Chapter 243: My Way of the Ninja Is to Never Go Back on My Word!
Kakashi had sensed it as well.
His relaxed posture disappeared, his visible eye sweeping across the mist covered forest with sudden caution.
Naruto was far less subtle.
His gaze locked directly onto the canopy ahead and to the right.
"Stop hiding."
His voice carried clearly through the trees.
"I already know where you are."
Kakashi immediately turned toward the same location.
Only then did Sasuke and Sakura realize that someone had been watching them.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then a figure slowly emerged atop a thick branch.
He was a tall, muscular man with his upper body exposed. Bandages covered the lower half of his face, and a Hidden Mist forehead protector sat crooked across his brow.
Strapped across his back was an enormous sword.
Kubikiribōchō.
The Executioner's Sword.
Kakashi's eye narrowed.
"I didn't expect to meet you here."
His voice became serious.
"Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi."
Sakura stiffened.
Sasuke's expression sharpened.
This was supposed to be a C Rank mission.
Yet now they were facing an infamous rogue ninja whose name was known throughout the Shinobi World.
If things went badly, Team 7 could be wiped out here.
Zabuza remained on the branch, looking down at them.
A low laugh escaped through the bandages covering his mouth.
"And I didn't expect the first person to notice me would be some unknown brat."
His gaze moved briefly toward Kakashi.
"Not even you, Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake."
Then his attention returned to Naruto.
"Looks like Konoha has produced another interesting genius."
A heavy killing intent spread through the forest.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Sakura's breathing caught.
Her entire body stiffened.
Sasuke felt sweat forming along his back despite the cool mist.
This pressure was completely different from fighting classmates or even sparring with Naruto.
It carried the unmistakable sensation of death.
Zabuza stared at Naruto.
"What's your name, brat?"
Naruto stood calmly beneath that murderous pressure.
His hand remained around the three pronged kunai.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Zabuza committed the name to memory.
Then he jumped.
His body dropped from the branch and landed heavily on the ground.
The killing intent receded.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Zabuza regarded him with some interest.
"You're impressive."
"At this rate, give yourself a few years and your name might spread across the Shinobi World."
His eyes narrowed.
"So I'll give you one chance."
"Take your team and leave."
"I'll let you live."
Naruto answered without hesitation.
"I appreciate the offer."
He looked directly at Zabuza.
"But I already accepted this mission."
Naruto tightened his grip on the kunai.
"My Way of the Ninja is to never go back on my word."
"If I choose to do something, I see it through."
"So I'm not leaving halfway."
Zabuza stared at him for a moment.
Then he laughed.
"What a shame."
His attention shifted away from Naruto.
A talented child was still only a child.
The real threat was standing in front of him.
Kakashi Hatake.
Kakashi stepped between Zabuza and his students.
"All three of you, stay back."
His voice was low and firm.
"This fight is beyond what you should be involved in."
He reached toward the forehead protector covering his left eye.
Slowly, he raised it.
A crimson eye was revealed.
Three black tomoe rotated around the pupil.
The Sharingan.
Zabuza's expression tightened.
"So you're bringing that out already."
He clicked his tongue.
"This just became troublesome."
His hands formed a seal.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique!"
Mist erupted around them.
The already thick fog rapidly became denser.
Trees vanished.
The road disappeared.
Within moments, visibility dropped to almost nothing.
Zabuza's presence faded into the mist.
Kakashi immediately raised his guard.
"Stay alert."
His voice carried through the white fog.
"Zabuza specializes in the Silent Killing Technique."
"Stand close together and protect each other's blind spots."
Kakashi scanned the mist with his Sharingan.
"He'll probably come after me first, but"
A violent whistle cut through the air.
Zabuza appeared.
Kubikiribōchō swept horizontally through Kakashi's waist.
Slash!
Kakashi's body was cut cleanly in half.
Sakura gasped.
But there was no blood.
Poof!
The severed body dissolved into smoke.
Zabuza's eyes narrowed.
"A Shadow Clone?"
Kakashi appeared behind him.
His kunai drove directly into Zabuza's abdomen.
The weapon pierced through.
But instead of blood, water spilled from the wound.
Kakashi's expression changed.
"Water Clone."
Zabuza's real body appeared behind him.
Kubikiribōchō swung again.
Kakashi twisted around and raised his kunai.
Clang!
The massive sword collided with the small weapon.
The difference in weight and force was overwhelming.
Kakashi was blasted backward.
He flew through the mist and crashed into a nearby body of water.
Splash!
The moment he landed, Kakashi tried to move deeper beneath the surface.
Then something felt wrong.
His movements slowed.
The water seemed unnaturally dense.
Heavy.
His Sharingan widened.
Why is the water so heavy?
Zabuza appeared at the edge of the pond.
