"Take this, Zabuza Momochi! Radius twenty meters—Lightning Release: Heavenly Mirror Water Prison Thousand Cries Annihilation First Form!"
Naruto, with a surge of confidence, shouted out the incredibly long name of the technique he had just conceived in a flash of inspiration.
"Hey, that name's way too long..."
Even in the midst of a tense battle, upon hearing such an exaggeratedly lengthy jutsu name, Kakashi couldn't help but habitually mutter a low complaint, thinking the scene felt familiar.
Of course, Naruto didn't intend to defeat Zabuza Momochi completely with just this one move. If he overdid it and scared him away, it would all be for nothing.
However, Zabuza Momochi was, after all, once an elite Jonin from the Hidden Mist Village, so Naruto naturally wouldn't be naive enough to think that a combination Ninjutsu of this range would completely incapacitate him.
As expected, in the Gold Experience's perception of life energy, the "Zabuza" who was paralyzed by lightning and twitching in pain in the water had a pitifully weak life energy signal.
The true, vibrant source of life energy remained steadily on the surface of the lake not far away.
Water Clone, huh...
Having seen through the opponent's trick, Naruto didn't hesitate. He immediately flung a normal shuriken towards the direction of the Water Clone! At the same time, his hands began to form hand seals again at dazzling speed!
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
As Naruto shouted, the seemingly ordinary shuriken suddenly split in mid-air! In the blink of an eye, dozens of shuriken shot fiercely towards the location of the Zabuza Clone!
A series of dense "thwack" sounds rang out, and the figure was instantly hit by countless shuriken, almost being turned into a porcupine!
"This is the Third Hokage-sama's Ninjutsu..."
Kakashi looked at the scene and immediately recognized this A-rank Ninjutsu developed by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He hadn't expected Naruto to have learned even this.
Kakashi dispersed the Chakra maintaining the Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave, and the lightning instantly extinguished. However, just in this subtle gap where the old power had just faded and new power had yet to emerge—
"Die, brat!"
Zabuza's voice suddenly rang out from an extremely close distance behind Naruto! His long blade tore through the mist, mercilessly slashing horizontally towards Naruto's back of the neck!
"Thud!"
The dull sound of a sharp blade piercing a body came! But it wasn't Naruto who was injured—someone was faster than Zabuza! The moment the sound rang out, Kakashi's figure had already appeared behind Naruto as if teleporting, his kunai in hand, precisely and viciously thrusting a step ahead, deeply into the chest of the "Zabuza" who had suddenly appeared to ambush them!
However... from the wound of the "Zabuza" pierced by the kunai, what gushed out was not crimson blood, but clear water!
His body rapidly became transparent, liquefied, and finally collapsed to the ground with a "splash," turning into a puddle of clear water.
Another Water Clone!
Almost simultaneously with the disintegration of this Water Clone, another even more ferocious whooshing sound came from behind Kakashi! It turned out that the Water Clone that had just attacked Naruto was merely a decoy; this fatal blow, following closely and aimed directly at Kakashi's back, was the true killing move!
"Whoosh—!"
The long blade pierced through Kakashi's heart region without obstruction! On the face of Zabuza, who appeared from behind, there was a cruel and cold smile of a victor—"The battle is over."
But... his smile instantly froze on his face. Because the "Kakashi" impaled by his long blade also showed no trace of blood from the wound; his body also began to rapidly blur and liquefy, eventually turning into a puddle of clear water, spilling onto the ground.
So that's it... he had already copied and used my Water Clone Technique with his Sharingan earlier! Zabuza was inwardly horrified.
Immediately after, a cold sensation pressed against Zabuza's neck skin! The real Kakashi appeared behind him, his kunai held steadily against his vital throat.
"Don't move."
Listening to Kakashi's murderous voice, Zabuza instead let out a low, cold laugh, "Heh... so that's it, as expected of Kakashi of the Sharingan. To have copied my Ninjutsu the moment we first clashed... You've been hidden in the mist using the Hidden Mist Technique from the very beginning, replacing yourself with a Water Clone, waiting for the moment I revealed a weakness, haven't you?"
Kakashi didn't respond, only pressing the kunai in his hand a bit closer. But then Zabuza continued, "And that brat... no wonder you allowed him to intervene in our battle. It seems he truly has the right to be killed by me personally..."
"But... I'm not that easy to deal with!"
Zabuza's voice, surprisingly, came from behind Kakashi once again!
The "Zabuza" held by Kakashi also began to rapidly turn into clear water and dissipate—it was yet another incredibly realistic Water Clone!
...Naruto, standing by, was already getting a bit tired of this nesting doll-like plot twist with the Water Clones.
The real attack arrived at this moment! Zabuza's true body appeared behind Kakashi's side, slashing his long blade powerfully horizontally towards Kakashi's neck!
Kakashi reacted extremely quickly, immediately squatting down! The blade almost grazed his silver hair!
Missing his strike, Zabuza didn't stop, instead raising his leg and sweeping a heavy roundhouse kick towards Kakashi's lower body, attempting to knock him off balance!
Just at this critical moment!
"Swish!"
A figure immediately charged forward! Naruto, holding a kunai, thrust fiercely at Zabuza's upper body from an extremely tricky angle!
Zabuza had completely underestimated the brat's reaction speed and the precision and ruthlessness of his timing. Left with no choice, he forcibly interrupted his pursuit of Kakashi and brought his blade back to block!
"Clang!"
The kunai and long blade collided violently, sending out a shower of sparks. Naruto's timely intervention completely defused Kakashi's crisis.
It seems this ambush failed... Zabuza secretly cursed, wanting to use the thick mist to hide his presence again and plan his next attack.
However, just as he was about to retreat and re-merge into the mist—
Suddenly! Several shuriken shot out from the thick mist behind him, aiming directly for his back!
"What?!"
Zabuza, relying on his rich combat intuition, sensed the killing intent from behind him at the last moment! In his shock, he immediately twisted his body to dodge!
But those few shuriken, as if alive, drew strange arcs in the air, bypassing him, and finally "thud, thud, thud" embedded themselves in the trees behind him!
This is... Manipulating Shuriken Technique?!
Just as Zabuza was momentarily distracted by this exquisite control technique—
The true killing move had already arrived! Kakashi once again seized this fleeting opportunity, charging forward fiercely! Perhaps because the current Kakashi had neglected his training and couldn't instantly cast Lightning Blade, he chose the most direct method—the kunai in his hand, imbued with cold killing intent, thrust directly at Zabuza's heart!