Konoha: Starting with the Tenseigan, Taking Over Team 7

Tazuna looked utterly baffled. "What's wrong?" he asked drunkenly.

"I never expected to meet the infamous Disaster Ninja. A madman like you actually became a team leader." A cool voice rang out, and everyone saw a figure moving through the pale mist.

As the figure drew closer, Team 7 made out a tall man wrapped in bandages.

Kirigakure's A-rank rogue ninja, the Demon, Zabuza Momochi!

Every member of Team 7 went on guard against Zabuza.

"You blocked that last attack. Looks like you do have some skill." Zabuza ignored Team 7 and stared coldly at Aogetsu Hyuga, unleashing a murderous aura.

The blood-soaked killing intent filled the white mist with crushing pressure. Team 7 struggled to breathe.

"H-he's terrifying!" Sakura Haruno went pale, fear filling her eyes. Her slender body trembled violently, and the hand holding her kunai shook.

Who was this man?

How could his presence be so terrifying?

That blood-soaked killing intent was just like Cangyue's when he tested them at Training Ground Seven!

"This man is dangerous." Sasuke Uchiha fixed his Two-Tomoe Sharingan on Zabuza as he approached. Even he was trembling under that killing intent.

He knew Zabuza was a dangerous enemy, one Team 7 could not hope to defeat!

"Is this guy the enemy? He feels... really strong." Naruto Uzumaki gritted his teeth and stared at Zabuza. He had just sworn to stay resolute, but that overwhelming killing intent still frightened him.

Who was this bandaged man? How could someone so terrifying exist?

This was Team 7's first encounter with an enemy of Zabuza's caliber.

Still eating his dango, Aogetsu Hyuga put on a show of surprise. "Oh, was that an attack? Sorry, sorry. I thought it was a welcome gift."

Zabuza's face darkened. He heard the mockery in Cangyue's words.

"If you're wondering how I blocked it so easily, all you have to do is infuse something with chakra Nature Transformation. You can make anything hard. Handy, right?" Aogetsu Hyuga waved his dango.

"Who asked you?" Zabuza glanced at the Kubikiribōchō behind Cangyue and said coldly, "Give me the sword. That's my weapon!"

Honestly, he had not expected Cangyue to be this shameless. Even when Zabuza had lost fights before, nobody had taken his Kubikiribōchō.

He had only thrown the sword to make an entrance, and Cangyue had simply taken it.

The man had no honor!

"Who asks for a gift back after giving it? Keep that up and nobody will like you." Aogetsu Hyuga toyed with the Kubikiribōchō, spinning the huge sword on a fingertip like a ball.

You wanted to make a flashy entrance in front of me?

Showing off comes at a price.

Let's see you do it without your sword!

Team 7 silently reached the same conclusion.

He thinks he can get something back once Cangyue has it?

Dream on!

If a Team 7 member dropped a wallet, Cangyue would claim it. This bandaged man had practically tossed his sword straight into their teacher's hands.

"It really is a fine sword. I bet it'd fetch a decent price. I've been short on cash lately, and the lovely ladies at the tavern are waiting for me to rent out the whole place." Aogetsu Hyuga stopped spinning the Kubikiribōchō and slung it across his back.

If he sold it to Kirigakure, he should get a good price.

"Fool. The Kubikiribōchō symbolizes strength. It's a priceless treasure of the Shinobi World!" Cold killing intent flashed in Zabuza's eyes. He had never met anyone as thick-skinned as Cangyue.

Sell the Kubikiribōchō?

Cangyue really dared to say that.

The Kubikiribōchō was a treasure of the Shinobi World, one of only seven famed swords.

It was a symbol of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!

"You're really getting on my nerves. Once you're dead, the sword comes back to me anyway. Let me see whether you're as strong as the rumors say!" Zabuza formed hand seals, and pale mist covered his body.

"Mist Body Flicker Technique!"

The white mist thickened, and the weight of his killing intent grew heavier. Team 7 went pale, watching their surroundings with desperate vigilance.

"You need hand seals? I'll wait, then." Aogetsu Hyuga stayed where he was and calmly ate his dango.

"Arrogant fool. I'll start with the brats!" Zabuza vanished and reappeared behind Team 7.

"S-so fast!"

Team 7 froze. A chill ran down their backs, terror filling their eyes. None of them could react.

"Hands, feet, legs, waist, heart. Where would you like me to start?" Zabuza's cool voice came from behind them.

Kunai in hand, Zabuza slashed at Tazuna's neck. He knew Cangyue had some skill, so he meant to eliminate the mission target first.

Aogetsu Hyuga became a streak of lightning and appeared behind Zabuza in an instant. His voice turned teasingly intimate. "The mouth or the backside? Where would you like to start?"

So fast! He's even faster than me in the mist! Zabuza's expression shifted. He had not sensed Cangyue's presence until the man spoke.

No. That wasn't the Body Flicker Technique!

That azure lightning...

Was Cangyue using Lightning Release Armor, like the Raikage?

Smack! The sharp sound rang out and jolted Team 7 out of their killing-intent-induced stupor. Zabuza flew from the slap, tumbled several times through the air, snapped two trees in half, then slammed hard into the ground.

Three Minutes for the Enemy?

"What happened?!"

Every member of Team 7 stared in shock. They had not even managed to react before Zabuza was sent flying.

