Leveling Up and Fighting Bosses in a Private Venue

A thick, heavy fog drifted over the sea, a vast expanse of white that seemed to shroud heaven and earth alike.

Hinata sat gloomily at the bow. Team 7 had voted three to one to continue the mission, making Hinata wonder if Kakashi had a bubble in his brain.

Had he been infected by Naruto too?

The small boat moved forward slowly. Through the fog, a bridge dozens of meters high, already nearly half completed, appeared and disappeared from view.

Hinata looked up at it. It was quite spectacular.

Hinata suddenly turned and asked, "Uncle Tazuna, is the entire Land of Waves under Gato's control now?"

Tazuna sighed with a sorrowful expression. "Yes! Even the Daimyo can do little about Gato. The only thing that can threaten him is the completion of this bridge."

Hinata was somewhat puzzled. "But even if the bridge is completed, wouldn't Gato be able to control it easily with his influence? And Gato is a dangerous man who can even deploy ninja. Given the destructive power of ninja, wouldn't it be easy to destroy the bridge too?"

Tazuna: "..."

Whose kid was this? Why was she so annoying?

Did she have to crush his hopes before she was satisfied?

Tazuna said solemnly, "The reason I insist on building this bridge is to awaken the courage sleeping within the people of the Land of Waves. Once they have courage, Gato won't be so frightening anymore!"

Hinata spread her hands and said boredly, "What a hassle. Instead of hiring us to protect you while you build the bridge, why not spend more money and hire ninja to assassinate Gato?"

"If you wanted Gato assassinated, I'm sure many people in the Land of Waves would be willing to contribute money!"

Hinata felt that Tazuna was kind of an idiot, and a rather annoying one at that.

As long as Gato was alive, building the bridge was definitely useless. Since Gato controlled armed forces, he would certainly rule the bridge through force.

And he was talking about awakening the people's courage.

As long as Gato killed a few people, who would dare resist him?

Even if public outrage eventually boiled over, Gato could simply hire ninja to destroy the bridge.

What could be simpler?

So rather than hiring ninja to protect him while he built the bridge, it really would be more practical to spend a little more and hire ninja to assassinate Gato.

Was Tazuna overestimating Gato, or underestimating ninja?

"Hinata!"

Kakashi reminded her, "A country has its order, and ninja have theirs. Even if ninja possess power, they cannot act recklessly, or the whole world would fall into chaos."

Gato was still considered a wealthy man. If people like him could be casually assassinated by ninja, the world would eventually be gripped by panic.

After all, ordinary people still made up the majority of the world, and ninja mission payments also depended on those ordinary people.

"Fine, fine!" Hinata said indifferently. "I'll stop talking."

More than ten minutes later, the group of five arrived at the dock. The moment they stepped ashore, Naruto immediately began getting restless.

He had already shown off in front of Sasuke earlier. Now, he looked around eagerly, wanting to be the first to spot an enemy so he could show off again.

"Hm?"

Hinata and Kakashi both glanced toward the same spot without giving anything away. By sheer dumb luck, Naruto threw a Shuriken over there and shouted, "Over there!"

Kakashi glanced at Hinata and gave a slight nod.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata: "..."

It would have been better if she had not activated the Byakugan. The moment she did, Hinata suddenly realized that the waters of the Land of Waves ran very deep.

Zabuza and Haku?

They really ought to buy coffins and prepare to collect their own bodies.

Within the range of Hinata's Byakugan, aside from Zabuza and Haku, there were also two squads of Konoha Anbu and a squad of Hyuga Clan ninja.

They had hidden themselves well. Without the Byakugan, they truly would have been difficult to detect.

Thinking about it carefully, it made sense.

Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Hinata was the heir to the Hyuga Main Family, and there was Sasuke, the orphaned survivor of the Uchiha.

If anything happened to any one of the three, Konoha would suffer a tremendous loss.

This was the first time the three little rookies had traveled far from home for a mission. How could Konoha possibly not send people to protect them in secret?

When she saw the Hyuga Clan ninja, Hinata's heart became as sweet as honey. Her bargain-bin dad did care about her after all!

So Zabuza and Haku really were just minor bosses in the Novice Village. Their purpose was to train Team 7.

Fighting bosses, fighting bosses!

At that moment, Hinata truly felt as though she had reserved the entire place to level up by fighting bosses.

In the forest, Zabuza had also noticed Hinata. He was far too familiar with those pure white pupils.

"Luck is on my side today. I actually ran into the Byakugan of Konoha's Hyuga Clan here!"

"In that case... there seems to be no point in hiding any longer!"

"And isn't that Konoha's Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake? No wonder the Ghost Brothers were defeated!"

With that thought, Zabuza fiercely threw the Kubikiribōchō in his hand.

Outside the forest, Hinata had just discovered Zabuza and Haku when she leaned close to Kakashi and whispered, "There are two enemies..."

Before she could finish, Kakashi shouted, "Get down!"

Hinata and the others immediately dropped to the ground. The Kubikiribōchō spun over their heads, stirring up a violent gust of wind.

With both hands in his pockets, Kakashi teased in a relaxed tone, "Well, well! So it's Kirigakure's rogue ninja, Momochi Zabuza!"

Naruto excitedly wanted to rush forward and challenge Zabuza one-on-one, but Kakashi stopped him.

Kakashi was just about to explain how powerful and terrifying Zabuza was when he saw Hinata leap into the air. Azure Chakra Fists formed around both her hands, and she was only a little over five meters from Zabuza.

Move aside. I'm going to show off.

"Twenty Gods Vacuum Attack!"

Hinata shouted the name of her technique. She thrust both fists forward, and five Chakra Rays instantly sealed off every route Zabuza could use to evade.

Zabuza had noticed Hinata the moment she leaped into the air.

He glanced sideways at her.

Oh? A little Byakugan girl.

Zabuza said coldly, "Little girls like you should go home and play with dolls. Let me teach you what a real ninja is!"

Zabuza had not even planned to draw his blade against Hinata. Against rookie ninja like her, he could kill a thousand with one hand.

Then... Zabuza saw Hinata throw both fists forward, five Chakra Rays racing toward him at incredible speed.

"What?!"

Zabuza had never taken Hinata seriously. Now that she had suddenly unleashed a finishing move, he had nowhere to dodge, and it was already too late even to use a ninjutsu to block it.

At that moment, Zabuza could only do his best to judge the attack paths of the five Chakra Rays and avoid suffering more severe injuries.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Massive explosions rang out. The ground shook violently under the bombardment, and dust scattered everywhere. Even Hinata herself was forced back by the shockwaves, landing on a tree behind her.