But as long as he walked across the standing water, ripples were inevitable.
Even someone as powerful as Lei Dou, with his astonishing chakra control, could never defy the laws of physics and walk on water without leaving a trace.
With a quiet sigh, Lei Dou released his Transparent Release.
As Lei Dou's figure slowly took shape in the air, like an ink painting being drawn into existence.
Kakashi's lone visible eye widened, his gaze fixed on Lei Dou.
"This is..."
"Is this the legendary Transparent Release?"
Beside him, Naruto and Sasuke were still wondering what miraculous ninjutsu Lei Dou had used to vanish into thin air.
Hearing Kakashi's muttering, they hurried over to ask.
Naruto looked curious. "Transparent Release? What's that?"
Sasuke frowned deeply. "Is that the secret behind his disappearing act?"
What exactly was Transparent Release?
Watching Lei Dou, Kakashi explained gravely, "Transparent Release is an extremely rare kekkei genkai that completely conceals the user's body and presence. You could call it a top-tier support ability!"
"But I never imagined Lei Dou could use it too. If I remember correctly, the only ninja in Konoha who currently possesses the Transparent Release kekkei genkai should be Shimozuki Hayate!"
"Wait, Shimozuki?"
Was Transparent Release a kekkei genkai exclusive to the Shimozuki clan?
He had never heard of the Shimozuki family having such an inherited ability before!
Still, if Shimozuki Hayate could use it, and Lei Dou had now displayed it too, that seemed to make sense.
Zabuza stared darkly at the now-visible Lei Dou.
"Transparent Release?"
"No wonder I couldn't pinpoint your location. You concealed not only your body, but even your presence!"
As he spoke, Zabuza recalled how he had just been reduced to a lamb awaiting slaughter. If he hadn't thought to use the Great Waterfall Technique, he might have died without ever knowing what killed him.
"People fear me as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Yet you possess Transparent Release and silent killing skills that rival my own!"
"An evil spirit as monstrous as a demon... You should be called the 'Demon Fiend'!"
Konoha's Demon Fiend?
Thinking back on Lei Dou's performance, the title was certainly fitting.
Kakashi gazed at Lei Dou's slender back. Had he already earned a name for himself through mortal combat at just twelve years old?
Even in that age of constant war, such a feat had been exceedingly rare.
"Damn it!"
Suddenly, Kakashi looked utterly distraught. Startled, Sasuke and Naruto hurriedly asked, "Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong?"
The next moment, Kakashi actually wailed toward Lei Dou, his voice trembling with tears.
"I'm so jealous! Why don't I have such a perfect ability?"
A perfect ability?
The two boys exchanged a glance. Transparent Release certainly seemed impressive, but surely it wasn't enough to make a jonin this jealous!
"If I had that ability, I could sneak into the Women's Bathhouse without anyone noticing..."
Sasuke: "..."
Naruto: "..."
Both immediately stared at Kakashi with utter contempt, as though looking at garbage!
"I finally forced you out, you little rat! Now I'll repay the pain you caused me a hundred-a thousand times over!"
Zabuza's threat drew a cold laugh from Lei Dou.
"Hmph! All you did was make me visible. Does that really make you think you've won?"
Lei Dou drove off the ground, blasting the standing water apart beneath his feet.
Accelerating abruptly, Lei Dou shot toward Zabuza like a cannonball. Zabuza had lost his great sword and now stood empty-handed.
He could only hastily draw a kunai from his weapon pouch and brace himself for the fight.
As he charged at full speed, Lei Dou formed hand seals with his left hand alone.
Body Flicker Technique!
Whoosh!
In an instant, Lei Dou vanished into thin air again. This time, it wasn't concealment, but sheer speed.
At the exact moment Lei Dou disappeared, a fierce rush of air thundered beside Zabuza's ear.
He whipped his head around.
A pitch-black blade filled his vision, slashing straight down toward his face.
At the same time, the hand seal Lei Dou had just formed replayed through Zabuza's stunned mind.
Body Flicker Technique?
He could even use the Body Flicker Technique?
A Konoha genin had mastered high-level ninjutsu that demanded such exceptional chakra control?
How was that possible?
But there was no time to think. Lei Dou's blade was already upon him.
Clang! Screeeech...
The kunai barely caught Lei Dou's slash, sparks spraying along the scraping blade.
In that instant of deadlock, Lei Dou's eyes narrowed slightly.
Transparent Release activated again.
Lei Dou abruptly disappeared right before his opponent's eyes.
Zabuza had no idea what Lei Dou was trying to do. With standing water everywhere, perfect concealment was already impossible. Why insist on using Transparent Release?
He quickly fixed his gaze on the water below. A moment later, the faintest ripple stirred a puddle to his right.
