Killing Intent!
Haku clearly felt Naruto suddenly explode with killing intent, and even the chakra around him felt like it was rushing straight at him.
Red chakra tore through the ground, sending stones flying everywhere.
Inside that red light, Naruto raised his head. His golden hair floated, and his eyes had become sharp and narrow, like an animal's.
His crouched posture looked just like a beast about to pounce.
All his wounds healed in an instant.
Then, thousands of needles flew at Naruto from all the mirrors around him.
*Smack!*
Every single needle was blocked. Naruto followed up with a punch that smashed one of the ice mirrors to pieces.
His power and presence were on a whole new level compared to before.
Haku was shocked. He gripped more needles in his hand and jumped out from the broken mirror, aiming straight at Naruto, who was crouched like a beast.
He dodged!?
Naruto was even faster than Haku. He vanished from his spot and grabbed Haku just as he missed his strike and was about to slip into another mirror.
Before Haku could react, he was overwhelmed by the killing aura and sent flying by a powerful punch, rolling across the ground before barely stopping himself.
His Kirigakure ANBU mask cracked, revealing a gentle, youthful face underneath.
Naruto stopped his fist just a step away from Haku's face. His beast-like red eyes suddenly shrank in shock.
The killing intent and that fiery chakra vanished at once. Naruto landed on the ground, staring in surprise at the face in front of him.
It was the same person who had been handing out supplies to kids back in the Land of Waves.
...
Zabuza was injured, several kunai stuck in his arm, and he looked at the person in front of him with effort.
Meanwhile, Kakashi's ninja hounds had completely pinned Zabuza down from all directions.
Kakashi held a scroll in his hand—these hounds were all his summoned beasts.
The thick fog blocked Kakashi's view, but the hounds could track the scent of Kakashi's blood on Zabuza's giant sword and follow it right to him.
"Didn't think you had something like that up your sleeve..."
Even though it was frustrating, he had to admit he just wasn't strong enough.
He had been extremely wary of Kakashi's Sharingan and poured a huge amount of chakra into keeping the mist thick.
But he was still completely restrained.
Zabuza gritted his teeth. This mission was probably going to fail. Asking Haku to take those two kids away on his own might be too much.
And even though it was only for a moment, they had just sensed a huge, terrifying amount of chakra nearby.
It disappeared quickly, but it was obvious that the Jinchuriki kid had just gone out of control for a second.
In this situation, even Haku might not be able to handle it.
If they failed both the Gato job and the Jinchuriki task, that would be a serious disgrace.
"I don't know what your mission is exactly, but if you're here, that means Kirigakure is involved in this."
"And even knowing that, you're still letting Gato do whatever he wants here…"
No matter what the reason was, Zabuza being here meant he was working for Gato. As for how Kirigakure had arranged things, Kakashi had no idea.
And Zabuza was definitely not the type to just spill the details of his mission.
Even if it was only for a second, Kakashi had clearly felt that frightening Nine-Tails chakra.
Naruto wasn't in good shape either—they needed to deal with Zabuza quickly and then check on the others.
Kakashi quickly formed hand signs, and a flash of bright blue lightning lit up his hand.
The thick fog lit up in a harsh glow, followed by the sound of crackling electricity.
"Raikiri!"
Kakashi paused for only a moment, then charged straight at Zabuza with the lightning in his hand aimed at his chest.
A light blue mist rushed toward Kakashi's arm, but the Raikiri's glow mixed with the fog and almost completely erased it.
Hatake Satoru, hiding in the fog, made a small motion with his hand. The barely visible blue mist slightly pushed Kakashi's hand off course.
*Thud!*
With a dull sound, Kakashi's hand went straight through Haku's chest. Blood sprayed out, hitting both Kakashi and Zabuza in the face.
Their eyes went wide in shock—Haku was now standing between them.
Kakashi could feel that his strike had been off, but Haku had suddenly jumped in to take the hit, so the angle changing made sense.
A few senbon needles struck Kakashi's scroll, knocking it out of his hands. The ninja dogs vanished at the same time.
"Tch, don't do something that stupid."
While Kakashi was still in shock, Zabuza twisted his grip on his massive sword and swung it sideways toward Kakashi.
"What, were you planning to cut this kid down too!?"
What was going on with these two? He thought they were so proud of this kid.
Kakashi quickly pulled his hand out of Haku's chest and jumped back.
Even though the hit had been off, he had still pierced Haku with Raikiri. Without fast treatment, Haku would definitely bleed out and die.
In almost no time at all, Hatake Satoru suddenly appeared behind them. Neither the seriously wounded Haku nor the distracted Zabuza noticed someone had come up behind them.
"Fake… death."
Hatake Satoru whispered softly in their ears.
Zabuza's eyes shot wide open as he turned in disbelief toward the ANBU mask behind him. His body suddenly went stiff and fell backward.
The caster was dead, and the heavy fog around them—which had nearly cut visibility to zero—was now slowly fading away.
"Who are you!?"
Kakashi's eyes locked on the masked ANBU figure crouching behind Zabuza and Haku.
Zabuza's chakra was gone, and the clearing mist confirmed that the jutsu's caster had died.
What the hell was going on? They were all Hidden Mist ninja—so why would one of their own turn on them?
The masked man from Kirigakure's Anbu unit stood up coldly, grabbing the two bodies without showing any emotion.
"Tracking Unit from the Hidden Mist."
"These two defected from Kirigakure. I'm taking their bodies back to report to Lord Mizukage."
The mist hadn't fully cleared yet, but even carrying two people, that figure disappeared incredibly fast—
As if he had vanished into thin air in a single instant.
Kakashi stared strangely at the spot where Zabuza and the others had vanished. As the thick mist faded away, only the bloodstains Haku left behind remained on the ground.
There wasn't even the slightest sign of movement or dragging.
The Hidden Mist sure does a good job hiding their secrets—well, they are known for having lots of Kekkei Genkai users.
So it wasn't surprising that Kakashi didn't have much info on Zabuza and the others.
The Hidden Mist's tracking team, huh…?
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