Zabuza

After the mission resumed, Naruto quieted down considerably, and Tazuna fell much more silent as well.

The moment the Demon Brothers had appeared, he had sobered up halfway. Now he walked in the middle, clutching his sake bottle without saying a word for ages.

After they went on for a while longer, the fog around them grew thicker and thicker, and the air was filled with the scent of moisture.

Naruto had not been quiet for long before he could not help asking again, "Are we there yet?"

Tazuna snorted.

"Why are you brat so chatty?"

"Old man, quit calling me a brat!"

Sakura sighed.

"Naruto, could you stop arguing with the client?"

Just then, a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from the fog ahead.

It whooshed as though something were hurtling sideways at them.

Kakashi's expression changed.

"Get down!"

Chiya had been prepared. He immediately grabbed Sakura beside him and threw her down.

Sasuke reacted quickly as well, but Naruto was a beat too slow and fell face-first into the mud.

The next instant, a massive Kubikiribōchō flew past just above their heads and crashed into the tree ahead with a boom.

Naruto raised his head to stare at the blade, his mouth hanging open for a long while.

"W-What is that...?"

A man slowly emerged from the fog.

He stepped onto the sword's hilt. Bandages wrapped his face, leaving only a pair of ice-cold eyes exposed.

Zabuza Momochi.

"The Copy Ninja Kakashi. Never thought you'd be taking this sort of mission with a bunch of brats."

Kakashi stepped in front of them, one hand already resting on his forehead protector.

"Fall back. Protect Mr. Tazuna."

Naruto swallowed.

"Kakashi-sensei, who is this guy?"

Kakashi's voice became unusually grave.

"A rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village, Zabuza Momochi. Pay attention—this is not a fight you can interfere in."

The moment he finished speaking, Zabuza moved.

The fog seemed to be sliced apart by a blade.

Kakashi lifted his forehead protector as well, revealing that Sharingan.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Kakashi-sensei has a Sharingan too?"

Chiya had no time to pay attention to them.

Because at the very instant Zabuza attacked, two figures also burst out of the woods to their right.

They wore battered Hidden Mist Village forehead protectors, with cloth covering their faces.

They looked like rogue ninjas.

But Chiya's heart sank.

There had never been these two people here in the original plot.

They did not charge at Tazuna.

One from each side, they rushed straight at Chiya.

Chiya abruptly opened his eyes, and the Three-Tomoe Sharingan began to turn slowly.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke immediately turned around. When he saw the two men, his face went cold.

"More enemies?"

Chiya had barely started to answer when a short blade slashed toward his face.

He twisted aside to evade it and thrust the kunai in his hand at his opponent. The man flipped his wrist, knocked the kunai away with his blade, then raised his leg in a kick.

Bang!

Chiya raised an arm to block it, but he was still kicked half a step back.

His arm went numb.

At that moment, the other man had already circled behind him.

A blade slashed toward his thigh. Chiya's Sharingan spun madly; he could see the enemy's movements, but his body could not quite keep up.

With a slicing sound, the blade grazed across his leg, leaving a shallow bloody cut.

Sasuke tried to come help, but one of the men threw several kunai, forcing him back.

Naruto charged in too.

"Bastards! Don't underestimate us!"

The moment he lunged forward, one of them kicked him over. He rolled twice across the ground.

Sakura retreated again and again while shielding Tazuna.

Zabuza and Kakashi were already locked in battle, water spray and fog exploding everywhere.

Kakashi could not break away.

Chiya could only handle this himself.

Gritting his teeth, Chiya formed hand seals.

"Fire Release, Phoenix Flower Fire Technique!"

More than a dozen fireballs scattered outward. He had practiced this technique until he knew it inside out.

But the two opponents were even faster. With a few quick flashes, they evaded every fireball.

One of them even flashed directly in front of Chiya and thrust his blade at Chiya's chest.

Chiya saw it.

But his body was half a beat too slow, and he only managed to shift slightly.

Squelch.

The short blade pierced his shoulder, and blood immediately gushed out.

The pain made his vision go dark.

Before he could recover, the man behind him smashed a sword hilt into the back of his neck.

Chiya's legs buckled, and he nearly dropped to his knees.

The man in front immediately seized his wrist, while the other pulled out a coil of black rope covered in dense sealing formulas.

Chiya cursed inwardly.

They really were here to capture him.

"Chiya!"

Sasuke rushed over, and one of the men charged forward to engage him in combat.

Naruto climbed back up too, but the instant he rushed over, he was kicked flying.

By then, the black rope had already wound around Chiya's shoulder.

Just then, the Root ninja's movements suddenly froze.

A faint layer of moonlight appeared over the wound on Chiya's shoulder, clinging to his skin.

The bleeding stopped, and then a pale white ring surfaced around the edges of the wound.

Immediately afterward, the torn flesh began to close.

The man's expression visibly changed.

"What is this?"

Taking advantage of his shock, Chiya suddenly flicked a shuriken from his sleeve straight at the man's neck.

The man tilted his head aside to dodge. Chiya tugged his fingers, and the shuriken, controlled by steel wire, wrapped around the man's shoulder and arm, binding him.

Chiya quickly retreated.

By then, Naruto had already created several Shadow Clones and pounced. A few were dispersed, but they still held the enemies up for an instant.

That was enough.

Enduring the pain in his shoulder, Chiya formed hand seals at the same time as Sasuke.

