The next day,
Kakashi still brought Sakura and the other ninja to the bridge with Tazuna.
But as soon as they stepped onto the bridge, a thick fog surrounded them.
"He's here!"
Kakashi's face turned serious. He and Sakura quickly moved to protect Tazuna.
"Kakashi, it's just you and that useless pink brat this time. Are you really going to try and fight back?"
"Wouldn't it be easier to just let me kill the old man already?"
Zabuza stepped out from the mist with a mocking grin on his face.
"Only one of him?"
Kakashi ignored Zabuza's words. Instead, he scanned the area, analyzing the surroundings, looking for any other enemies.
Two days ago, he and Naruto had already guessed that Zabuza probably wasn't working alone, so seeing him now, Kakashi stayed on high alert.
"Looking for my partner?"
"My partner already went to deal with that blonde brat!"
Suddenly, a circle of Zabuza's water clones appeared around Kakashi and the others, then all attacked at once!
"Sasuke!"
Kakashi shouted, and in the blink of an eye, Sakura turned into Sasuke!
Then Sasuke and Kakashi moved together and wiped out all the water clones in a flash.
In their last fight, Kakashi didn't realize Zabuza was using water clones as bait, so he held back and mostly tested the situation.
That's why the last fight ended in a draw with the clones.
But this time, Kakashi didn't need to hold back. Going all out, he easily took care of the clones.
Out of the ten water clones, Kakashi took down nine of them.
Sasuke only dealt with one.
"That Sharingan brat…"
Zabuza had been watching them for two days before deciding to go after what he thought was the weaker pair—Kakashi and Sakura.
But he never expected that Kakashi would bring the Sharingan brat disguised as the pink-haired girl today!
"Did he already figure it out?"
"Unexpected… but too bad—you're still going to die here."
Zabuza said calmly, full of confidence.
If that blond brat had come, he might've been more cautious.
But if it's just the Sharingan kid, Haku could handle it.
"Zabuza-sama."
Haku walked out of the mist, wearing a Hidden Mist Anbu mask, and respectfully addressed Zabuza.
"Hidden Mist Anbu?"
Kakashi looked at the mask, a bit surprised.
After all, Zabuza was a rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist!
The Mist Anbu was supposed to hunt down rogue ninjas like him.
So why was this one standing beside Zabuza?
Did they run away together?
"Hmph, I hate people who hide behind masks the most."
Sasuke's eyes turned cold as if remembering something. He said to Kakashi, "Let me handle this one!"
"Alright, be careful."
Kakashi didn't stop Sasuke—he needed to focus all his attention on Zabuza anyway.
Thankfully, before setting out today, they took Naruto's advice—he had swapped out Sakura for Sasuke and had Sasuke disguise himself as her to fool Zabuza.
If they really had to face an ambush from both Zabuza and this masked guy, it would've been hard for Kakashi to protect both Sakura and Tazuna.
"I don't want to kill you," Haku said calmly as Sasuke charged at him.
"Cut the crap!"
Sasuke was even more annoyed by Haku's words. He pulled out a kunai and rushed in for close combat.
But the two of them were evenly matched in speed and skill. Just in terms of taijutsu, neither could get the upper hand.
As the two clashed with their kunai, Haku suddenly did something that shocked everyone—
He formed a hand seal with just one hand!
"Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles!"
As soon as he spoke, water from the ground shot up and turned into countless needles flying toward Sasuke.
In the nick of time, Sasuke instantly activated his two-tomoe Sharingan. Chakra burst from his feet as he jumped high into the air, dodging all the needles!
"Looks like that's all you've got!"
Sasuke's speed shot up. He suddenly appeared behind Haku and mocked him coldly before swinging his kunai in a wide arc.
Taking advantage of Haku being forced to dodge, Sasuke used a kunai hidden in his other hand to launch a sneak attack, catching Haku off guard and landing a strong kick!
Haku couldn't dodge in time and was sent flying by the kick!
"He actually managed to overpower Haku with pure speed?"
Zabuza stared at Sasuke's Sharingan, clearly wary.
One Sharingan from Kakashi, now another from this brat.
Dealing with two Uchiha is definitely a pain…
"Haku, if you keep holding back, we're in trouble," Zabuza warned.
"I understand, Zabuza-sama."
Haku's voice turned emotionless, and a chill began to spread from him like an open freezer.
"Secret Technique: Demonic Ice Mirrors!"
As Haku formed hand signs, the surrounding moisture started to freeze in the air, creating mirror-like panels of ice all around.
Then, Haku touched one of the mirrors and melted into it like water!
"Ice Style?"
Kakashi looked shocked.
He remembered the last time he met an Ice Style user—it was in the Land of Snow!
And that one was extremely hard to deal with!
Can Sasuke handle this?
Kakashi was a bit worried, but he couldn't leave.
Tazuna was still behind him—he had to protect him. Right now, he had no choice but to trust Sasuke!
"If Haku gets serious, that kid won't make it out alive, Kakashi," Zabuza said with a sneer, stepping forward with his sword drawn.
"Is that so? I think you're underestimating Sasuke," Kakashi replied coldly. His hand moved back to his headband, ready to reveal his Sharingan at any moment.
This time, Zabuza hadn't gathered much intel on Kakashi's abilities, so their first real clash made both of them extremely cautious.
Suddenly, Zabuza moved!
Using the thick mist to hide his presence, he darted forward with his huge blade and appeared right in front of Kakashi in a flash, swinging it down hard!
Because Kakashi hadn't activated his Sharingan yet—and because the mist was so dense—by the time he realized the attack was coming, the blade was already less than half a meter away!
To make it worse, Tazuna was right behind him—he couldn't dodge!
Kakashi clenched his teeth and raised a kunai with one hand to block the incoming strike from above.
But Zabuza's strength, combined with the weight of his executioner's blade, made Kakashi's whole arm shake from the impact!
The force pushed Kakashi back several steps!
"Heh… trying to block my sword with one hand? You're way too full of yourself, Kakashi!"
Zabuza grinned coldly and switched to a two-handed grip, swinging again with full force.
Kakashi still couldn't dodge.
Just as he braced himself to take the hit and trade injury for defense, a golden flash shot through the mist and blasted Zabuza's sword away!
A golden jutsu?
Could it be that blond brat?
Zabuza quickly stepped back and disappeared into the fog, afraid Naruto might hit him again with another laser-like attack from who-knows-where.
"Looks like I made it just in time," Naruto said calmly as he walked out of the mist behind Kakashi, with Pakkun sitting on his shoulder.
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