Kazama had convinced the Daimyo of Mizu no Kuni to elevate his Otogakure from its former vassal status to one equal to Mizu no Kuni itself.
That meant Otogakure now held the same standing as Kirigakure in Mizu no Kuni or Konohagakure in Hi no Kuni.
On top of that, the Daimyo was funneling massive funds to Otogakure every year.
This had nothing to do with Kirigakure—at least, it shouldn't have.
But Kirigakure, as the top shinobi village in Mizu no Kuni, caught wind of some no-name Otogakure suddenly being treated as their equal.
Worse, Otogakure was raking in tributes from Mizu no Kuni daily.
Naturally, this sparked all sorts of envy and resentment. Kirigakure immediately petitioned the Daimyo to reverse his decision.
Too bad for them—Kazama had the Daimyo under his thumb, so their demands were completely ignored.
This lit a fire under Kirigakure. They demanded a showdown with Otogakure in a tournament-style battle. Loser leaves Mizu no Kuni for good.
Kazama, who was busy hunting for the Gobi no Jinchuriki, heard the challenge and happily agreed.
He even decided to personally head to Kirigakure to face them in this arena battle.
This left Zabuza and Haku completely baffled.
"Yo, Kazama-sama," Zabuza said, scratching his head. "Kirigakure's tough, sure, but ever since the Yondaime Mizukage died, they don't even have a Mizukage. Why don't we just steamroll the place and be done with it? One and done."
"Yeah, Kazama-sama," Haku chimed in. "With your strength, wiping out Kirigakure would be a breeze. Why bother with some tournament?"
Kazama just grinned and shook his head at their suggestions.
"First off, I'm not some bloodthirsty maniac. They're just upset, and wiping out their whole village over it is a bit much, don't you think? Second, we've scoured Mizu no Kuni and still haven't found a trace of the Gobi no Jinchuriki. This tournament gives us a perfect excuse to waltz right into Kirigakure and poke around for any clues about the Jinchuriki."
Zabuza and Haku nodded, seeing the logic in his plan. Without hesitation, they followed Kazama to Kirigakure.
When the Kirigakure shinobi learned why Kazama was there, they sneered at him.
"Is your Otogakure leader brain-dead or something? Sending a scrawny kid like you to face us?" one scoffed.
"Seriously, Otogakure's got some nerve thinking they can match us. You guys have no idea who you're messing with!" another barked.
Smack!
Before they could finish, Zabuza knocked a few of them flat on their backs.
"You bastards! This is Kirigakure's turf, and you dare lay a hand on us?" one of the downed shinobi roared.
"Yeah, and I'll do it again. Got a problem with that?" Zabuza shot back.
Sure, Zabuza used to be one of Kirigakure's own, but now that he was loyal to Kazama, he wasn't about to play nice with his old village.
"Enough!" Kazama called out, raising a hand to stop Zabuza. He turned to the Kirigakure crowd with a calm smile.
"Look, Otogakure isn't here to pick a fight with Kirigakure. The Daimyo decided to elevate our status and send us funds—it's his call. Besides, Kirigakure's part of Mizu no Kuni, but you're independent, right? The Daimyo isn't taking money out of your pockets to give to us. So why are you all so worked up?"
"Cut the crap!" a Kirigakure shinobi snapped. "We've never even heard of Otogakure, and now you're acting like you're on our level? That's an insult to Kirigakure!"
"Exactly!" another growled. "We told you to send shinobi for a real fight, and you show up with just three people? Especially you, kid—you're what, barely a teenager? You don't even look old enough to shave, and you're strutting around like you own the place. We'll crush you first!"
Thanks to the brutal reign of the Yondaime Mizukage, Kirigakure—known as the Village of the Bloody Mist—had bred shinobi with a kill-or-be-killed mentality.
And just like that, at the slightest provocation, they launched an attack on Kazama.