Though severely injured and weak, Zabuza did not give up. His face twisted into a ferocious snarl, like some kind of monster. "Kakashi," he rasped, "it seems your Sharingan takes quite a toll. Now, we've both reached our limit." He sneered cruelly, trying to lift his massive blade, only to find he had no strength left. He settled for a kunai, advancing step by step toward Kakashi.
"Zabuza-san, you're awake?" Haku asked, both surprised and delighted. In the original timeline, Zabuza had woken from his feigned death quickly, but just like now, he had been left with no strength.
As Zabuza approached, Hinata stepped in his path, her Byakugan blazing. "I will not allow you to hurt Kakashi-sensei or Tazuna-san!"
"Kid," Zabuza said coldly, "you've already exhausted your chakra, and you're still using that bloodline limit. You've reached your limit, haven't you? Get out of the way if you don't want to die!"
Hinata took a deep breath. "Not unless I die."
"Hinata..." Kakashi was taken aback.
"Then die!" Zabuza roared, mustering his last bit of strength and thrusting his kunai at her.
"Guardian Gentle Fist!" Hinata, with her remaining strength, activated her technique, directly blasting the kunai away and slamming her palm into Zabuza's body. Under normal circumstances, the blow would have done nothing. But Zabuza was like a candle flickering in the wind. He was sent flying and could no longer struggle to his feet. "You... you brat!"
Hinata picked up Zabuza's dropped kunai and approached him as he lay collapsed on the ground. She resolutely raised the blade to his throat. "Release Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, or I'll kill him," she said to Haku, her voice steady.
Haku was terrified. "You... you'd really do that?"
"You're willing to pay any price to protect him," Hinata said in a low voice. "For Naruto-kun, for Kakashi-sensei, for Sasuke-kun... so am I."
Zabuza burst into maniacal laughter. "Kid! Have you ever killed anyone? You think killing is that simple? I am a demon who fought my way out of the Bloody Mist, who single-handedly wiped out all my classmates during my graduation exam! What do you hothouse flowers from Konoha know about being a real ninja, or what real killing is?!"
Hinata was terrified, but she forced herself to remain calm. "I don't understand what murder is. But I know what it means to protect the people who are most important to me. I would do anything for them."
Seeing this, Naruto was deeply shaken. "Hinata..."
In his spiritual realm, the Nine-Tailed Fox saw a golden opportunity. "How about it, kid? Would you like me to lend you my power? With my power, neither Haku nor Zabuza will be a match for you. You can rescue everyone!"
Naruto looked at the Nine-Tailed Fox in its dark cage and firmly shook his head. "I don't know what kind of monster you are, but if after all my hard work, I still need to borrow your strength... then what was the point of all my efforts?!" The Nine-Tailed Fox's pupils widened in shock, anger, and a strange mix of other emotions.
Naruto suddenly roared to the sky. "Sasuke! Hinata! Kakashi-sensei! All of you... I will protect you!" He wouldn't see Hinata put in such a difficult position. He would break through everything on his own. The recent turn of events had allowed him to regain some chakra. Panting heavily, he ignored the ice needles still piercing his body and formed a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Technique!" Only one weak clone appeared, but that was enough.
"Kakashi-sensei, the three days are up! Let me show you what I've accomplished!" Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but a confident smile appeared on his lips. "Speaking my mind and keeping my word—that's my ninja way! Wind Release: Great Breakthrough! Wind Release: Wind-Slicing Blade!"
In an instant, Naruto and his shadow clone simultaneously unleashed two completely different ninjutsu. The Great Breakthrough transformed into a fierce wind, and the Wind-Slicing Blade became an enormous, sharp wind blade. The two forces merged into one, a howling gale of surging wind blades. With a frantic roar and a sharp, sizzling sound, Naruto's desperate attack shattered and cut through all the remaining ice mirrors. They exploded into a shower of ice crystals, a magnificent and deadly sight.
Haku was forced out of the mirrors, spitting a mouthful of blood as he collapsed to the ground. Naruto finally appeared before everyone, victorious.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata was overjoyed, her eyes shining as she looked at her hero.
Kakashi's heart pounded with excitement. "Naruto actually mastered both techniques within three days! He truly is... a genius who surpasses me." But it wasn't just that. Naruto had been willing to risk his life to save Sasuke. Hinata had been willing to threaten a life to save Naruto, going against her gentle nature. And Naruto, wanting to spare Hinata from that difficult choice, had unleashed his full power to defeat a formidable enemy. At that moment, Kakashi truly felt it—a bond unique to Team 7. They had become a family. He smiled, a single tear welling up in his eye as an image surfaced in his mind: a photograph by his bedside, of Minato-sensei, Rin, and Obito.
With Zabuza dying and threatened by Hinata, and Haku severely injured and unable to get up, Naruto walked forward, blood trickling from his mouth, and looked at Haku, his heart filled with a storm of emotions.