Temporary Escape

Zabuza swung the long sword in his hand, doing his best to force Nadare Rōga back. His brow furrowed.

"What kind of transformation is this, a werewolf? Don't tell me you have something to do with the Inuzuka Clan?"

"Heh heh, this is the power we've newly acquired! With this power, even Kirigakure won't be a match for us!"

Nadare Rōga licked his clawed hand and spoke with a hint of excitement, a faint green glow flickering in his eyes.

Although he had transformed into a werewolf, only Nadare Rōga's nails had changed, so it did not interfere with his Hand Seals. The moment he finished speaking, he began forming seals with both hands.

"New power?" Zabuza recalled those strange Chunin, and his pupils contracted slightly. But this was no time to dwell on it. Seeing his opponent form Hand Seals, Zabuza immediately did the same and unleashed a ninjutsu.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

Almost instantly, both men used the same Water Release ninjutsu.

This was perfectly normal. Dragon Bullet techniques were widespread throughout the Ninja World, and after countless improvements, they had reached an almost perfect balance between power and difficulty. Otherwise, so many ninja would not have learned them.

The two Water Dragon Bullets collided head-on. Moments later, Nadare Rōga's Water Dragon Bullet gained the upper hand, quickly crushing Zabuza's and forcing him to dodge backward.

Fortunately, after breaking through Zabuza's Water Dragon Bullet, Nadare Rōga's technique had lost most of its power, sparing Zabuza from injury.

Their mastery of ninjutsu was nearly equal. Considering that Nadare Rōga had completed his Hand Seals before Zabuza, Zabuza was actually slightly more skilled in ninjutsu.

However, in terms of Chakra reserves, Nadare Rōga—after his modifications and training—far surpassed the still-young Zabuza. The power of all ninjutsu ultimately depended on the amount of Chakra, and with his absolute advantage in that regard, Nadare Rōga's techniques naturally possessed greater force and endurance than Zabuza's.

Unable to win through ninjutsu, Zabuza instinctively formed Hand Seals and used his signature technique, the Hidden Mist Technique. In an instant, thick fog filled the world, swallowing everyone within it.

Though the Silent Killing Technique was Zabuza's trademark, it was difficult to use in group battles. After all, it did not distinguish between friend and foe. Even Zabuza himself could see nothing in the dense mist, relying only on sound and basic sensory abilities to judge his opponents' movements.

Fortunately, Zabuza's own subordinates had also learned the Silent Killing Technique. Within such thick mist, they still possessed a certain degree of perception and could distinguish friend from foe. With a leader like him, if they had not learned the Silent Killing Technique, they might one day have been killed by their own leader's technique.

In his half-werewolf form, Nadare Rōga twitched his nose in the mist, bared his teeth in a savage grin, and said, "What an idiot. You actually used the Hidden Mist Technique against someone with the abilities of a Snow Wolf! Don't you know a wolf's sense of smell is forty times stronger than a human's?"

Indeed, aside from the Byakugan and sensory ninjutsu, ninja with extraordinary senses of smell or hearing could also be considered the bane of the Hidden Mist Technique. In the original story, the ones who truly defeated Zabuza were not so much Kakashi as Kakashi's Ninja Hounds.

Otherwise, whether Kakashi Hatake could have won against the Hidden Mist Technique would have remained unknown.

Kakashi needed the aid of Ninja Hounds to locate Zabuza, while Nadare Rōga's own sense of smell already surpassed theirs. Within the range of the Hidden Mist Technique, it only made things easier for him.

With a slight twitch of his nose, Nadare Rōga unhesitatingly threw a Shuriken in one direction. The sound of steel piercing flesh and a muffled groan soon came from there, followed by the slowly spreading scent of blood.

"First one!" Nadare Rōga sneered. Then his whole body became a white blur as he pounced in another direction, directly killing another Kirigakure ninja.

A few minutes later, the mist gradually dispersed. Only Nadare Rōga and his two subordinates remained standing, but Nadare Rōga's expression was terrible.

Casually tossing aside the garment in his hand, Nadare Rōga's face filled with furious frustration as he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Chase them!!"

Nadare Rōga had never expected Zabuza to pull an empty-fort trick on him. Zabuza himself had escaped long ago, and all that remained was a Water Clone wearing his clothes.

His sense of smell had been confused by Momochi Zabuza's clothing. Only when Nadare Rōga dispersed the Water Clone did he realize something was wrong, but by then Zabuza had already fled far away with a captive.

In truth, Nadare Rōga simply had not thought things through. Zabuza had fought in the Ninja World War. Although Kirigakure had always been the type to get eliminated in the first round, it was still far better than Nadare Rōga, a complete novice who had never experienced war.

In Zabuza's mind, they were merely a reconnaissance squad. Their most important task was to bring the intelligence back. Fighting the enemy to the death had never been part of Zabuza's considerations.

Even if Zabuza won the battle, it would have little meaning. What was more, this was Sea Country, where the enemy could receive fresh reinforcements at any moment. No matter how confident Zabuza was in himself, he did not believe his small advance squad could take on a ninja village with over a thousand people.

Under such circumstances, retreat was Zabuza's foremost priority. As for those Kirigakure subordinates of his, they were even less worthy of Zabuza's consideration.

Although Nadare Rōga immediately led his subordinates in pursuit, Zabuza was no pushover. He had long prepared his escape and certainly had not overlooked Nadare Rōga's dog-like nose.

Standing beside the river, Nadare Rōga's expression was incomparably grim. After taking several deep breaths, he finally gave up the chase.

For those with sharp senses of smell, the best way to shake them off was naturally a river. As long as one jumped into the water, no matter how powerful their sense of smell was, they would ultimately be unable to smell anything.

After that, all they had to do was come ashore somewhere upstream or downstream to escape their pursuers. The method was simple, but extremely useful when fleeing pursuit. Ninja could even walk on water, leaving behind no traces at all.

"I've truly been taught a lesson. But if you think you can escape so easily, you're far too naive. Or rather, the opponent you face next time will be the one who truly makes you despair!"

Nadare Rōga fumed for a moment, but quickly calmed down. With a cold smile at the corner of his lips, he spoke lightly.