Gato's Arrogance! Zuo Hao: I Hear You're Rich?

His gaze swept over Zabuza, lying on the ground. There was no sympathy in his eyes. Instead, he spat on Zabuza's corpse, then looked up at Kakashi and Zuo Hao.

"Konoha Ninja!" Gato planted his hands on his hips, the fat on his face jiggling as he laughed. "You've got some skill, killing Zabuza. But that's fine. I've got money to burn! I hired every one of these samurai and ninja. They could drown you in spit!"

The crowd behind him burst into laughter, banging swords against shields with a deafening clang.

"So." Gato pushed up his sunglasses, his grin growing more brazen. "Hand over that old bridge builder if you know what's good for you. Otherwise, you can join Zabuza in the afterlife!"

Gato spread his arms as if displaying his forces, his fleshy face scrunched up with smug delight.

He didn't notice the way Zuo Hao was looking at him.

It was the look you gave a dead man.

Zuo Hao tilted his head.

He started toward Gato at an unhurried pace.

"Hey, Zuo Hao!" Naruto called in a low voice from behind him, but Kakashi held out an arm to stop him.

Kakashi said nothing. He only shook his head slightly.

He knew his student. When Zuo Hao wore that expression, someone was usually about to have a very bad day.

Zuo Hao stopped five steps from Gato.

"I hear," Zuo Hao said quietly, "you're rich?"

Gato froze for a moment.

The samurai behind him froze too, then erupted in laughter.

Some beat their blades against their shields. Others whistled. A few rogue ninja eyed Zuo Hao as if he were an idiot.

A twelve- or thirteen-year-old kid, facing nearly a hundred armed thugs, opened by asking about money?

Gato laughed loudest of all.

He clutched his belly, his sunglasses nearly sliding off his nose. The fat on his face shook as he laughed, making him look like a pig being tickled.

"Kid, are you here to entertain me?" He took off his sunglasses, wiped the lenses with his suit sleeve, and put them back on.

"That's right, I'm rich. I've got money to burn! These samurai, these ninja, and every stretch of sea around the Land of Waves—I bought it all!"

Zuo Hao didn't laugh.

He simply watched Gato until his laughter faded, then spoke at his leisure.

"Good." Zuo Hao nodded, looking as though he were confirming something important. "Then you should be able to pay the compensation."

"Compensation?" Gato frowned, caught off guard. "What compensation?"

Zuo Hao pulled a hand from his pocket and raised one finger.

"First, Zabuza and his men, whom you hired, attacked Konoha Ninja in the Land of Waves. That constitutes an act of hostility against Konohagakure."

"Under the Five Great Nations Shinobi Convention, the client shares liability. Konoha will settle that account with you later."

He raised a second finger.

"Second, you just said we could join Zabuza in the afterlife."

"I can take that as a death threat against Konoha Ninja."

"Under the Shinobi Code, threatening an active-duty ninja carries a minimum sentence of three years."

He raised a third finger.

"Third, and most important."

Zuo Hao's lips curved into a dangerous smile.

"You spat on Zabuza's corpse."

Gato's brows knotted.

"So what? That useless bastard deserved to die! I paid him, and he couldn't even handle a few brats. Spitting on him was more respect than he deserved!"

"That's the problem." Zuo Hao tilted his head. "Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō is mine now. Naturally, so is Zabuza's corpse."

He took a step forward. Gato stepped back without meaning to.

It wasn't fear, but instinct—the way a mouse moved at the sight of a cat's shadow.

"You spat on something that belongs to me." Zuo Hao's smile widened as he fixed his Three-Tomoe Sharingan on Gato. "By the rules of the Uchiha Clan, that's called asking to die."

Gato's face darkened completely.

He had ruled the Land of Waves for years, with both the underworld and legitimate businesses in his grip. Even merchant ships from the Five Great Nations paid protection money to pass through his waters.

No one—no one—had ever dared speak to him like that, much less some kid barely out of diapers.

"Kid." Gato forced the word through clenched teeth, his voice thick with malice. "You think killing Zabuza makes you invincible?"

He swept out an arm. The samurai behind him drew their swords in unison, sunlight flashing blindingly off the blades.

Several rogue ninja had already begun forming Hand Seals. Chakra of various natures gathered in their palms as they locked their murderous gazes on Zuo Hao.

"I've got over a hundred men here!" Gato spread his arms. "One cut apiece, and they'll chop you into mincemeat! What gives you the nerve to act so cocky in front of me? Those red eyes? Being an Uchiha?"

Zuo Hao tilted his head. The faint, knowing smile on his lips hadn't changed.

"Being an Uchiha."

The instant the words left his mouth, the tomoe in Zuo Hao's Sharingan spun. Something seemed to burst within his crimson pupils.

Sharingan Genjutsu activated.

Gato's body went rigid.

At that same instant, the hundred-plus samurai and rogue ninja behind him froze as well. It was as if someone had pressed pause, turning them all to statues.

Swords hung in midair. Fingers stopped on the final Hand Seal. Arrogant grins remained plastered on faces. But every trace of life had vanished from their eyes.

Every one of them had fallen under the genjutsu.

One person had taken control of more than a hundred.

Kakashi's pupils contracted sharply.

"Zuo Hao... you... That was genjutsu?"

Zuo Hao looked away from Gato and turned to face Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who still stood there stunned. He wore the same languid expression as ever, as though all he'd done was swat a fly.

"Kakashi-sensei, take Mr. Tazuna and go on ahead."

Naruto finally snapped out of his shock, his blue eyes wide. "Wait... Zuo Hao, what are you saying? You're staying here alone?! There are—"

"More than a hundred of them?" Zuo Hao finished for him, sounding so relaxed it was hard to tell whether he was confident or arrogant. "I already said I'd handle Gato myself."

"But—"

"No buts." Zuo Hao's voice suddenly hardened.

He paused, his gaze passing over each of them.

"Tazuna's safe now. Go ahead. I'll catch up after I deal with things here."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the resolve in Zuo Hao's Sharingan, he swallowed his words.

He knew his brother.

When Zuo Hao wore that expression, there was no changing his mind.

Kakashi was silent for a few seconds, then nodded, giving Zuo Hao his tacit approval.