Kubikiribōchō sliced through the air, trailing a shrill, piercing howl.
The blade was simply too massive.
He transferred all the power from his waist into his arms.
With the momentum of his body's rotation, the force of this slash had reached the pinnacle of his pure Taijutsu.
The sharp blade reflected Zabuza's bloodshot, murderous eyes.
In his eyes, this brat who wasn't even wearing a forehead protector would become a headless corpse in the next second.
The wind howled, whipping up fine sand from the beach.
"Mister, watch out!"
Standing a short distance away, Haku screamed in terror at the horrifying sight.
Haku felt as though an invisible hand had clenched his heart.
He had only just felt a trace of warmth after so long.
He had only just sworn to himself that he would work hard to learn to cook and repay this man for saving his life.
Was all of it going to end today?
Haku even wanted to charge forward regardless of the consequences.
He wanted to forcibly rouse the Ice Release chakra within him and block this strike for the man, even if it killed him.
But it was too fast.
Zabuza's attack struck with the force of thunder, giving Haku no time to react or form hand seals.
The enormous blade, bearing the shadow of death, had already descended above Kenya's head.
And yet.
Faced with this terrifying, powerful strike capable of splitting mountains and shattering stone.
Kenya's reaction stunned everyone present.
He did not retreat even half a step.
He did not use any defensive Ninjutsu.
He didn't even... bother taking his hands out of his pockets!
Yes, Kenya simply stood with both hands in his pockets, as casual as if he were sightseeing on the street.
He merely stopped chewing his rice cracker.
His feet spread slightly on the soft beach.
He lowered his waist a little, assuming a stance that looked utterly relaxed yet was as steady as a mountain.
This guy... has he been scared stupid?
A flicker of doubt crossed Zabuza's mind.
But the great blade in his hands never paused. Instead, he put even more force behind it.
Whether you're bluffing or really scared stupid.
Since you won't dodge, die!
The blade was less than half a meter from Kenya's neck.
The fierce wind from the blade had already stirred the short black hair over Kenya's forehead.
At that critical instant between life and death.
Something suddenly changed!
An incomprehensible transformation suddenly took place on Kenya's smooth, fair forehead.
A shade of the deepest black.
Like spilled ink, it instantly covered his entire forehead and the upper half of his face!
This blackness was more than a change in color.
It also exuded an unnerving metallic quality, as though it had been cast from the hardest steel in the world.
Armament Haki, localized hardening!
Immediately afterward.
Kenya made a move that left both Zabuza and Haku dumbfounded, even questioning everything they knew.
He did not block with his hands.
Nor did he tilt his head aside to dodge.
Instead, he abruptly lowered his head.
With that ink-black head, he charged straight into the sharpest edge of Kubikiribōchō and smashed against it!
Armament Haki: Forehead Smash!
Kenya gave a low shout in his mind.
He wasn't defending.
He was taking the offensive with his own head!
The next second.
A forehead of flesh and blood collided head-on with a famous sword renowned throughout the Shinobi World.
Clang-!!!
An earth-shaking, deafening metallic crash exploded along the edge of the deserted island.
It sounded nothing like a blade striking a human body.
It sounded like two steel trains traveling at high speed had collided head-on in the most devastating crash!
The piercing, high-frequency sound waves became rings of visible ripples, spreading wildly in every direction.
Haku covered his ears in pain and crouched on the ground.
The terrifying sound waves shook leaves from all the trees within a dozen meters.
Even the sand on the ground bounced from the vibrations, forming a small sandstorm.
The scene of flying flesh and bursting brains Zabuza had imagined never appeared.
Before Zabuza's utterly horrified eyes.
His Kubikiribōchō, supposedly capable of cutting through anything.
Erupted in a huge, dazzling burst of sparks the instant it struck Kenya's forehead!
The sparks were so bright that they stung Zabuza's eyes.
Immediately afterward.
An overwhelming recoil, as terrifying as a volcanic eruption.
Surged wildly along the broad blade into the hilt, then slammed into Zabuza's arms.
Buzzz-
Kubikiribōchō gave a mournful cry under the unbearable strain.
The blade even bent violently and visibly under the tremendous reactive force!
Wh-what the hell is this?!
Zabuza roared inwardly.
He felt as though what he had struck wasn't a human head at all.
It was an indestructible mountain of ten-thousand-year-old black iron ore buried deep underground!
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The teeth-grating sound of grinding bones rang out.
Zabuza felt the muscles in his arms tear in an instant, his bones crying out.
The skin between his thumbs and forefingers split instantly under the terrifying vibrations.
