You're saving him, aren't you?

The Sharingan can indeed copy ninjutsu, but that only happens after seeing the opponent perform hand seals.

Yet, Kakashi's movements just now were almost perfectly synchronized with Zabuza's, and perhaps even a fraction faster! This defied all logic! Unless he could predict the future!

"How did you do that?" Zabuza could not help but feel a tremor of panic in his heart.

"I have already seen through your ninjutsu." Kakashi stood amidst the water mist without offering further explanation; this kind of incomprehensible power was, in itself, the greatest blow to an enemy's psyche.

Behind all of this, however, was the calm and unruffled Eye of Truth belonging to Ling Xuan.

[Combat Data Exchange: The chakra execution model and hand seal sequence for Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique have been transmitted to Kakashi in advance. Relying on his extensive combat experience and muscle memory, Kakashi has perfectly reproduced the technique.]

[Enemy Status Analysis: Zabuza Momochi, experiencing severe psychological fluctuations—shock, anger, confusion. Chakra consumption has increased; openings have appeared.]

"Next," Ling Xuan's voice rang calmly in Kakashi's mind, "due to his shock and rage, he will abandon complex ninjutsu and instead resort to his most confident and proficient Silent Killing Technique and swordsmanship for a close-quarters ambush. Prepare to meet his high-speed assault."

Sure enough, Zabuza let out a roar, stopped weaving seals, and gripped the Kubikiribōchō tightly, his entire figure instantly dissolving into the dense fog and vanishing from sight.

The killing intent spread once more, colder and more lethal than before.

This time, Zabuza was truly serious; he pushed his assassination techniques as the Demon to their absolute limit.

Sasuke's heart leaped into his throat. Under this immense pressure, he activated his Sharingan. Though he only possessed three tomoe in total, he desperately wanted to see through this battle.

However, within the thick fog, he could barely catch glimpses of blurred afterimages and was completely unable to lock onto Zabuza's true form.

For the first time, Sasuke deeply realized that even with the same Sharingan, the power wielded by Kakashi-sensei and the power he possessed were worlds apart.

And Ling Xuan—he didn't even possess a Kekkei Genkai, yet he seemed able to perceive everything. This disparity filled his heart with both resentment and longing.

"He's coming. Directly above!" Ling Xuan's prompt sounded.

Without a second thought, Kakashi leaped violently backward.

A massive Kubikiribōchō descended from the sky, hacking fiercely into the ground where he had just been standing and carving out a deep trench!

Missing his mark, Zabuza's figure vanished once again.

"Left!"

"Behind!"

"It's a clone! The real body is to your lower right!"

With the assistance of Ling Xuan's omnidirectional, blind-spot-free Battlefield Radar, Kakashi seemed to truly possess the ability to predict the future.

Zabuza's pride—the Silent Killing Technique that had sent countless Jonin to their graves—became like a farcical play with a pre-written script in the face of the "Sharingan Kakashi" and "Eye of Truth Ling Xuan" duo, a combination that could only be described as cheating.

Every exquisite ambush was easily neutralized, and every lethal trap was seen through in advance.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!!!"

Zabuza went completely berserk. He let out a beast-like roar, abandoned all attempts at concealment, and charged head-on at Kakashi with the Kubikiribōchō, determined to decide the outcome with pure strength and swordsmanship!

"Now!" Ling Xuan's voice echoed in Kakashi's mind. "His mind is unguarded due to his rage; this is the best time to use that technique!"

Kakashi's gaze turned razor-sharp in an instant as he charged toward Zabuza.

"Hell Viewing Technique!"

Genjutsu, activated!

The scene before the charging Zabuza shifted violently; he saw his own limbs being easily severed by Kakashi, and saw himself lying on the ground like a dead dog.

He saw Kakashi's kunai slowly piercing into his own heart amidst his terrified gaze...

"NO!!!"

Zabuza let out a shrill, miserable scream, his mental defenses shattered in that very moment.

Although he used his immense willpower to break free from the genjutsu instantly, that split-second of distraction was fatal.

When he regained his senses, a cold kunai was already pressed against his throat.

Kakashi's figure stood before him like a true demon god.

"It's over, Zabuza."

The battle was decided.

However, just as Kakashi prepared to strike and end the life of this Demon of the Mist once and for all:

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two slender senbon shot out from the distant forest at an extremely tricky angle, striking Zabuza's neck with pinpoint accuracy.

Zabuza let out a muffled groan, the light in his eyes fading rapidly as his body fell stiffly backward, splashing into the water.

"Who's there?" Kakashi immediately looked toward the direction from which the senbon had been fired, his guard raised.

A ninja wearing the distinctive hunter-nin attire of Kirigakure, with a white mask painted with red stripes, appeared quietly on a nearby tree branch.

"Thank you, Sharingan Kakashi." The Hunter-nin's voice sounded like that of a youth, crisp and neutral. "This man is a rogue ninja we in Kirigakure have been tracking for a long time. I will handle his corpse now."

With that, he used a Body Flicker technique to appear beside Zabuza's "corpse" and hoisted him up.

Kakashi stepped forward, reaching out to check Zabuza's breath and feeling for his carotid artery.

"Indeed... there are no signs of life left." He confirmed.

"Then, I shall take my leave." The masked Hunter-nin bowed slightly to Kakashi before hoisting Zabuza's corpse onto his shoulder.

"Wait a moment." Ling Xuan's calm voice caused the Hunter-nin to freeze in his tracks.

Kakashi also looked toward Ling Xuan with a puzzled expression.

Ling Xuan stepped forward slowly, pointed at the Senbon in Zabuza's neck, and said indifferently, "To prevent the leakage of intelligence, the standard procedure for a Hunter-nin disposing of a rogue ninja's body is complete destruction. Yet, you specifically prepared Senbon designed to block acupuncture points from a distance and induce a state of suspended animation."

He raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the mask to look directly into Haku's eyes.

"Furthermore, your appearance was far too coincidental, as if you had been waiting nearby for this exact moment. You are saving him, aren't you?"

The Mist Hunter-nin carrying Zabuza's "corpse" stiffened imperceptibly. His white mask, painted with red stripes, concealed all facial expressions, yet it could not block out a gaze that seemed capable of reading his very soul.

Kakashi's single eye narrowed sharply; he was instantly jolted out of the brief moment of relaxation that followed the battle. It was not that he hadn't been suspicious, but the appearance of the Hunter-nin and his method of disposal had aligned with the conventional rules of the ninja world, leading him to accept it subconsciously.

However, Ling Xuan had pointed out the inherent irrationality of this rule based on the most fundamental logic.

Indeed... the core mission of the Hunter-nin squad was erasure—to completely wipe out a rogue ninja and all the secrets they carried. Burning the body was the only standard practice.