The train rattled onward, the countryside of the Land of Fire rolling past in a blur of green forests and distant mountains.
Naruto pressed his face to the window again.
"Whoa—look, look! I think I saw a deer! Or—wait—maybe that was a cow? Or—!"
Bonk!
Sakura didn't even look at him when she smacked him this time.
"Sit properly."
Naruto clutched his head.
"Sakura-chaaan… you're turning into mom more every day—"
"WHAT. WAS. THAT?"
"NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING!!"
Kakashi exhaled behind his mask, wondering... for the hundredth time...why he ever agreed to become a teacher in the first place.
Just then, the train horn roared as they approached the next station, drowning out his quiet suffering like it was mocking him.
A mechanical announcement echoed overhead:
"Next stop — Tazuna Bridge Construction Site Access Hub."
Tazuna straightened in his seat, nostrils flaring.
"That's our stop," he muttered.
Naruto perked up, throwing both hands high into the air.
"Oh yeah! We're finally gonna see your bridge, old man!"
Tazuna's face twisted immediately, a vein popping as he glared at him.
"It's called the Great Tazuna Bridge, you short brat!"
Naruto grinned happily, completely missing the insult as if he'd just been praised, then said
"Oh really? Didn't Sasuke call it 'that half-finished money pit'?"
Tazuna's soul left his body.
Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's head and gently shoved him back into his seat.
"Naruto, please try not to start a civil war before we even step outside. My blood pressure can't take it."
As the train slowed, the doors hissed open.
Passengers began filing out.
Team 7 stood up as well.
Sasuke moved first... calm, collected, hands still in pockets.
Naruto bounced forward and landed in a dramatic, "cool" pose, glancing back at Sakura to see her reaction.
But…
Sakura wasn't even looking at him.
She was fussing with her hair for no reason at all, eyes glued to Sasuke walking in front.
Naruto's teeth clenched instantly.
Kakashi adjusted his mask… even though it didn't actually move.
Tazuna waddled toward the exit with the stubborn determination of a man fueled by spite and alcohol.
The group stepped out onto the wooden station platform.
Cold coastal air hit them instantly.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura asked as she looked at the foggy shoreline, "are we close to the wave country?"
"Yes. The bridge is just past this port. From here—"
Naruto lifted his hand immediately.
"OH! Are we gonna meet pirates?!"
Kakashi stared at him with his signature dead-fish eyes.
"…No, Naruto. This is real life. We're not meeting pirates."
Sasuke surveyed the surroundings, Sharingan flickering once beneath his eyelids.
He wasn't activating it...just instinctively checking chakra signatures.
He didn't even know when he'd started doing that habitually.
But one thing felt… strange.
Like a thread of killing intent.
Thin, distant, almost imperceptible but still there nonetheless.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his Sharingan snapping fully open, the three tomoe spinning sharply as he glanced around.
Kakashi noticed the tiny motion.
"Sasuke?"
"…Something's off."
Naruto immediately panicked, whipping his head around while his fingers cracked against each other in a frantic, funny rhythm.
"Is it pirates?! Please be pirates!"
"No," Sasuke muttered.
"It's something else."
The fog thickened, rolling in heavy and cold.
Tazuna's face drained of color—he clearly knew what this meant.
Kakashi's posture sharpened instantly as he surveyed the surroundings.
"Hiding in Mist Technique?" he said, recognizing the jutsu at once.
Sakura swallowed nervously, instinctively stepping a little closer to Sasuke.
Naruto, meanwhile, started grinning like an idiot the moment he noticed Sakura getting nervous.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I will—"
But he never finished.
A figure suddenly blurred through the mist at incredible speed, cutting straight toward Tazuna.
The blur shot out of the fog like a phantom — massive, silent, and fast enough that even
Naruto didn't have time to blink.
Tazuna, on the other hand, had no idea that death was rushing toward him at terrifying speed.
That enormous cleaver-like blade was already descending toward his neck...
SCHING—!!
Metal slammed against metal.
Sparks exploded.
Tazuna's scream caught in his throat.
Because standing between him and death was...
Sasuke.
One hand in his pocket.
The other casually holding up a kunai, blocking the weight of Zabuza's executioner blade like it was nothing more than an annoyed tap on the shoulder.
Sasuke's expression shifted as he felt the force slam through his shoulder, the ground beneath his feet cracking from the impact. He had clearly underestimated the man in front of him.
His Sharingan locked onto Zabuza's eyes, the three tomoe gleaming with a cold, sharp light.
Zabuza's eyes widened.
"…Hoh?"
A low rumble of amusement rolled from his chest.
"That reflex… impressive. Looking at you, you don't seem any older than twelve, huh?"
