Naruto's Decision

"Kakashi, I won!"

Zabuza Momochi loudly declared his victory, raising the great sword in his hand and bringing it down toward Kakashi.

Scalding blood splattered across the faces of the three from Team 7 as they witnessed Kakashi's death from up close.

Blood belonging to Kakashi ran down the tip of Zabuza's great sword, and the white bandages covering his face had also been dyed crimson.

"Kakashi... Sensei?"

Sakura could not believe what she was seeing. She softly called out to Kakashi.

But Kakashi, lying in a pool of blood, gave no response.

This was not the Clone Technique, nor was it the Substitution Technique.

Kakashi seemed to have... truly died.

"Damn it!"

Sasuke snapped out of his shock, gripping his kunai tightly as he assumed a stance to face Zabuza.

Only Naruto stared at Kakashi's corpse, feeling as though he had seen this scene before.

Another Substitution Technique enhanced with the Transformation Technique?

This time, Team 7 was not facing Chunin like the Demon Brothers, allowing Kakashi to leisurely hide in the shadows and observe.

Team 7's enemy now was Momochi Zabuza, a Jōnin on the same level as Kakashi!

Exposing Team 7, who had no ability to contend against Zabuza, to such an extreme danger—at least on the surface Naruto maintained, Team 7 had already fallen into a dead end—

What exactly was Kakashi planning to do?

No matter how Naruto thought about it, he could not find the right answer.

Naruto looked at Zabuza again. Perhaps in Zabuza's eyes, Naruto and the others were merely Genin brats who posed no threat to him.

Zabuza was in no hurry to finish them off.

He merely grinned savagely as he admired the fear deep within Sasuke and Sakura's hearts.

No!

Naruto felt a powerful sense of discord in his heart.

As long as an enemy was alive, they were a threat. A rogue ninja like Zabuza should understand that principle better than anyone.

Amid Zabuza's savage laughter, Naruto suddenly realized something!

He immediately injected an extremely tiny amount of Nine-Tails chakra into his own chakra network, then voluntarily relinquished control over it.

The violent Nine-Tails chakra immediately rampaged through Naruto's chakra network like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins.

It disrupted the circulation of chakra within Naruto's body.

Naruto regained control over the Nine-Tails chakra and circulated his chakra through his network once more.

That feeling of discord finally vanished completely.

The savage laughter of Zabuza that had just been ringing in his ears stopped—no, Zabuza had never laughed savagely at all!

Naruto looked at Zabuza once again.

"Zabuza, I won."

Kakashi's low voice echoed beside Naruto's ear.

The thick mist from the Hidden Mist Technique had long since dispersed, and Kakashi's kunai rested against Zabuza's throat.

All it would take was a slight tilt of the kunai, and Kakashi could directly sever Zabuza's carotid artery.

So it really was genjutsu!

The hand seals Kakashi had made in the mist earlier had actually been to construct a genjutsu by turning Zabuza's Hidden Mist Technique against him!

As for Zabuza, several ninja hounds of varying sizes had sunk their teeth into his limbs, severely restricting his movements.

"You actually used my ninjutsu to cast genjutsu. You've got some nerve!"

Zabuza's tone could not hide his anger as he stared at Kakashi. "Weren't you worried that I would see through your intentions, turn the tables on you, and kill you?"

"The truth is, you never noticed. And the one who is about to die is you."

Kakashi's kunai, pressed against Zabuza's throat, pierced slightly into his muscle.

Even the smallest wound would allow blood from the artery to pour out without end.

The only difference was the size of the wound, which would determine how quickly Zabuza died.

"Hehehe, using a kunai? Why not keep using that Lightning Release you prepared to finish me off with at the beginning?"

Even facing his own death, Zabuza seemed more interested in the method Kakashi had chosen to kill him.

Kakashi did not answer.

But Zabuza seemed to have guessed the reason.

"Just using the Sharingan has already consumed a huge amount of your chakra, and that Lightning Release requires plenty of chakra as well. How pathetic. You, the Copy Ninja, used the Sharingan's copying ability to replicate over a thousand ninjutsu, yet only have a handful you can actually use in battle."

