Chapter 8: Battle with Zabuza (Part Two)

Chapter Eight: The Battle with Zabuza

"Idiot, stop right now!" Kakashi looked in shock at Naruto, who was rushing forward.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, while Zabuza's clone sneered, "Hmph, fool."

With a heavy thud, Naruto was kicked away once more, but this time, he clutched the forehead protector that Zabuza had previously stepped on.

"Hey—over there, the one without eyebrows, write this down in your handbook: I am the man who will become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf someday... Konoha-style ninja—Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto slowly stood up and tied the forehead protector onto his head as he spoke.

"What a guy!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Naruto?!" Sakura echoed.

"He looks more reliable than before!" Da Chinna observed.

"Naruto," said Kakashi.

*Cough cough* "Hehe," Hsiust chuckled.

"Sasuke, listen to me, I have a good plan..." Naruto approached Sasuke and spoke quietly.

"Hmph, I'll cooperate with you this time!" Sasuke replied, his face showing determination.

"What is this feeling? Naruto and Sasuke..." Sakura wondered inwardly.

"Hahaha! You seem so confident. Do you really think you stand a chance?" Zabuza's clone taunted.

"Hm? This is bad. What are you all doing? Didn't I tell you to run? When we draw attention, the outcome is obvious..." Kakashi snapped back to his senses and shouted, but was interrupted by Hsiust.

*Cough cough* "Brother, let them try once. People need to grow, cough cough... They finally gained some confidence..." Hsiust was seized by another coughing fit. Kakashi, with his water-nature chakra, wasn't worried; he mastered four natures: lightning, fire, water, and earth.

"Let's do this!" Sasuke declared.

"Prepare yourself!" Naruto added.

"Heh heh, you brats who grew up in peaceful times, how long will you keep playing ninja games? When I was your age, my hands were stained with blood!" Zabuza's clone laughed coldly.

"What?" The group exclaimed.

"Demon... Zabuza?" Kakashi muttered.

"Oh? So you've heard of me," Zabuza's true body turned to Kakashi.

"Once, in a place called the Village Hidden in the Mist, there was the greatest hurdle to becoming a ninja," Kakashi spoke, bowing his head.

"You've heard about that graduation exam?" Zabuza was surprised.

"What kind of graduation exam? Hey, what kind of exam is it?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Heh heh, that is—students killing each other!" Zabuza's clone cackled.

"What?" The group gasped.

"Before then, they were all comrades, helping each other, eating together, sharing dreams," Zabuza's clone said.

"Ten years ago, the Mist Village had to reform its graduation exam. The change was triggered by a demon appearing in the previous year. A young boy, not yet qualified as a ninja, without hesitation or doubt, killed over a hundred candidates that year," Kakashi recalled.

"That was truly entertaining! Don't you agree?" Zabuza's clone suddenly said, then charged forward and kicked Sasuke.

"Die!" The clone followed up with a vicious elbow and stomped on Sasuke's chest.

"Damn it! Shadow Clone Technique!" In an instant, over thirty Narutos surrounded Zabuza's clone.

"Oh? Shadow Clone Technique, and quite a number too!" Zabuza's clone released his foot, preparing to defend.

"Let's go!" The thirty Narutos drew their kunai.

With a metallic clang, their kunai stabbed into Zabuza's massive sword, forming a circle around him.

"Haah!" Zabuza's clone exploded with power, knocking back the Narutos and their clones.

"Waah!" Thirty Narutos cried out as the clones burst one after another.

"If we want to defeat him, this is the only way!" Naruto, still sliding from Zabuza's immense force, pulled a giant folding shuriken from his backpack.

"Sasuke!" Naruto tossed the giant shuriken to Sasuke.

"Huh, this is... I get it!" Sasuke, catching it, remembered Naruto's plan.

"Fuma Shuriken: Shadow Windmill!" Sasuke leapt up and hurled the shuriken.

"That won't work on me," Zabuza's clone scoffed.

The shuriken curved around the clone, flying straight at Zabuza's true body.

"So that's it, targeting the real body this time! But... too naive!" Zabuza paused, then caught the shuriken with one hand.

"Hm? There's another shuriken in the shadow of the first—that's the Shadow Shuriken Technique!" Another shuriken flew at Zabuza.

"But... still too naive!" Zabuza jumped nimbly, dodging again.

"He dodged it!" Sakura said in despair.

"Heh heh," Naruto and Sasuke grinned.

"Boom—take this!" The shuriken instantly transformed into Naruto, who threw a kunai at Zabuza's arm controlling the water prison.

"What?!" Zabuza was forced to withdraw his hand from the water prison to dodge the shuriken, which also eliminated his water clone.

"Heh heh," Naruto laughed from midair.

"You little brat!" Blood trickled down Zabuza's face as he turned to strike Naruto with the captured shuriken.

Clang—blood splattered.

"What?" Kakashi, drenched, used the iron plate on his right glove to block the shuriken’s spin.

Splash—Naruto fell into the river.

*Cough cough cough cough cough* Hsiust used the Body Flicker Technique to appear on the shore, coughing up water.

"Naruto, your plan was truly outstanding. You’ve all grown."

"Hehe, I only used the Shadow Clone Technique to cover up my transformation into a shuriken. When Sasuke caught my clone’s shuriken, he realized it, so he used his own shuriken to cover for me, and then I rescued Kakashi-sensei and Hatake-sensei," Naruto chuckled.

"So you unlocked the water prison while I wasn’t paying attention?" Zabuza asked, observing Kakashi, whose hand was bleeding from blocking the shuriken.

"I freed myself. I said, the same jutsu won't work on me twice." Kakashi threw the shuriken aside forcefully.

"Hmph!" The two separated instantly, beginning to form hand seals.

"Ugh... damn," Hsiust vomited out the last mouthful of water and staggered to his feet.

"Hatake-sensei!" Sakura rushed over to help him.

"No need—I'll manage myself!" Hsiust waved her off, his tone cold and chilling.

"Hm?" The strange behavior caught the attention of the two who were forming seals.

"Leave Zabuza to me. Your Sharingan, I imagine, is stretched to its limit," Hsiust said, lowering his head as he walked to Kakashi and casually pulled off his forehead protector.

"Hsiust, you..." Kakashi looked at the changed Hsiust in surprise.

"I'm fine. It's just rare to meet someone who barely lets me use some ninjutsu, heh heh..."

Hsiust was furious, and the consequences would be dire.

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PS: Summer brings swarms of mosquitoes. Everyone staying up late reading, please take care!