"Clang!" A teeth-grinding metallic collision sound rang in Sakura's ear.
A not-too-tall figure blocked in front of her, stopping what should have been a fatal blow. "Such terrifying force - the opponent is at least a jonin-level taijutsu expert. Indeed, just as Kinsan said." Naruto looked at the kunai in his hand that had become nearly twisted and the huge attacking object that fell to the side.
A cleaver sword.
"Sakura, are you okay?" Casually throwing the already-scrapped kunai toward where he'd sensed malice earlier, he showed a sunny smile to Sakura who had already been frightened into collapsing on the ground.
"I-I'm fine." Sakura said softly, seeming somewhat frightened yet somewhat shy.
Inner Sakura: "Wow, that was so cool just now. Mm-hmm, actually Naruto is also very handsome. Worthy of being the one Miss Hinata has her eye on - such good taste."
That Hinata liked Naruto - anyone could see it. Only Naruto with his thick nerves hadn't noticed.
"Hmph, actually threw away your own weapon. Yo, not bad, quite heavy, but also quite handy. Too bad I don't know how to use large swords." Naruto casually picked up the cleaver sword from the ground and weighed it in his hand.
"Hey, brat over there, nice strength. But can you return my thing? Perhaps I can consider leaving you an intact corpse." A man without eyebrows, with bandages wrapped around the upper half of his neck, appeared on a tree branch not far from several people.
"You are... one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from the Land of Water, Demon Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi recognized the opponent the moment he saw Zabuza.
"Yo, didn't expect to encounter you here - Konoha Village's famous Copy Ninja, Konoha's Number One Technician, Kakashi. When did someone as powerful as you start working as a babysitter?" At the same time Kakashi recognized Zabuza, Zabuza also recognized Kakashi's identity.
Well, for elite jonin-level ninjas like them, they had some understanding of each other.
However, Mist Ninja Village was completely different from Konoha Village - they implemented a bloody system, basically with no cases of jonin leading genin.
So sometimes Mist Village people would mock Konoha Village people as babysitters.
"Can you hand over that old man to me? My mission is that old guy. And kid, return the cleaver sword in your hand to me." Zabuza was very arrogant, but he indeed had capital for arrogance. As one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he was one of Mist Village's highest combat forces.
Facing Kakashi, also one of a ninja village's highest combat forces, he really wasn't afraid. If this mission only had Kakashi as an opponent, he'd actually be somewhat wary. But he absolutely hadn't expected Kakashi to also bring several genin subordinates.
Konoha Village's protection of genin was famous. If he used these genin, he might really be able to kill his target under Kakashi's watch.
"Eyebrowless guy, sorry, as war spoils, I'm keeping this large sword." Before Kakashi could speak, Naruto spoke first. "Also, sorry, but this old man you mentioned is our mission target. How could we just hand him over to you?"
Although he didn't know swordsmanship, this cleaver sword in his hand really felt handy. After the earlier exchange, the kunai had become like scrap iron, but this cleaver sword didn't have even the slightest damage.
Moreover, although the large sword had some weight, for Naruto it was child's play. The more he looked at it while holding it, the more Naruto liked it.
"You're seeking death, brat." Zabuza said with an unfriendly expression. "Kakashi, what's your meaning?"
"Hehe, his meaning is my meaning." Kakashi originally had no plan to abandon the mission. Seeing Naruto say this, he naturally went with the flow.
"Negotiation broken down. Since that's the case, I'll just have to kill you all." From the beginning, Zabuza hadn't expected Kakashi would abandon the mission.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique!" Dense fog instantly engulfed everyone present.
"Not good, this is Zabuza's best Silent Killing technique! You three quickly form a 'swastika' formation."
"Wind Release: Great Wind Technique." Powerful wind blew from Naruto's mouth, trying to disperse the dense fog. Although it had some effect, in just an instant, it returned to the previous foggy state.
"It's useless, brat. This dense fog contains my chakra - ordinary Wind Release can't disperse it." Zabuza's voice came from all directions, giving a feeling of being elusive.
"If it were this easy to break the Hidden Mist Technique, Zabuza wouldn't have made such a big name in the ninja world. Just this Hidden Mist Technique alone clearly shows how troublesome he is. Sasuke, can your Sharingan see through this fog?"
Sasuke's eyes instantly turned red. But although the tomoe in his eyes kept spinning, he still couldn't see through the fog.
"Sorry, the Sharingan can't see through this fog. There's chakra everywhere - I can't distinguish Zabuza's position." Shaking his head, Sasuke was somewhat helpless. He hadn't expected to encounter such a troublesome enemy on his first mission outside the village.
