Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist

Hearing the Third Hokage say that, Naruto immediately perked up and said excitedly, "Really? That's great!"

The Third Hokage ignored Naruto's reaction and merely nodded. "Yes, it's a C-rank mission. You'll be protecting someone."

"Really? Who is it? A feudal lord? Or a princess?" Naruto rubbed his hands excitedly.

Looking at the excited Naruto, the Third Hokage said helplessly, "No need to rush. I'll introduce him right away. Iruka, bring the client in."

"Yes, Third Hokage."

After saying that, Iruka headed outside. Before long, he returned with a stubbly middle-aged man holding a bottle of alcohol.

When the stubbly man saw that the mission request office contained nothing but a few brats and one Jonin team leader, he immediately grew irritated. "What's this? Why are they all kids?"

As he spoke, he gulped down a large mouthful of alcohol and sneered, "Especially that blond runt who looks so stupid. You, are you really a ninja?"

Naruto was the only one in the room with blond hair, and he could not stand the insult. Furiously, he shouted, "What did you say?! I'll kill you! You're the stupid one! Your whole damn family looks stupid! I—"

Kakashi pressed a hand on Naruto's head as he watched him lose his temper. "Who did you say you were going to kill? Do you not know he's the person we'll be protecting? You don't want the C-rank mission anymore, idiot?"

The stubbly man sighed. "I'm the world-famous bridge builder, Tazuna. That's me. While I return home and finish building the bridge, you must risk your lives to protect me really, really well." Then he turned to the Third Hokage. "And this is the bunch of brats you assigned me?"

After hearing Tazuna's complaints, the Third Hokage said coldly, "This is only a C-rank escort mission. They have Jonin Kakashi leading them, along with four Genin. Isn't that enough?"

Tazuna was stunned by the question. He sighed and accepted reality. "Fine. Then when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow. It's getting late today, and traveling at night is more dangerous. Stay in Konoha tonight, and tomorrow they'll escort you back home to build your bridge," the Third Hokage said coldly.

"Fine, I'll be going then."

With that, Tazuna walked out of the mission request office, swaying as he carried his bottle.

After Tazuna left, Kakashi accepted the mission document and said to the four of them, "We'll leave the village tomorrow to carry out the mission. Pack your things tonight and gather at the village gate tomorrow morning."

"Yes." x4

Early the next morning, Kakashi's group of six left Konoha and officially set off for the Land of Waves.

Not long after they left Konoha, Wu Liang sensed a faint killing intent. Although it vanished in an instant, he had definitely felt it.

Wu Liang could not help glancing at Kakashi, only to find that Kakashi was looking at him as well. Kakashi nodded, confirming that Wu Liang's feeling had been correct.

Kakashi was also surprised by how strong Wu Liang's mental power was. He had actually sensed such weak killing intent.

At that moment, Sakura Haruno, who was walking ahead, turned back and asked Tazuna, who had been drinking in the middle of the group, "Uncle Tazuna, your country is the Land of Waves, right? Does the Land of Waves have any ninja?"

Tazuna shook his head.

Kakashi spoke up then. "The Land of Waves has no ninja. Although most countries have different cultures and customs, they generally have ninja villages and ninja. To the many nations on the continent, the existence of a ninja village can be considered a country's military force, allowing it to maintain diplomatic relations with other countries through that power.

That said, ninja villages are not controlled by their countries. Their status is equal to that of the nation.

Small island nations like the Land of Waves, which are not easily interfered with by other countries, have no need for ninja villages.

Even among countries with ninja villages, the five nations of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth have especially vast territories and powerful national strength. They are known as the Five Great Ninja Nations: Konoha of the Land of Fire, Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water, Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning, Hidden Rock Village of the Land of Earth, and Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind. Only the strongest leaders of each ninja village may be called Kage. The Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage are the Five Kage, ninja who stand above the tens of thousands of ninja throughout the world."

After hearing Kakashi's explanation, Sakura said in surprise, "Huh? So that old Hokage is actually that amazing?"

Naruto, however, said disdainfully, "Tch, no matter how amazing he is, I still make him run around in circles. He doesn't have any dignity at all. That has to be a lie."

Kakashi looked at the little brats and said, "All right, stop badmouthing the Hokage. Keep moving."

