The Hokage Most Skilled in Water Release

Team Seven searched the bandits' hideout.

They not only found the Guild Master's missing goods, but also the corpses of more than a dozen wandering samurai, strewn haphazardly inside an empty house.

Naruto Uzumaki raised his head and looked into Kakashi Hatake's eyes. "Sensei Kakashi, you know who the enemy is, don't you?"

"I... I'm sorry, Naruto."

Kakashi Hatake ruffled his blond hair and crouched down. "Until we uncover their true purpose, I can't tell you."

Those shadowy schemes and tangled intrigues were not things the boy before him should know about—at least, not yet.

Sakura Haruno, standing to the side, suddenly spoke up. "Naruto, I think I know something. Ino's family has a hereditary ninjutsu called something like Mind Body Switch..."

"It's called the Mind Body Switch Technique."

Sasuke Uchiha leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed. Ever since seeing off the Guild Master, his expression had not improved.

The blond ninja looked at Sasuke in confusion, then suddenly smiled. "Then when we get back to the village... let's investigate!"

"Fine. At the very least, we can confirm one source of information. Those enemies were all ninja from the village."

Sasuke Uchiha nodded. He wanted to investigate where those enemies had come from not only for future safety, but also because he wanted information about Itachi Uchiha.

For instance, that female ninja who had defeated him in only a few exchanges had mentioned fighting Itachi Uchiha before. She must have lost terribly.

"Leave this matter to me."

Team Seven's Jonin instructor tried to reassure his subordinates and calm them down. "You three brats just train properly and carry out your missions. Leave everything else to me, understand?"

This trip had not been without gains.

Naruto Uzumaki could now freely control and use the Nine-Tails' chakra, which was good news for Konoha.

After Team Seven rested, Kakashi Hatake thought for a long while before deciding to alter their route.

The enemy might continue ambushing Team Seven, and with no way to determine whether their numbers had increased, they could only take another route back to Konoha.

Standing atop a mountain, Kakashi Hatake surveyed the distant sea and stated his plan. "We'll head to the Land of Waves first..."

Sasuke Uchiha frowned and glanced at the unnaturally silent forest. "To the Land of Waves? To avoid another possible attack?"

"And for reinforcements."

Kakashi Hatake scratched his head. Though he was only an elderly Genin, he was still more reliable than sending these little brats to deliver intelligence.

There were many benefits to going to the Land of Waves.

First, Maruboshi Kosuke was there on a mission. He was someone trustworthy. Kakashi could have him join the team and protect Team Seven with them; or he could ask him to travel separately and return to Konoha first to report to the Third Hokage.

Second, they could take a ship from the Land of Waves and follow the Land of Fire's coastline to find another point of entry, choosing a new route back to Konoha and avoiding the enemy's attacks.

It was just that this might cause old man Maruboshi Kosuke some trouble. He had been a Genin all his life, and it was rare for him to have a chance to complete a high-level mission.

Perhaps because of the heavy fog at sea, after a fishing boat had safely delivered Kosuke and Tazuna and returned without incident, fishermen were willing to make another trip out.

After Team Seven arrived on that small island and proceeded along the road toward the Land of Waves, Kakashi Hatake realized that he might have run into another problem.

Mist spread ahead of them, and the sound of blades clashing reached their ears!

"It should be Elder Kosuke fighting someone..."

Kakashi Hatake pondered for a moment. In a tiny place like the Land of Waves, there should only be a few incompetent wandering ninja at most, right?

By the time they arrived, the battle had not yet ended. On the roadside, only Tazuna, the bridge-building expert, remained. He clutched a snow rabbit and trembled all over, looking around in lingering panic.

"Mr. Tazuna, where is Elder Kosuke?"

"Why are you here?!"

The bridge-building expert stared in surprise for a moment, then immediately grabbed Kakashi's sleeve and ground his teeth. "What is wrong with you Konoha ninja? That old man caught a rabbit, and then he started fighting with the rabbit's owner!"