Even with his face covered in bandages, Zabuza's incomparably ferocious expression was clearly visible.

He suddenly began struggling, completely disregarding how his resistance only caused the ninja hounds biting him to tear his wounds open further.

"I still have plenty of chakra! Kaka—!"

Zabuza, who had suddenly begun fighting desperately, did not even finish saying Kakashi's name.

Two needle-like senbon shot down from above, slicing through the air and piercing Zabuza's neck.

Zabuza's eyes widened in fury, unwilling to close even in death.

The sudden development instantly put Kakashi on guard.

"Please don't worry. I bear no ill will."

Following the direction the senbon had come from, Kakashi saw a masked youth standing on the branch of a nearby tree, declaring that he had no hostile intentions.

Kakashi fixed his gaze on the youth's mask. "That mask... are you from the Hidden Mist ANBU?"

"Yes. I am a member of the Hidden Mist ANBU, assigned to the Rogue Ninja Pursuit Squad."

The masked youth gave Kakashi a slight bow, expressing his gratitude. "I had been searching for an opportunity to kill the rogue ninja Momochi Zabuza, but things had not gone very smoothly... Therefore, your appearance solved a great problem for me. I hope you will accept my thanks."

"..."

Faced with the masked youth's identity and displayed goodwill, Kakashi fell silent for a moment before returning his kunai to his ninja tool pouch. "I need to check whether Zabuza is truly dead first."

"Please, go ahead."

The masked youth remained on the tree without making the slightest movement.

Kakashi crouched down beside Zabuza's corpse and reached out to check his pulse, heartbeat, pupils...

Every condition of Zabuza's body indicated that he had indeed been killed by the masked youth.

After confirming this, Kakashi dispelled the ninja hounds.

The technique he had used in haste was also released, freeing Team 7 and Tazuna, who had been caught in the indiscriminate genjutsu.

After all, Kakashi had injected his own chakra into Zabuza's chakra.

Kakashi mixing his chakra into the mist had been a tactical decision born from a flash of inspiration backed by immense combat experience.

To prevent Zabuza from noticing anything unusual, Kakashi could only ensure that Zabuza fell under the genjutsu as quickly as possible. He had not had time to consider the technique's range of control.

"What happened?"

Sasuke looked utterly confused. Hadn't he just been on guard against Zabuza?

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei isn't dead!"

Sakura had already noticed that Kakashi was still alive. She finally let out a breath of relief, though she still had no idea what had happened.

"It was genjutsu."

Naruto pretended that he had awakened from the genjutsu alongside everyone else after Kakashi released it, offering them an explanation.

Now he could openly turn his attention to the masked youth in the tree—

—Zabuza's companion, Haku.

Naruto could not help but admire Zabuza's scheme.

After discovering from the start that the person protecting Tazuna was Kakashi, he had Haku hide himself away.

If he could directly kill Kakashi, that would naturally have been the best outcome. But having spent years in the Hidden Mist ANBU, Zabuza knew full well how troublesome Kakashi, who possessed the Sharingan, was.

So this encounter was more of a test.

Once Zabuza fell into a disadvantage during his fight with Kakashi, Haku would appear as a member of the Hidden Mist ANBU and create a staged "death" for Zabuza.

Zabuza's question before his "death" was his true objective. This battle had already given Zabuza enough information about Kakashi.

The next time, Kakashi would find it difficult to hold the advantage—

—and on Zabuza's side, there was also Haku, an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai user Kakashi knew nothing about.

"What is it?"

Noticing Naruto's gaze, Haku tilted his head and asked curiously.

"Who are you?"

Naruto still pretended to be someone who had just awakened from genjutsu and knew nothing.

But his thoughts were entirely different.

Being targeted by Zabuza was too troublesome.

After this battle, Kakashi would lose his combat ability for a while.

And it was rare to be in the Land of Waves without Danzo watching him.

During this time, Naruto could display his true strength without restraint.

He would take this opportunity to secretly get rid of Haku and Zabuza—

—and kill them.