"If it were Byakugan, it could probably make Zabuza have nowhere to hide. But fortunately, with the Nine-Tails' malice perception ability, as long as the opponent attacks, I can sense it."
"However, always being passively defensive isn't my style. I don't believe your fog range can be infinite. Let me show you what human wave tactics mean. Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With Naruto's hand seals, countless Narutos appeared in the dense fog. One hundred? Two hundred? No - a full thousand.
"Such enviable chakra reserves." Sasuke looked at Naruto enviously. For Naruto's such abundant chakra, Sasuke could only describe it as abnormal.
What was the concept of a thousand people? In just a short instant, it occupied most of the Hidden Mist Technique's range.
Although Zabuza was elite jonin level, his chakra wasn't much more than Kakashi's. But Naruto's chakra was over ten times Kakashi's.
Simply put, a human-shaped Tailed Beast. In terms of quantity alone, probably only Kisame could compare with Naruto.
"Huff, huff... even for me, directly separating a thousand shadow clones is indeed somewhat strenuous. But with my constitution, it won't take much time to recover." Naruto, breathing somewhat heavily, said. Naruto dared implement this rogue tactic precisely because he had Kakashi, also an elite jonin, on his side.
Otherwise, using this tactic in normal circumstances could only be called seeking death.
Human wave tactics VS Silent Killing.
"Tch, damn brat. I didn't expect Konoha's brats nowadays already have this level of strength. Just this chakra amount alone is truly enviable. But brat, let this old man tell you - in battles between ninjas, relying on chakra alone is useless." Although he'd lost his cleaver sword from showing off at the start, Zabuza's strength was still not to be underestimated.
Although the number of Naruto's shadow clones was terrifying, in his view they were just a dish.
Zabuza cut his way through Naruto's shadow clones. His target was only one - Naruto's real body.
"Hmph, such massive malice toward me - do you think I'm blind? Since you want to play, I'll play with you."
"Wind Release: Storm Shuriken." A B-rank jutsu was released from three of Naruto's shadow clones. This was a technique at the same level as Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
"Brat, let this old man tell you the difference between jonin and you genin." Worthy of being an elite jonin, a man standing at the top of the Mist - one of the Seven Swordsmen.
Not just movement technique, but also that keen battle instinct. Even though Naruto had malice perception, if he couldn't keep up with Zabuza's speed, it was futile.
Although Naruto had taijutsu not inferior to ordinary jonin, he was facing an elite jonin-level taijutsu expert.
If it were a ninjutsu or genjutsu jonin, he might be able to cause considerable trouble with his considerable shadow clone taijutsu advantage. But for a ninja like Zabuza who focused on taijutsu, it couldn't be demonstrated at all.
Or rather, unlucky Naruto had encountered two elite jonin with very powerful taijutsu from the start.
"Hiss, such a terrifying man." Massive killing intent emanated from Zabuza's body. For a moment, even the air seemed to freeze.
Sasuke was momentarily unable to move, frightened by Zabuza's killing intent. Sakura was even worse - she directly sat down with a thud.
"Hmph, seeing you can't break through my shadow clone defense line, you're preparing to use your own killing intent to make me collapse? This is bullying us genin for lacking experience and training? Too bad - compared to a certain fox, your little killing intent is far inferior. Idiot!" Among the group, only Naruto seemed completely unaffected, instead calmly complaining.
"A certain fox? The Nine-Tails? I didn't expect Naruto had already met the Nine-Tails." Kakashi, who had been in an offline state, had no intention of acting. He also wanted to see how his subordinates performed when facing Zabuza, who was at his same level.
He hadn't expected Naruto's performance to be so outstanding.
Using such a wretched tactic with that cheat-like massive chakra was simply bullying people - especially ninjas like himself who didn't have much chakra.
Kakashi, having experienced human wave encirclement tactics, emanated resentment.
"Brats will be brats - so naive to want to kill you!" Suddenly, Naruto sharply sensed intense malice appearing behind him.
"Not good, when did he come?" Fortunately, due to his hard taijutsu training, Naruto's reaction was fast enough. Zabuza's kunai only grazed Naruto's side.
Naruto narrowly avoided this fatal blow.
Although he barely dodged it, the cleaver sword had fallen back into Zabuza's hands.
"Hmph hmph, brat, now is your death!" Zabuza, having retrieved his cleaver sword, said arrogantly.
(End of Chapter)
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