Chapter 25: The Bridge of Phantoms
The air on the bridge was heavy with the silence of the fallen. Tools lay scattered where they had been dropped, and the bridge workers were slumped over their posts, unconscious but, thankfully, still breathing. Tazuna's breath hitched, a choked cry escaping his lips as he ran towards one of his men.
"They're just knocked out," Kakashi confirmed, his Sharingan sweeping over the scene. "A non-lethal approach. They're trying to isolate us."
As if summoned by his words, a thick, cloying mist began to roll in from the sea, swallowing the skeletal framework of the bridge in a damp, grey shroud. Visibility dropped to near zero.
Sakura shivered, drawing a kunai. "It's starting."
"They're here, Kakashi," Naruto stated, his voice calm and clear in the disorienting fog. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword.
From the swirling vapors, four figures emerged like phantoms. At the forefront stood Zabuza Momochi, his massive Executioner's Blade resting on his shoulder. Beside him, the masked, slender form of Haku. A short distance away, Raiga Kurosuki appeared, a manic grin on his face and a small earpiece nestled in his ear. The final figure stood perched atop the bridge's metal superstructure, looking down on them. He was lanky and cruel-faced, the long, needle-like sword Nuibari held loosely in his hand.
Zabuza's gaze flickered upwards. "Kuriarare," he grunted, recognizing his face and the blade. "So you're one of Gato's new dogs."
Raiga let out a cackle, his eyes glinting with madness. "Kushimaru's little brother, isn't it? I always hated that sadistic bastard."
Ameyo Kuriarare smirked from his perch. "It's an honor to be recognized by legends. I assume you're also here on Gato's payroll."
"Don't get in my way," Raiga snarled, pointing one of the Kiba blades at Naruto. "The brat with the cherry blossoms... his funeral is mine to conduct."
"The old man is my target," Zabuza added, his voice a low growl. "Stay out of it."
Ameyo's smirk widened. He gave Raiga a mock bow. "I'll gladly stay out of your business, Raiga-dono. An artist should be allowed his canvas." He then turned his gaze to Zabuza, his tone hardening. "But the bridge builder... Gato's contract states whoever gets the head gets the prize. I have no intention of letting you claim it, Demon of the Mist."
Before Zabuza could retort, a new figure materialized, seemingly from the steel girders of the bridge itself. He was a solid, powerfully built man clad in the flak jacket of a Stone Jōnin.
"Enough talk," Ganseki said, his voice a low rumble. "The client isn't paying for posturing."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. His gaze swept over Ameyo and Ganseki, a flicker of recognition in his expression. So, he thought, these are the two I sensed watching the house.
He took a subtle but deliberate step forward, positioning himself slightly ahead of his team and the terrified bridge builder. Though his primary duty was to his family back at the Hyūga estate, his vow of protection was an extension of his very being. These people, this mission—they were now under his purview. He would not allow them to fall.
The tension on the bridge was a palpable thing, a coiled serpent ready to strike. The villains were not a united front; they were a pack of wolves, each ready to tear the others apart for the prize.
Kakashi's visible eye hardened. "Sasuke, Sakura, protect Tazuna. Do not engage unless you have to."
Sasuke's Sharingan spun, his gaze locked on the array of powerful enemies. "Who do we..."
"Naruto," Kakashi said, his voice low and serious. "You and I will take the vanguard. We need to thin their numbers."
Naruto gave a curt nod, his hand tightening on Senbonzakura.
Raiga laughed, the sound echoing unnervingly in the mist. "Splitting up the duties? How professional!" He raised his Kiba blades, lightning beginning to crackle around them. "Let's see whose funeral we'll be planning first!"
The battle on the bridge was about to begin.
___
Chapter 26 The Smallest Hero
While the main confrontation raged on the bridge, a different kind of evil arrived at Tazuna's home. Two brutish samurai, hired thugs in Gato's employ, kicked open the door with a splintering crash. Tsunami gasped, instinctively moving to shield her son.
"Where's the bridge builder?" the first man, a portly brute with a scarred face, growled.
"He's not here," Tsunami replied, her voice trembling but firm.
"Doesn't matter," the second thug sneered, grabbing her arm. "You'll make a fine bargaining chip. Let's go."
They dragged a struggling Tsunami out into the muddy yard. Just as they did, Inari burst from the house, his small face pale with terror but set with a desperate resolve.
