Zabuza Attacks

Night mist rolled over the coast of the Land of Waves, wrapping the wooden house beside the construction site in a hazy, damp chill.

Inside, the lamplight was dim and yellow. Tazuna crouched beside the fire, rolling a piece of charcoal between his fingers, his face even more anxious than it had been during the day. The way the mutated sea beast had died was still etched into his mind. After a long hesitation, he finally spoke. "Lord Kakashi, there's something I didn't dare tell you in full."

"Gato brought in a shipment half a month ago. It's all locked in the warehouse at the docks, and no one is allowed near it." He kept his voice very low. "According to the workers under me, the crates contain fragments that look like black iron, and wooden plaques carved with strange faces. Anyone who touched them developed a fever and nightmares. One sailor even went mad, muttering something about a 'sea demon curse.'"

Kakashi rested his fingertips against his chin, his Sharingan glowing faintly red in the shadows, his brow tightly furrowed.

The sea beast that day had been able to weaken ninjutsu and suppress chakra, already defying everything known about summoning beasts in the Shinobi World. With Gato's mysterious cargo added to the picture, the whole affair grew even murkier. At first, he had merely assumed Gato had colluded with rogue ninja. Now it seemed that what lay behind it might be some lost evil path secret technique, or even a secret treasure belonging to unknown overseas forces.

"The Dock Warehouse..." Kakashi murmured. "I'll investigate tomorrow."

He turned toward Lin Chen, who sat by the window, wanting to ask something, but ultimately swallowed his words.

This youth could always easily resolve bizarre crises that left everyone else helpless, yet never offered another word of explanation. Superficial questions would yield no answers, while probing too deeply would only breed suspicion. It would be better to wait and see.

Lin Chen leaned beside the window, looking across the sea toward the docks, understanding it all.

The black iron fragments were seastone residue, and the strange-faced wooden plaques were low-grade cursed objects. Together, they could suppress a ninja's chakra while breeding cursed spirits and contaminating sea beasts. No wonder the Land of Waves had descended into such chaos in just half a month. A profit-driven smuggler like Gato probably had no idea how much trouble he had picked up, taking them for foreign curios that could counter ninja and paying a fortune to use them against guards.

[Ding! Dense other-plane energy signatures detected in the direction of the docks!]

[Includes seastone ore slag from the Pirate Plane, cursed object fragments from the Jujutsu Plane, and a small quantity of unknown bloodline origin!]

[Host is advised to investigate. May trigger mass plundering!]

The system notification sounded at just the right moment, and the corner of Lin Chen's mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.

Originally, the main opportunities in the Land of Waves arc had only been Zabuza's assassination techniques and Haku's Ice Release bloodline. This shipment of other-plane goods was an unexpected bonus. Seastone resistance, cursed energy affinity, and the Haki fragments that might be hidden aboard Gato's smuggling ship were all gains with no downside.

"Whooo-"

An exceedingly faint sound of wind brushed past the windowsill.

Lin Chen's gaze sharpened slightly. He was the first to detect the killing intent.

There was more than one person.

Two presences, one strong and one weak. The stronger one carried killing intent as sharp and cold as a blade, while the weaker one hid in the mist, carrying icy chakra fluctuations.

Zabuza and Haku.

The event from the original storyline had arrived on schedule, except this time, both carried faint wisps of black cursed energy. They had evidently come into contact with the cursed objects in the Dock Warehouse ahead of time, making even their presences somewhat colder and more sinister.

"Watch out! Enemies!"

Kakashi sprang to his feet, his Sharingan opening fully as he barked a warning.

Before his words had faded, a deafening crash rang out, and the wooden wall was abruptly cleaved apart by tremendous force! Amid flying splinters, a tall figure in a black Kirigakure robe burst through the wall, the Kubikiribōchō in his hand carrying a bone-piercing wind as he slashed straight at everyone inside.

As the blade cut through the air, it actually stirred strands of black mist, dimming even the firelight wherever it passed.

"Demon Zabuza!"