Kakashi Hatake asked in confusion, "This is... a snow rabbit?"

"Yeah..."

Tazuna displayed the rabbit in his arms, his face full of disbelief. "Its owner was a tall, burly ninja. He said he was going to drain us dry of blood!"

The three little brats of Team Seven: "..."

Kakashi Hatake reached out and petted the little rabbit, explaining in a low voice, "This is a snow rabbit raised by someone. Some ninja can use them to perform the Substitution Technique. They're rare in the ninja world. It seems the enemy is someone who knows how to enjoy life..."

Tazuna did not understand any of that. He only hesitantly said, "I think I heard him say his name was something like... Momo... Zabuza something..."

"It should be Zabuza Momochi!"

Kakashi Hatake supplied the enemy's name, then abruptly realized what he had heard. His eyes widened in shock. "Wait, are you kidding me?!"

That was a Rogue Ninja from Kirigakure, one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist! Even Kakashi Hatake himself found Zabuza Momochi troublesome to deal with!

Of course Tazuna was not joking.

When Kosuke discovered the snow rabbit on the road, he immediately recognized that it had been raised by a ninja. He simply took the opportunity to deliberately lure out Zabuza Momochi.

Who would have thought that as soon as Zabuza appeared, he would declare that he would slaughter this elderly Konoha Genin as punishment for Kosuke wanting to stew the snow rabbit in an iron pot!

No one knew why...

Maybe snow rabbits were hard to raise?

The mist gradually dispersed amid the clash between the two, slowly revealing their figures. One of them was slightly hunched over and held an ordinary ninja blade in his hand.

It was Maruboshi Kosuke, the elderly Genin Team Seven had encountered.

The other was tall and powerfully built, holding a broad cleaver-like sword. He was Zabuza Momochi, the Rogue Ninja from Kirigakure.

He looked at Kosuke, his voice somewhat grim. "I never expected you, old man, to be skilled with a blade despite dragging around that crippled body!"

As he spoke, he violently drove the massive sword in his hand into the ground!

His palms came together swiftly as his hands began forming seals at incredible speed!

Zabuza Momochi stared coldly at the old man across from him. As he formed seals, he sneered, "Hmph. Die!"

"Oh? Water Dragon Jutsu? When I was young, I was actually quite skilled at using that technique too..." Maruboshi Kosuke recognized Zabuza Momochi's hand seals at a glance.

He set down his ninja blade and brought his palms together. "I really am getting old. These old bones of mine can't form seals as quickly as you youngsters! Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

No one had expected Maruboshi Kosuke to strike after his opponent yet finish first!

In Zabuza Momochi's horrified gaze, a water dragon rapidly formed behind Kosuke and lunged at him with tremendous force!

The Hidden Mist Rogue Ninja stared fearfully at the water dragon rushing toward him. "How is that possible? You only completed three hand seals!"

The Water Dragon Bullet required forty-four hand seals in total!

Zabuza Momochi had only finished half of them when he saw that old man slowly form three seals before releasing this B-rank Water Release technique!

Maruboshi Kosuke watched as the water dragon submerged Zabuza Momochi, picked up his ninja blade, and walked forward step by step. "There's nothing strange about it. After all, the Second Hokage of our village was the ninja most skilled in Water Release in the entire ninja world..."

First Update

Zabuza Momochi: Report this! Konoha ninja are cheating! He only formed three seals!

Maruboshi Kosuke: I just got an even bigger cheater behind me. He doesn't need hand seals at all...

Zabuza Momochi: What you're doing is wrong. It violates the rules of the ninja world...

Maruboshi Kosuke: Be reasonable. The ninjutsu you used was invented by Konoha. We are the rules...

Zabuza Momochi: You really can't do this. It's bad for unity in the ninja world...

Maruboshi Kosuke: I only ate one of your rabbits, and you wanted to use your ninja sword to drain my blood dry? Is that good for unity in the ninja world?

Zabuza Momochi: I caught that for Haku. It was the only gift I ever gave him...