"Let her go! Let my mom go!" he screamed, planting his feet in the dirt.
Hidden in the dense foliage nearby, Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai watched the scene unfold. Kiba's muscles were coiled tight, every instinct screaming at him to intervene.
"That's it, I'm going in," he whispered, his knuckles white. Akamaru let out a low growl of agreement.
"Wait," Shino's calm voice cut through Kiba's anger. His kikaichū insects buzzed faintly beneath his collar.
"Wait for what, Shino?! They've got his mom!" Kiba hissed.
"The logical conclusion," Shino stated, his dark glasses hiding his eyes. "Inari has been paralyzed by fear since Kaiza's death. He believes heroes don't exist and that the weak can do nothing but die. This is his moment to prove himself wrong. To intervene now would be to rob him of that lesson."
Kiba stared at Shino in disbelief, but Kurenai, hidden beside them, gave a slow, deliberate nod. "Shino is right," she murmured, her gaze fixed on the boy. "This is his fight to start."
The bandits laughed at Inari's defiance. "Look at the little hero," the scarred one mocked. "What are you gonna do, cry at us?" He drew his sword, its cruel edge glinting. "Maybe we should just kill you now. Save Gato the trouble later."
Tsunami's eyes widened in horror. "No! If you touch him, I swear, I'll bite off my own tongue and die! You'll have no hostage then!"
The thug hesitated, then grunted in annoyance. "Fine. The woman's more valuable anyway." He turned, dragging Tsunami with him. "Let's get out of here."
They started to walk away, leaving Inari standing alone, tears streaming down his face. He watched them go, his body shaking with a mixture of terror and despair. The words of Kakashi echoed in his mind—a true hero is someone who stands up for what they believe in, especially when they're afraid.
He thought of Kaiza, of his grandfather, of the shinobi who were risking their lives. His small hands clenched into fists. He wouldn't just stand there. Not again.
"NO!" Inari screamed, his voice raw with emotion. With a desperate cry, he charged forward, running straight at the armed men who held his mother captive.
"Inari, no!" Tsunami cried out in terror.
The second bandit sneered, turning with lightning speed. "Stupid kid!" He raised his sword, bringing the heavy blade down in a lethal arc aimed directly at Inari's head.
The blade never landed.
With a sharp clang of steel on steel, the sword was stopped cold, just inches from Inari's face. Shino stood between the boy and the bandit, a kunai held firmly in his hand, his other arm protectively in front of Inari. A swarm of his kikaichū insects buzzed ominously around his arm.
"That was a foolish, reckless, and illogical decision," Shino said, his voice as calm as ever as he pushed the bandit's sword back. He then glanced down at the stunned, tear-streaked boy. "It was also incredibly brave. Well done, Inari."
Before the bandits could react to Shino's sudden appearance, they were beset from the other side.
"Fang over Fang!"
Kiba and Akamaru burst from the trees in a single, spinning drill of feral chakra, slamming into the scarred bandit and sending him flying into the side of the house with a bone-jarring crunch.
The second thug, stunned by the ambush, turned just in time to see Kurenai appear before him in a swirl of leaves. Her sharp, crimson eyes seemed to glow with intensity.
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death."
In an instant, the world around the bandit warped. He found himself bound tightly to an illusory tree, helpless as Kurenai approached with a kunai. The mental shock was so severe that he collapsed to the ground, unconscious, his mind trapped in the genjutsu.
Kiba landed with a grin, dusting off his hands as he nudged the unconscious bandit with his foot. "See? That's what happens when you mess with the good guys!" he declared, finally getting to release his pent-up frustration.
Kurenai emerged from the trees, her expression proud as she looked over her team. The bandits were defeated, Tsunami was safe, and a small, crying boy had just discovered the hero within himself. The lesson was complete.
----
Chapter 27: The Bridge of Sacrifices
The mist descended like a shroud, thick and absolute. Zabuza's signature jutsu turned the massive, half-finished bridge into a phantom realm where sight was a liability and sound was a liar.
"Stay together! Protect Tazuna at all costs!" Kakashi's voice cut through the fog, a sharp command that anchored his students. "Hinata, you are our eyes! Do not let them out of your sight!"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" Hinata's voice was firm, her Byakugan already blazing to life, veins standing out around her temples. The world of grey mist dissolved into a 360-degree tapestry of chakra networks.
