The Meeting

Deep in the forest, the mist was much thinner than it was out at sea. After all, this wasn't the Land of Water.

Naruto's figure darted silently through the forest, moving so fast that only a golden blur remained.

He was already intimately familiar with every inch of this land and the position of every tree.

A few minutes later.

Naruto arrived at a hidden meeting point with practiced ease.

Two people were lying in wait behind a massive tree.

Momochi Zabuza was tall and broad, the lower half of his face wrapped in bandages as he leaned against the huge tree trunk.

His roughly sixty-pound Kubikiribōchō was stuck in the dirt beside him. Its blade reflected the faint light filtering through the forest, gleaming coldly.

Zabuza folded his arms. The sharp eyes visible above his bandages swept the road beyond through gaps in the branches, their gaze tinged with barely concealed impatience.

Standing quietly beside Zabuza was a handsome young man with long hair tied back. The loose strands at his temples had been carefully gathered and hung smoothly beside his cheeks.

It was someone Naruto knew just as well: Haku.

"Too slow." Zabuza's low, hoarse voice broke the forest's silence. "Are all the ninja from Konoha this inefficient? Or did those guys notice something?"

Haku turned his head slightly, his voice gentle and respectful. "Please be patient, Mr. Zabuza. Judging by when the Demon Brothers failed, they should be entering this area soon."

After a brief pause, Haku added, "We just don't know who we'll be facing this time."

According to Zabuza's earlier investigation, Gato's greatest concern—the old bridge-builder, Tazuna—had indeed gone to Konoha to hire ninja.

They had assumed the penniless old man couldn't afford any decent ninja. They hadn't expected him to defeat the Demon Brothers, who had ambushed him along the way.

That unexpected turn of events had forced Zabuza to make the trip himself.

Just as Haku finished speaking—

"There's no need to wait."

A calm voice suddenly rang out from the woods behind them, with no warning at all.

"Hm?"

Zabuza's pupils contracted sharply. Almost by instinct, he seized the hilt of Kubikiribōchō.

Haku moved even faster, slipping silently in front of Zabuza to shield him.

Several gleaming senbon were already held between Haku's fingers.

They both turned their sharp gazes toward the source of the voice.

A blond boy was standing across from them. No one knew when he had appeared. His expression was calm, his posture so casual he might have been out for a stroll.

"A ninja from Konoha?"

Zabuza recognized the Forehead Protector on Naruto's brow. His voice was wary, and carried a hint of humiliation at having been approached without noticing.

He hadn't sensed the boy's arrival at all!

"To have such stealth skills at that age... No wonder the Demon Brothers failed." Zabuza narrowed his eyes slightly, suppressing the urge to attack at once.

The boy didn't seem intent on attacking immediately. If anything, he seemed to be... greeting them.

After all, if he'd really wanted to attack, he wouldn't have announced his position first. And his expression and posture were far too relaxed.

Naruto ignored Zabuza's scrutiny and spoke in a calm, unhurried voice. "Momochi Zabuza, formerly one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."

"Haku, descendant of the Yuki Clan and wielder of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai."

"You failed to assassinate the Mizukage. Now you're trying to build up your strength so you can return to Kirigakure and start another revolution."

"Unfortunately, right now you can only take orders from the wealthy Gato and handle his dirty work—the kind that can't be done in the open. You have no way to fulfill your true ambitions."

"Your current target is Tazuna—or, more precisely, you want to stop that bridge from being completed and preserve Gato's economic control over the Land of Waves."

For a moment, the forest around them fell completely silent.

Chilling killing intent suddenly radiated from Zabuza. His voice was full of menace. "Kid, knowing too much isn't always a good thing!"

Zabuza felt humiliated, as though Naruto had exposed an old wound.

But Naruto seemed completely unfazed by the obvious threat.

He even took a couple of casual steps forward, looking past the battle-ready Haku to Zabuza behind him.

"Let's just fight."

After countless cycles, Naruto had learned one thing.

If you wanted to persuade someone to do something, or stop an event from happening, you needed the right time, place, and circumstances.

Like right now.

Naruto wanted Zabuza to listen to him calmly, so he had to convince him at the right time and place, under the right circumstances.

Otherwise, they'd just have to fight.

Only after beating someone into submission could you change their heart with love.

This wasn't the right time or place.

So they'd have to fight first.

Naruto's almost dismissive attitude finally enraged Zabuza.

"You're asking for it!"

He roared and suddenly raised the enormous Kubikiribōchō, kicking up dirt and leaves as its massive blade cleaved through the air and swept straight toward Naruto with terrifying force!

The blow was powerful enough to split solid stone with ease.

Yet faced with this ferocious strike, Naruto merely shifted to the side by the slightest degree.

The movement was astonishingly small, but his timing was terrifyingly precise.

The enormous blade swept past so close it almost grazed Naruto's nose. The sharp wind from the swing merely stirred a few strands of hair on his forehead.

Naruto's expression didn't change at all.

"What?!"

Zabuza was shocked that his full-strength attack had been dodged so effortlessly.

But he'd already committed to the swing. He couldn't pull back in time.

Naruto struck the instant Zabuza was unable to change his move.

Without hand seals, Ninjutsu, or Genjutsu, Naruto simply threw a lightning-fast punch, landing it squarely on Zabuza's hand gripping the hilt!

"Ugh..."

A sharp pain shot through Zabuza's arm. Kubikiribōchō nearly flew from his grasp.

With a muffled grunt, Zabuza stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance, disbelief filling his eyes.

The kid's Taijutsu and timing were downright absurd!

At almost the same moment, Haku launched an attack too!

Dozens of senbon shot out silently, sweeping toward Naruto's vital points like a sudden downpour and neatly blocking every possible avenue of escape.

It was much like the Uchiha style of Shuriken technique.

Facing the attack, Naruto didn't even bother to look closely.

He casually flicked his right hand forward, sending several shuriken flying. They collided and ricocheted through the air, following impossibly tricky trajectories.

Clang, clang, clang!

After a rapid series of sharp collisions, every single senbon Haku had thrown was knocked to the ground.