How Could You Make Baseless Accusations Against an Innocent Man!

"Black Market Bounty:

Target: Gato, owner of an international shipping company

Mission Rank: A

Mission Details: Kill him by any means necessary!

Mission Reward: 1,000,000 ryo

Additional: Capture the Rogue Ninjas around him. Rewards will be calculated individually based on strength. Full reward for live captures, half for the dead!"

"Oh?"

After taking the mission slip from Kazeka and confirming the details, the cold expression on Zabuza's face finally softened a little.

Looking at the uneasy Gato, Zabuza's eyes brimmed with savage killing intent.

"The reward for this mission is certainly tempting. If I don't take it, I'd really be letting down Gato, after all the care he's shown me these past few days!"

"Zabuza, I advise you to be a decent person!"

Zabuza's blood-red eyes made Gato shiver.

"That mission of yours is a one-time deal. If you kill me, who'll hire you afterward?

Besides, my money was only stolen. I'm a big-time businessman. I'll earn it back in no time!"

"Don't take me for a fool. Isn't the reason you're trying to seize the Land of Waves by force that you're broke?"

Zabuza slowly approached Gato, dragging Kubikiribōchō across the ground as it sparked.

"There are plenty of rich merchants with two legs. If you won't take a job like this, someone else will!"

"G-go, go! All of you, get him!"

Faced with Zabuza's undisguised killing intent, Gato finally panicked and urged the surrounding ninjas to fight him.

At first, when they heard Gato had no money, the Rogue Ninjas had been ready to scatter and leave him to his fate.

But then they heard Kazeka announce the Black Market bounty.

And from the look in Zabuza's eyes, it was clear he had no intention of letting them off, either.

After a brief stir, they all took fighting stances.

"Zabuza, don't get too cocky. You think you can take on dozens of ninjas by yourself?"

Shima stood at the head of the crowd.

"There are four Jonin here. If you want to leave now and abandon the mission, we'll pretend none of this ever happened!"

"What do you mean, pretend nothing happened? Shima, you have to kill that traitorous bastard for me!"

Perhaps Shima's words had rubbed off on him. Seeing the Rogue Ninjas around him ready to fight, Gato felt his courage return.

His side had dozens of ninjas, while the only ones on the other side who seemed ready to fight were Zabuza and Haku.

Dozens against two. The advantage was ours!

Shima ignored Gato's yelling behind him. He knew that most of these dozens of ninjas were Chunin or Genin, and could only scare ordinary people.

Even the four Jonin were frauds.

Against a true expert as renowned as Zabuza, the best they could hope for was a hard-won victory!

Shima had already prepared for the worst.

But when he saw Zabuza cut down one of their Jonin in fewer than five strikes, wearing an expression of utter disdain, he realized he had still underestimated him.

Watching Zabuza fight earlier, Shima had thought, I could do that too. Only after facing him himself did he understand that he had been all talk and no skill!

"Damn it, what the hell is Tie Feng doing? He used to brag so much around me, and now he's down after one exchange..."

Seeing Zabuza's terrifying strength, Gato's expression darkened again.

"Don't just stand there! All of you, attack him!"

Gato's yelling was annoying, but Shima had no choice but to grit his teeth and charge in.

He knew the look Zabuza was giving them. It was the look of a hunter who'd spotted his prey and decided to chase it down no matter what!

After exchanging glances with the other two Jonin, Shima decided they would fight to the death.

They formed a triangle and charged at Zabuza.

But before they had even covered half the distance, Haku grabbed one of them and challenged him to a one-on-one fight.

With their formation broken, Shima had no time to think. As Kubikiribōchō came crashing down toward his head, he hurriedly drew his katana to block it!

"Clang!"

The crisp clash of metal rang out. As Shima was sent stumbling backward, he couldn't help wondering:

They were both Jonin, so how could his opponent be so strong?

But Shima soon had no time to think about it.

While Shima was being knocked away, Zabuza had already cut down another Jonin with a smooth string of attacks!

The outrageous sight left Shima shaken. In an instant, all kinds of thoughts raced through his mind again:

So this was Demon Zabuza. No wonder he wasn't a fraud!

Even among Jonin, there were vast differences!

Zabuza was ranked as a Jonin because that was the highest rank a ninja could attain!

As Zabuza charged toward him, Shima could only give a bitter smile. At that speed, he didn't even have a chance to run!

He felt Zabuza slam the flat of his blade against his chest. As the world before his eyes gradually went dark, only one thought remained:

Of course it was Zabuza. I don't even get the chance to die by his hand!

"Thud!"

As Shima fell, Haku froze the last Jonin among the Rogue Ninjas into a block of ice and sent him crashing to the ground.

Zabuza and Haku had cut through all four Jonin with ease. The sight left every Rogue Ninja frozen in place. The next second, they scattered in all directions!

They had a good plan, but in broke Zabuza's eyes, those broke Rogue Ninjas were all walking piles of silver.

And for Zabuza, capturing them was barely harder than catching wild boars fleeing in a panic. In no time, every one of them met the same fate as Shima!

"Gato, now we can settle our accounts..."

Zabuza shook Kubikiribōchō, splattering the blood on it across Gato's face. Gato's legs trembled, and he wet himself on the spot!

"Z-Zabuza, you can't kill me! I'm the owner of an international shipping company. If you kill me, someone will definitely come after you..."

"Give it a rest..."

Seeing Gato desperately beg for mercy, Kazeka spoke coldly.

"If your funds hadn't dried up, your life might actually have been worth something.

But now, you owe a lot of money, and plenty of people are waiting to take your damn life!"

"I-I have connections in the underworld, too. My men won't let you get away with this!"

"Are you talking about these men I just beat?"

Zabuza glanced at the Rogue Ninjas lying behind him, gave a chuckle, then slashed Gato's arm.

"Stop struggling. A piece of trash like you is good for nothing but making people sick.

Don't worry. I won't let you die that easily..."

Zabuza slashed Gato again.

"I'll show you what true terror looks like!"

"Aaahhh!!!"

Since Gato had spent plenty of time antagonizing Zabuza, Zabuza repaid him by hacking him into pieces.

At the end, he looked at Kazeka and said:

"I've already chopped this guy to pieces. You only wanted him dead anyway, so this should be enough to complete the job, right?"

"Hm? Zabuza, from the way you put it, it sounds as if I was the one who put out the hit..."

Kazeka looked at Zabuza with a solemn expression.

"How could you make baseless accusations against an innocent man!"

Zabuza: "(ー_ー)!!" ```