Attack his lower body! Can't you fight dirty?

The fierce battle erupted in an instant.

With the mist gone, Zabuza faced the four-way assault from Nichiyo and the others without backing down.

After all, he had once been one of the Mist Hidden Village's Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He had the strength of an elite Jonin and was also a top-tier master of stealth and assassination.

Across the Ninja World, no ninja whose reputation reached foreign lands was easy to deal with.

Besides...

This guy and Haku had once nearly wiped out Team 7! And Team 7 had sealed Kaguya, so by that logic...

Of course, that was just a joke.

But there was no doubt about it.

For this era, the Mist Demon was still a formidable opponent.

The number of ninjas who had died at his hands was probably well into the hundreds...

However, the four fighting him were no pushovers either.

Uncle Ryu, a Chunin skilled at long-range attacks; Nichiyo, a Special Jonin adept at blasting enemies with ninjutsu; Tsukihime, a Jonin skilled in close combat; and... and Gin, another Special Jonin.

Four people, four pairs of Sharingan.

It was a formidable lineup.

Even Zabuza was struggling against them now.

"Water Style: Water Clone Technique!"

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!"

"Fuma Shuriken!"

"Taijutsu: Eight Trigrams Palm!"

One powerful ninjutsu after another flew out, colliding in a constant barrage.

The two sides traded blows back and forth.

Though Nichiyo and the others were no match for Zabuza in raw strength, their teamwork and the Sharingan's boost let them skillfully block every attack he threw at them.

They even seemed to have gained a slight advantage.

At that moment,

Natsume stood at a distance, watching the battle and eagerly calling out advice.

"Good, good! Just like that!"

"Uncle Ryu, aim for his head when you use your ninjutsu!"

"Tsukihime, get in close and attack his lower body! Don't give him a chance to form Hand Seals!"

"Nichiyo, watch the gaps between your ninjutsu! Support Tsukihime, and don't get out of position!"

"Gin, don't get too far ahead! Stay back and throw more Kunai and Shuriken!"

"Can't you fight dirty? Don't worry about honor on the battlefield! Do whatever it takes! Got that?"

Such crude, underhanded instructions

only made Zabuza roar even more furiously as he fought.

He wanted nothing more than to charge over and kill the brat first.

But every time he tried to go after that brat,

the four Uchiha ninjas would throw themselves at him with everything they had, launching a fierce assault.

They even took hits to land hits, acting like they didn't care if they died.

They forced him to retreat, leaving him no chance to go after the brat!

"Damn it! Who is that brat, anyway?"

"How did he get these ninjas to fight so desperately for him? To be so loyal?"

"It makes no sense!"

Zabuza thought grimly, alarmed despite himself.

Meanwhile, his fight against Nichiyo and the others was getting harder by the moment.

Aside from the female ninja and the older man, the other two boys didn't have much combat experience.

At first, they'd been quite clumsy.

But now the four of them were working together better and better, growing more skilled with every exchange.

At this rate, he might be the one who ended up losing!

No. He couldn't drag this out any longer.

He needed a chance to unleash a large-scale ninjutsu and take them all down in one go!

"Be careful. He might use a clone to keep you occupied while he prepares to form Hand Seals for the Water Dragon Bullet Technique."

"Keep the pressure on his real body! Don't give him a chance!"

Natsume saw through Zabuza's intentions from a distance and called out another warning.

At that, Zabuza felt his chest tighten. He coughed violently,

nearly choking on his rage!

"Damn it! How does that brat know?"

"How does he know what I'm about to do?"

"He even shouted it out!"

"How am I supposed to use my jutsu now? How am I supposed to fight?"

"Does he have to be this shameless?!"

Watching Zabuza's frustrated, flustered expression,

Natsume couldn't help but grin.

What a joke. I watched this guy form Hand Seals in my previous life.

I could recite the forty-plus seals for the Water Dragon Bullet Technique backward with my eyes closed.

Across the Ninja World, there's probably no one more familiar with this guy's fighting style and trump cards than me.

How could he possibly win? What could he even use to beat me?

With Natsume's warning, Nichiyo and the others once again pressed their attack, suddenly picking up the pace.

They gave Zabuza no chance to form Hand Seals and use ninjutsu.

As for Natsume, he continued to watch from a distance, grinning from ear to ear.

And so,

Zabuza's disadvantage grew steadily more obvious.

By this point in the fierce battle, he had more than a dozen wounds all over his body. The blood pouring from them had stained most of him red, and he looked increasingly battered.

But just as Nichiyo and the others were on the verge of victory,

a small puddle behind Natsume suddenly began to ripple.

It slowly gathered into the shape of a delicate "girl" who looked about ten years old.

"Whoosh—"

The girl gripped a Kunai and suddenly lunged forward, appearing behind Natsume.

She pressed the sharp Kunai against his neck.

"Quick! Make your people stop! Or I'll kill you!"

Haku glared wide-eyed and shouted his threat.

Unless he had no other choice, he truly didn't want to disobey Lord Zabuza's orders and step in.

But he wasn't a fool, either.

Looking at the situation, if the fight continued,

Lord Zabuza might lose, or even die.

He couldn't wait any longer. He had to force his way in.

He would capture Natsume and use him as a hostage to make the other ninjas back off.

"Young Clan Head!"

Nichiyo and the others all faltered, their hearts tightening as they hurried to rush to Natsume's aid.

"Focus on the fight! Don't let yourselves get distracted!" Natsume snapped calmly.

"Yes!"

At this,

Haku grew even angrier. Gritting his teeth, he threatened Natsume again.

"Do you want to die? Tell your people to stop! I won't say it a second time."

"Being a rogue ninja must be tough, huh?"

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

"If I were you, I'd drop the Kunai and surrender. You might even make it out alive!" Natsume said with a faint smile, not the least bit nervous.

Haku, who was only ten years old, trembled slightly as he gripped the Kunai tightly.

"You! You're making me do this!"

Haku steeled himself and stabbed at Natsume's neck.

No matter what, he had to save Mr. Zabuza!

But the next second,

the blood he'd expected to spray out never came.

Haku felt his Kunai meet nothing. There was no sensation of stabbing into a body, and he stumbled forward, nearly falling to the ground.

Then he looked up.

Only then did he realize that the boy's body had suddenly scattered into countless little pandas.

The pandas bounced around him and quickly gathered to his right.

They formed the boy's shape once again.

Haku was stunned.

"Substitution Technique?"

"Clone Technique?"

"No! It's a genjutsu! I've been caught in a genjutsu!"

"The boy wasn't real from the start?"

"How could that be? When did he cast it? Why didn't I notice?"

Panicking,

Haku didn't dare hesitate.

He immediately unleashed his Kekkei Genkai, Ice Release, his most powerful ninjutsu!

"Ice Style Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

Soon, the jutsu took effect.

A mass of ice mirrors rapidly formed all around him.

He prepared to dart into one of them, then use the mirrors to launch an attack.

But

just as he was about to enter the ice mirror, he glanced at the boy instinctively.

In an instant, Haku shuddered violently once more.

"That's... that's the Mangekyō Sharingan?!"

"How could that be?!"

In the blink of an eye,

more than ten ice mirrors shattered!

"Boom—"

Amid the crash of breaking ice,

Haku saw everything blur. Before he could react,

a hand about his size closed around his throat.

It forcefully interrupted his ninjutsu and lifted him effortlessly into the air.

"I told you to behave yourself. Why wouldn't you listen?"

Looking into the boy's crimson eyes and hearing his cold voice,

Haku trembled from head to toe, as if he'd been plunged into an icy abyss. He felt more helpless than ever before.