It was almost imperceptible, but the intensely alert Zabuza noticed it. He spun around and swept his kunai in that direction.
Yet in the next instant, a gruesome spray of blood burst from his chest.
Zabuza's face instantly turned white as paper.
Five or six meters behind him, Lei Dou slowly reappeared with Zangetsu resting on his shoulder.
Warm blood still clung to the blade, dripping slowly from its tip.
Lei Dou sneered. "Transparent Release isn't just for hiding my body! More importantly, it hides the path of my attacks!"
Hiding his attacks?
Kakashi studied Lei Dou intently. Indeed, an ordinary ninja could only use Transparent Release to conceal themselves, but for a swordsman of Lei Dou's caliber, it meant something entirely different.
Lei Dou possessed Transparent Release and was also a prodigy of swordsmanship.
Against such an enemy, how could anyone defend themselves when they couldn't even see how he swung his blade?
Prodigious swordsmanship supported by Transparent Release-such an unfair combination would probably give even Lord Hokage a terrible headache!
Thud!
Zabuza finally gave out and collapsed heavily into the muddy water. Between his earlier wounds and the fresh injury across his chest, he was losing massive amounts of blood, his strength draining rapidly. He had completely lost the ability to fight.
Step by step, Lei Dou approached Zabuza with the oppressive presence of death itself.
"Using the Great Waterfall Technique to force me into view and tracking my position through the water was a clever tactical idea. Unfortunately, your swordsmanship is simply too weak!"
A twelve-year-old genin was actually calling an elite jōnin's swordsmanship weak.
Had Kakashi not witnessed it himself, he would certainly have thought anyone describing such a scene was insane.
Yet now it was happening right before his eyes.
Zabuza laboriously raised his head, fixing Lei Dou with a venomous stare.
Lei Dou lightly flicked Zangetsu to shake off the blood, then looked coldly down at Zabuza. "Any last words?"
It was time to send this "Demon" on his way.
Just as Zabuza moved his lips to speak, suddenly-whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several sharp projectiles shot toward Lei Dou from behind in rapid succession.
Lei Dou reacted instantly, swinging Zangetsu backward.
He knocked down every unexpected projectile, Zangetsu seeming to become a barrier of countless afterimages.
Then, one after another, senbon clattered to the ground.
Lei Dou looked down at the senbon.
Haku's here!
"This man is a wanted rogue ninja from Kirigakure. Would you let me deal with him?"
Suddenly, a mysterious masked figure appeared on a nearby tree branch.
Kakashi paused. "Kirigakure's Assassination Squad?"
The appearance of Kirigakure's Assassination Squad at this precise moment instinctively struck Kakashi as suspicious.
"Who are you?"
Although Lei Dou knew perfectly well, he still had to make a show of questioning him.
"I'm a member of Kirigakure's Assassination Squad, ordered to hunt down the rogue ninja Zabuza Momochi!"
"But since you Konoha ninja have already defeated him, could you allow me to take him back to Kirigakure to complete my mission?"
Although his instincts told him something was wrong, Kakashi still said, "Lei Dou, Kirigakure's Assassination Squad does specialize in hunting rogue ninja. According to protocol, we can hand Zabuza over to him!"
Kakashi was merely offering advice based on diplomatic etiquette, not giving an order.
Lei Dou nodded to show he understood.
Seeing Lei Dou nod, Haku visibly relaxed beneath his mask. "Thank you very much, ninja of Konoha!"
"If you want the corpse, take it!"
Corpse?
Haku froze. "Ninja of Konoha, what do you mean by a corpse?"
"You wanted him, didn't you? Bringing back his corpse should satisfy your orders just as well!"
As he spoke, Lei Dou unceremoniously set Zangetsu against the artery in Zabuza's neck.
"So killing him now won't make any difference to you, right?"
With that, Lei Dou lowered his wrist, poised to strike.
At that critical instant, Haku panicked and shouted, "Don't!"
That one word exposed everything.
Lei Dou stopped, a mocking smile curling his lips. At the same time, Kakashi's gaze sharpened instantly as he looked at Haku.
Zabuza's face turned livid!
Looking at Lei Dou holding him hostage, he had never imagined that he, the mighty Demon of the Hidden Mist, would one day come undone at a mere brat's hands.
But death had never frightened him.
Zabuza exhaled heavily and growled, "Haku, forget about me! Run!"
That amounted to openly admitting they were accomplices.
Haku slowly removed his mask, revealing a delicate face, and looked at Lei Dou. "How did you realize something was wrong with me?"
Lei Dou smiled. "I didn't realize anything was wrong. I just thought that, for Kirigakure's cold-blooded Assassination Squad, it shouldn't matter whether the target is dead or alive!"
"Please, spare Lord Zabuza! I'm willing to die in his place!"