The attack came without warning. Two blurs of motion separated from the enemy group. One, a storm of crackling lightning, shot directly toward Naruto. The other, a demonic silhouette with a massive blade, engaged Kakashi. The clash of steel and the roar of thunder echoed, and the two Jōnin-level conflicts vanished deeper into the mist, leaving the genin alone with the remaining threats.
"Sakura, Hinata! Formation Delta! Protect the workers!" Sasuke barked, taking charge. He, Sakura, and Hinata formed a protective triangle around the terrified Tazuna and the handful of workers.
Their opponents did not attack them directly. They were predators, and they understood their prey's weakness.
From his high perch, Ameyo Kuriarare laughed, a thin, cruel sound. "Protecting the sheep? How noble!" He didn't lunge for the shinobi. Instead, he hurled Nuibari in a wide, graceful arc, not at the defenders, but over them. The long, needle-like blade sailed through the mist, aimed squarely at the cluster of bridge workers huddled twenty meters away. The razor-thin wire attached to it was nearly invisible, a deadly thread meant to stitch them all together in a single, gruesome display.
"The workers!" Sakura screamed in horror.
Sasuke's Sharingan tracked the needle, but he was too far away to intercept. He was pinned down, needing to stay with Tazuna. It was a perfect tactical move, forcing an impossible choice.
But they had an advantage Ameyo hadn't counted on.
"I see it!" Hinata declared. Her Byakugan followed the path of the chakra-laced wire with perfect clarity. There was no time to run, no time to block. She had to do something unprecedented.
Pushing past her limits, she dashed forward, not toward the workers, but toward the wire itself as it sang through the air.
"Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!"
Chakra flared around her hands, forming the ethereal blue lion heads. She didn't strike the needle. She struck the wire. The moment her chakra-infused fists made contact, the lion heads roared silently, their chakra-draining properties surging into the thin metal thread.
Ameyo, reeling in his blade for the kill, felt the chakra in his wire sputter and die. The needle faltered mid-flight, its momentum disrupted, and clattered harmlessly onto the steel beams of the bridge, meters short of its target.
From his perch, Ameyo stared in disbelief. "What? She negated my chakra?"
He didn't have time to ponder it. The second attack had already begun.
Ganseki, the pragmatic Stone Jōnin, slammed his hands onto the bridge's surface. "No time for games. If the sheep are on the bridge, then I'll just destroy the bridge!"
"Earth Style: Stone Dragon's Maw!"
The steel and concrete beneath the workers groaned and then erupted. A massive head formed of rock and debris lunged upwards, jaws wide, intending to swallow the workers and that entire section of the bridge whole.
There was no dodging it. It was too big, too wide.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, chakra burning in his chest. A normal fireball wouldn't stop it. He had to overwhelm it. He had to push past his own limits.
"Sakura, get them down!" he yelled, his hands a blur of seals.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Instead of a single massive fireball, three distinct dragon-headed torrents of flame erupted from Sasuke's mouth, weaving through the air like living creatures. They converged on the stone dragon's head from multiple angles, superheating the rock and steel. The sound of hissing, cracking stone filled the air as the earthen jaw began to crumble under the intense, sustained heat. The strain was immense; Sasuke felt his chakra reserves plummeting, his throat burning from the effort, but he held the stream, his Sharingan spinning wildly as he poured everything he had into the attack.
While Sasuke held back the dragon, Sakura acted. Her mind raced, her fear eclipsed by a surge of adrenaline. She shoved Tazuna and a worker to the ground as a superheated chunk of rock flew past her head. "GET DOWN! CRAWL AWAY FROM THE EDGE!" she commanded, her voice clear and authoritative, shocking even herself. She was no longer just a spectator; she was a field commander for the civilians.
They had stopped the overt attacks. They had pushed past their limits to protect the innocent. But in focusing on the loud, spectacular threats, they had forgotten the silent one.
From the swirling mist, a figure materialized directly beside the cowering Tazuna. It was Haku. She moved without a sound, her presence as quiet and cold as ice. The defenders were all occupied—Sasuke was locked in a battle of attrition with Ganseki, Hinata was recovering from her bold gambit against Ameyo, and Sakura was evacuating the workers.
No one was left to guard the primary target.
Haku's masked face turned towards Tazuna. Two senbon needles, glinting with deadly precision, were held between her fingers. Her hand rose, poised to strike the vital point on the bridge builder's neck. The defenders had won the battle, but in the chaos, they were about to lose the war.