The Mysterious Youth

Duanmu had not yet perfected his Flying Raijin Technique, but now was not the time to worry about whether it was perfected or not. Although Zabuza's Water Clone Technique had had its chakra weakened by the Great Fireball, it was still more than enough to deal with these fragile Shadow Clone Technique clones.

Every swing of the Executioner's Blade carried a force that could smash through anything in its path. Naruto's clones charged one after another like moths to a flame, constantly vanishing into white smoke amid the flashes of the blade.

The real Naruto was so anxious his head was slick with sweat, but he could only watch helplessly as his clones were reduced one by one. He knew that if this continued, there was no way they could hold the enemy back.

Sasuke had used up quite a bit of chakra after the Great Fireball. He stared fixedly at the hands Zabuza's real body was using to maintain the Water Prison, his mind racing. I have to interrupt his hand signs! But there isn't a single opening around him...

His gaze swept over Kakashi, who was growing gradually weaker inside the Water Prison, then landed on the Water Clone Technique clone that was continuously cutting down Naruto's clones. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

Just then, Duanmu's body suddenly turned into a blurry streak of blue-white lightning and disappeared from where he stood with a whoosh! This was precisely the embryonic form of the Flying Raijin Technique he had yet to fully master—although he still could not perform long-distance spatial jumps, nor could he accurately lock onto coordinates, by relying on the faint Flying Raijin Technique mark he had secretly attached to Zabuza's Water Clone Technique clone earlier, he could just barely manage a short-distance instant movement!

"Hm?" Zabuza's real body frowned slightly, as if he had sensed some strange spatial fluctuation, but he was fully focused on maintaining the Water Prison and did not spare any attention to investigate.

The next second, Duanmu's figure appeared abruptly behind and to the side of Zabuza's Water Clone Technique clone! At some point, a Kunai had appeared in his hand. Without the slightest hesitation, he stabbed viciously at the right knee joint the Water Clone Technique clone used to maintain its balance!

"Pfft!" The Kunai struck true. Although the Water Clone Technique clone had no blood, its chakra-formed body clearly froze, its movements stiffening for an instant.

"Now!" A sharp light flashed in Sasuke's eyes. This was the opening he had been waiting for! He abruptly pulled the Kunai stuck in the ground free and threw it at Zabuza's real body with all his strength! The Kunai sliced through the thick mist with a shrill whistle, aimed straight at Zabuza's right hand as he maintained the hand signs for the Water Prison!

At the same time, Naruto reacted too. He gathered all his remaining chakra into his right foot and roared with every ounce of strength he had: "Naruto Combo!" The real body charged forward with the last few Shadow Clone Technique clones like cannonballs fired from a barrel, using fists and feet together as they slammed viciously into the injured Water Clone Technique clone!

"Bang!" The Water Clone Technique clone's chakra had already been unstable from the Great Fireball and Duanmu's surprise attack. Now, under Naruto's repeated heavy blows, it finally could not hold on. With a muffled sound, it dissolved into a puddle of water and scattered.

The Kunai Sasuke had thrown was already right before him! Zabuza's expression changed. He had not expected these few genin to be able to coordinate a counterattack at a time like this!

If the Kunai hit his right hand, the Water Prison Technique would definitely be interrupted.

He weighed the pros and cons, and in the end, he gave up on continuing to maintain the Water Prison, jerking sideways to dodge.

The Kunai scraped past his arm and embedded itself deep into the tree trunk behind him, leaving a clear hole.

As Zabuza's right hand broke off its hand signs, the Water Prison trapping Kakashi instantly lost the chakra supporting it. With a crash, the huge sphere of water collapsed in an instant, turning into water droplets that scattered everywhere.

Kakashi broke free from the Water Prison. Although his face was somewhat pale from lack of oxygen, his eyes remained as sharp as a hawk's. The moment he escaped, he immediately formed hand signs with both hands, his low voice ringing out through the mist: "Chidori!"

In an instant, blue lightning gathered in his hand, letting out a piercing crackle, as if thousands upon thousands of birds were crying at once.

When Zabuza saw the lightning flash in Kakashi's hand, Zabuza's pupils suddenly contracted. That violent lightning-natured chakra made him smell fatal danger.

"Don't even think about it!" Zabuza roared. He forcibly twisted his body, gripping the Executioner's Blade tightly with both hands and holding it horizontally in front of him, trying to use the tough ninja blade to block the edge of the Chidori.

