Overwhelming Zabuza

"Stop struggling. This is a specially made Water Prison. You can't escape it on your own. But I don't have time to deal with you. After all, for ninja, the mission comes first."

Zabuza revealed a victorious smile. Forming Hand Seals with one hand, he gathered the water from the lake into another Zabuza, who slowly walked toward Naruto and the others.

"Run! As long as his real body is here, that Water Clone can't go too far. Take Mr. Tazuna and get out of here!"

Realizing that he truly could not break free from the Water Prison, Kakashi immediately shouted at the three members of Team Seven.

"Run? Don't joke around. The moment you were captured, our future was already decided. Either we save you, or we die. Showing our backs to someone like Zabuza would only get us killed faster!"

Sasuke shook his head and spoke his mind.

"I think so too. My Ninja Way has no room for running away! Sakura, protect Mr. Tazuna. Sasuke and I will handle that guy."

"What's the plan? You always act so recklessly."

"I do have a plan. Remember the Substitution Technique we used when we were grabbing the bells?"

"Oh, the Substitution Technique, huh?"

Zabuza laughed. Brats were brats. They had casually revealed their battle plan. Even if they had some coordination, now that he knew their trump card was the Substitution Technique, Zabuza had ten thousand ways to deal with them.

"Aren't you scared?"

"I am. But I won't die here, because I'm the man who'll become Hokage!"

Naruto stepped forward as he spoke, walking toward Zabuza.

"Honestly, what am I supposed to do with you? I'll go along with you this once."

Sasuke followed helplessly. For some reason, being with Naruto calmed his wildly pounding heart, and his heartbeat returned to normal. The two raised their fists and lightly bumped them together in the air, instantly understanding each other's intentions.

"I'm really being underestimated by a couple of brats. You think the two of you can defeat me?"

Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!

Naruto formed Hand Seals. As smoke drifted away, more than a hundred Naruto Shadow Clones appeared on the ground and rushed at Zabuza together.

"So this is what you were relying on? This many Shadow Clones are enough for me to remember your name, but a life-and-death battle isn't won through numbers alone."

Zabuza was slightly startled. He had not expected this unremarkable brat to create over a hundred Shadow Clones. But his surprise quickly faded. To him, they were merely useless cannon fodder.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

With a casual slash, Zabuza cut apart more than a dozen Shadow Clones. Then he suddenly felt a wave of heat. A massive fireball two meters across came hurtling from behind the clones. The scorching flames burned away the Shadow Clones as they surged toward him.

"Sacrificing the Shadow Clones? Not a bad plan, but it lacks power."

Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!

Zabuza's real body rapidly formed Hand Seals. A water dragon rose from the lake and lunged at Sasuke's Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, extinguishing the flames that had nearly reached the Water Clone.

"It's not over yet!"

Sasuke roared and threw the unfolded cross-shaped Fuma Shuriken in his hand. It flew past the Water Clone and shot straight toward Zabuza's real body.

"...Hm?"

Zabuza narrowed his eyes and casually reached out, catching the rapidly spinning Fuma Shuriken in his palm. But he had not expected another Fuma Shuriken to be hidden in the first one's shadow, flying toward him alongside it. With his hands occupied, he could only jump to evade this killing strike.

"Got you!"

The Fuma Shuriken that had flown behind Zabuza suddenly transformed into Naruto, who hurled a kunai at Zabuza's back.

"Naive!"

Zabuza shifted slightly, and the Kubikiribōchō strapped to his back blocked the kunai for him.

"That's cheating! That sword is so huge, it's more than enough to use as a shield!"

Naruto cursed in frustration. The Kubikiribōchō was simply too wide. An ordinary sword could never have blocked that kunai.

"You're the naive one. Die, brat."

Zabuza threw the Fuma Shuriken he had just caught. Naruto was sliced in half without surprise, turning into smoke and vanishing.

The moment Naruto created more than a hundred clones, Zabuza had known this brat was no ordinary opponent. He had specifically prepared for every possible attack, and sure enough, that caution had blocked the fatal strike.

"Naruto, what do we do now?"

"What do we do... Sasuke, hold him off for thirty seconds."

"Are you kidding me? You want me to hold him off by myself?"

If there had been time, Sasuke would have grabbed Naruto by the collar and beaten him into a pulp. That was Zabuza, someone far beyond an ordinary jonin. Even if Naruto was only a clone, this demand was too unreasonable.

"Yeah! That jutsu takes too long for me to form the Hand Seals. I'm counting on you."

Naruto smiled faintly, with not a trace of joking in his eyes.

"Tch, fine, go. I must be crazy! Leaving my back to a Dead Last."

