Naruto: Reborn as Uchiha Obito-Chapter 169 166: The Moment Naruto Realized

Zabuza's growl echoed through the mist, low and feral.
His muscles tensed, his eyes sharpened, and a dark, murderous chakra surged around him.
But...
A laugh escaped him.
A low, disbelieving, almost impressed laugh.
"…Fufufufu… HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Zabuza straightened slowly, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, his voice dripping with twisted excitement.
"You're a dangerous little bastard… aren't you?"
Then he swung his massive Kubikiribōchō forward, pointing it straight at Sasuke.
"But brat… you think just because you poked a hole in me, you can talk down to a Seven Swordsman?"
"Stop talking," Sasuke said calmly. "You'll just get hit again."
His voice echoed from everywhere at once, vibrating through the mist.
"You want me to shut up…? THEN DIE QUIETLY!"
The killing intent slammed into them like a tidal wave.
Kakashi instantly stepped in front of the team, stance locked.
"Sasuke, get back—!"
Zabuza's voice whispered behind Kakashi:
"Too slow."
FWOOOOOOSH—!!
Kubikiribōchō sliced horizontally through the fog—
...cutting through where Kakashi had been standing.
But Kakashi wasn't there anymore.
He reappeared behind Sasuke, pushing him back by the shoulder.
"Sasuke, stay with the others. I'll handle—"
Sasuke brushed his hand off.
"I'm not backing down."
Sakura squeaked like a dying mouse.
"Sasuke-kun!! Don't be reckless—!"
"This is your blind angle," Sasuke said flatly, ignoring Sakura completely.
Zabuza froze, instincts screaming at him.
And in that instant...
CHhHHHH-CRACK—!!
Lightning exploded around Sasuke's hand again.
This time not a spear...
A shorter, concentrated burst.
A mini-spear—more like a sniper shot of lightning.
Before Zabuza could fully react...
Sasuke flicked it.
A lightning round blasted through the mist—
BZZZT—!!
Zabuza blocked it with his Executioner's Blade again—
But the impact sent him flying back through the fog, crashing through a tree trunk and skidding violently across the mud.
Zabuza dug his Executioner's Blade into the ground to stop himself.
"…Kid…"
He coughed once. Blood splattered the ground.
"You're beginning to piss me off."
Sasuke frowned slightly.
"You're still talking."
Zabuza nearly had a stroke.
And beneath the bandages—
He grinned wider than ever.
"You're dead."
Naruto, meanwhile, shook where he stood, staring at Sasuke acting cool as hell and then at his own trembling hands.
"Damnit… I can't do anything…"
That thought burned him.
He grit his teeth—
And plunged a kunai straight into his shoulder.
"ARRRGH!!"
Naruto roared, drawing everyone's attention instantly.
"Hey—what the hell are you doing, Naruto!?" Kakashi was immediately bewildered. For a moment he genuinely thought Zabuza's backup had stabbed Naruto but no, the kid was straight-up harming himself.
"This isn't the time for this…" Kakashi thought bitterly.
Even Sakura covered her mouth and stepped back, not sure if Naruto had completely lost it.
Naruto didn't care at all.
He grinned through the pain and declared:
"I will be Hokage one day! How can I stop here!?"
Then he activated the jutsu his mom had taught him...
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!
In an instant, the entire area filled with countless Narutos.
Naruto wasn't weak.
If anything, he was stronger than his anime counterpart at this same point in time.
His only real problem was simple:
Compared to Sasuke — who had actual combat experience... Naruto had zero.
So when Zabuza showed up, the killing intent alone froze him in place.
But not anymore.
Not after stabbing himself awake.
Not after remembering who he wanted to become.
--
Naruto stepped beside Sasuke, dozens of clones spreading out behind him like a chaotic army of blonde disasters.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous sight.
He didn't say anything… but one thought definitely crossed his mind:
…Hn. At least they aren't completely useless.
He gave Naruto a sideways glance — just a brief one before looking back toward Zabuza.
Naruto, of course, interpreted that glance as confirmation of his own greatness.
"Leave it to us, Kakashi-sensei!!"
Naruto said proudly, clapping his hands together in his iconic pose and flashing a grin big enough to power a small village.
Kakashi looked at Naruto…
Then at Sasuke…
Then back at Naruto…
And finally nodded — more reassured by Sasuke than Naruto by a country mile.
"Alright…" Kakashi sighed, stepping back to stand protectively near Tazuna and Sakura.
"Looks like you two have grown enough to handle this."
Sakura's eyes widened.
"Kakashi-sensei, is that really okay!?"
Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. If anything happens, I won't allow it."
His tone was firm — not boasting, just stating a fact.
With his speed, Kakashi could intervene at any moment.
"But…" Sakura started again, still anxious.
Kakashi lightly held up a hand to silence her.
"Sakura… relax, and watch. If you don't build courage like they have…"
His voice softened slightly.
"…you'll get left behind."
Sakura's breath caught.
She glanced toward Sasuke — fearless, cold, confident and Naruto, smiling like an idiot but standing without hesitation.
She clenched her fists.
