Haku struggled to crawl over, tears blurring his vision. "No! Lord Zabuza, if you're going to die, we'll die together!"
Kakashi looked at Asuma, a question in his eyes.
Asuma spun his lighter in a graceful arc between his fingers, its sparks tracing a curve through the twilight.
He took a deep drag on his cigarette. The crackle of burning tobacco sounded especially clear in the tense air.
"The old man said 'if possible,' not 'no matter what.'"
"The old man told us to kill Zabuza Momochi if possible. What can we do if we couldn't finish him off? He's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, with the Silent Killing Technique."
He shrugged and continued, "Neither side had a personal grudge at first. We were all just following our missions. Kurenai got hurt, and I slashed Zabuza badly enough to leave him seriously injured.
Now Zabuza has killed his own employer and helped the people of the Land of Waves. I actually can't bring myself to hate the guy."
Work was work, and the boss's demands were another matter.
Asuma wasn't afraid of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
His words left all the genin present stunned.
They had thought the jonin would carry out their mission to the letter. They hadn't expected them to think this way.
Naruto swung his Wooden Sword, layering wind-nature chakra over it to sharpen its edge.
When Naruto had treated Zabuza, he had deliberately chosen the Life-for-Life Reduction Technique for its severe side effects. The point was to let Zabuza kill Gato, then leave him unable to fight afterward.
It was all for the sake of their reputation. Why else would he have gone to all that trouble?
Couldn't he have simply finished him off?
Reputation was just a fig leaf. You could pull it