"Is that so?"
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's Kubikiribōchō isn't actually completely useless."
"For example, if you sold Kubikiribōchō, you could probably get a pretty good price for it."
At that, Zabuza's brows knitted tightly together.
"How can a weapon like this be measured in money?"
"Then what else?" Cangwu spread his hands.
Looking at Zabuza, he decided to provoke him a little more and, while he was at it, check whether he'd misunderstood him.
"Everyone knows that the previous generation of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist got kicked into the Three Lucky Treasures by an unknown Genin from Konoha, right?"
"The Three Lucky Treasures?!" Zabuza was stunned for a moment. When he realized what Cangwu meant, his pupils shrank sharply.
His face flushed visibly.
Clearly, Cangwu's words had struck a nerve.
The Three Lucky Treasures?
Wasn't that saying that four of the previous generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had been kicked to death by a Konoha Genin, while the other three ran away?
"Am I wrong?" Cangwu looked at him with an amused smile.
"Shut up!!!" Zabuza roared furiously.
Cangwu's lips curled slightly.
As expected, he hadn't been mistaken.
This kid really did love his Kirigakure.
Unlike certain Filial Sons.
They were always going on about Konoha, the greater good, and peace.
Then, when they defected, they said, "If anything happens to Sasuke, reveal Konoha's secrets."
Right, after the Chunin Exams, Ninja Bear had been killed off. Besides reminding Sasuke not to forget about him, the other reason he'd come back was to remind Danzo.
In the end, slap the label of love on it, and everything was whitewashed~
No matter what kind of hardship it was, just label it love in the end.
Great love?
He hadn't seen any.
But Uchiha selfishness and arrogance had been on full display.
He'd arranged Sasuke's fate without even asking him.
Five-year-old Hokage thinking... too good to share his feelings with anyone.
But if you really wanted to argue about it, well~!
It was all F4's fault. Just blame them, that's all.
Looking at the furious Zabuza, Cangwu had already decided not to kill him.
"Do you want to fight your way back into Kirigakure?"
"And why is it called the Village of the Bloody Mist?"
At that, Zabuza froze.
After a long silence, he replied coldly, "You arrogant fool!"
"You'll pay in blood for looking down on the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!"
With that, Zabuza began forming hand seals.
Buzz—
The next moment, using the thick mist as cover,
he used Mist Body Flicker to appear on the surface of the water.
He was a Mist ninja, of course he'd choose a position that favored him.
As a ninja who specialized in Water Style, fighting on the water would greatly increase his strength.
Seeing Zabuza flash onto the water, Cangwu immediately saw through his intentions.
Perfect. He wanted to test out his reward, too.
"Teacher Cangwu!" Sakura called out. "He's a rogue ninja from Kirigakure, so he must be skilled in Water Style. Fighting him on the lake puts us at a huge disadvantage!"
"Yeah, yeah! You with the bandages all over your face! Do you dare come fight on land?"
After hearing Sakura, Naruto quickly shouted at Zabuza.
Zabuza scoffed. "Naive!"
With that,
Zabuza began to 'cast' his jutsu.
He raised both hands and started forming hand seals without a pause.
His eyes were fixed on Cangwu.
But he soon realized that Cangwu wasn't reacting at all.
'Damn it!'
'Is he still looking down on me?!'
Furious, Zabuza's hands moved even faster.
"Teacher Cangwu... are you sure this is okay?" Sakura asked cautiously.
Watching Zabuza form seal after seal, she swallowed with some difficulty.
He was still forming hand seals. This had to be one incredible jutsu!
Sasuke stared intently at Zabuza's hands.
Water Style?
Naruto, meanwhile, formed a hand seal.
Poof—
In an instant, dozens of Shadow Clones appeared.
Sasuke froze.
He noticed that Naruto had mastered the Shadow Clone Technique to perfection.
He could perform it with just one seal.
'Fewer seals... chakra Nature Transformation, Shape Transformation...'
"Don't rush. It'll take him a little while longer," Cangwu said with a smile.
"Sakura, sometimes, once you reach a certain level of strength, you can ignore your weaknesses."
"This place is surrounded by water. Even if he wasn't standing on the water, wouldn't it still give him an advantage?"
"You dare keep ignoring me?!"
"Die!"
Zabuza's voice rang out as he finally snapped.
He'd been ignored again, and Cangwu was even planning to teach a lesson right in front of him.
A man could be killed, but never humiliated!
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!!!"
Whoosh—
In an instant, the water all around Zabuza seemed to boil.
A massive volume of lake water surged upward and rushed toward everyone.
There it was!
The ultimate Water Style jutsu that took a full 47 hand seals to unleash—Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!
Rumble—
As the waves surged forward, the ground began to shake.
The three kids were all frightened by the sheer force of it.
But when they looked at Cangwu's back, their unease vanished in an instant.
Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique was an A-rank jutsu, after all.
Neither its power nor the difficulty of learning it could compare to ordinary Water Style jutsu.
On top of that, Zabuza was seething with rage and casting it from the water.
Its power was naturally not to be underestimated.
The waves had already swallowed the trees in their path.
Just as the three kids thought Cangwu would lead them to dodge the attack,
Cangwu raised his hand and formed a seal.
"This is..." Sasuke's brows furrowed. It seemed familiar.
Rumble—!!!
The next moment, Sasuke was stunned.
He wasn't the only one. Everyone present was stunned.
Zabuza was the most stunned of all.
Looking at the Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique that had suddenly appeared in front of Cangwu,
he felt as if his nose had turned red.
One seal?
How was that possible...
But the proof was right before his eyes.
Zabuza watched the water settle after the thunderous crash. His face showed not only disbelief, but also deep humiliation.
"Teacher Cangwu... you're skilled in Water Style, too?"
Gulp—
Naruto swallowed.
The thunderous crash still echoed in his ears.
"That chakra was enormous... Teacher Cangwu is so amazing~" Sakura turned into a starry-eyed fangirl again.
Sasuke's mouth hung open.
This result was completely beyond his expectations.
How could something like this happen?
Just how strong was Cangwu... Teacher Cangwu?!
Zabuza, his pride wounded, abruptly raised his hand.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"
"That kid next to you is from the Uchiha clan, isn't he?!"
"Damn it... is this an Illusion Technique? When did you cast it?!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
That familiar sound rang out again.
It was the sound of hands moving so fast they seemed to tear through the air.
Zabuza was forming hand seals again.
Sakura stared straight at Cangwu.
If she hadn't been so lovestruck already, hearts would have appeared in her eyes.
Naruto, too, looked at Cangwu with eager anticipation.
"Teacher Cangwu, do it again~!"
You think you can just ask and he'll do it?
Well... it wasn't impossible. Four cards.
That kid Kakashi could trade blows with him, and a big shot like Four Cards shouldn't be so stingy.
Sasuke was breathing rapidly. He couldn't help edging closer to Cangwu, intent on seeing whether he really needed only one seal.
After all, Cangwu had already reminded him to simplify his hand seals.
He'd been working hard at it lately, but had only managed to cut out two seals.
So seeing a jutsu that normally took 47 seals performed by Cangwu with just one—
That was quite a shock.
After waiting a little while,
the divine Water Style jutsu that took forty-four seals finally arrived.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!!"
Before you continue