It had happened in an instant. One instant!

If Cangyue had not intervened, Team 7 might already have been wiped out!

"Who is that guy? He's incredible!" Naruto Uzumaki stared fearfully at Zabuza in the distance, his kunai trembling in his hand.

Even Naruto could tell the bandaged man was countless times stronger than the three black-clad ninja they had faced before!

"A Kirigakure jonin and an A-rank rogue ninja: the Demon, Zabuza Momochi." Aogetsu Hyuga rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think he once killed a hundred ninja on his own. That counts as fairly strong, right?"

He had trouble defining "strong." Below the Six Paths, everyone was an ant!

"D-demon? Zabuza Momochi?" Naruto Uzumaki looked confused and muttered to himself.

What a strange name for an old guy.

"He's a jonin?!" Sakura Haruno's pupils contracted. She stared in terror at Zabuza, who lay amid the wreckage in the distance.

No wonder he was so frightening. He was a fighter of the same rank as Cangyue!

She knew Aogetsu Hyuga was powerful, so she assumed every jonin was as strong as he was.

"An A-rank rogue ninja..." Sasuke Uchiha's expression changed drastically. Cold killing intent entered his eyes as the image of a man's back surfaced in his mind.

Uchiha Itachi!

Uchiha Itachi was a rogue ninja too!

Any rogue ninja who managed to stay alive had to be formidable!

Sasuke Uchiha glanced at Cangyue. Their enemy was a jonin, the same rank as their teacher.

The enemy had nothing to worry about, while Cangyue had to protect both Team 7 and their client as he fought for his life.

The situation was grim!

"Tch." Sasuke Uchiha's face tightened, anger flashing in his scarlet Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

I'm a member of the Uchiha Clan, and fear just made me a burden.

What a joke!

I'm an avenger!

Aogetsu Hyuga saw Sasuke's expression and could more or less guess what he was thinking. He rested a hand on Sasuke's head and smiled. "We'll win."

A burden?

Team 7 certainly was a burden, and that old geezer was getting in the way too.

But...

We're going to win anyway, so who cares?

It's just a fun little game. No need to take the enemy so seriously.

"Cangyue..." The members of Team 7 paused and looked at Aogetsu Hyuga. His confidence put them at ease.

Strange.

It was so strange.

A moment ago, they had been terrified. But after hearing Cangyue's words, their fear vanished, replaced by a sense of reassurance.

"You saw through what I really intended to do in the mist before I made my move. Disaster Ninja Aogetsu Hyuga, you're as strong as the rumors say." Zabuza got to his feet. A bright red handprint marked his face, and caution filled his eyes.

That Aogetsu Hyuga actually slapped me in the face!

But the problem was...

Something didn't add up.

According to the intelligence, although Aogetsu Hyuga belonged to the Hyuga Clan, he did not have the clan's Kekkei Genkai or its Byakugan, which could see through objects and aid in reconnaissance.

That part was true.

When they met, Zabuza had seen that Aogetsu Hyuga did not have the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan. Instead, he had an unusual pair of sky-blue eyes.

If so, how had Cangyue tracked his movements so precisely through the chakra-infused mist?

Inside that white mist, Zabuza could conceal his presence completely. He could even use it for his Body Flicker Technique.

Had Aogetsu Hyuga seen straight through his plan to eliminate Tazuna, the mission target, first?

"The intelligence said you don't have the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan. Is that right?" Zabuza wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and watched Cangyue in the distance warily. His gaze flicked toward the Kubikiribōchō.

If he had had the Kubikiribōchō just now, he could probably have dealt with Tazuna and those useless genin of Team 7 easily.

He was at his strongest when he wielded the Kubikiribōchō!

Aogetsu Hyuga slipped his hands into his pockets and looked calmly at Zabuza. "Your intelligence is correct. I don't have the Byakugan."

That was true.

He did not have the Byakugan. He had the Tenseigan.

The Tenseigan let him see Zabuza's movements clearly within that special chakra-infused mist.

But many people in the Shinobi World misunderstood this. They assumed Cangyue could not use the Byakugan's abilities because he did not have the Byakugan. Few knew his Tenseigan could use those abilities.

Aogetsu Hyuga had not tried to hide it. People had simply made their own assumptions and arrived at the wrong conclusion.

It was understandable.

After all, almost no one in the Shinobi World knew what the Tenseigan could do.

"Are you saying you can predict what I'm thinking?" Zabuza frowned.

If the intelligence was right and Cangyue had no Byakugan to see through the mist, was he clever enough to predict Zabuza's next move?

Zabuza had appeared to target Cangyue, but his real target was Tazuna. Cangyue had predicted it and stopped him with ease.

The Disaster Ninja... What a terrifying brat!

"These kids seem scared of you. They think that because we're both jonin, protecting them while fending off your attacks will be a hard fight for me." Aogetsu Hyuga unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into his mouth. He glanced at Team 7. "As their teacher, I have a duty to correct that mistaken idea."

Team 7 looked puzzled. They did not understand what their teacher meant.

Correct a mistaken idea?

What did he mean?

"You became a jonin because you were strong enough for the rank." Aogetsu Hyuga looked toward Zabuza in the distance, the lollipop between his lips. "I'm a jonin because... there's no higher rank."