Second Battle with Zabuza

The small boat rocked gently as it pulled up to the shabby dock of the Land of Waves.

Gritting their teeth, Sasuke supported the unconscious Kakashi while Naruto carried the exhausted Ling Yue on his back. Sakura helped the weak-legged Tazuna along, and the boatman carried their luggage. The group stumbled ashore in a miserable state.

The few sallow, emaciated villagers at the dock saw how battered they looked and hurriedly kept their distance, their eyes filled with fear and numbness.

"Follow me. My house is just ahead." Tazuna's voice was low as he led them toward a wooden house that looked relatively sturdy.

The moment they entered, everyone nearly collapsed to the floor.

"Quick! Lay them flat!" Sakura was a little calmer. After all, she had scored full marks in theoretical knowledge. Forcing down her fear, she began examining Kakashi and Ling Yue's injuries.

The wound at Kakashi's waist had torn open even worse. He had lost too much blood; his face was frighteningly pale, and his breathing was weak.

Ling Yue's condition was stranger. Aside from superficial wounds and weakness from chakra exhaustion, she appeared fine, but her face was flushed, her body twitched unconsciously from time to time, and her skin was slightly hot to the touch.

"Kakashi-sensei needs to have the bleeding stopped and the wound stitched up immediately! Yue... her chakra seems to be in disarray!" Sakura anxiously rummaged through her ninja tool pouch, pulling out emergency bandages and medicine.

"Chakra disarray?" Sasuke frowned as he looked at Ling Yue's fingers, where faint arcs of electricity occasionally flickered.

"It must be that power from before..." Naruto still felt lingering fear. "She suddenly became terrifying, with electricity crackling all over her body..."

"Stop talking and help!" Sakura shouted. "Naruto, go get some clean water! Sasuke, hold Kakashi-sensei down!"

The two moved at once. Naruto ran off to fetch water, Sasuke helped hold Kakashi steady, and Sakura awkwardly but earnestly cleaned the wound, applied medicine, and wrapped it.

After tending to Kakashi, Sakura checked on Ling Yue, but she had no idea where to begin. "Chakra disarray... she can only regulate it herself..."

All she could do was give the wounds on Ling Yue's arm and back some simple treatment.

After they were done, all three of them sat on the floor, exhausted and gasping for breath.

Tazuna took out some dark bread and dried fish. "This is all I have at home... Sorry to make you settle for this."

Naruto was starving and immediately grabbed some to chew on, while Sasuke and Sakura had little appetite.

The atmosphere in the house was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

Kakashi was severely injured and unconscious. Their strongest fighter was gone. Ling Yue was unconscious as well, and her condition was bizarre.

That left only three exhausted genin and an old man with barely any fighting ability.

Yet their enemies were so powerful and elusive.

"Can we... still complete the mission?" Sakura hugged her knees, her voice trembling with tears. "Even Kakashi-sensei..."

"Of course we can!" Naruto stood up. Though he was scared too, he still raised his fist and shouted, "Didn't we already drive that bandaged guy off once? We can definitely do it again! I'm the man who'll become Hokage!"

"Idiot." Sasuke cursed under his breath, but as he looked at the two unconscious figures, his gaze was exceptionally resolute. "The mission continues. We'll talk when they wake up."

He walked to the window and vigilantly watched the silent, ruined village outside and the mist spreading over the distant sea.

"Those guys... will definitely come back."

Over the next two days, the atmosphere grew even heavier.

Kakashi never woke up, though his breathing became steadier. Ling Yue woke up on the second night, but she was terribly weak, her chakra recovered extremely slowly, and whenever she tried to knead chakra, her chakra pathways hurt as though pricked by needles.

"The overexertion was too severe." Leaning against the wall, Ling Yue weakly told the three gathered around her, "For the time being... I'm afraid I can't fight."

She was still terrified when she thought back on it. That [Fire Thunder God] was not something she could handle yet. She had nearly gotten herself killed playing with it.

"It's fine! Just rest properly!" Naruto thumped his chest. "Leave the protection mission to us!"

Sasuke said nothing, only silently giving her half of his soldier pills.

Sakura was responsible for caring for the two injured people and cooking.

Tazuna watched the group of children with a complicated look in his eyes. Every morning, he left early for the bridge construction site and returned late at night, his expression growing heavier by the day.