Kakashi's pupils contracted as he instantly recognized the rogue ninja. But what made his heart sink was not the man's name. It was the black energy swirling around his great sword. Several pitch-black fragments the size of fingernails were embedded along its edge. Chakra automatically grew sluggish near them, and even his Sharingan felt a faint interference.

A cursed ninja tool?

The thought flashed through Kakashi's mind, but his hands did not slow. He drew a kunai with a reverse grip to block.

Clang-

The clash of metal was piercing. Kakashi swayed slightly, his arm going numb, and the chakra inside him briefly stalled at the point of contact.

Zabuza seized that instant of vulnerability, abruptly intensifying his assault. Overlapping blade shadows pressed forward, every strike carrying sinister black energy. He clearly intended to finish this quickly.

"Sasuke! Naruto! Protect Tazuna!"

Kakashi issued the order in a low voice, chakra surging around him as he fully activated his Sharingan to meet the attack with all his strength.

Sasuke and Naruto immediately moved in front of Tazuna, while Sakura huddled behind them, her face pale. But just as the two steadied themselves, several crystalline ice needles shot through the window at treacherous angles, aimed straight at their vital points.

"Who's there?!"

Sasuke flicked out shuriken to block. The ice needles shattered on impact, dissolving into specks of freezing mist. A slender masked figure walked slowly out of that mist. It was Haku.

"The Ice Release kekkei genkai..." Sasuke gritted his teeth, tensed his chakra, and charged.

A chaotic battle instantly erupted inside and outside the house. Ice Release collided with Fire Release, sword flashes crossed kunai, and the mist grew thicker and thicker.

Against Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō combined with the interference of the black energy, Kakashi fought with extreme frustration. His Sharingan could see through the movements, but the black iron fragments on the blade kept disrupting his chakra circulation, repeatedly slowing his techniques by half a beat. Within a few short minutes, he was at a disadvantage.

Damn it, what exactly is that sword?

Kakashi was both shocked and furious. In all his years traversing the Shinobi World, he had never seen a metal that could directly suppress chakra. This was no ordinary ninja tool. It was more like some forbidden object designed specifically to counter ninja.

Just as Zabuza drove Kakashi back with one slash and followed through toward Tazuna-

A slender figure stepped into his path.

Lin Chen raised his hand, brought two fingers together, and precisely caught the descending blade between them.

A faint glow shimmered at his fingertips. However violently the black energy on the sword churned, none of it could penetrate.

Everyone froze for an instant.

Zabuza's pupils contracted sharply. The blade felt as though it had been cast into solid mountain rock, refusing to budge no matter how much strength he exerted. Stranger still, the black energy swirling around the sword and the suppressive force from the black iron fragments embedded along its edge were rapidly draining away, as though something were drawing them out of thin air.

[Ding! Locked onto the Kubikiribōchō!]

[Available to plunder: basic seastone resistance, residual Grade 2 cursed energy on the blade, insights into Kirigakure's Silent Killing Technique!]

[Critical multiplier: sevenfold! Begin plundering?]

Begin.

With a thought from Lin Chen, an invisible devouring force spread along the blade.

The black energy on the sword dissipated at a visible speed. The seastone fragments embedded along its edge rapidly dimmed, losing their original luster. The assassination insights Zabuza had honed through years of arduous practice, along with the essence of the Kirigakure Body Flicker Technique, also flowed ceaselessly through the hilt into Lin Chen.

"What did you do?!"

Shocked and furious, Zabuza wrenched his sword back and retreated.

He looked down at his Kubikiribōchō. The black iron fragments along its edge had completely turned into ordinary scrap metal, and the lingering black energy had vanished without a trace. Even the assassination instincts he took the greatest pride in had grown considerably rusty, as though a portion of his decade-plus of combat experience had been erased out of nowhere.

That bizarre sensation was exactly like what had happened when the sea beast lost control during the day.

"Was that your doing?" Zabuza stared fixedly at Lin Chen, his killing intent almost tangible. "Who the hell are you?"

Kakashi was stunned as well.

The bizarre suppressive force that had troubled him all this time was simply gone?

