Mission to the Land of Waves! Attack of the Rogue Ninjas

It wasn't because of Tazuna's attitude, though the drunken old man was hard to like.

Nor was it because the Land of Waves was too far away. After so many years at the Ninja Academy, Zuo Hao had long since grown used to grueling treks.

It was because he knew this mission.

The Land of Waves. Tazuna. A bridge. Gato.

And the two rogue ninjas from Kirigakure: Zabuza Momochi and his "tool," Haku.

The corner of Zuo Hao's mouth twitched.

In the original story, Team 7's first encounter with an elite jonin had turned into a brutal battle. They had nearly been wiped out.

[Land of Waves mission triggered]

[Mission description: The wheels of fate have begun to turn. In this land shrouded in thick fog, a boy will roar in desperation, and a demon fox will open its eyes for the first time. And you will witness that moment.]

[Mission objective: Help Naruto activate Nine-Tails Chakra Mode for the first time, and protect him from being killed by Haku during the final battle on the Land of Waves bridge.]

[Mission reward: Naruto bond level increases]

"Hey! Zuo Hao! What are you spacing out for?"

Naruto's booming voice yanked him out of his thoughts.

The blond kid had somehow appeared in front of him, hands on his hips and head tipped back, his bright blue eyes full of indignation.

"Zuo Hao, why are you just standing there? Don't tell me you're scared. Huh? Scared of a C-rank mission?"

Zuo Hao looked down at Naruto's face, which practically screamed I'm the strongest.

Then Zuo Hao reached out, planted a hand on Naruto's head, and gave his hair a vigorous rub.

"Hey! What are you doing? You messed up my hair!"

"Nothing." Zuo Hao withdrew his hand, wearing his trademark half smile. "Come on. Let's go to the Land of Waves. I hear the ramen there is pretty good too."

Naruto's eyes lit up instantly.

"Really?! They have ramen?!"

"I made it up."

"Zuo Hao!!!"

The Land of Waves wasn't particularly far, but old Tazuna walked too slowly. With all the stops along the way, the group didn't reach its borders until the third day.

Fog hung everywhere.

A sea breeze swept across the narrow dirt road, carrying the smell of salt and damp earth.

Zuo Hao walked at the back of the group. At some point, he had activated his Sharingan, and three Tomoe slowly revolved in his eyes.

He sensed it.

Chakra, hidden in the thick fog.

Zuo Hao stopped walking.

His Sharingan glowed a startling crimson through the fog. The three Tomoe turned slowly, bringing every trace of chakra moving within it into sharp focus.

Three ahead. Two on the left flank. One more on the right.

Six people.

At that level, they were probably rogue ninjas recruited locally in the Land of Waves, or hired killers Gato had paid for.

"What's wrong, Zuo Hao?" Naruto noticed the group had stopped and turned around, his brows knotted together. "Why'd you stop again—"

Before he could finish, Zuo Hao moved.

Naruto saw only a dark blur flash past him. The rush of air stung his cheeks, and a moment later, a bloodcurdling scream rang out from the thick fog thirty meters ahead.

A figure flew backward out of the fog and slammed into the dirt road, scattering gravel.

Black ninja clothes. A covered face. An emblem on his chest that Naruto didn't recognize.

The man was already unconscious. Part of his chest had caved in, as though something had struck him with tremendous force.

"Enemy attack!"

Sakura reacted first. Kunai in hand, she moved in front of Tazuna to protect him.

Sasuke scanned the surrounding fog and lowered his voice. "Five more."

Before Sasuke had even finished speaking, a series of muffled blows sounded from the fog ahead.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three blows.

Each was followed by a scream.

Then three more figures flew out of the fog. One struck a tree trunk beside the road, another plunged straight into a nearby rice paddy, and the third rolled across the ground seven or eight times before coming to a stop.

All three were unconscious.

"Wh-what just happened?!" Naruto still had a Kunai clenched in his hand, but he stood frozen, his mouth hanging wide open.

He hadn't even seen the enemies, and Zuo Hao had already taken down four of them?

Just then, Zuo Hao emerged from the fog.

His right hand gripped the fifth ninja by the throat. The man stood a head taller than him, yet Zuo Hao held him off the ground with one hand. His feet dangled, and his struggles grew weaker by the second, like a chicken held by the neck.

Zuo Hao tossed the ninja to the ground. The man grunted and struggled to get up, but Zuo Hao planted a foot on his chest.

"I ask, you answer." Zuo Hao looked down at the fifth ninja. "Who sent you?"

The ninja gritted his teeth. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but he said nothing.

Zuo Hao glanced down at him, then lifted his foot and brought it down on the man's right wrist.

Crack.

The sound of breaking bone was as crisp as a dry branch snapping, carrying far through the thick fog.

The ninja's shriek made Tazuna shudder. Even Sakura went pale.

"Who sent you?"

Zuo Hao's voice was still quiet, but this time, the ninja couldn't hold out.

"G-Gato!! It was Gato!! President Gato hired us to kill you!!"

"Kill who?"

"Th-the old man building the bridge... and... and every ninja he hired!!"

Zuo Hao lifted his foot from the man's wrist.

He turned toward Tazuna, who stood behind Sasuke.

Tazuna's face was white as paper. His lips trembled, but he couldn't get a word out.

"Mr. Tazuna." Zuo Hao spoke in the same unhurried tone. "A C-rank mission? Only bandits and thieves?"

A gurgle rose in Tazuna's throat. It was as if the words were stuck there and he couldn't force them out.

Naruto looked from Zuo Hao to Tazuna and back again, his head swiveling as he struggled to understand what was going on.

"Zuo Hao? What do you mean? Who's Gato? What—wait, this old man lied?!"

Sakura still held her Kunai ready, but her gaze had shifted from the fog to Tazuna. Disbelief and anger filled her eyes.

Sasuke's Sharingan fixed on Tazuna. His voice was colder and harder than usual. "Answer my brother. What exactly have you been hiding from us?"

Tazuna's shoulders trembled.

He lowered his head, his graying hair falling over most of his face. After a long pause, he forced out a reply.

"Gato... is a wealthy merchant who controls shipping in the Land of Waves. If the bridge I'm building opens, it'll break his monopoly... so he hired ninjas to kill me."

"A merchant?" Zuo Hao tilted his head. "One who hires rogue ninjas this often?"

Tazuna said nothing.

Zuo Hao watched him stand there with his head lowered, silent, then gave a sudden laugh.

When Tazuna had posted the mission in Konoha, he'd concealed Gato's existence and passed off the job of protecting the bridge's construction as a simple escort mission.

Because the Land of Waves was too poor to afford the proper fee for a ninja mission.

A poor old man had staked his life on a lie to protect his country.