Mist

After ferrying Kakashi's group ashore, the boatman rowed his little boat away, heading back into the mist drifting over the sea... Not long after, a "poof" sounded from within the fog.

The boatman—Naruto's Shadow Clone—grinned and vanished.

The empty boat bobbed gently on the rolling sea.

This scene was witnessed by a young man wearing a Mist Village Hunter-nin mask.

He had only stayed behind to take a few extra looks out of his usual caution, never expecting to see this...

"We've been tricked, Zabuza-sama."

Haku, wearing an Anbu mask, flashed away across the sea. After reaching shore, he recalled the direction Wu Yu and the others had gone, then studied the surrounding terrain. "If that first group was entirely a diversion created with Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu, then their real bodies should be..."

Haku made his judgment swiftly and shot forward.

He moved with remarkable agility, his speed no slower than that of a first-rate Jonin. Swift as the wind and elusive as mist, he slipped silently into the forest...

"Ah!"

The group was quietly taking a detour when Naruto Uzumaki suddenly cried out.

Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno both turned toward him. Tazuna grumbled, "Shorty, quit making such a fuss, will you? An old man like me..."

Kakashi Hatake calmly asked, "Naruto, what kind of ninja attacked your Shadow Clone?"

Eager to claim credit, Naruto could not be bothered arguing with Tazuna. "He wore the same forehead protector as those two guys from before! And, uh..."

He tried hard to recall his Shadow Clone's memories, squinting as he muttered, "His weapon was... If you called that a sword, it was way too huge. Massive, broad, heavy, and really rough... It was practically just a slab of iron!"

Kubikiribōchō!

One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—the Demon, Zabuza Momochi!

Kakashi Hatake did not gasp, but his expression instantly turned grave. He raised a hand to halt everyone, then instructed them seriously, "This enemy is on an entirely different level from the Demon Brothers. Your only task is to protect Tazuna-san. Leave the fighting to me."

Sakura Haruno asked curiously, "But didn't Naruto's Shadow Clone draw the enemy away? He won't come after us, right?"

"Prepare for the worst," Kakashi said.

Although Zabuza Momochi was a rogue ninja, since he was still taking on ninja work, he likely retained the habits of a Mist Village ninja. He would naturally not carry out an assassination mission alone; there was a good chance he had brought at least one companion to support him...

"Sasuke, the four of you form a manji formation and move forward with Tazuna-san protected in the middle. And Wu Yu—"

"Hm?"

Wu Yu, who had been studying his palm thoughtfully, raised his head.

"Keep sensing," Kakashi said. Then, as Wu Yu's figure gradually blurred, he suddenly froze. When had the surrounding mist become so dense?!

"That..." Wu Yu slowly clenched his hand into a fist. His entire body was swallowed by the spreading mist, leaving only his voice behind. "They're already here."

"Kakashi-sensei!" "Sakura!" "..."

Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki cried out from within the thick fog, where one could not see even a hand before one's face. Sasuke Uchiha was stunned. The people right beside him could be heard, yet not seen!

Was this strange fog the enemy's jutsu?

[Wu Yu, there are two of them! One is to the west, and the other—has arrived too! Right in front of you!] Jade Rabbit warned in Wu Yu's mind.

"Hehehehe..." Strange laughter rose and fell through the fog, faint and indistinct, seeming to come from every direction. "To think that Kakashi of the Sharingan, while escorting a decrepit old man, would be so timid as to use Shadow Clones for a diversion..."

Kakashi Hatake pushed up his forehead protector, revealing his crimson left eye. "I also never expected the Demon Zabuza to sink so low as to assassinate a decrepit old man like this."

He gathered Chakra in his nose, magnifying his sense of smell tens of thousands of times as he searched for Zabuza's exact location.

Clap!

Kakashi slammed his palms together. As he formed seals, a terrifying killing intent radiated from him.

Damn, Kakashi's presence is completely different from when he was messing around during the Survival Exercise... Calm down, calm down... Jade Rabbit Mode only lasts five minutes. It's not time to activate it yet...

At one corner of the manji formation, Wu Yu felt the two immense killing intents in the dense fog, seemingly colliding fiercely. He fought down the tremors threatening to seize his body, leaned his back against Tazuna, and slowly took deep breaths to steady his rhythm.

