Chapter 497: Haku + Zabuza vs A

*Author Note*

Sorry for not posting a chapter yesterday. Something good happened and I might or might not have gotten a teeny tiny little bit drunk with a few friends.

Considering what I’m writing, writing drunk might have unlocked my true hidden potential, but I decided not to test that out.

*End of Author Note*

A few minutes later, Haku had sweat flowing down their head as they were heavily panting, trying to catch their breath. In front of them stood A, who still seemed to be unhurt except for a few minor scratches all over his body. He still had not switched to using only one finger, which would significantly increase his attack power. However, Haku and Zabuza both knew that him, reducing the finger count, was only a question of time.

Zabuza took another swallow breath and glanced at his sword to check its condition. First of all, the whole thing was covered in a thin sheen of ice, which he was pretty sure was the only reason that it was still intact.

Although Haku and Zabuza were at their limit, they continued pushing since they knew that the preparations would be done soon. Neither of them was an especially good sensor, but they could tell that someone was preparing something to stop the Raikage.

Yet again, A charged at the trio, causing them to grit their teeth. Zabuza moved forwards as well and lowered his sword to slash upward.

*BOOM* Another devasting explosion ravaged the battlefield as the two powerful strikes collided. Zabuza could feel himself getting pushed back, but before that could happen, a pillar of ice rose from the ground and pushed against Zabuza’s sword, increasing the pushback against A’s finger stab.

Simultaneously, a single icicle shot out of the ground towards A’s back. However, he completely ignored the attack, and as soon as it collided with him, the icicle simply broke apart, causing Haku to click her tongue.

Another ice pillar burst forth in front of Zabuza to help him disengage the Raikage, but this time, A powerfully stamped the ground, obliterating the pillar.

However, Zabuza used the chance when A was temporary not standing on both of his feet and gave A another push, resulting in him stumbling backward a little, giving Zabuza a chance to take some distance.

“Damn, this guy is a monster.”

“Indeed, I guess the only ones who can actually defeat him in real combat are Yuna and Naruto.”

Although Zabuza frowned a little when Haku mentioned Naruto’s name, he could only agree with her words. If it was a question of raw firepower, then no one could match Yuna and Naruto.

“Although it was fun playing with you, it’s time to end this.”

Haku grimaced when she heard A’s words, but moments later, a smile appeared on her face as she relaced her posture.

“Indeed, this fight is over.”

A was confused about what Haku was talking about, but not even a second later, his unasked question was answered.

“[Uzumaki Sealing Style: 16 Pillar Prison Array]” x16

Sixteen light beams shot up into the sky around the position where Haku, Zabuza, and A were fighting. Moments later, gigantic red walls appeared between the sixteen pillars, forming a gigantic hexadecagon.

As soon as Haku saw the barrier appearing, she clapped her hands together and pumped all the chakra she had left into her last jutsu. Thousands of gigantic icicles appeared in midair, floating around Haku. The pointed ends were pointed at A, and without a second of hesitation, all of them shot at him like bullets.

As soon as Haku had fired her jutsu, Zabuza grabbed her and started running towards the closest barrier wall. A wanted to chase after them, but such an amount of powerful attacks was too much for A to simply ignore. He was still not taking any damage, but he couldn’t move forward either.

After a few seconds of running, they reached the border of the barrier, and a small passage immediately opened up in front of them, allowing them to leave the trap.

“Haha, good job holding him back for so long, you know. This sealing arrangement is not easy to make.”

Haku and Zabuza exhaustedly nodded at the Uzumaki, who allowed them to get out. He was sitting on the ground cross-legged, and one of his hands touched the massive barrier while the other one pointed skyward, creating a much smaller barrier that was only covering himself.

Neither Haku nor Zabuza knew anything about seals, but they assumed the smaller barrier was created to protect the caster. They weren’t sure how many people would be allowed to fall out before the barrier stopped working, so they assumed their guess was reasonable.

Meanwhile, a disdainful smile appeared on the Raikage face inside the entrapment.

“You want to trap me? ME, the one who carries the strongest spear? Courageous but stupid.”??????????ℯ?. ???

A switched to one finger, increasing the denseness and sharpness of his attacks even further. He flexed his muscles as the lightning chakra surrounding him got even more intense.

“Let me show you how futile your attempts of trapping me truly are. [Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite]”

A charged at the position where Haku and Zabuza exited with high speed, and he stabbed forward not even a second later. His lightning-covered finger crashed into the barrier, causing waves to form. A’s sneer deepened even further as he went all out.

“BREAK FOR ME!!!”

The ripples became stronger and stronger, and then… it happened. A lost all of his momenta, and before he knew what was going on, he was shot away from the barrier like a missile and crashed into the opposite wall.

Yet again, the barrier started rippling, but this time a little weaker than before. Before A could understand what just happened, he was yet again blasted away and crashed into the opposite wall.

This spectacle kept going for a while, and after a total of ten times, a twitching Raikage was lying in the middle of the barrier. He had no idea what just happened, and if he weren’t reanimated, he was pretty sure that he would be throwing up due to the rollercoaster ride he just went through.

While A had no clue what happened to him, loud cheering intermixed with cries of despair echoed over the battlefield.

“Hahaha, I knew it. He bounced ten times, you know!”

“That’s right, that was obvious, you know!”

“NOOO, WHY DID I BET ON THE ELEVENTH BOUNCE!?”

“DAMNIT, I WILL GIVE THE IDIOT WHO GUARANTEED ME IT WOULD BE NINE A BEATING, YOU KNOW!?”

And then, coupons for special ramen editions changed owners, leaving Haku and Zabuza completely dumbfounded.

‘ ‘ W-Where they betting on how many times he would bounce? I-Is that why it took so long to make the barrier? They were taking bets!’ ‘

Haku and Zabuza’s expressions became stern as they had already decided to ask Yuna for a proper investigation. If that is what actually happened, Teuchi will make significantly less money in the next few months.