Kakashi's gaze was icy. His feet did not stop for even a moment as his figure advanced like a ghost, the Chidori in his hand carrying the force to tear through the air as it hacked heavily against the flat of the Executioner's Blade!

Zabuza was instantly sent flying. Kakashi still wanted to press forward and pursue him, but he saw Zabuza forcibly adjust his body in midair, his left hand swiftly forming signs as he spat out a high-pressure stream of water: "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Kakashi immediately used his Sharingan, copying Zabuza's sequence of hand signs and unleashing the same Water Dragon Bullet Technique at almost the exact same time. Two water dragons, identical in form and almost equal in power, once again crashed together thunderously in the thick mist. The spray they kicked up was even fiercer than before, dispersing much of the surrounding fog and revealing the devastated battlefield below.

"Damn it!" Zabuza was shaken by the shockwave from the collision of the water dragons until his blood and qi churned, and the hand gripping the Executioner's Blade trembled slightly.

He looked at the unharmed Kakashi, his eyes filled with unwillingness and shock. This man's Sharingan was practically his nemesis. No matter what ninjutsu he used, the other side could instantly copy and counterattack, making the Water Release he was so proud of completely lose its advantage.

Kakashi did not give him much chance to catch his breath. The blue light of the Chidori lit up in his hand again. He knew Zabuza was already at the end of his rope, and he had to seize this chance to defeat him completely.

He pushed off with his feet, his figure once again turning into an afterimage as he charged toward Zabuza, who had not yet fully steadied himself.

Just then, from deep within the thick mist, there suddenly came a faint sound of something cutting through the air. A silver flash shot over like a meteor, aimed straight at the center of Kakashi's back!

"Watch your back!" Duanmu's voice rang out abruptly. He had been keeping an eye on the surroundings of the battlefield the whole time. Although that whistling sound had been faint, he had still caught it.

He wanted to use the Flying Raijin Technique again to warn Kakashi, but he discovered that after that short-distance teleport just now, his chakra was already nearly gone. He could only call out anxiously in warning.

Kakashi's Sharingan instantly caught that silver flash. It was a silver needle glinting with cold light, and a strand of strange chakra was still wrapped around it.

His heart jolted. He had not expected that at a time like this, there would still be an enemy lying in ambush!

He had no time to think. He could only forcibly interrupt the buildup of his Chidori, his body rolling to the left in an extremely awkward posture.

The silver needle grazed past his ribs, drawing a line of blood. A wave of numbness spread from the wound, immediately making his movements half a beat slower.

"Who?!" Kakashi shouted sternly, his Sharingan sweeping wildly through the thick mist as he tried to find the attacker's position.

From deep within the mist, a figure wearing a Hidden Mist Anbu mask slowly appeared. In their hand, they still held a silver-glinting ninja tool. It was the person who had fired the silver needle just now.

That person threw a silver needle straight at Zabuza, striking one of Zabuza's pressure points. A surge of pale purple chakra instantly poured out of Zabuza's body, and Zabuza immediately passed out cold.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. He was all too familiar with the style of that mask—the standard issue of the Hidden Mist Village's Anbu. It was just that the aura this person gave off was several times colder and darker than an ordinary Anbu's.

"I'll take Zabuza back to report in," that person suddenly said.

Kakashi nodded and said nothing more. It seemed he believed this person was indeed an Anbu from the Hidden Mist Village, but Duanmu knew that this person was none other than Haku, the boy who had been hiding in the dark all along, silently protecting Zabuza.

At this moment, his voice was filtered through the mask, making it sound somewhat muffled, yet it carried a firmness that brooked no doubt.

Haku glanced at the unconscious Zabuza, then swept his gaze over Kakashi, Duanmu, and the others. Finally, his eyes settled on Kakashi. There was no killing intent in that gaze. Instead, it carried a trace of complex, unreadable emotion, as if he were confirming something, and also as if he were silently saying farewell.

He did not say another word. Bending down, he hoisted the unconscious Zabuza onto his shoulder. His movements were smooth and steady, as if what he carried was not a dangerous rogue ninja, but an incomparably precious treasure.

Afterward, his figure was like a droplet of water melting into ink as he quickly retreated. In just a few leaps, he disappeared into the depths of the heavy mist, leaving behind only the still-wet puddles on the ground and the faint smell of blood and lingering chakra in the air.