Thrilling. Too thrilling.

Even his scalp was starting to tingle, numb and prickly...

Though his heart pounded wildly, he had to pretend nothing was wrong.

Kakashi had said it himself: a proper amount of tension could stimulate hormone secretion throughout the body and rouse every nerve...

Within the dense fog, Zabuza Momochi arrived before Tazuna like a phantom, silently appearing in front of the man protected by four Genin. Expressionless, he raised the door-sized Kubikiribōchō and casually swung it at Tazuna and Wu Yu along with him, as naturally as if he were out buying groceries...

Even the swing of Kubikiribōchō stirred not the faintest sound in the fog.

The Demon's Silent Killing Technique had long since reached perfection.

Thus, he could catch every detail of prey left disoriented within the Hiding in Mist Technique... At the instant Kubikiribōchō came down, Zabuza saw that the Genin blocking its blade had changed.

Deep crimson markings had appeared across his forehead and around his eyes at some point, and his ears had become pointed as well.

Clang...

The sound wave of metal striking metal seemed unable to travel through the thick fog, emerging dull and muffled.

Only then did Tazuna react, so frightened that he nearly screamed.

Wu Yu used one hand to block Kubikiribōchō with a kunai, bracing the back of it with his other arm. His Sage Mode-enhanced body forcibly withstood the bloodthirsty blade.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle... The kunai and Kubikiribōchō collided, throwing off sparks.

"This brat is ridiculously strong!"

Zabuza Momochi was inwardly shocked. Kubikiribōchō trembled without stop before finally giving way. Wu Yu kicked upward, sending Zabuza's entire body bursting into a spray of water.

A clone?!

Sasuke Uchiha did not move rashly. Otherwise, the Manji Formation would lose its purpose. He had already activated his Sharingan, watching Wu Yu's direction from the corner of his eye.

Behind Zabuza Momochi's true body, a kunai silently emerged from the thick mist. "I should be your opponent."

The kunai was blocked by Kubikiribōchō's hilt.

Zabuza Momochi shoved the hilt forward and flipped the blade. Kubikiribōchō swept up from behind, cleaving Kakashi Hatake vertically from bottom to top and splitting him in two.

The two halves of Kakashi Hatake turned into twin masses of lightning, chasing after the retreating Zabuza Momochi with a thunderous roar!

Boom! Lightning flashed, and thunder exploded.

A gap was blasted through the dense mist, opening what seemed like a passage through their field of vision. Sakura immediately formed hand seals—Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!

Before the smoke-covered Zabuza Momochi's eyes, that baby-faced bastard flashed past. In just 0.1 seconds, Zabuza Momochi broke free of the genjutsu.

"Just a bunch of brats playing ninja games..."

Zabuza Momochi grabbed Kubikiribōchō and hurled it toward Tazuna's position. The blade stabbed into the ground, striking nothing.

"Who would still be standing there waiting for you?" Naruto Uzumaki's overlapping voices came from beneath Zabuza. Shouting, "Uzu" "maki" "Naru" "to" "Barrage," five or six Naruto Shadow Clones kicked Zabuza forcefully into the air once again.

Naruto was about to deliver a stylish finishing move when Sasuke tore through the air, already high above them. He spun and brought down a heavy axe kick, smashing Zabuza back to the ground.

"I'm so pissed off!!" The Narutos on the ground shouted furiously, swarming the Zabuza Sasuke had knocked down with punches and kicks to vent their anger—only to hit empty air.

"Splaaash..." The one Sasuke had knocked down from the air was another Water Clone.

"Damn it! The mist was too thick—I didn't see him form the seals!" Sasuke cursed inwardly as he descended. Through the dense fog, he saw the Demon's figure crouched atop the hilt of Kubikiribōchō embedded in the ground, slowly rising to his feet.

Wu Yu (Jade Rabbit Mode)'s current scores:

Ninjutsu Proficiency 5, Taijutsu 6, Genjutsu Proficiency 3, Tactical Intelligence 4, Physical Strength 10, Speed 9, Stamina and Chakra Reserves 8, Seal Proficiency 7

(Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Tactical Intelligence are, in my opinion, merely skill ratings—a measure of one's depth of understanding of ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and tactics, rather than their actual power. Otherwise, Physical Strength and Speed should be included under Taijutsu.)