How the Hell Was He Supposed to Fight This? He Might as Well Surrender!

After a night of rest, Kakashi brought Menma and the other two back to yesterday's battlefield.

Gato had sent people to repair the grounds overnight. Even the boundary lines blurred by the icy water blast had been redrawn with lime powder.

Zabuza was also waiting beside the field with his subordinates.

After the two sides met, Zabuza thanked Sakura once again and presented her with a Ninjutsu scroll. "Thank you again for saving my subordinate. This contains the training method for Water Release: Great Water Arm Technique. Please accept it!"

After receiving Kakashi's approval, Sakura accepted the scroll. Then she looked at the pale-faced Hozuki Suigetsu. "Has your wound healed? Do you need me to treat you again?"

As if he had remembered something, Hozuki Suigetsu shuddered and hurriedly hid behind Yuki Haku, waving his hands repeatedly. "No, no, I'm completely healed. Thank you, thank you."

Yuki Haku covered his mouth and chuckled.

Zabuza clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention. "Enough small talk. Let's continue yesterday's unfinished battle.

"The next match will be Konoha's Menma Namikaze against Mist Village's..."

"No need for introductions. Demon Brothers, you two get up here!

"Let's finish this quickly. I'm still in a hurry to get back to Konoha!" Menma interrupted Zabuza, leaping into the center of the field in a single bound and pointing at the Demon Brothers.

"Ahem!" Zabuza coughed awkwardly before speaking to Menma. "Your opponents won't be the Demon Brothers. They're both already Chunin, so having them fight a Genin like you again would be a bit too unfair.

"So I urgently called in a Genin from nearby to fight you. Consider it repayment for your mercy in sparing the Demon Brothers earlier."

Menma's eyes lit up. There was such a good thing?

"Utakata, come out and exchange a few moves with this young Konoha Genin!"

As Zabuza's words fell, a man appeared. He had brown bangs that covered his left eye, wore a blue haori, and held a bubble-blowing tool.

The moment Menma saw what the newcomer looked like, he was so angry he laughed. Wasn't this blatant cheating?

He strode over to Zabuza, pointed at Utakata, and asked, "Who's this?"

Zabuza replied, "Mist Village Genin, Utakata."

Menma asked, "How old is he?"

Zabuza replied, "Eight."

Menma grabbed Utakata and roared, "This is fucking eight years old?"

Zabuza said, "No one believes it. I don't believe it either. At three, he was as tall as his mother. At five, he was as tall as me. At eight, he ended up like this."

Menma flew into a rage. "Burning newspapers at a grave? Who the hell are you trying to fool?"

Zabuza spread his hands. "He really is a Genin. If you don't believe me, I can show you his Ninja registration certificate."

Menma took several steps back, drew a deep breath, and suppressed his anger as he said:

"You say he's eight. Fine, I'll accept that!

"You say he's a Genin. Fine, I'll accept that too!

"And you call this repayment for sparing your people?

"Is this how you repay someone?

"This is clearly repaying kindness with enmity!!

"You people from Mist Village should at least do something remotely human for once! Even just a little!!

"Seriously, anyone with even a shred of conscience wouldn't send a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki to fight a Genin like me!!!"

Kakashi's expression turned grim. He grabbed Zabuza's right wrist and asked, "A Jinchuriki? Menma, is that true?"

Zabuza's expression also darkened. His left hand reached behind him to grip the handle of the Executioner's Blade, while his eyes locked onto Menma with murderous intent. "How did you know?"

The identities of Jinchuriki were strictly classified by every nation. Menma should never have known!

If Menma gave even one wrong answer, Zabuza would kill him on the spot!

"Hmph. His Chakra feels very similar to my mother's—warm, with just a trace of coldness beneath it."

Of course, Menma could not say that he had watched the anime and knew the characters' backstories, so he made up a lie.

"So that's how it is." Kakashi understood and promptly explained to Zabuza in an attempt to dispel his killing intent. "This child's mother was from the Uzumaki Clan. This must be the Uzumaki Clan's sensory talent, Mind's Eye of the Kagura. It can sense the temperature of human Chakra."

Zabuza was still somewhat suspicious. "Sensing the temperature of human Chakra still doesn't explain how he knew Utakata was Mist Village's Jinchuriki!"

Kakashi sighed and explained, "This child's mother was also a Jinchuriki!"

Zabuza suddenly understood. He released the handle of his sword, looked at the wrist Kakashi was gripping, and said, "Aren't you going to let go?"

Not only did Kakashi refuse to release him, he tightened his grip. "First, explain why you're disguising a Jinchuriki as a Genin! Do you think that's honorable?"

Zabuza stiffened his neck. "Hmph. We learned it from you Konoha!"

Kakashi said, "Nonsense. When has Konoha ever done something like that?"

Zabuza snorted. "Hmph! During the Third Shinobi World War, one of your Konoha watermelon-heads disguised himself as a Genin and fought our Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He killed four and severely wounded three. Have you forgotten about that?"

Kakashi was left speechless. After a while, he finally replied, "But Senior Might Duy really was a Genin."

Zabuza said dismissively, "Same here. Utakata really is a Genin."

Kakashi released Zabuza's hand. For the first time, Konoha's Copy Ninja felt utterly at a loss for words.

"Hey, hey, Kakashi-sensei, you're just giving up like that?" Menma shouted.

"Well, there's nothing we can do, Menma. Why don't you try fighting Utakata? If it really doesn't work out, you can always surrender!" Kakashi said with an apologetic expression.

Listen to that. Was that even something a human being would say?

Menma was furious. You wanted him to try? If he tried, he might just die!

"It's fine, Menma. Fighting a Jinchuriki is also a rare learning experience!" Seeing that Menma was unwilling to fight, Kakashi tried to persuade him again.

Why don't you go? Menma glared at Kakashi, conveying exactly that with his eyes.

Kakashi hurriedly waved his hands and pointed at Zabuza, indicating that he still had a battle with Zabuza and could not enter the field now.

What a joke. The other side is a Jinchuriki. If Menma goes up, Utakata might still hold back. If I go up, he might not be able to hold back at all! Kakashi thought.

Still unwilling to give up, Menma suggested again, "How about we bring in another Konoha Genin? I remember there's an old senior named Maruboshi Kosuke who's also a Genin, but he has the strength of an elite Jonin!"

Kakashi refused. "How much fighting strength do you think a seventy-one-year-old man would have left after traveling at full speed for four days?"

"Then what about other people? I remember Root has a different promotion system from ordinary Ninja. Maybe they have some powerful Genin there!"

"Forget it, Menma. Among Konoha's registered Genin, you're already among the strongest." Kakashi shook his head and sighed. "If you're really afraid, just surrender."

"Can I really do that?" Stars appeared in Menma's eyes.

"You can. It's just that this battle will be recorded and sent to Konoha's higher-ups and the Land of Fire's higher-ups for viewing.

"It's not a huge problem, of course. It'll just affect your future evaluations and promotions," Kakashi said casually.

"Say no more. I'll go!" Menma said through tears.