Gato Slaps Zabuza

"Oh?"

Gato looked at the brat in front of him, who was slightly taller than he was, yet actually dared to step out and criticize him. A cold sneer crept across his lips.

"What I hate most is when someone cuts in before I've finished speaking..."

However, before Gato could finish, one of the ninja behind him impatiently stepped forward.

"Lord Gato! Let me deal with this ignorant brat who doesn't know his place!"

His speech interrupted, Gato's face instantly darkened. He leaped forward, landed in front of the ninja, raised his hand, and smashed his fist hard into the man's head.

"Don't you know? What I hate most is when someone cuts in before I've finished..."

Before Gato could finish speaking, Sakura's face filled with worry. She hurriedly pulled Naruto back and shouted, "Naruto! Have you forgotten that your Chakra is sealed right now? Come back!"

Gato's face turned completely black.

"You... are unforgivable!"

His gaze swept over the group. Suddenly, he saw Zabuza, who looked utterly devastated. Gato first revealed a trace of surprise, then a mocking grin.

He had been so arrogant when he left, yet in the end, these people had captured him and even confiscated his sword.

He couldn't believe he had actually been frightened by the name of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!

"What a worthless piece of trash. You actually got captured alive. No wonder the Land of Water gets worse every year. Even a garbage traitor like you can defect. I don't even dare imagine how pathetic the Hidden Mist Village must be now!"

Zabuza wasn't afraid of being insulted, but the moment he heard the Hidden Mist Village dragged into it, his eyes immediately became bloodshot.

"You son of a..."

Zabuza glared daggers at Gato, the terrifying killing intent in his eyes almost condensing into a tangible force.

Gato was startled, but after a subordinate behind him told him that there wasn't the slightest trace of Chakra coming from Zabuza, he steadied himself. A contemptuous smile soon appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Hmph, so you're just a paper tiger. Why are you still pretending?" Gato stepped forward again and looked provocatively at Zabuza.

Seeing that Zabuza had clearly been captured alive yet still dared to act so arrogantly, Gato wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Then he instructed one of the ordinary men beside him who had no Chakra:

"It looks like our Lord Zabuza is still dissatisfied, huh? Later, gouge out his eyes for me. They're growing so wide on his face that they're making me afraid they'll dry out. And cut out his tongue too, so he can't keep spouting nonsense."

As he spoke, Gato walked right up to Zabuza as though no one else existed, then viciously slapped him across the face.

"Damn it!"

Naruto clenched his fists. The other man's arrogant attitude was truly infuriating.

Gato merely glanced at Naruto, then sneered at the Hidden Leaf Village forehead protectors they wore.

"This is our Land of Waves' business. As far as I know, you only accepted a protection mission. Now that Tazuna has arrived, you can get lost!"

"Otherwise, hehe..."

As he spoke, Gato walked up to Sakura and leered obscenely.

"I'll never post another mission in your Hidden Leaf Village. On top of that, I'll hire ninja from other villages to post missions assassinating all of you!"

Usually, that sentence worked every time, especially against ninja who had ties to their villages.

Zabuza had long since been shaking with rage. Suddenly, he felt the Chakra restraints on his body being released. That familiar power had returned!

Although it was far weaker than before, with only the small amount remaining after the battle, it was still more than enough to slaughter this group of weaklings.

A puzzled look appeared on Zabuza's face as he looked toward Obito and Kakashi.

Kakashi withdrew the hand he had used to release the restraints and said calmly, "Imperial Law, Article 112: When a victim suffers a physical attack, the victim has the right to defend themselves against the perpetrator."

"Although you are currently a prisoner of our Empire, you still fall within the protection of the Imperial Law."

After speaking, Kakashi folded his arms and adopted the attitude of someone watching a show.

Zabuza had already resigned himself to his fate, but when he saw that the other man had actually released the seal on his Chakra, it would have been a lie to say he wasn't moved.

"Fine... thank you!"

He suddenly became curious about the Empire the other man had mentioned, but the first thing he had to do was...

"Whoosh!"

A black shadow flashed past. The Kunai carried a sharp gleam as it slashed toward Gato with lightning speed.

As ninja, Kunai were one of their essential weapons, and Zabuza was no exception.

At some point, he had already taken a Kunai into his hand. Without the slightest hesitation, he slashed it toward Gato.

The sharp whistle of the Kunai cutting through the air rang out.

The arm Gato had used to slap Zabuza traced an arc through the air before falling to the ground with a dull thud.

Only then did bright-red blood gush out like a fountain, staining the ground crimson.

Gato's scream echoed through the air, sending chills down everyone's spine.

That single slash was enough to display Zabuza's superb swordsmanship.

Unfortunately, his opponent had just been Kakashi, a genius ninja from the Empire—the sole heir of the Hatake Clan and the foremost inheritor of the swordsmanship tradition.

"Ahhh! Ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village! I'll remember all of you!"

Gato no longer dared threaten Zabuza. Zabuza was a rogue ninja with no children, no wife, and no parents. He had no weaknesses at all.

But the ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village were different!

Seeing that Zabuza was about to strike again, Gato shouted in terror, "Save me! Ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village! If you save me, I'll let the matter of losing one arm go!"

Unfortunately, the answer he received was the sound of his other arm falling to the ground.

"No!"

Despair filled Gato's face.

"These two hands of yours, drenched in sin, I've removed for you."

"Next, we'll settle the personal grievances between us!"

Zabuza's voice was like an evil spirit in the night. Its hoarseness made Gato shudder.

"What are you standing around for? Come over here and hack him to death!"

Gato called for support from his men.

Everything Zabuza had done had happened in the blink of an eye, so no one had been able to react.

After this brief moment of stunned silence, a Jonin whom Gato had hired as a confidant used a genjutsu to control Zabuza. Another ninja then used Earth Release to come beneath Zabuza and carry Gato away.

By the time Zabuza broke free of the genjutsu, Gato had already appeared behind his men. The fear in his eyes had vanished, replaced by fury.

"Brothers! Hack him to death!"

"And kill those ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village too! I'll pay you more! Whoever kills Zabuza, I, Gato, will give you half my assets!"

At these words, many of the thugs who had planned to fish in troubled waters brightened.

Under a heavy reward, there would always be reckless men!

They immediately forgot that they were Genin. They forgot that they were merely thugs. One after another, they raised their swords and charged at Zabuza and the ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Sasuke, my good disciple, this is the perfect opportunity for training. Ikuzo! Sasuke!"

Obito excitedly directed Sasuke.

Kakashi's sigh of relief instantly caught in his throat.

He hurriedly stepped in front of Sasuke and Obito.

"Wait! We can't let Sasuke fight!"