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

"Fire Release, Phoenix Flower Fire Technique!"

The Great Fireball bore down from the front, while Phoenix Fire spread out from both sides.

The two Root ninja were forced back by the flames.

The two exchanged a glance. "Retreat!"

Then they vanished into the depths of the forest.

But the battle was not over. Those two had only just withdrawn, and before anyone could catch their breath—

Zabuza's voice rang out.

"Water Release, Water Prison Jutsu."

Kakashi had been trapped.

Inside the sphere of water, Kakashi was held fast.

Zabuza pressed one hand against the Water Prison. At his side, a Water Clone carrying the Kubikiribōchō was walking toward them.

Naruto's expression changed.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Chiya gritted his teeth and stood up. His shoulder still hurt, but the bleeding had stopped.

Sasuke glanced at Chiya's shoulder and frowned. "Can you still move?"

"I won't die."

Naruto had already charged forward.

As expected, Zabuza's Water Clone kicked him away, sending him rolling several times across the ground.

"Damn it!"

He climbed up, wanting to charge again.

Chiya grabbed him.

"Don't act recklessly."

"Then what do we do? Kakashi-sensei is still in there!"

Chiya looked at the Water Prison.

Zabuza's hand could not leave the water sphere.

They only needed to force him to let go.

"That Water Prison Technique requires him to keep it up with his hand. As long as we force him to release it, Kakashi-sensei can get out."

Sasuke's eyes shifted.

"You're sure?"

Chiya nodded.

Zabuza's Water Clone had already drawn near, dragging the Kubikiribōchō along the ground with an ear-piercing scrape.

Sakura retreated with Tazuna under her protection, her face pale.

Tazuna was even worse off; he could barely hold onto his sake bottle.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Then I'll distract that Water Clone!"

Chiya gave him a look.

The kid had finally gotten a little smarter.

"Don't get cut."

"Quit underestimating me!"

Naruto formed hand seals.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

With several pops, multiple Narutos charged at the Water Clone together.

The Water Clone sneered and swept the Kubikiribōchō sideways.

The Shadow Clones burst apart instantly.

By then, Sasuke had already taken out a Fūma Shuriken.

Chiya flung out steel wire and wrapped it around the shuriken's tail.

"Go!"

Sasuke violently hurled the Fūma Shuriken.

The enormous shuriken spun through the fog, flying straight at Zabuza's real body.

Zabuza did not even spare it a second glance.

"You think something like that can hit me?"

He shifted to the side.

The Fūma Shuriken flew past him.

But the next instant, Chiya sharply pulled his fingers.

The steel wire tightened.

The Fūma Shuriken that had flown past was forcibly pulled apart into several fragments and curved back.

Zabuza's expression changed.

"Manipulated Shuriken Technique?"

Those fragments shot toward Zabuza.

The next instant, he abruptly released the Water Prison.

The sphere of water exploded with a boom.

Kakashi burst out of the water and landed on the shore, drenched from head to toe, yet his gaze was terrifyingly cold.

"Not bad."

Zabuza's expression turned ugly.

"You little brats..."

Before he could finish, Kakashi moved. Staring at Zabuza, he rapidly formed hand seals.

Whatever seal Zabuza formed, he copied it.

Their movements were almost identical.

Naruto stared in shock.

"Is Kakashi-sensei copying him?"

Sasuke watched Kakashi's Sharingan, his expression complicated.

Cold sweat beaded on Zabuza's forehead.

"You bastard..."

Kakashi said coldly, "It's over."

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

A massive torrent erupted with a thunderous crash.

Zabuza was swept away by the wave and slammed heavily into a tree. The Kubikiribōchō fell to one side as well.

He struggled, but failed to get back up.

Naruto shouted excitedly, "We won!"

Suddenly, several Senbon shot out from deep within the forest and struck Zabuza precisely in the side of his neck.

Zabuza's body stiffened, and he collapsed at once.

At some point, a masked person had appeared on a tree branch.

The figure was slender, and their voice was soft.

"Thank you. I had been waiting for an opportunity."

Naruto froze.

"Huh? Who are you?"

The masked person dropped down from the tree.

"I'm from the Hidden Mist Village's Hunter-nin Corps, ordered to hunt down Hidden Mist Village rogue ninja."

Kakashi walked over and crouched down to examine Zabuza.

After a moment, he said, "He's dead."

Sakura let out a breath of relief.

Tazuna nearly sank to the ground.

Naruto looked at Zabuza's corpse, his expression somewhat strange.

"A guy that strong just died like that?"

Chiya said nothing.

Dead, my ass.

He put on quite a convincing act.

The masked person hoisted Zabuza onto their back.

"There are many secrets of the village in the body. I must take it back and dispose of it."

Kakashi did not stop them.

The masked person quickly vanished into the mist.

Naruto was still staring in that direction.

"Are all Hunter-nin Corps members that small?"

Sakura said, "They probably just look small."

Kakashi withdrew his gaze and said, "Let's leave this place first."

Tazuna nodded hurriedly.

"My home is not far ahead."

The moment Naruto heard that, he immediately cried out.

"Great! I'm starving!"

Sakura glared at him.

"You almost died just now, and all you can think about is food?"

"But I didn't die."

Chiya followed behind them and could not help smiling.

The group continued toward the Land of Waves.

The mist gradually dispersed.

But Chiya did not feel relieved at all.