A Flashy Entrance

"That young man may not say much, but he's truly a ruthless one—no, wait... these three brats, each one is fiercer than the last!" Walking along the road, Tazuna recalled the actions of the three just moments ago and couldn't help but shiver.

"What's wrong, Mr. Tazuna? A bit of a cold? I'm a medical ninja; treating such a minor issue is simple." Nanfeng noticed Tazuna's off-color expression and walked over with a hint of concern.

But in Tazuna's eyes, Nanfeng's demeanor looked more like a threat: "Be smart and don't slow us down, or we'll deal with you on the road!"

"No, no, just a bit dehydrated. I'll drink some water!" Tazuna said hastily, then quickly moved to the front, pulling out his canteen and taking a big gulp.

"What's with him?" Nanfeng was a bit baffled. He'd been thinking of scrounging some treatment attribute points, but this guy wasn't giving him a chance?

"I'd say you scared him. After all, what you three did to the Demon Brothers—even a teacher who's seen big scenes like me found it a bit startling!" Kakashi recalled the earlier situation and spoke with a hint of headache.

Going back an hour, since they'd decided to continue the mission, there was now the issue of what to do with the two rogue ninjas who'd attacked them.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei. Dealing with enemies is what we're best at, isn't it?" Sasuke's face bore a somewhat morbid smile, and for some reason, Kakashi felt a chill down his spine.

"My style secret art: Thousand Years of Death!" Naruto charged in first. Kakashi was puzzled—wasn't that his signature move? How had it leaked out through Konoha Hospital?

But Naruto, what's with the kunai in your hand? Even the teacher never used a kunai for this move, and this one's coated with Nanfeng's special medicine—isn't that just torture?

Two screams made Tazuna's body jolt. Then he saw the other black-haired youth, Uchiha Sasuke, quickly form hand seals. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu soon engulfed the two. The flames didn't last long and weren't lethal—just burn-level damage!

But it hurt! The wounds on their rear ends, combined with the medicine's effect, had the poor wretches already miserable, and now they had to endure the flames' roasting. What kind of torture was this?

"Don't give up now; our fun's just beginning. I was pretty pissed off at the ninja hospital by a bunch of stupid ninjas earlier, so now I'm going to heal you properly to vent..." Nanfeng's smile couldn't even be called morbid—it was outright insane.

Whether from emotion or not, his eyes even took on a faint purple tint...

Under Medical Ninjutsu, the two ninjas quickly perked up. Nanfeng listened to the system's "Attribute Point +1" and sped up his healing motions.

This torment lasted nearly an hour. Finally, Kakashi, unable to bear it any longer, finished off the two poor souls. But the way they looked at Nanfeng and the others had changed drastically.

"I must never provoke those three... This torture is worse than the interrogation methods used when captured by ninjas from other villages..." Kakashi shuddered slightly, thinking he'd need to have a serious talk about teacher-student relations when they got back.

"Hm? Not good, get down!" As they passed a large tree, Kakashi sensed something and shouted quickly, shoving the dazed Tazuna to the ground.

Tazuna was about to curse, but then a massive blade whizzed past his scalp, freezing the old drunk in place.

"Isn't this the famous Copy Ninja of Konoha, Kakashi Hatake? How about we make a deal—hand over that old man you're protecting? That way, you can leave easily, and I can complete my mission. A win-win, isn't it?" A strange man wrapped entirely in bandages stared at Tazuna behind Kakashi.

"So it's you. But Mr. Tazuna is my mission's protection target. If I hand him over, my C-rank mission completion rate on my record will drop, and my future living standards will take a hit from fewer missions. That's not a situation I want to see!" Kakashi replied with a smile.

Watching the two exchange words like old friends, Sasuke and Naruto were puzzled. Who was this guy?

"One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the rogue ninja from Kirigakure, Momochi Zabuza. His most famous feat was attempting to assassinate the Mizukage. Though he failed, he escaped from heavy encirclement and became a bounty hunter—a jonin with formidable strength." Nanfeng glanced at the Kubikiribōchō in the tree and spoke quickly.

"Oh? I didn't expect a brat like you to know my name?" Momochi Zabuza waved his hand, retrieving the Kubikiribōchō from the tree, and looked at Nanfeng with interest.

"At Konoha Hospital, there were injured patients you sent back. I heard some of your info while treating them. Besides, your Kubikiribōchō is pretty iconic in the ninja world, isn't it?" Nanfeng replied without a trace of fear.

"Interesting brat. And an Uchiha brat too. Kakashi, your team's lineup isn't bad!" Momochi Zabuza looked at Sasuke, who had already activated his Sharingan, growing more surprised.

"Naturally. Konoha's ninja are all very strong!" Kakashi replied with pride.

"Then, for a group of geniuses like this, I'll have to take the proper combat stance!" Momochi Zabuza quickly formed hand seals, and thick mist began to rise from behind him, spreading until it fully enveloped the battlefield before stopping.

"Ninjutsu: Hidden Mist Technique!" Momochi Zabuza's voice spread with Killing Intent to everyone around—a common assassination method used by Kirigakure ninja!

"No good. Wind Style ninjutsu can't blow away the mist for now. The chakra density difference is too great, and the Sharingan is almost useless—the mist is full of chakra..." Sasuke said with some frustration, staring at the thick fog.

"Kidneys, heart, spine, spleen..." Momochi Zabuza's voice came again. "You lambs waiting for slaughter, where shall I start this delightful massacre?"

Searching for the book title yields nothing—try searching the author instead. Maybe it just changed names!