Crimson blood gushed out, staining the bandages around the hilt red.
The monstrous strength he took such pride in was laughable as an infant's before this recoil.
Zabuza could no longer hold on to his great blade.
Bang!
The terrifying force sent his entire body flying backward like a kite with its string cut.
His feet flailed in midair as he completely lost his balance.
He flew back a full dozen meters.
Only then did Zabuza barely manage to adjust his posture in midair and land heavily on the beach.
Scrrr-
He planted his feet firmly in the sand, but still couldn't counteract the tremendous momentum.
He slid backward along the beach, plowing two terrifying furrows half a meter deep.
He was driven back nearly thirty steps.
Only when Zabuza's back slammed into a massive reef rock did he finally stop.
Boom!
A dense web of cracks spread across the rock.
"Gah!"
Zabuza tasted blood in his throat and suddenly spat out a large mouthful.
He panted violently, his arms trembling uncontrollably.
Beneath his mask, his face had turned as pale as paper, utterly bloodless.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
He stared fixedly at the young man who still stood in the same spot a short distance away.
His eyes were filled with unconcealable shock and fear.
How was this possible?
This was absolutely impossible!
Zabuza roared wildly in his mind.
He was the Demon of Kirigakure!
His Kubikiribōchō had easily severed the bodies and weapons of countless powerful enemies.
Even those Iwagakure ninja proficient in Earth Release hardening would never dare take his full-powered strike with their bare bodies!
Yet this guy before him.
Hadn't even used his hands!
With nothing but his forehead, he had not only blocked Zabuza's killing blow.
He had even inflicted internal injuries on him through sheer recoil!
Just how monstrously hard was this body?
How could such an unimaginably powerful Taijutsu expert be hiding on this remote, deserted island?
While Zabuza was questioning everything he knew.
A sight that filled him with even greater despair and humiliation appeared.
The dust slowly cleared.
Kenya still had both hands in his pockets.
He slowly straightened, the pitch-black Armament Haki on his forehead receding like a tide and revealing his original skin color.
Kenya took one hand out of his pocket and casually rubbed his forehead, which was as smooth and pristine as ever.
Not even a white mark remained.
His skin wasn't even slightly broken!
"That's it?"
Kenya curled his lip, his tone thick with disdain and contempt.
"I thought the weapons of the famous Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist would be so much sharper."
"Turns out it doesn't even qualify to scratch an itch for me."
As Kenya complained, he hooked the tip of his foot under Kubikiribōchō where it had fallen on the beach and lifted it.
The heavy Kubikiribōchō seemed weightless on the tip of his foot.
"They made the blade pretty big, but the material is garbage."
Kenya shook his head.
Enduring the excruciating pain in his arms, Zabuza followed Kenya's movement with his eyes.
When his gaze fell on Kubikiribōchō's edge.
His pupils abruptly contracted, and his heart felt as though someone had punched it hard.
There, on his beloved Kubikiribōchō, which he regarded as his life and honor.
At the spot that had collided with Kenya's forehead.
A massive notch the size of an adult's fist had actually been smashed out of it!
The once straight, sharp edge was now broken and incomplete.
Even the broad, thick blade had suffered a slight, irreparable twist from the violent collision.
This blade... was ruined!
At least until it absorbed large quantities of enemy blood to regenerate, it had been reduced to nothing but scrap iron!
The personal weapon Zabuza took such pride in.
Had not only failed to sever his enemy's neck.
The enemy had actually smashed a massive notch into it with his forehead!
This immense contrast and utter humiliation.
Made Zabuza's cold, ruthless heart experience an emotion called "trembling" for the first time.
He finally understood one thing.
That Kirigakure patrol boat he had seen fleeing in panic out at sea earlier.
Had not lost its way in the fog at all.
Instead, he had been scared off by this terrifying monster!
He had bitten off more than he could chew.
And by a margin harder than diamond itself!
A deathly silence fell over the beach.
Only the sound of waves crashing against the reefs kept echoing.
Haku had long since been watching in a daze from the sidelines.
His mouth hung open as he looked at the "old man" who resembled a god of war, then at the utterly bedraggled Demon of the Hidden Mist.
His admiration for Kenya instantly reached an unsurpassable height.
Zabuza leaned against the cracked reef, panting heavily.
He looked at the chipped Kubikiribōchō on the ground.
Then he looked at Senju Kenya, who had not even caught his breath.
Zabuza swallowed with difficulty and asked in a dry voice that even held a hint of a tremor:
"You... are you even human?"