If Kakashi had been holding back before, he was undoubtedly serious now.
"Lightning Blade!" Flashes of electricity crackled around his right hand. Before Zabuza could even see what was happening, the Lightning Blade came at him at high speed and forced him back. He had no choice but to block the strike with the Kubikiribōchō.
But Zabuza had still underestimated the Lightning Blade's power. The Kubikiribōchō was knocked right out of his hands.
Zabuza hurriedly tried to take the opportunity to retreat, but Kakashi gave him no chance. He pressed forward relentlessly, with no intention of letting him go.
Seeing that Kakashi would not give up, Zabuza had no choice but to stop and prepare to strike back.
Standing on the water, both sides began forming Hand Seals.
"Ox, monkey, rabbit, rat, boar, rooster." Zabuza was then astonished to discover that Kakashi's Hand Seals were in exactly the same order as his own, and even faster.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" Kakashi finished his Hand Seals first, and a current of water rose into a dragon over ten meters long.
Zabuza then completed his Hand Seals as well.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" The two Water Dragon Bullets intertwined, but Kakashi's was clearly faster and smashed straight through Zabuza's water dragon.
Just as Kakashi was about to deliver a fatal blow to Zabuza with a Kunai, a Senbon shot toward Zabuza even faster. Zabuza had already fallen before he could react.
A boy dressed like an Anbu member stepped forward.
"This man was a missing-nin being hunted by Kirigakure. Thank you all for your help."
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Obito gathered around.
"What the heck? Why didn't you come out when we were in danger? Now that he's about to die, you show up and take the credit," Naruto said indignantly.
They had gone to so much trouble to defeat the man with the big sword.
Haku spoke. "This man was a Kirigakure missing-nin—Demon Blade Zabuza. I did not help earlier because I was no match for him."
"However, Kirigakure should take care of Zabuza's body. After all, I need it to complete my mission."
After listening to Haku, Kakashi did not want to stir up more trouble. He was just about to agree when a voice rang out.
"Don't let them get away!" At last, Rin, Kurenai Yuhi, and a ninja with emerald-green eyes came into view. Obito seemed to have seen the ninja somewhere before, though he could not quite remember.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" Mei Terumi said irritably. She had not expected the Uchiha who had stared at her when they first met to be just the same this time.
"Huh? Me?" Obito thought there had to be a misunderstanding. He had clearly just been trying to remember where he had seen her.
Mei Terumi had not yet become the mature, dignified Mizukage she would later be. At this point, she was occasionally a little high-strung and prone to bouts of temper.
Kakashi, meanwhile, stared in shock at the identical girl before him.
Rin Nohara was relieved she had hurried here. Kakashi had nearly let Zabuza go.
"Rin, what's going on?" Before Obito could get an answer, Haku saw that the plan had been exposed and ran off with Zabuza without looking back.
Seeing that Zabuza had escaped in the end, Rin sighed. What she had feared most had happened after all.
When she, Kurenai Yuhi, and Mei Terumi of Kirigakure first arrived, they discovered that the Inventory System had given them all missions to kill Zabuza, and the three immediately formed a small group.
But they had spawned rather far away, and it had taken them a long time to follow the others' trail and catch up. Even so, they had not expected him to get away.
"But, you're Rin, right?" Kakashi said, looking at her somewhat nervously.
Looking at Kakashi, who was a full head taller than her, Rin could not help laughing at the sight of him. The Kakashi she knew had never looked like this before.
"I just saw that Kirigakure Anbu clearly drive a Senbon into him," Kakashi said, puzzled.
At that moment, Mei Terumi stepped forward.
"You don't know, do you? It's a very special Kirigakure technique. By inserting a Senbon into the neck, you can temporarily induce a state of suspended death," Mei Terumi explained to everyone.
Revealing one's village secrets like this was normally a grave taboo, but now that Zabuza had actually deserted the village, how could she hold back? So she decisively told everyone the secret.
"I see. I was wondering why that Anbu insisted on taking Zabuza's body," Obito said, suddenly understanding.
"Zabuza's partner is awful!" Naruto said angrily when he heard he had been deceived.
In the end, Zabuza had escaped, and Rin and the other two had failed to complete their missions. Everyone could only give up.
Meanwhile, after carrying Zabuza a long way away, Haku hurriedly used a special method to wake him.
"Mr. Zabuza, the mission failed. Someone discovered how we faked your death," Haku said.
Zabuza's expression was grim. His mission had been to assassinate Tazuna and the ninja he had hired from Konoha, but that damned old man Gato had never said one of them was a Jonin.
And he was no ordinary Jonin. Kakashi Hatake's name was famous throughout the Shinobi World. Zabuza thought about how he had fought a Jonin of that caliber for a reward of only a few million, and had nearly lost his life this time.
"Come on, Haku, let's go back. We can't stay in the Land of Waves for now!" Zabuza said to Haku.
Haku was deeply confused. They had not yet gone to Gato to collect the reward that belonged to them.
"I'm afraid we won't be able to collect the reward. Did you notice the three girls who came later?" Zabuza recalled the presence he had sensed while feigning death. It was definitely that woman; there was no mistaking it.
"Mei Terumi of Kirigakure. That was definitely her presence." Although Zabuza had not seen her, he still trusted his senses.
"In that case, let's leave the Land of Waves at once. I'm afraid Kirigakure's Anbu will be after us soon," Haku said in agreement.
Little did they know that their departure would set the butterfly's wings beating, directly affecting how events unfolded afterward. Zabuza and Haku did not die in the Land of Waves.
Likewise, Naruto never met Haku and never witnessed the scene that would have influenced him for the rest of his life.
Tazuna had not expected that a small bridge-building mission of his would bring him into contact with two elite Jonin at once. For Tazuna, who had barely seen any ninja in his life, this was just too awesome!
The Inventory System's missions were almost over. Shu had been eliminated, and with Zabuza leaving the Land of Waves, Rin and the other two were sure to fail their missions as well.
Hozuki Mangetsu's mission conflicted with those of Might Guy and Yugito Nii, so only one group was destined to complete their missions successfully.
At that moment, Obito suddenly felt that he was a ninja favored by heaven and earth. Everything had gone smoothly along the way, and he was about to complete his mission. The thought made him laugh happily.
Sakura and Naruto were very curious about Rin and the other two. As for Sasuke, all I can say is that he had no interest in anything other than the Uchiha Clan and that man.
Rin noticed that Kakashi looked worried and guessed that he might have something he wanted to tell her.
"Kakashi, I didn't expect you to have changed so little after all these years," Rin said with a smile.
Just as Kakashi wanted to tell Rin what would happen in the future, he found, as expected, that he could not say it. He could only sigh and hope Rin would notice something.
Rin, Kurenai Yuhi, and Mei Terumi gradually began to turn transparent.
Seeing this, Obito hurriedly reached for Rin, but his hand passed through her body.
Rin seemed to receive some information. She told Obito not to worry: her mission had failed, and she was about to be transported back.
And so, Rin and the other two were transported out of the instance without having done much of their missions.