Zabuza and Haku moved at the same time.
While Haku spoke with Kakashi, Zabuza had already crept close to Tazuna. But Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had surrounded Tazuna and were on guard.
"So you did figure it out."
Zabuza gazed at the hazy silhouettes in the mist from afar, brimming with confidence. "But the mist today won't be so easily blown away."
Using the thick mist for cover, Zabuza crept up without a sound and stabbed a kunai toward Naruto's neck.
"Your chakra and stamina are impressive, but you're still only a Genin. You lack far too much real combat experience."
Zabuza's hand was steady, and his breathing didn't waver. "Die."
But Naruto dodged.
Naruto suddenly sidestepped out of the kunai's path, lowered his center of gravity, and grabbed Zabuza's wrist with his right hand, pushing it upward.
"?!"
Zabuza immediately realized he had been spotted. He pulled hard with his right hand, struck at Naruto's neck with his left, and kicked toward Naruto's groin with his left foot.
Naruto clamped his knees together to block the kick, then met Zabuza's left hand with his own and grabbed it. "Now!"
Sasuke and Sakura appeared behind Zabuza at the same time and stabbed with their kunai. Sasuke aimed for the heart, while Sakura aimed only for his shoulder.
They hit.
Naruto warned them in time. "Don't let your guard down. This is a Water Clone."
The impaled Zabuza changed shape and faded, turning into a puddle of water.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura formed up around Tazuna again.
"Strength, chakra, even your sensory abilities are impressive."
Another Zabuza emerged from the thick mist, watching Naruto with a slightly troubled expression. "With skills like yours, you're only a Genin in Konoha?"
"Maybe I just happened to notice you that time. If you try again, you might take me out."
Naruto kept a blank expression as he spoke ambiguously. "Kakashi-sensei should have already spotted your companion. You'd better do something quickly, or you'll have to flee again."
"You're the ones who should be running for your lives."
Zabuza rapidly formed Hand Seals. "Haku is strong. Kakashi won't get here before I finish you off—Hidden Mist Technique."
The already dense mist thickened until they couldn't see their own hands. Even with his Sharingan, Sasuke couldn't find Zabuza.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto created more than twenty Shadow Clones and arranged them in a circle, repeating his earlier move. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The strong wind swept the mist into the distance, but as soon as it cleared the area, more mist surged in from above and below, keeping the surrounding fog dense and visibility extremely low.
"There's already heavy fog today, and the Hidden Mist Technique adds even more. My chakra alone isn't enough to clear it with Wind Release."
Realizing this, Naruto promptly stopped wasting chakra.
"Can't blow it away?"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto, still on guard. "Should we try adding my Fire Release?"
"No need to waste chakra."
Naruto said, "Most of this mist is natural. Even if we combine our efforts and use our techniques, we can only clear some of it temporarily. And Zabuza will definitely attack while we're performing them. Our priority is protecting Uncle Tazuna. Once Kakashi-sensei deals with Zabuza's companion, the odds will turn in our favor."
Sakura asked, "What if Zabuza attacks Kakashi-sensei while we're afraid to move? What should we do?"
Naruto thought for a moment. "Then I'll go support Kakashi-sensei alone. You two protect Uncle Tazuna."
"I have to take care of this troublesome brat first. Tch, I'd wanted to save some chakra for the Copy Ninja."
Zabuza grumbled inwardly. After performing several techniques in succession, he sent three Water Clones around Naruto's Shadow Clone formation and charging toward Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
As expected, the three easily dispelled the Water Clones. But this time, the water that made them up didn't scatter. Instead, it wrapped around each of the three, forming three large spheres of water—Water Release: Water Prison Technique.
Right afterward, the dispersed Water Clones re-formed and placed their hands on the water spheres, maintaining the Water Prison Technique in place of Zabuza himself.
Naruto's Shadow Clones hurried back to defend. Several began forming Hand Seals, planning to use Wind Release to break the prisons directly. Others drew their kunai, intending to take out Zabuza's Water Clones and disrupt the technique. The remaining Shadow Clones immediately protected Tazuna.
"Heh. You're just kids, after all. You don't have enough experience."
Zabuza laughed inwardly and performed his final technique. "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
The sea below the bridge surged upward, then came crashing down under the combined force of chakra and gravity, engulfing every target.
"Ha... ha..."
The enormous chakra expenditure left Zabuza panting, but as he watched the Great Waterfall Technique continue to pour down, he felt great. "Even if that monster of a kid and his companions survive, the old man building the bridge is as good as dead!"
When Zabuza launched his attack, Haku and Kakashi began fighting too.
Haku knew his own ability. He couldn't match Kakashi in close combat, so he started with a technique.
Kakashi didn't immediately charge in to interrupt him. Instead, he instinctively tried to copy the technique with his Sharingan.
"Just as Lord Zabuza expected."
Haku thought to himself. "He should realize something's wrong any moment now, but it'll already be too late."
Kakashi did realize something was wrong right away. His hands were forming the seals, but the chakra inside him wasn't responding. "This feeling... a Kekkei Genkai!?"
Haku then called out the technique's name, confirming Kakashi's suspicion. "Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals."
Ice crystallized into a series of square mirrors, surrounding Kakashi. Haku's image appeared in every mirror.
"Ice Release..."
Kakashi's tone grew serious. "The information Hidden Mist released about Zabuza didn't mention you at all. You met him only after he defected, didn't you?"
"No. I was with Mr. Zabuza even when he was still in Hidden Mist."
Haku disliked fighting, and Zabuza's assignment was only to hold Kakashi off, so he didn't mind chatting a little longer. It would buy Zabuza some extra time, too. "But I'm not a Hidden Mist ninja. Before I met Lord Zabuza, this power was nothing but a curse to me."
"Both you and Zabuza could use your abilities to do something more meaningful. Why choose to work with someone like Gato?"
Kakashi didn't understand, and felt more sorrow than anything else. "Too many innocent people in this country have already died because of you. This isn't what a ninja should do."
"I'm Lord Zabuza's tool."
Haku remained completely unmoved. "No matter what happens, I'll fight for Lord Zabuza. I always have, and I always will."
"That's truly a shame."
There was killing intent in Kakashi's voice. "You'll have to die here."
Haku emerged from one ice mirror and moved at incredible speed toward another. As he moved, he threw the Senbon in his hand at Kakashi.
"You're fast."
Only the Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye could keep up with Haku. Even as he marveled at the speed, he had already figured out what to do: use Earth Release to escape the mirrors from underground.
The Senbon pierced the ground. Kakashi had already emerged from the ground outside the mirrors, and he rapidly formed Hand Seals before pressing his hands to the earth. "Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
A wall bearing a dog's head rose from the ground within the area enclosed by the mirrors, forcibly shattering one of them. At the same time, the wall blocked the light's reflection, cutting off Haku's path for moving quickly between the mirrors. Haku had no choice but to release the technique for the moment and emerge from the mirrors.
Kakashi seized the opening, darted behind Haku, and thrust his kunai toward Haku's heart...
Before you continue