A cruel smile was visible even beneath his bandages.
"You fell for it."
His hands moved.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
Water surged upward around Kakashi.
Before he could escape, it formed into a perfect sphere.
Currents spun continuously around him.
Kakashi pushed against the prison from inside.
Too late.
Zabuza stood beside the water sphere with one arm extended into it, maintaining the technique.
Kakashi was trapped.
Naruto frowned deeply.
It had happened too quickly.
Only a handful of exchanges.
A Shadow Clone.
A Water Clone.
A single mistake near the pond.
And Kakashi had already been captured.
Naruto could not help wondering how someone as experienced as Kakashi had fallen into the trap so easily.
Behind him, Sakura stared in disbelief.
"Kakashi sensei..."
She covered her mouth.
"How can this be?"
Sasuke said nothing.
His expression was grim.
Then he looked toward Naruto.
"We move together."
Naruto glanced at him.
Sasuke continued.
"We have to free Kakashi first."
His eyes hardened.
"If we don't, we're all dead."
Naruto nodded slightly.
Behind them, Tazuna's face had gone pale.
Guilt twisted his expression.
"I'm sorry."
The words came out hoarsely.
"This happened because I hid the truth."
He looked toward Team 7.
"If there's still a way for you to escape, then leave."
"You don't have to die because of me."
Zabuza laughed from beside the Water Prison.
"Escape?"
His voice carried through the mist.
"You think they can still leave?"
His gaze settled on Naruto.
"I might have let you go earlier."
"But now?"
Zabuza's eyes turned murderous.
"Letting a genius from an enemy village walk away after seeing this much would be foolish."
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"You're dying here."
With one hand maintaining the Water Prison, Zabuza created another Water Clone.
Water rose from the pond.
It gathered.
Shaped itself.
Then another Zabuza stood before them.
The clone charged toward Team 7.
Kakashi's voice immediately came from inside the Water Prison.
"Run!"
Naruto looked toward him.
"A Water Clone can't operate far from the original body."
"Get out of its range!"
The logic was simple.
If they put enough distance between themselves and Zabuza, the clone could no longer pursue them effectively.
And if Zabuza was forced to abandon the Water Prison, Kakashi would regain his freedom.
But Naruto did not retreat.
A three pronged kunai appeared in his hand.
He drew his arm back.
Then threw it.
The kunai spun through the mist toward the approaching Water Clone.
Zabuza watched from beside the prison.
A mocking laugh escaped him.
"So much talent and no real combat experience."
His clone reached toward the incoming weapon.
"Konoha must have protected you too well."
Zabuza's voice carried with open contempt.
"When I was your age, I'd already killed more people than you could imagine."
Naruto's expression remained serious.
"Please don't say that like it's something to be proud of."
The Water Clone caught the kunai.
Its gaze dropped toward the strange weapon.
Three prongs.
An unfamiliar formula was engraved across it.
"Asuramaru?"
The instant the name left its mouth, Naruto vanished.
No blur.
No movement.
He simply disappeared from his previous position.
Zabuza's pupils contracted.
Naruto appeared directly in front of the Water Clone.
His hand closed around the marked kunai.
He drove it forward.
The point pierced straight through the clone's head.
Splash!
The Water Clone collapsed.
Its body burst apart into a curtain of water that rained across the ground.
Silence followed.
Zabuza stared.
The arrogance in his eyes vanished.
His pupils shrank violently as an old legend surfaced in his memory.
That movement.
That kunai.
That impossible instantaneous relocation.
He knew of only one technique that matched all three.
Zabuza immediately formed another seal, creating a fresh Water Clone while keeping the Water Prison intact.
His gaze never left Naruto.
"Brat."
Naruto turned toward him.
Zabuza's voice was far more serious now.
"That technique you just used..."
He stared at the three pronged kunai in Naruto's hand.
"Flying Thunder God."
Naruto said nothing.
Zabuza continued.
"I've never seen it with my own eyes, but there's no mistaking it."
"A Space Time Ninjutsu that allows instantaneous movement."
"That specially shaped kunai."
"And that formula."
His expression darkened.
"The only person I know who fought like that was the Fourth Hokage."
"Minato Namikaze."
Even years after Minato's death, the Yellow Flash remained a legend throughout the Shinobi World.
During the Third Shinobi World War, his name alone had carried enough weight that enemy villages issued extraordinary orders regarding him.
If Shinobi encountered the Yellow Flash, they were permitted to abandon the mission and retreat.
No punishment.
No disgrace.
Surviving Minato Namikaze had been considered achievement enough.
Zabuza had never expected to witness that same legendary technique here.
And certainly not from a twelve year old Genin.
His eyes narrowed at Naruto.
A second Flying Thunder God user had appeared.
Fortunately...
This one had not fully grown yet.
....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03].