Sasuke tapped his head, irritably waving Naruto away as he stepped alone before Zabuza.

"Sasuke, don't die."

As Naruto spoke, he dispelled the Shadow Clone Jutsu. After retreating a few steps, he concealed himself in the thick mist and moved beyond sight.

"Oh? I have to admit, abandoning your teammate and escaping alone at a time like this would be the wise choice."

"You're overthinking it. There's no such concept as running away in an idiot's brain. Besides, Kakashi isn't the only one with the Sharingan!"

Sasuke closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the Sharingan had already activated. Two tomoe spun rapidly in each eye as he watched Zabuza warily.

"The Sharingan. A boy from the Uchiha Clan? Let me see what you're capable of!"

"I can see your movements!"

Perhaps because he had activated the Sharingan, Sasuke actually managed to trade blows with Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō using only a kunai.

"Even if you can see them, can you react in time?"

Zabuza frowned slightly. After making a feint, he kicked Sasuke away, then rushed forward—only to see the kicked-away Sasuke turn into a piece of wood.

"What I can do now isn't limited to just that! Rat—Tiger—Dog—Ox—Rabbit—Tiger!"

Sasuke instantly appeared behind Zabuza. His Sharingan spun rapidly, increasing the speed of his Hand Seals as Chakra quickly gathered near his throat.

Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Five flower-like flames shot from Sasuke's mouth and flew toward Zabuza.

"What can flames of this level possibly do?"

Zabuza casually raised the Kubikiribōchō to intercept them, only to discover that the flame flowers could curve through the air. They bypassed the blade and struck his abdomen, followed by the other four flames striking his body from different angles.

"Controlling their trajectories through Chakra—that is the Uchiha Clan's Phoenix Sage Fire!"

After speaking, Sasuke clutched his eyes and dropped to his knees. It was his first time using the Sharingan together with a high-control jutsu, and his young body could not quite bear the strain.

"I have to admit, your jutsu was impressive. But you were too foolish. You poured all your Chakra into one attack just to defeat my clone?"

Zabuza was somewhat surprised that his Water Clone had been defeated by a genin. Forming Hand Seals again, he created another Water Clone and walked toward Sasuke with the Kubikiribōchō raised.

"Who said I was going to defeat you alone? A rogue ninja like you wouldn't understand teamwork."

Sasuke smiled faintly. Even the strength to stand had left him, and he slowly fell to the ground, speaking his final words.

"I'm leaving it to you, Dead Last!"

"Leave it to us!!!"

Dozens of Naruto emerged from the mist and pounced on Zabuza's Water Clone. Each held a softly glowing sphere in his right hand. No one knew what it was, but Zabuza's many years of assassination experience told him that being hit by that thing would be no joke.

"Rasengan..."

Kakashi's eyes widened. The Rasengan had once been one of his teacher's proudest techniques. Seeing it reappear through his teacher's son filled him with complicated emotions.

"Damn it, the Water Clone was destroyed!"

Zabuza let out an angry growl. The Water Clone had strong combat ability but weak defense. Even though he destroyed more than a dozen of Naruto's clones, he was still grazed by one of those spheres and instantly turned into water. Its power was obvious.

"Who said there was only one over there!"

At that moment, Zabuza's Hiding in Mist Technique became an obstacle. Naruto had crept incredibly close before being discovered. Zabuza, already aware of the attack, pulled out the Kubikiribōchō from his back and used it to block Naruto's Rasengan.

"This power, this number... are you a monster?!"

Zabuza could feel the Kubikiribōchō screaming as visible sparks flew from its clash with the Rasengan. The force transmitted through his hands was like fighting some prehistoric monster. That monster had bitten down on the Kubikiribōchō and kept dragging him toward its jaws, trying to swallow him whole. And that was only the power of one Rasengan. Looking at the Shadow Clones behind Naruto, all glaring hungrily as they rushed toward him, Zabuza finally panicked.

"People say that a lot!"

Naruto pressed down harder with the Rasengan. Not every Rasengan was this powerful. This one was a special Rasengan created by the real body, several times stronger than the others. With the Chakra supplied by the Shadow Clones, Naruto unleashed an even more powerful Rasengan—an idea inspired by Hinata.

Zabuza finally could not hold on any longer. He pulled out his right hand, which had been maintaining the Water Prison, and pressed it against the back of the blade to resist Naruto's Rasengan. Kakashi was finally able to escape the Water Prison.

"I'll leave the rest to you, Teacher Kakashi."

"Well done, Naruto!"

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PS: This is the second update. I'll be busy tomorrow and won't be updating, so consider this an early one.