Before the cleansing at the True Waterfall, Kurama's chakra could draw out the darkness buried deep in a person's heart.
For Naruto, his two-plus decades of past-life experience kept him from being swallowed whole. And since Kurama had started reclaiming some of that malice, the chakra he absorbed was purer than before.
He felt power flood every cell. Faint red chakra rose around him, hot enough to warm the air itself.
No hesitation.
Naruto dug his toes into the ground and launched at Haku like thunder, fist cocked to shatter the mask in one blow.
At the same time, Sakura pulled out a giant fūma shuriken, spun once, and hurled it—straight at Zabuza's "corpse."
Everything happened in a flash.
Kakashi tried to stop them, but his body was exhausted; Sasuke had to hold him up.
Haku's heart sank. He hoisted Zabuza and dodged aside.
Boom! Naruto's punch cracked the air with a sonic pop. He forced his body to twist midair, chakra surging into his legs, and kicked the fūma shuriken back toward Haku.
"Damn, almost sliced my leg off," Naruto snarled, letting momentum throw him into a tree. He kicked off again, rocketing back toward Haku; red chakra wings flared from his back, boosting his speed even more.
He still had his mind, but his fighting style turned savage—pure kill-or-be-killed.
Haku hooked a foot into the shuriken's handle and kicked it away, then flicked senbon toward Naruto's vital points.
Naruto simply repelled every needle with Kurama's chakra, then head-butted Haku and Zabuza back. Sakura was already rushing in behind Haku.
Haku rolled several times, then exploded in fury.
"You… you actually dared to attack Zabuza-san's beautiful body!" His mask cracked, hair whipping wildly, all that calm, icy grace gone.
Naruto stood in front of him, smirking. "Oh, so you're showing your true colors now, huh, little chick."
'Bossy pretty boy falls for CEO' vibes. Nice.
Haku began weaving one-handed seals, looking ready to reunite Naruto with his ancestors on the spot.
Right then—
A new crisis crashed in.
A swarm of masked mercenaries in silver armor poured out, surging toward Tazuna. Sasuke's eyes widened. He tossed every explosive-tag shuriken he had and shouted at Naruto, "Naruto! We have to retreat!"
He felt like a battlefield babysitter—protect Tazuna, protect Kakashi, protect everything—
He'd given way too much to this team already.
"Damn you, Gato!" Naruto spat. They couldn't keep chasing Haku now. If they didn't pull back, the enemy would just steal the objective and GG them.
BOOM! BOOM! Traps Sakura had planted earlier started detonating. Bodies flew, blood and limbs splattering through black smoke and chaos.
The three regrouped: Naruto carrying Kakashi, Sasuke hauling the terrified-to-death Tazuna, Sakura flinging the remaining lethal tools at Haku to prevent him from forming ice shields.
Haku's secret art required enemies inside his range. Naruto and Sakura agreed the original Naruto was brain-dead for charging in; from outside, a rain of explosive tags might've been enough to ruin Haku's day.
Whoosh! The five of them broke out of the chaos. Before leaving completely, Naruto summoned shadow clones and sent them sprinting toward Konoha.
Oh, so you like human-wave tactics? Fine.
I'll go back and bring a whole platoon. Let's see you handle that.
Sakura gave him a thumbs-up. Smart move.
…
They pushed hard and finally escaped pursuit. The team asked for Tazuna's address and debated moving somewhere else.
In the original story, Gato's men went straight to Tazuna's home to take his family hostage.
If Naruto hadn't overslept, Tazuna's daughter and grandson would've died.
"Not moving in the original was for character growth," Naruto said grimly. "But now if we don't move, we're just idiots."
Once he'd calmed down, Naruto was dead set on relocating. If they refused, he'd show them what a "born-evil Nine-Tails fox demon" felt like.
"Yeah," Sakura nodded. "Kishimoto doesn't know crap about Naruto anyway."
Their talk went right over Sasuke and Tazuna's heads. Both wore blank stares.
Sasuke coughed and stepped in. "We definitely can't stay at the old place. And the bridge should stop construction too, for now."
"Exactly!" Naruto smacked his palm. "Uncle, you stay with us a couple weeks. When Konoha's imperial army arrives, we'll decide what to do next."
Sakura facepalmed. Konoha imperial army, my ass…
"Absolutely not!" Tazuna said emotionally. "The bridge can't stop. It's our only hope…"
His eyes were already wet.
Smack! Naruto slapped the back of his head. "Can you think bigger than your own nose? We're not saying 'never build.' Just pause."
"Stopping also blinds Gato. Then he won't go after your coworkers. Get it?"
"I'll write the stop-work announcement," Sakura offered, pitying Tazuna a little. "I used to write posts all the time. I can handle the wording."
Naruto squinted. "I thought you were a streamer. Turns out you're a civil servant?"
"Public institution." Sakura answered blandly.
"Heh," Naruto grinned wickedly. "Do guys around you feel like conquering you is some kind of achievement? Soulsborne speedrunner and government employee…?"
In his past life, he'd totally be friends with a girl like her. And a fresh Sichuan-Chongqing girl at that…
Ahem. Moving on.
Sakura: "Get lost."
Naruto: "Yes ma'am."
They rushed back to Tazuna's house. Sakura explained to his family. Tazuna agreed to move—because if he didn't, Naruto would agree on his behalf.
"I'm not moving!" Inari, Tazuna's grandson, yelled and bolted upstairs.
Tazuna's daughter looked apologetic. "Could we move in a few days? Inari needs time, and this gentleman needs care too." She pointed at the unconscious Kakashi on Sasuke's back.
"Right now," Naruto said flatly. "We can't gamble on Gato's mercy. We already got hit twice on the way here. If they find you again, it's over."
He strode up the stairs, then turned back with a smile.
"Relax. I'm not going to hit him."
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