On the morning of the fourth day, Tazuna returned with an exceptionally grim expression.

"Kado's men... have started attacking the workers at the construction site." His voice was hoarse with anger and despair. "Several workers were injured today... They said that if we don't stop building the bridge, then..."

The room fell silent.

"Bastards!" Naruto angrily punched the wall.

"The bridge... must be built." Tazuna raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. "It's the Land of Waves' only hope. Tomorrow... tomorrow, I have to go to the construction site!"

"That's too dangerous!" Sakura immediately objected. "Those bad guys will definitely ambush you on the way!"

"I have to go!" Tazuna was resolute. "The workers need someone to rally behind! And... the bridge has to be finished as soon as possible!"

Sasuke looked at the still-unconscious Kakashi and the weakened Ling Yue, his brow tightly furrowed.

Ling Yue struggled to sit upright. "If you have to go... we'll go with you."

"Are you kidding?!" Sakura cried. "How can you go in your condition?"

"We can't keep hiding forever." Ling Yue took a breath. "If they can't find us, they'll target ordinary people. We might as well show ourselves and draw them out."

She looked at Sasuke and Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei said that Haku's technique needs preparation time and a water environment... As long as we don't fight him at sea or beside a river, we have a chance. Besides... their main target is Mr. Tazuna. They won't destroy the bridge so easily."

Sasuke pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Makes sense. On land, we're more mobile."

"That's right! Let's take them on!" Naruto immediately agreed.

"But..." Sakura was still worried.

"No buts." Ling Yue cut her off, forcing herself to gather a faint thread of chakra as she felt the persistent pain in her pathways. "We can't... keep relying on others to save us."

On the fifth day, the sky was overcast.

Sasuke and Naruto guarded Tazuna on either side. Sakura supported the still-weak Ling Yue from behind.

The group left Tazuna's house and headed toward the bridge construction site.

The houses along the road were dilapidated and shut tight. Occasionally, villagers watched them fearfully through cracks in the windows.

The tension was as taut as a drawn bowstring.

Surprisingly, the journey was peaceful. They encountered no ambushes.

Not until the enormous, unfinished Naruto Bridge came into view.

Its bridge piers stood tall, and more than half the deck had been laid, like the skeleton of a giant dragon stretching deep into the sea mist.

The construction site was empty. Only the sea wind howled through the steel framework, producing mournful whistling sounds.

"The workers... really didn't come..." Tazuna sighed, sorrow in his eyes.

The group carefully stepped onto the bridge deck.

The bridge was high enough that they could see the glittering sea in the distance and the hazy outline of land even farther away.

"It looks like... no one's here?" Naruto looked around.

Sasuke kept his Sharingan activated, carefully observing their surroundings. "Don't let your guard down."

Ling Yue leaned against the railing at the edge of the bridge, breathing heavily with a pale face. Her senses were the sharpest, and she constantly felt something watching them, but [Zetsu] could not be maintained for long, so she could not pinpoint it precisely.

Suddenly!

Several shuriken shot down from above the bridge tower at tricky angles, aimed directly at Tazuna!

"Watch out!" Sasuke immediately flung out a kunai to block them!

The shuriken were knocked away, but more attacks followed right after! More than a dozen thuggish-looking men wielding blades and clubs emerged from behind the bridge tower and beneath the scaffolding, cursing as they surrounded them.

"They're thugs hired by Kado!" Tazuna cried out.

"Hmph. Trash." Sasuke snorted and took the initiative to charge forward. With the insight of his Sharingan, he easily dodged their attacks and took down several of them in a few moves.

Naruto also summoned Shadow Clones and tangled with the remaining thugs. These ordinary men were no match for ninja, and they were quickly dealt with.

"That's all you've got?" Naruto smugly patted his hands.

But Ling Yue warily raised her head and looked toward the thick fog at the other end of the bridge.

"No... these are just bait!"

The instant her words fell.

Clear, unhurried footsteps sounded from within the fog.

A tall figure wrapped in bandages and carrying the Executioner's Blade, along with a slender figure wearing a mask, slowly emerged from the mist and stopped at the other end of the bridge.

Zabuza Momochi and Haku!

Zabuza cracked his neck and looked at the four genin and one old man standing ready across from him. A cruel smile appeared in his single eye.

"Looks like the game is over."