Hearing that, they continued onward. Near noon, they crossed a small river, and beyond it lay a dry forest path. Wu Liang, however, noticed a puddle of water beside the road. This is way too damn fake. How stupid do the Demon Brothers have to be? They could have ambushed us by the river, but instead they came ashore and disguised themselves as a puddle on this dry road. Isn't that just asking to be noticed? Wu Liang had watched the anime before and hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now that he was actually a ninja, he felt those two brothers were complete idiots.

When everyone passed the puddle, Sakura, Tazuna, Naruto, and even Sasuke failed to notice anything wrong with it. Kakashi definitely knew, of course. Wu Liang, who was walking at the very back, suddenly made his move as he lifted his foot to step over the puddle. He thrust both hands into the water and shouted, "Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"

Bang!

A massive prison made entirely of water appeared above the puddle. Inside it, two Chunin from Hidden Mist Village stared at him in shock. They could not understand why this brat formed hand seals so quickly that they had been trapped before they could react.

Because the Water Prison not only deprived them of air but also exerted pressure inward, the two brothers inside were in great pain.

The commotion Wu Liang caused left the people ahead of him stunned. Kakashi walked up to Wu Liang and praised, "Well done. Unlike them, you noticed such an obvious flaw."

Sasuke and Naruto were equally shocked. "You knew there were actually two ninja hiding in that puddle?"

"That's why," Kakashi explained. "It's obvious that it hasn't rained here in a long time. On such dry ground, there's suddenly a puddle of water. Wouldn't you be suspicious?"

After hearing Kakashi's explanation, the three of them could not help blushing. "It's our first time leaving the village. We were careless, so we didn't notice it. It won't happen again."

Wu Liang then said, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, what should we do with these two? If we kill them, they probably won't last much longer anyway. They're about to suffocate."

"Ah, don't kill them yet. We need to find out who their target is." After saying that, Kakashi inserted both hands into the Water Prison, grabbed one Hidden Mist Ninja in each hand, tied them to a large tree, and asked, "Hey, you're Hidden Mist Ninja who are said to fight to the end at any cost, right? You look like two Chunin. So who exactly is your mission target? This bridge-building uncle, or one of the five of us from Konoha? Please tell me."

The two Hidden Mist Ninja said nothing, but their gazes occasionally flickered toward Tazuna. That made the target obvious enough.

Kakashi did not kill the two Chunin. He merely removed all their ninja tools, knocked them unconscious, and tied them to the tree. Then he walked over to Tazuna and said, "So, Uncle Tazuna, it is clear that you are their target. The mission we accepted was C-rank, which absolutely should not involve enemy ninja. It seems you've been hiding something from us. Now, please come clean. Since ninja have appeared, we will not hesitate to raise the mission to the higher B-rank. However, you seem to have some difficulty speaking about it."

Tazuna looked at Kakashi with an ugly expression but said nothing.

Seeing that Tazuna would not speak, Kakashi returned to his dead-fish-eyed expression and stared at him. "It seems you do not intend to tell us the truth. Then we will continue the mission. Our mission is to escort you back to the Land of Waves and see the bridge completed. But because of the false information you provided, this mission has already exceeded what we were assigned to handle. If we encounter another armed group with ninja again, I will not hesitate to raise the mission to B-rank, or simply abandon it altogether. Do you understand?"

When everyone saw that Tazuna remained silent, they continued on their way.

Upon reaching the harbor, the six of them rented a small boat and headed toward the Land of Waves along the direction of the bridge. Meanwhile, in a secret base deep within a dense forest, the Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist whom Wu Liang had been looking forward to meeting, sat on a large sofa.

Inside the base, an arrogant little man was roaring at Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist. "You failed? I heard you were extremely capable ninja, which is why I hired you at such a high price. And now you're telling me you failed?"

Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist, impatiently picked up the Executioner's Blade leaning against the sofa and pointed it at the little man. "Quit yapping. It was only one failure. Next time, I, Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist, will personally use this Executioner's Blade to kill them."

With the Executioner's Blade pointed at him, the little man said nervously, "A-Are you sure there won't be a problem? The enemy seems to have hired fairly capable ninja too. On top of the Demon Brothers' failure, they will definitely be much more cautious now. It won't be so easy to succeed again."

Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist, roared, "Who do you think I am? I'm Zabuza Momochi, known as the Demon of Kirigakure! Get out. Next time, I'll do it myself."

Looking at the enraged Zabuza, the little man could not help shivering. "T-Then that's for the best. Hmph. If you fail again next time, I won't pay you a single coin. Let's go!"

After saying that, the little man left the base with his subordinates, leaving Zabuza alone in the room.