Acting

The next day, a thick fog blanketed the bridge.

Team 7 arrived early at the bridge. Zabuza summoned a Water Clone to spar with Sasuke and the others, testing their strength.

After Sasuke dispersed it, Zabuza was astonished to find these genin had grown considerably stronger than before.

"Interesting..." He concluded that Jimo must be the cause.

The moment the Water Clone was shattered, Haku charged forward, locking into combat with Sasuke and Sakura.

Kakashi, meanwhile, faced off against the onrushing Zabuza.

Elsewhere, Gato's men had arrived at Tazuna's house after Kakashi led the team out.

"Lady Tsunami, you wouldn't want your child to get hurt, would you?" One of them pointed a blade at Inari; a mere flick of force would slice his throat.

"I'll go with you..."

"Don't... bully my mom!" Inari swung his fist in fury. Perhaps Gato's men hadn't taken the little brat seriously, but that punch carried surprising power.

The thug holding the knife was knocked back, spitting out a mouthful of bile.

"You damn brat! I'll break your arms and legs, and make you watch as we humiliate your mother right in front of you!"

Just as the blade was about to strike Inari, a tremendous force slammed in. The thug felt the world spin around him.

"Nice work, Inari! I acknowledge you as my disciple now!" Jimo suddenly appeared before Inari, holding Lady Tsunami in his arms.

"Big Brother Jimo!"

"You did really well, little guy." Jimo looked at Inari with full approval, gently patting his little head. His voice was soft as he said, "Alright, now hurry back and take good care of your mother!" With that, Jimo carefully set Tsunami down on a comfortable sofa nearby, letting her rest easy.

Then Jimo slowly turned around, that faint smile still on his face—but now it carried a chilling edge. His gaze was calm and deep as he stared at the two thugs, asking softly, "Do you know what kind of people I hate the most?"

The two thugs were cowed by Jimo's presence and dared not answer. Jimo narrowed his eyes slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking smirk. "I despise those spineless cowards who can't win in a fair fight and resort to threatening someone's family behind their backs! Scum like that are the dregs of society!"

As his words fell, a surge of overwhelming power erupted from Jimo, spreading like a raging tide. This aura carried an unmatched pressure, instantly enveloping the entire space, making everyone present struggle to breathe, as if the very air had solidified.

"Naruto, leave this to me. You go support Kakashi-sensei. If they're attacking here, the situation on the bridge must be even worse."

Jimo dislocated both thugs' arms and legs, tied them up with hemp rope, and tossed them into the warehouse.

Naruto sped off toward the bridge.

"Big Brother Jimo, what are you going to do now?" Inari looked at Jimo.

So cool... he took down Gato's thugs in just a few moves.

"Inari, I'm giving you a mission: rally the neighbors, arm yourselves, and protect your home."

With that, Jimo vanished from the room.

"Time to deal with this country's biggest tumor..." Jimo's gaze was firm as he headed toward Gato's presence.

On the bridge, Sasuke was locked in a tough battle. Haku had used Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, and Naruto had blundered right into it.

"Jimo-kun was right... this really is a ninja with a hundred percent unpredictability..."

Haku used genjutsu, showing both Naruto and Sasuke visions of the other dying. She even added fuel to the fire, manifesting Sakura and Kakashi's deaths within the secret technique as well.

Almost simultaneously, the two activated their Two-Tomoe Sharingan and Demon Fox Cloak states.

Under their combined assault, Haku—unable to go all out—finally couldn't hold her ground and was knocked into the sea beside the bridge. Both boys collapsed in turn, their chakra exhausted.

Kakashi and Zabuza exchanged a glance, confirming each other's intent.

Zabuza once again used a larger-scale Hidden Mist Technique, shrouding the entire bridge.

Kakashi summoned a ninja dog to locate him, then drove a Chidori straight through Zabuza's chest.

"Tch! What useless trash ninja... and I wasted a fortune hiring those two..."

A short man leaning on a cane appeared at the other end of the bridge, followed by hundreds of armed thugs.

"Looks like you're at the end of your rope, huh? Then disappear along with this bridge!"

At Gato's command, the hundreds of thugs behind him roared to the heavens.

An arrow suddenly flew from afar and landed right in front of him.

"We'll protect our bridge!" Inari arrived with the armed townsfolk, but their numbers still put them at a disadvantage.

"You say, who's going to disappear?" A voice rang out from above.

"Jimo!" Sakura gasped.

Jimo held his hands together in a cup shape, and a glowing orb of light slowly emerged from his palms.

"Kamehameha—mini version!"

To avoid blowing up the bridge with his own technique, Jimo adjusted the compressed ki to a very low threshold.

The light wave struck the bridge from above, kicking up a fierce gale that swept most of the thugs into the sea.

Not far off, Haku supported Zabuza as they stared in shock at Jimo's technique.

"That kid's a real monster..."

"Zabuza-san, you should save your strength. Kakashi may have avoided your vitals, but that wound will take a long time to heal..."

Kakashi had truly pierced Zabuza's chest, but while everyone's attention was on the sky, Jimo used the Flying Nimbus to steal Zabuza's body away and fed him the system-rewarded "Senzu Bean (Weakened Version)."

Although it no longer had the power to regenerate severed limbs like in Dragon Ball, it was enough to save his life from a piercing wound like that.

"A strange cloud that seems alive, and beans that restore stamina and heal injuries after eating them—how does this guy have so many bizarre things..."

Zabuza lay on the soft Flying Nimbus; he really needed a good sleep. With this feigned death, he no longer had to wander with Haku.

This was the final plan he and Jimo had settled on. The only risk was if Kakashi missed and struck his heart instead—then he'd truly die.

It required his full trust in Kakashi.

The battle on the bridge ended quickly. Jimo crushed the several-hundred-strong thug force with overwhelming victory, scattering them in disarray.

"Th-this... is this what a ninja is..."

"So strong."

Watching the thugs flee in panic, the people of Wave Country finally had a trace of a smile on their faces.

"We won!"