Sasuke exhaled through his nose, giving Zabuza the exact look someone gives a stray dog that tried to bite them.
"Your swing was slow."
Naruto's soul practically left his body the moment he processed what just happened.
If Sasuke hadn't moved, Tazuna would've…
"EHHHHHHHH?!"
Sakura's heart did a triple backflip, her face turning pale.
And in the next instant, Kakashi vanished from his spot.
Literally — gone in an instant.
And then...
FWIP.
Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, the tip of a kunai already grazing the back of his neck.
"That's enough," Kakashi said calmly, voice turning sharp.
But Zabuza didn't even bother turning his head.
His voice came out dark and amused.
"Heh… I've heard about you—Kakashi of the Purple Lightning."
Then he bent his knees...
And launched himself upward like a missile.
KRRSH!
Zabuza flipped, landing on a thick tree branch above, mist curling around him as he balanced his massive cleaver on one shoulder.
The fog swallowed most of his body, revealing only his eyes — sharp, murderous, gleaming with twisted anticipation.
Kakashi lifted his head, eyes narrowing.
Naruto stumbled over to Sasuke, still in shock.
"H-h-how the hell did you BLOCK THAT?! That sword's bigger than you!"
Sasuke flicked his hair back, his eyes still locked on Zabuza in the distance.
"It's not about size. It's about skill."
Tazuna sat on his butt, panting like he'd run a marathon.
Up in the tree, Zabuza stared down at them with a predatory grin.
"So that brat's really awakened it… Three Tomoe Sharingan at twelve…"
He licked his lips behind the bandages.
"Looks like this job might be fun after all."
The mist thickened further, wrapping around him like a demon's cloak.
Kakashi stepped forward, his expression turning completely serious.
"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke — protect Tazuna."
"Kakashi… I want to ask something."
Sasuke suddenly spoke up, his voice carrying a seriousness that made Kakashi pause in confusion.
Without looking back, Kakashi replied, "What is it, Sasuke? Make it quick."
"…Just now, why didn't you stab him with your kunai?"
Sasuke asked bluntly. He could tell that version of Zabuza wasn't a clone at all. So why did Kakashi wait, let him finish talking, and then let him jump away?
"…"
Kakashi went completely speechless.
He… honestly didn't know how to answer that.
Now that Sasuke said it, it did make sense… but he had just assumed Zabuza wouldn't go down that easily…?
"I see…" Sasuke nodded slowly, as if something clicked, and frowned.
A familiar conversation flashed through his mind—one he'd had with that man.
"Listen, Sasuke… sometimes your enemies will start talking and let their guard down completely. That's when you strike. Hit them while they're monologuing and delivering their 'cool speeches.'"
"Some fools let them finish… but you, Sasuke—don't be one of them."
--
Kakashi cleared his throat loudly, almost panicked at how much sense Sasuke's question made.
"Okay, everyone—we can talk about… that… later."
"Right now, the one standing in front of us is the infamous member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—Momochi Zabuza."
Sakura and Naruto were already frozen in place, stiff from the crushing killing intent pouring off Zabuza, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Sasuke, on the other hand, only had a slight twitch in his hand, his body angled forward as if he were already preparing for something.
Hidden within the mist, Zabuza's grin stretched wide beneath his bandages.
"Heh… that's right. And unlike the others in your Bingo Books, I don't need long introductions."
His voice echoed through the fog, drifting from left to right, impossible to pinpoint normally.
"But I'll give you kids a gift—some last words to remember before I cut you a—"
Lightning crackled violently down Sasuke's arm.
CHIDORI… SHARP SPEAR.
"!"
The air split open as a razor-thin bolt of lightning extended from Sasuke's hand like a lance, the sound of crackling thunder ripping through the mist.
He didn't aim at the tree.
He aimed at the voice.
At the exact breath where Zabuza inhaled.
At the tiny chakra disturbance of lungs expanding — the kind normal ninja couldn't track.
But a Three Tomoe Sharingan user could.
"Nani!?"
Zabuza barely had time to swing Kubikiribōchō down in front of him.
The lightning spear pierced through the executioner blade like a red-hot needle through paper—
CHZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTT!!
The giant sword vibrated violently as the lightning burst through it, drilling straight forward.
Zabuza twisted his body in the last instant, preventing the attack from tearing through his heart.
Even so...
SHUNK.
The spear still punched through the side of his chest, cutting a clean hole right through flesh and muscle.
Blood sprayed across the mist.
"…!"
Zabuza staggered on the spot, gripping his side.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
He looked down at the wound — a small, smoking hole carved through him.
A hole from a twelve-year-old boy.
"…You little—"
Sasuke kept his arm extended, lightning fading.
"You talked too much."
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