Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too arrogant

Chapter 158: The Change Begins

Seeing this, Kakashi slowly withdrew the kunai he had been pointing at Zabuza. He had completely understood—Zabuza Momochi was no longer the enemy he needed to eliminate first.

He became a victim of Kado's schemes, a "tool" that had lost its usefulness and was about to be eliminated by its employer.

"What 'ghost man'? In my eyes, he's nothing but a clown wielding knives and guns!"

Gato and his gang of lowly henchmen, completely oblivious to their own mortality, continued to taunt Zabuza, who lay on the ground, with extremely offensive language. Their grating laughter echoed across the bridge.

"Kakashi," Zabuza's voice carried an unprecedented calm, "I'm sorry, our battle ends here. I have no reason to kill that old man anymore." He took the initiative to say the truce.

Kado took a few steps forward triumphantly and soon spotted Bai lying motionless not far away.

"Oh? This brat's already dead?" Kado kicked Bai's unresponsive body with the tip of his leather shoe, his tone flippant. "Hmph, daring to lay a hand on me... Hmph!"

He raised his bandaged hand, the very hand from the earlier lesson Bai had taught him. Then, in a fit of rage, he kicked Bai hard.

Seeing the white "body" being treated so roughly, Zabuza still maintained his expressionless and cold demeanor, but his knuckles were white from clenching his fists, and all the muscles in his body were tense to the limit.

He was standing on the edge of a complete emotional breakdown, and his rationality could snap at any moment.

Naruto knew that all he needed to do now was give Haku one last push to make him fully understand that he could never truly regard Haku as an insignificant "tool".

He gently freed himself from Zuo Yue's support, gave her a reassuring look that said "Don't worry," then took a step forward and spoke in a calm voice.

"His body was treated like that... Aren't you going to do something, Zabuza?"

"...Haku is dead." Zabuza's voice was trying to convince himself, "As a tool, he has completely lost his value. How he is treated... is irrelevant."

"He was really pitiful..." Naruto's tone carried a perfectly timed sigh. "You know, until the very last moment of his life, the only person he thought about and risked his life to protect was you."

These words precisely pierced Zabuza's deepest, most vulnerable spot, a spot he himself was unwilling to acknowledge!

Zabuza's lower face, tightly wrapped in bandages, began to tremble uncontrollably. His teeth clenched tightly, making a clicking sound. The cold, forcibly constructed shell was cracking at a visible speed.

Kakashi, standing to the side, looked at Naruto's seemingly inflammatory behavior with puzzlement, but out of trust in Naruto and the need to be wary of the main threat posed by Gato and his men, he did not speak up to stop him, but instead observed the changing situation more vigilantly.

"Don't you really feel anything at all?" Naruto's voice slowly pierced Zabuza's hard facade. "You know... he gave his life for you without any regrets, and he was thinking of you until his very last moment."

"He's a tough opponent... He's going to great lengths to kill me, just because I'm part of your dream..."

"Shut up, brat." Zabuza's voice was squeezed out from between his teeth.

"His dream... is your dream... how pitiful..." Naruto seemed not to hear him, continuing to knock on his defenses with his words, "He liked you so much, admired you so much... but in the end he could only die like a disposable tool... what a cruel and pitiful life."

"I told you to shut up!!"

Zabuza suddenly let out a near-collapsed roar, forcefully interrupting Naruto's words. His heart could no longer bear the immense pain and guilt.

Finally, scalding tears broke through all restraints. The "demon" who had never shown weakness in front of anyone now shed tears uncontrollably, which mixed with the blood on his face and dripped onto the bridge.

"I know...I know! Bai...Bai is just a complete pushover! He's an idiot!"

How could he not care? Bai's "death" had already shattered his heart into a million pieces. But he himself had never realized that in the days and nights he spent with Bai, he could not sever this feeling, and could no longer regard Bai merely as a tool.

"A true ninja"? At this moment, Zabuza finally understood one thing—ninjas are also human beings, with flesh and blood, capable of feeling pain and tears, and cannot be emotionless killing tools.

"Hey...you bunch of guys, aren't you really taking me too seriously?" Kado, left standing to the side, chuckled impatiently, breaking the heavy atmosphere. "Fine, it's not worth wasting my time and money on you dying people. Attack! Kill them all!"

At his command, the group of thugs behind him, who had been eager to fight, immediately brandished all sorts of weapons and swarmed around him, shouting.

I... must do something for Bai in the end...

Zabuza was absolutely certain. His tear-blurred vision was fixed on Gato, the one who had desecrated Haku's "body".

Very good... It seems he has come to terms with his own feelings.

Seeing Zabuza's reaction, Naruto knew the time was ripe. Next, it was time for another "self" to appear.

Zabuza flexed his last remaining, still-movable arm, his eyes burning with a death wish, preparing to charge at Gato and his mob for a final battle—at this very moment!

"boom!!!!--"

A violent hurricane suddenly swept up the bridge without warning! The powerful wind pressure even caused the small-statured Kado to stumble and almost fall to the ground! Satsuki's expression changed drastically, not knowing what this sudden change was. She instinctively shielded the seemingly weak Naruto behind her.

Kakashi immediately went on high alert again, his Sharingan rapidly scanning his surroundings. A hurricane of this magnitude... could not possibly be a natural phenomenon!

"Who is it?!" Kado shouted in surprise and doubt, and his men looked around in panic.

Just then, clear footsteps came from the other end of the bridge. It sounded like two people's footsteps.

Under the watchful and uncertain gazes of all, two figures slowly walked through the still-simmering wind pressure.

The leader wore a strange fox mask and a long black robe, while behind him was a man in a black robe who exuded danger—Kakuzu.

Menma, wearing a fox mask, stopped in his tracks, his gaze sweeping across the entire area before finally settling on Kado. His voice, transmitted through the mask, resonated clearly in everyone's ears.

"This pointless farce can end now."

"I'm sorry, I can't let these two die here..."

His tone suddenly turned incredibly cold, "The one who truly deserves to die—is you, Kado."