Zabuza Attacks

"Exactly, Sasuke is right. This is the kind of profession we ninja have. All right, take your time understanding the rest. Right now, I have something to ask Mr. Tazuna."

"Me? What could you possibly want to ask me?" Tazuna still acted as though nothing had happened.

"I noticed those two ninja long ago. Taking them out would have been easy, but I needed to know who their target was—us Konoha ninja, or someone else. Their final attack was aimed at you, Mr. Tazuna. That is the ninja code: even in death, complete the mission. So the target of their desperate final strike had to be their ultimate target. Is there anything you would like to say, Mr. Tazuna?" Kakashi stared at Tazuna. "When you made the request, you never mentioned attacks by ninja. Your mission was to prevent attacks by bandits or armed groups, but this situation already qualifies as a B-Rank Mission or higher. The enemy even dispatched Chunin. Our mission is to protect you until the bridge is completed, but if the enemy consists of ninja, then this mission must be classified as B-Rank or above. We know you must have your reasons, but if you do not tell us the truth, it puts us in a difficult position as well. This has already gone beyond the scope of our mission."

"This kind of mission is still too early for us. Let's go back." Sakura had truly been frightened just now. With life and death hanging in the balance, she did not want to continue the mission.

"No, we will continue the mission. We cannot give up halfway. I swear that in the next battle, I will not be dead weight again." Naruto shouted. He felt that the gap between himself and Sasuke was enormous, and that his dream was still so far away.

"Well, I admit that I concealed the truth, but I had no choice. The Land of Waves is a small and very poor country. Even the Daimyo does not have much money. I cannot afford the exorbitant fee for a B-Rank Mission. The bridge I am building can be called the bridge of hope for the Land of Waves, but Gato has been trying to stop me. Now that the bridge is nearly complete, he will stop at nothing."

"Gato? You mean Gato Company's Gato? One of the richest men in the world?" Kakashi seemed to have heard of him.

"That's right. On the surface, he is the owner of a shipping company, but in secret, he employs ninja and thugs to trade contraband and drugs. He even forcibly takes over other companies and countries. He is a vicious bastard who devours people whole. More than a year ago, he set his sights on the Land of Waves. He used the same old methods, controlling all sea traffic and transportation in the Land of Waves through money and violence. For an island nation like the Land of Waves, controlling the seas means controlling all its wealth, power, and people. The only thing Gato fears is the bridge I am about to complete. It will destroy Gato's monopoly. It is the Great Naruto Bridge of the Land of Waves." After saying that, he looked at Kakashi and the others. Then he added, "Well, it is fine if you want to end the mission. After I die, only my adorable little grandson will cry his heart out, and my daughter will hate Konoha ninja for the rest of her life before living on in loneliness."

Sasuke was speechless. He had never seen such a shameless old man. Was he threatening them?

"Don't worry about it. This is not your fault," Tazuna said with a wave of his hand. Was that not just twisting the knife? What did he mean, it was not their fault? Kakashi looked at him helplessly, then turned to Sasuke. Sasuke could only nod in agreement. In truth, he would rather return to the village and do those D-Rank Missions, or genuine C-Rank Missions. Skipping ranks was not a good idea. It was too dangerous.

"All right, we will continue the mission. Let's set out now. I will send a signal to notify the border patrol about these two ninja." They were about to reach the border, which was why the Demon Brothers had chosen to strike there. After all, they could flee quickly after killing someone there.

After another day of travel, they arrived at the seaside. Tazuna found a friend and had him ferry them across the sea under the cover of thick fog. The small boat traveled alongside the unfinished bridge. Sasuke took a look at it. It was truly impressive. He had no idea how they had managed to build such a huge bridge in the sea. This really was a bizarre world.

Hidden by the fog, the group landed safely and headed toward Tazuna's home. Sasuke began to stay alert. Zabuza would be arriving soon. Naruto, meanwhile, kept walking at the front, acting as the scout—or at least, he seemed to think so. He looked around as he walked, putting on quite a convincing show.

Suddenly, Naruto threw a Kunai into the woods. The group stopped. "What did you find, Naruto?" Sakura asked. "I don't know. I suddenly felt like there was someone over there." Naruto walked over. This time, he was not just blindly guessing. He must have really noticed something. Sasuke did not follow him. Only Sakura and Naruto went over, and they found a rabbit.

"Naruto, look what you did!" Sakura roared. "Ah, sorry, little white rabbit." Naruto picked up the rabbit. It really was a Snow Rabbit. Sasuke had read extensively, and with his photographic memory, he did not need to rely on the plot to identify it. This kind of rabbit was raised by people. That must have been a Substitution Technique just now.

"Stay alert." Sasuke drew a Kunai and assumed a defensive stance. Naruto and Sakura froze, but out of trust in Sasuke, they immediately went on guard.

"Get down!" Kakashi suddenly shouted. Sasuke immediately grabbed Tazuna and dropped to the ground. A gust of wind whistled past as the Kubikiribōchō spun over everyone's heads and buried itself in a large tree. A figure landed on its handle. Sasuke pulled Tazuna back, leaving the main fighting position to Kakashi as Naruto and Sakura ran over.

After Naruto ran over, his body would not stop trembling. It was impossible to tell whether he was excited or afraid. Then he was about to charge forward, but Kakashi stopped him. "Fall back. This is not a fight you can take part in." As he spoke, he walked forward. "Isn't this the rogue ninja, Zabuza Momochi?"

"No wonder the Demon Brothers failed. So it was the Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. Now, please hand that old man behind you over to me. That way, we won't have to fight. Having three little brats with you must be troublesome."

"Well, that will not do. How could a ninja hand over the person he is protecting to his opponent? It seems this is going to be troublesome, so there is only one thing to do." As he spoke, Kakashi lifted his Forehead Protector, revealing the Sharingan he had kept hidden all this time. Sasuke did not feel anything special, since he had known about it long ago. Still, he was very curious. How could someone outside the Uchiha Clan use the Sharingan so well?