Both Naruto and Sasuke were worth far more than their strength alone suggested.
As the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, the strongest tailed beast, Naruto Uzumaki was essentially the village's nuclear weapon. You might never use it, but you could not afford to be without it. His very existence was a tremendous deterrent.
Sasuke Uchiha, meanwhile, was that lord's only disciple. Given Shin Uchiha's strength and standing, if his disciple really were killed, both the Akatsuki and Konoha would face a reckoning.
Seeing the two brats standing in front of Kakashi, Kakuzu did not even slow down. His brows merely furrowed in mild surprise before he extended his pitch-black hands and charged at them.
The four masked clones surrounding Kakuzu writhed like a swarm of demons as they prepared their next wave of ninjutsu.
Before Kakuzu could reach Sasuke and Naruto, a thin mist suddenly rose before his eyes. In the blink of an eye, it thickened into dense fog, and Kakashi and the two boys vanished from sight. The sudden change made Kakuzu cautiously stop in his tracks.
"Ninja art-Hidden Mist Technique!"
As that utterly level voice rang out, everyone present was swallowed by the sudden fog.
Kakuzu, who had already stopped, gave a soft snort. "Kirigakure's signature ninjutsu-the Hidden Mist Technique. Since when did people from Kirigakure start sticking their noses into other people's business?"
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. He had genuinely feared that something might happen to Naruto and Sasuke. Once the dense fog enveloped them, he quickly grabbed the two boys and pulled them far away from their previous position.
"The heart, kidneys, brain, throat, neck... all vital points on the human body. Do you know which one will be attacked next?"
Within the dense fog, Demon Zabuza's voice seemed to come from every direction,