Ignoring everyone's shock, Lin Chen lightly flicked his fingertip, silently sending a strand of icy chakra off to the side.

Clink-

The ice needles Haku fired shattered instantly, and even the Ice Release barrier in front of him developed fine cracks.

[Ding! Ice Release kekkei genkai detected!]

[Available to plunder: Ice Release basic origin, kekkei genkai affinity, One-Handed Hand Seals Technique!]

[Current plundering progress: 15%. Continued contact will allow complete plundering!]

A faint gleam flashed in Lin Chen's eyes.

The Ice Release bloodline truly was excellent prey. A single clash of energy had already allowed him to plunder its basic origin. Once he completely subdued Haku, he could claim this rare kekkei genkai as well.

Haku staggered back a step, his eyes beneath the mask filled with horror.

His Ice Release had always been effective, commanding caution even from jonin. Yet the youth before him had broken his technique with a mere flick of a finger and thrown the Ice Release chakra inside him into disorder.

The gap in their strength was already too great to bridge.

"Retreat!"

Zabuza made the decision immediately.

He knew very well that with this unfathomable youth present, today's assassination had utterly failed. Continuing the fight would not only fail to secure the target, but might also cost both him and Haku their lives here.

He gave Lin Chen a long look, his eyes full of wariness and cold menace. "Kid, give me your name."

"Lin Chen."

"I'll remember you." Zabuza snorted coldly and raised his hands to form seals. "Kirigakure: Hidden Mist Technique!"

Thick white mist instantly spread out, obscuring everyone's vision.

By the time the mist cleared, Zabuza and Haku had long since disappeared, leaving only the wrecked wooden house and the deep darkness outside the window.

The crisis passed, and silence filled the house.

Panting heavily, Naruto looked at Lin Chen with admiration all over his face. "Lin Chen, you're incredible! You even drove off that rogue ninja called Zabuza!"

Sasuke clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

Even giving everything he had, he could barely block Haku's ice needles, yet Lin Chen could stop the Kubikiribōchō with one hand and force back two powerful opponents. That gap weighed on him like a mountain, leaving him unable to breathe.

Kakashi deactivated his Sharingan and walked over to Lin Chen, his expression complicated. "Just now... how did you neutralize the cursed power on the sword? And those black iron fragments-do you know what they are?"

"Just a little trick for dealing with evil entities," Lin Chen said mildly, looking toward the docks. "The source of those things is in the Dock Warehouse. The goods in Gato's hands are far more dangerous than you imagine."

"Let's take a look at the docks tomorrow. Unless we eliminate the source, these strange incidents will only keep multiplying."

He spoke casually, but Kakashi's heart tightened.

Even a rogue ninja of Zabuza's caliber had to draw on the power of those goods, showing just how troublesome the things inside the Dock Warehouse were. He had originally considered this an ordinary escort mission. Now it seemed the waters of the Land of Waves ran far deeper than the intelligence had suggested.

No one noticed two entirely different, unfamiliar energies quietly circulating around Lin Chen's fingertips.

One was seastone resistance with a cold, hard quality. From now on, ordinary seastone could no longer suppress his chakra. The other was sinister but controllable cursed energy, allowing him to easily see spiritual entities invisible to ordinary people.

Not to mention Kirigakure's Silent Killing Technique, which he had assimilated completely. Combined with his already maxed-out Root stealth, his concealment and assassination abilities had entered the top ranks of the Shinobi World.

One brief exchange had yielded a rich harvest.

The night deepened.

In the direction of the Dock Warehouse, wisps of black mist quietly seeped through gaps, nourishing the cursed spirits in the shadows. The sea breeze swept across the warehouse's sheet-metal roof with a low moaning sound, like a sea demon's murmurs, or the faint sounds of a spatial rift.

Lin Chen looked up, a trace of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

Tomorrow's trip to the docks would be the true time to reap the harvest.

Seastone, cursed objects, lurking creatures from other planes, and Zabuza and Haku hiding in the shadows.

He wanted every last opportunity.