Hozuki?

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!!"

Zabuza shouted.

Then, his chakra erupted.

Wait!

Something seemed off... Hadn't this kid said not to underestimate the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?

He'd given Zabuza Kubikiribōchō, so why hadn't he charged in with a sword technique first?

Rumble—

As Zabuza's chakra erupted,

the water beneath his feet began to churn.

After a moment, a column of water shaped like a dragon appeared.

It coiled above Zabuza's head, opening its enormous jaws toward Cangwu.

Then, at Zabuza's command, the water dragon lunged at Cangwu.

Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

Cangwu silently intoned the technique in his mind.

This time, he went even further, forming the hand signs with just one hand.

Rumble—

Immediately, another water dragon surged out of the water in front of Cangwu.

It was considerably larger than Zabuza's.

Zabuza saw it and felt his scalp prickle.

His mind in disarray, his water dragon seemed even weaker.

The two dragons collided.

Countless sprays of water burst into the air.

With a deafening crash,

Zabuza could no longer sustain his water dragon.

He could only watch as Cangwu's dragon bore down on him.

Splash—

Like a palm slamming down, it sent Zabuza under the water once more.

When the water finally settled, Zabuza's battered figure slowly emerged.

One of his arms hung unnaturally at his side.

Crack—

"Gah!!!"

Zabuza groaned in pain, then forcibly snapped his dislocated arm back into place.

The two massive water techniques had collided,

and quite a few trees around them had been knocked down by the surging water.

"Haah..." Zabuza panted, cold sweat pouring from him.

Beating this monster... will be difficult!

The gap in their strength was just too great.

If he uses that strange speed from before... and that ninjutsu that seems like Dust Release...

"Pretty good guess."

Zabuza's pupils shrank.

When had he—

The voice came from behind him.

Zabuza looked up. Cangwu was nowhere to be seen on the land in front of him.

Suddenly, dazzling golden light shone from behind.

"That bandaged guy's a jonin, right?"

"He seems pretty weak..." Naruto murmured.

"Idiot!" The moment Naruto finished speaking, Sasuke insulted him without mercy.

"That's because Teacher Cangwu is super strong~!" Sakura said, her face full of admiration.

"Mm..." Tazuna blinked, then made a sound to remind them he was there, too.

"I never thought you'd be this strong... Someone as powerful as you—why have you remained unknown all this time?" Zabuza lowered his head, looking at his reflection in the water.

Cangwu withdrew the golden orb of light gathered at his fingertip.

"Kirigakure has its Bloody Mist, and Konoha has something similar."

"You mean... the Third Hokage?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes. He searched his memory for information about Konoha, then scoffed.

"That may be so, but he can't compare to the Fourth Mizukage."

As he spoke, Zabuza slowly shifted his injured arm.

"There's no point in continuing this fight."

"Though I hate to admit it... your strength is beyond someone like me."

He could use such powerful ninjutsu with just one hand sign.

And he had that bewildering speed, along with a Kekkei Genkai technique.

Zabuza simply couldn't imagine how he could win.

Am I going to die... heh...

"Ambition needs strength to back it up." Cangwu could tell what Zabuza was thinking.

"Like going back to Kirigakure and taking it over?"

"Actually, you don't need to do that anymore."

"Why not?" Zabuza frowned and turned to ask.

Cangwu wore a meaningful smile as he spoke slowly.

"Because the Fifth Mizukage will take office before long."

"And there's a simple reason the Bloody Mist policy grew ever more brutal."

"The Fifth Mizukage?"

"What do you know?!"

Zabuza's voice grew agitated.

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't get worked up just yet," Cangwu said with a smile.

Zabuza: "..."

If he weren't so outmatched... Zabuza really wanted to jump up and smack Cangwu across the face. Keep smiling, will you? Tell me not to get worked up!

"You know the Uchiha clan, right?"

"During the last Great Ninja War, an Uchiha kid who liked women instead of men was targeted."

"You don't need to know the details. Just know that your Kirigakure planted the Three-Tails inside the girl he liked."

"The plan was for her to return and release the Three-Tails to destroy Konoha."

"But in the end, the girl chose to take her own life."

"By sheer coincidence, because of a certain dancing king's scheme, that kid witnessed everything."

"What?!" Zabuza cried out.

That mission had been classified. All he knew was that none of the Mist ninja had returned.

What shocked him was that this had been the content of an S-rank mission.

"After that, the Uchiha went and controlled your Fourth Mizukage."

"So the Fourth Mizukage implemented the Bloody Mist policy because..." Zabuza murmured unconsciously.

"Not quite." Cangwu cut him off.

"The Bloody Mist policy was implemented by the Third Mizukage. After the Uchiha kid used an Illusion Technique to control the Fourth Mizukage, the policy became even more bloody and brutal."

This includes details such as Zabuza's age, and the Bloody Mist Village (it was already the Bloody Mist before Rin died).

It also includes when the coup took place while Zabuza was a member of Kirigakure's Anbu.]

"So the Fourth Mizukage was actually a poor guy."

"Poor?" Zabuza's pupils shrank, and anger appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Cangwu shook his head.

"See that blond student of mine?"

"Hm?" Zabuza glanced over. "Hmph, just a naive brat."

Cangwu nodded slightly. "Only someone like him could become friends with a tailed beast."

"You mean...?" Zabuza looked incredulous.

"That's right. The Fourth Mizukage and the Three-Tails were good friends."

"Do you think someone like that would support the Bloody Mist policy?"

When Cangwu finished speaking, Zabuza couldn't help falling into thought.

"After the Three-Tails incident, the Fourth Mizukage became the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki himself. Once that Uchiha kid grew up, he kept controlling him with an Illusion Technique."

"By now, the future Fifth Mizukage has probably nearly taken him down... He won't live much longer."

Zabuza fell silent for a while, then suddenly let out a vicious laugh.

"Why are you telling me all this?!"

Cangwu shook his head with a smile. Was this the stress response of someone who'd lost his purpose?

That made sense. In the original story, Second Pillar had also lost after Filial Son held back and let him win.

Whoosh—

The next moment,

Zabuza used the lingering mist to Mist Body Flicker behind Cangwu.

At last, the Kubikiribōchō on his back came into play.

Cangwu didn't move.

Though Zabuza was puzzled, his hand didn't hesitate for a moment.

He brought the blade down.

Whoosh—

But the Kubikiribōchō passed straight through Cangwu, who remained completely unharmed.

The bizarre sight left Zabuza's mind blank.

What kind of strange ability was this?!

"Could it be... you're from the Hozuki clan?"