"Haku! Shut up!"
Hearing that, Zabuza froze briefly. Then his expression darkened again, and he roared, "Don't you understand what I'm saying? Get the hell out of here!"
"I, Zabuza Momochi, have never begged an enemy to spare me! And I don't need charity or rescue from a useless fool like you!"
Zangetsu shifted slightly in Lei Dou's hand, its edge pressing against Zabuza's skin.
"Wait! If you spare Lord Zabuza, I'll pay any price! Just let him go!"
"Haku, are you defying my orders?"
Watching the two play out this tragic scene, Lei Dou smiled faintly.
Although Zabuza was hardly a good man, to Haku, he was the entire world.
And Haku had never been a bad person, yet for Zabuza's sake, he was willing to become a ruthless killer and do anything.
These two were both pitiable souls twisted by the shinobi world!
Lei Dou sighed, then smiled.
"There's only one thing I can do for you!"
Lei Dou looked at Haku and spoke earnestly. Haku paused. "What?"
"I can make his death painless. He wanted to kill the client we're protecting, so I can't possibly let such a dangerous enemy go!"
Haku abruptly raised the senbon in his hand, his gaze turning colder as killing intent spilled out.
"Stay alive and bury him! If you insist on fighting, you'll die too! Then his body will rot out in the wild, with no one left to bury him..."
Haku stood motionless, unable to throw the senbon in his hand.
At that moment, Zabuza actually smiled. "Kid, kill me and spare that fool!"
"Deal!" Lei Dou nodded.
"If you dare kill Lord Zabuza, I'll never let you get away with it!"
Haku suddenly looked at Lei Dou. The chill in his gaze sent a shudder through even Kakashi.
Now Kakashi found himself puzzled. How could a cold-blooded rogue ninja like Zabuza have a subordinate whose loyalty bordered on foolishness?
Was a man like this really the ruthless rogue ninja of legend?
"Haku..."
Zabuza's voice now carried a deeply complicated mix of emotions.
He had never imagined a simple job for money would bring him up against a Konoha monster like Lei Dou.
If he had another chance, Zabuza would never have accepted this mission, not even on pain of death.
Who could have imagined that Konoha's genin brats had now become such monsters?
But regret was useless now. He looked at Lei Dou, his gaze resolute. "Remember what you said! Kill me and let Haku go!"
"Don't worry. As long as you truly accept your death, I won't lay a hand on him, even if he comes after me for revenge someday!"
At those words, Zabuza smiled in relief.
"Do it!"
Haku gripped his Senbon tightly in both hands, tears welling in his eyes. "Lord Zabuza, I won't leave you alone. I'll accompany you on the road to the underworld!"
Watching this master and servant cling to each other in life and death, Lei Dou couldn't help inwardly ranting. Enough, you two grown men! With this atmosphere, you might as well get married right here!
I seriously can't take this!
"Watch closely. This is a swordsmanship style I created myself!"
"Water Breathing!"
Suddenly, Lei Dou spoke solemnly to Zabuza.
He slowly raised Zangetsu in his hand, its deep blue blade pattern gleaming with a mesmerizing luster in the air.
Zabuza froze for a moment. Was this the miraculous swordsmanship that had sliced through the Great Waterfall Technique earlier?
He created it himself?
Was this kid really just a Genin?
Who could create their own swordsmanship style while still a Genin?
Even the Konoha White Fang, whose name had once resounded throughout the Shinobi World, probably couldn't have managed anything like this!
"The next move will send you on your way. If you don't resist and willingly die for that fellow, you won't feel any pain. Otherwise... you'll die in endless torment. Even after your last breath, your face will still be twisted into a hellish grimace!"
Zabuza faltered at those words. Did such swordsmanship really exist?
He had never heard of or seen anything like it.
Although Zabuza had slaughtered countless people and was known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist, he had never been particularly obsessed with mastering swordsmanship.
But as a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, he had always held a certain respect for swordsmanship.
"Then I'd better keep my eyes wide open and get a good look!"
Standing before Zabuza, Lei Dou gently adjusted his breathing and tightened his grip on Zangetsu.
He looked at Zabuza, his expression as calm as still water.
What a pitiful man. He had to wait until death was staring him in the face to understand what he should have cherished most.
Whoosh!
Water sprang into existence around Lei Dou, while a fine mist formed around the blade. The flowing shimmer of water instantly left Haku stunned.
What was this power?
Was it Water Release? But he hadn't formed any hand seals!
Lei Dou's movements seemed incredibly slow. He gently raised his long blade as though taking a lover's hand, then slowly drew it toward Zabuza's neck.
In that instant, Haku stared, spellbound. Rather than carrying out a beheading, Lei Dou looked as though he were dancing gracefully in a soft drizzle.