telling him to stop.
"You bastard, when did you hide there?!" Hidan's bloodshot eyes locked on Zabuza, his expression nearing hysteria.
"I was always here," Zabuza said coldly, stepping out of the mist under the Hero Bridge. He nodded at Kakashi, his body flickering faintly.
He was just a mist clone, nearly out of chakra and about to vanish.
Since Dazna left the Land of Waves, Zabuza had been lurking under this bridge, monitoring Cardo, Black Hoe Raiga, and the others.
He'd watched Hidan run up and draw the blood array right under his nose.
But his long stakeout had drained him, leaving him powerless to intervene.
Luckily, Kakashi's Sharingan caught his coded signal in the heat of battle, or that blond kid would've been decapitated.
"It's over, Hidan!"