--
Zabuza, meanwhile, stood in the thickening mist, staring down at the two little devils who dared step forward.
"Two little genin brats… against me — the Demon of the Mist? You've got some nerve."
Zabuza's killing intent surged.
He knew Sasuke was strong… but it was still humiliating nonetheless.
"Come then, brats."
Naruto cracked his knuckles.
"Heh—let's go, Sasuke!!"
Sasuke didn't look at him. He only said:
"Don't get in my way."
Naruto's grin didn't drop.
In fact, it grew.
"Hah! Then try to keep up!"
Zabuza's expression grew even more gloomy when he saw the blonde idiot treating him like some kind of side quest.
One moment he was standing there…
The next, the mist swallowed him whole.
Naruto tightened his fists.
"RAAAAHHHHH—GET HIM!!!"
The forest exploded with the sound of thousands of footsteps.
Zabuza reappeared behind the clones, swinging his Kubikiribōchō in a broad, deadly arc—
SWOOOSH!!
Dozens of Narutos burst into smoke at once.
But Naruto didn't panic.
His eyes tracked the movement and he grinned.
"Got you—!!"
He lunged from behind, fist ready to smash Zabuza's face...
But Zabuza grinned as his body turned into water, the clone engulfing the attacking Naruto.
That Naruto also burst into smoke.
"Tch."
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bomb!"
A massive water dragon tore through the side of the battlefield, annihilating dozens of clones.
Zabuza vanished just as a fireball crashed into where he'd been.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke's fire rolled across the clearing—he missed, but barely.
"Hah… these brats are a handful," Zabuza muttered, clutching his bleeding chest. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He had planned to take out the blond idiot first, but who knew he was strong too?
And being injured by Sasuke earlier made the situation worse.
"Should I…?" For a brief second, Zabuza considered abandoning the mission.
Dying here to brats would be pathetic.
"So… you're hiding here."
That voice behind him made every hair on his neck stand up.
Zabuza spun—
Behind him was a grinning blond brat with swirling chakra condensed in his palm.
The Rasengan.
Minato's technique and now Naruto had learned it too.
The spiraling sphere roared, wind screaming around it.
SHUUN—!!
Zabuza's eyes widened.
"This jutsu—!?"
Naruto slammed it forward—
"RASENGAN—!!"
Zabuza blocked with Kubikiribōchō, but the force was monstrous.
The massive Executioner's Blade was shoved back.
Zabuza's feet plowed two deep trenches into the mud.
"GRRRRR—!!"
Naruto grinned through the resistance.
"Hehe—what's wrong, huh!? Can't keep up!?"
Zabuza bared his teeth and pushed harder...
A mistake.
Because Sasuke wasn't about to waste an opening.
He blurred behind Zabuza like a shadow slicing through fog.
Zabuza's instincts screamed—
Too late.
CHING—!!
Sasuke's Chidori-covered hand slashed across Zabuza's back, cutting deep.
"GAAAH—!!"
The Demon of the Mist staggered—
And Naruto's Rasengan SMASHED into him a second later...
BOOOOOOM—!!
A shockwave ripped through the field as Zabuza was launched like a ragdoll, slamming into a boulder hard enough to crack it down the center.
Naruto pumped his fist.
"HAHA!! Nice! We got him, Sasuke!! Now we can tie him up before he—"
But Sasuke was already standing in front of Zabuza's collapsed form.
"S-Sasuke? What are you—?"
Zabuza coughed blood, trying to push himself upright.
Sasuke didn't give him the chance.
He stepped forward, Chidori crackling in his hand—
ZZZZT!
And drove it right through Zabuza's throat.
Zabuza's eyes widened as he stared at the boy's cold expression.
Damn it…
Then they dimmed.
His body slumped.
Silence swallowed the mist.
Even the Naruto clones stopped moving.
Naruto's stomach dropped. His expression twisted with shock and anger.
"W…what…?"
Sasuke pulled his arm free without emotion, flicking the blood aside.
He didn't think he'd done anything wrong.
"Why did you—!?" Naruto yelled, stepping forward.
"We could've captured him! That's what shinobi—!"
Sasuke finally turned, Sharingan dull and cold.
"He tried to kill us," he said, voice steady.
"Then naturally he should be ready to get killed."
He wiped his hand clean on Zabuza's sleeve.
Naruto felt something cold crawl up his spine.
Not fear but realization.
Sasuke wasn't like him.
He was…
"S-Sasuke… that's…"
Sasuke met his eyes, sighed, and shoved his hands into his pockets. He really didn't feel like dealing with such idiocy.
"That's the shinobi world, Naruto."
He sheathed his kunai.
"If you strike first, be ready to be killed."
Behind them, Kakashi's expression hardened, silently taking in Sasuke's merciless efficiency.
"…So this is the path he chose," Kakashi whispered.
He understood Sasuke and approved.
Showing mercy to enemies was cruelty to yourself.
Sakura, meanwhile, stood frozen, staring at a Sasuke who looked familiar… yet terrifyingly unfamiliar.
Sasuke walked past Naruto without looking at him.
"We're done here."
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