Zabuza grinned from behind his bandages, a dark and bloodthirsty look in his eyes.
"This time..." he said, voice rough and cruel, "I'm here to kill."
Fwip!
In a blur, Zabuza yanked the massive blade free from the tree trunk, twirling it once above his head — the steel groaning under its own weight — before resting it on his shoulder.
clank.
Across from him, Kakashi calmly lifted his hitai-ate, revealing his left eye — the blood-red Sharingan gleaming like a burning ember. The air tightened, and the mist around them thickened unnaturally, swirling low against the ground.
Plip... plip...
Droplets of water from the soaked trees tapped against the leaves, a slow drumbeat marking the tension.
Then — BOOM!
The two vanished, slamming into each other mid-air.
KLANG!!
Zabuza swung his blade in a heavy downward strike. Kakashi sidestepped fluidly, the sword smashing into the earth, kicking up mud and water in a wide spray —
SPLASH!
Before Zabuza could lift it again, Kakashi darted forward, his foot flashing up —
THUMP!
— and caught Zabuza square in the chest. The rogue ninja skidded back, boots dragging trenches in the muddy ground —
scrape scrape —
but grinned wider.
"Fast..." Zabuza muttered, gripping his sword tighter, "but let's see how long you can keep up."
KRAK!
With explosive speed, Zabuza blurred forward, swinging his sword horizontally. Kakashi ducked low, feeling the blade whistle right over his silver hair. The two exchanged blows in a flurry — Zabuza's massive swings cleaving through trees, Kakashi's quick jabs and kicks slipping through gaps in his guard.
BAM! BAM! CLANG! WHISH!
Each impact echoed through the misty forest.
Suddenly —
Fwoosh...!
The mist thickened even more, becoming an impenetrable white wall. Kakashi's Sharingan spun slowly, analyzing every subtle shift in the chakra around him.
"Silent Killing..." Kakashi murmured under his breath.
The very air grew still.
No birds.
No wind.
Only the soft squelch of mud underfoot.
Then — a whisper behind him.
Shff!
Kakashi barely twisted aside as Zabuza's blade cut through empty air where his neck had just been. A bead of blood trickled from a shallow graze along his cheek. Kakashi leapt back into the open, his single eye sharp and alert.
"I can't protect everyone if I don't finish this quickly..." Kakashi muttered.
He clapped his hands together —
clap!
— and several clones appeared with a puff!
Zabuza simply chuckled, stepping forward lazily.
"You think illusions will save you?" he growled, charging again and scattering the clones in a violent sweep —
KABOOM!
— tearing through them like paper. But that was what Kakashi had been waiting for.
The real Kakashi appeared right behind Zabuza, hands already forming a lightning-fast series of seals —
fwip fwip fwip!
"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!" Kakashi said sharply.
SWOOSH!
A sphere of water exploded out from Kakashi's palm and instantly surrounded Zabuza, locking him inside like a floating glass orb.
SHWUMP!
Zabuza's eyes widened as the prison solidified, trapping his body up to his neck.
"Tch..." he growled, trying to move — but it was useless. The water clung to him with crushing force.
On the shore, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna watched in awe. Kakashi stood calm and steady, one hand submerged in the water to maintain the technique, Sharingan eye gleaming brightly.
"It's over, Zabuza," Kakashi said, his voice cold and certain.
But just as Kakashi tightened his grip on the Water Prison —
Fwoosh!
Another Zabuza materialized out of the mist, standing solid and real, brandishing a second copy of that massive sword.
Sakura's eyes widened.
"What the—?! Another one?!"
"This must be a Water Clone!" Kakashi shouted from where he held Zabuza trapped. His eyes flickered toward his team.
"I can't move! You three — protect Tazuna!"
The clone grinned wickedly, muscles bulging as he hefted the sword high overhead.
Whoosh!
The mist curled around him like a living thing as he charged.
Thud-thud-thud!
Heavy footsteps echoed toward them.
Naruto immediately jumped in front of Tazuna, kunai in hand, heart pounding but stance firm.
'No backing down!' he thought fiercely.
Sasuke appeared at Naruto's side, kunai drawn as well, eyes sharp and focused. Sakura stayed close to Tazuna, ready to block or pull him away.
The clone swung its sword down — a brutal vertical slash that would have cleaved all three in half.
SLAM!!
Naruto dashed forward at the last second, parrying the strike with his kunai — sparks flew —
KZZT!
— but the force of the impact threw him back several meters, sliding across the mud.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried.
"I'm fine!" he shouted, bouncing back to his feet, blood pumping, teeth gritted in a grin.
"He's strong... but he's slower than the real one."
Sasuke didn't waste time. He blurred in, shuriken whirling from his hands —
whirr-whirr!
The metal stars sliced toward the clone's face.
Thunk! Thunk!
The clone deflected the shuriken effortlessly with the flat of its sword, sending them clattering into the mist.
But that gave Naruto his opening.
He leapt high, coming down fast with a kunai aimed right at the clone's chest.
SLASH!
The kunai pierced the water clone's shoulder — but instead of flesh, it tore through liquid.
FSSSH!
The clone burst into a torrent of water, splashing down harmlessly onto the ground.
Naruto landed in a crouch, dripping wet but grinning wide.
"You got it!" Sakura yelled triumphantly.
Sasuke relaxed his stance slightly but didn't drop his guard. Sakura exhaled a shaky breath, knees weak but steadying.
Tazuna simply stared at them, mouth agape.
'These kids... they're stronger than I thought.'
Kakashi, still maintaining the Water Prison, gave a nod of approval.
"Good work, everyone," he said.
"Now... let's finish this."
His Sharingan spun faster — a hypnotic, whirling pattern — as he stared deep into Zabuza's furious eyes inside the prison. Zabuza snarled, realizing that the tide of the battle had shifted.
TO BE CONTINUED