"Damn it! I didn't hit the buttocks!" Naruto said with a fierce expression. "As expected of a Jonin. You managed to dodge my One Thousand Years of Death at such a critical moment. You won't be so lucky next time."
Kakashi looked at Naruto in shock. Even Kakashi barely managed to deal with Zabuza, yet Naruto had managed to injure him.
Zabuza Momochi stared at Naruto and said, "What's your name? Any ninja who can make me bleed is worthy of being written in my notebook."
"The future Hokage! The strongest Genin! A legend in the ninja world! Invincible under the heavens!" Naruto declared his name in a heroic tone. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha Village!"
"Ugh..." Sakura gave Naruto a look as if he were an idiot. She had thought Naruto was strong just now, but now seeing him boast so shamelessly, she thought he was still the same idiot as before.
"Are you serious?" Kakashi couldn't stand it either and muttered to himself, "I can't believe that such a Naruto could stab a Jonin."
Kakashi recalled the previous battle. Zabuza Momochi had first used the Hiding in Mist Technique, creating a thick fog around them. That was when Naruto had started to prepare.
Naruto first hid Tazuna. Then he created two shadow clones. One clone pretended to be him on the spot, and the other transformed into the appearance of Tazuna. His real body used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into a rock. After that, Naruto waited for an opportunity to attack.
Kakashi thought to himself: Why does Naruto like to use the One Thousand Years of Death so much... Did I teach him badly... It seems I need to teach him something else next time...
"Naruto, you idiot," Sakura shouted. "You said you're going to be the future Hokage. How can you be the strongest Genin at the same time? A Genin can never become the Hokage. Stop talking nonsense."
"Ugh... It's a bit hard to explain..." Naruto was instantly stunned and thought to himself: I didn't say something wrong, did I? Why does it seem like everyone doesn't accept it? What exactly went wrong? My self - introduction just now was so cool...
"Naruto Uzumaki! I'll remember you," Zabuza Momochi said with a fierce look in his eyes. He tore a strip of cloth from his pants and bandaged the wound on his thigh to stop the bleeding.
"You're really blessed in three lifetimes! to remember my great name," Naruto said proudly, carried away by his own success.
"So, you deserve to die," Zabuza Momochi said as he instantly rushed towards Naruto, emanating a dark killing intent. "You're as weak as a monkey, yet you dared to leave a wound on me." He raised his Cleaver Sword and chopped down at Naruto.
At the brink of death, Naruto still shouted defiantly, "That just means you're even worse than a monkey."
Naruto wasn't panicked at all because Kakashi was by his side. He had successfully enraged Zabuza Momochi. With Kakashi around, Zabuza Momochi actually skipped over Kakashi and chose to kill Naruto first. This already showed that Zabuza Momochi had lost his composure.
In a battle between Jonin, once you lose your rhythm and composure, you're bound to lose.
Sure enough, Kakashi stepped forward and engaged Zabuza Momochi in a fight. In terms of Taijutsu, Zabuza Momochi with his Cleaver Sword should have had the upper hand, but at this moment, Zabuza Momochi was being pushed back by Kakashi.
Zabuza Momochi felt increasingly strained. The Cleaver Sword in his hand became incredibly heavy and seemed to be hard to handle.
Zabuza Momochi thought to himself, "That damn brat. I have to get him out of my mind, or I'm doomed to lose..."
Zabuza Momochi gathered his courage and fought while retreating. He planned to lure the enemy deeper and lead Kakashi to the water's edge. Zabuza glanced back at the water surface; he had already set up a booby trap there, just waiting to entice Kakashi to step into it.
"Teacher Kakashi!" Naruto suddenly shouted, "Don't get close to the water. There must be something fishy there!"
What the hell! Zabuza Momochi gritted his teeth. What's up with that brat Naruto? How the hell does he know there's a trap by the water?
Hearing this, Kakashi quickly disengaged from the battle and kept his distance from Zabuza Momochi.
"Naruto," Kakashi asked, "How did you know there was something fishy by the water?"
"Zabuza has been retreating towards the water. I just thought his move was very strange," Naruto continued, "We have to be on guard."
Kakashi was stoked. He never thought Naruto would be such a badass among the three students. Although he was just a Genin, his combat experience and awareness were top - notch.
Kakashi thought to himself, "Naruto is even better than Sasuke. Before taking over Team 7, I wouldn't even have dared to think about it."
"Humph, do you think I'm helpless just because you don't get close to the water?" Zabuza Momochi stood on the water surface, quickly forming hand seals with both hands.
Seeing this, Kakashi quickly said, "Everyone, hide behind the big trees!"
Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet jutsu! Zabuza Momochi stood on the water surface, which gave him a great advantage in using Water Release. However, since Kakashi was far from the water source, he couldn't fight head - on and had to avoid the attack.
Suddenly, the water raged as a huge water dragon soared into the air, kicking up a ten - meter - high wave and surging towards Kakashi. The surging water rushed into the jungle.
Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all hid behind the big trees, dodging the surging water.
At this moment, looking at the suddenly reversed situation, Naruto thought, "No, I gotta come up with a game - changer, or I won't be able to deal with that guy..."
After Zabuza Momochi finished using the Water Release Ninjutsu, he was about to use the ninjutsu again when suddenly Kakashi rushed out and directly jumped into the water, submerging himself underwater.
Kakashi surfaced and said, "What's going on? Why is this water so heavy? I can't even swim."
"Kakashi, I'm so disappointed in you. I didn't expect you to rush in like this," Zabuza Momochi said, "Water Release, Water Prison Technique."
As the Water Prison Technique was cast, a large water ball surged around Kakashi, wrapping his whole body inside.
Kakashi struggled inside the large water ball, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free from the restraint.
"It's useless," Zabuza Momochi said, "This water prison has my continuous Chakra input. Even if you're a Jonin, you can't get out."
"Hehe," Kakashi, trapped inside the large water ball, said, "Who said I'm a Jonin? I've said it before. I'm The Strongest Genin!"
"What!" Zabuza Momochi broke out in a cold sweat. Had he been tricked again?
"What are you doing capturing my students?"
Kakashi flashed behind Zabuza Momochi and said fiercely, "You can come at me, but you're not allowed to lay a finger on my students."
Just then, white smoke billowed from Kakashi, who was trapped in the large water ball, and he transformed into Naruto.
It turned out that Naruto had used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into Kakashi first. He then rushed straight to the water's edge, jumped into the water, and triggered the Booby Trap set by Zabuza Momochi.
Naruto had long known that Zabuza Momochi only set one Booby Trap, and that was the Water Prison Technique. As long as he could trick Zabuza Momochi into using this jutsu on himself, Kakashi could attack without worry.
At this moment, Zabuza Momochi really wanted to tear Naruto limb from limb to vent his anger.