Kakashi carefully pulled out the senbon needles from Sasuke one by one. He didn't know much about medicine, but anyone could tell that having these needles stuck in your body couldn't feel good.
As he removed the senbon, Sasuke's fake death state ended too.
Seeing Sasuke's chest slowly rise and fall again, Sakura's eyes went wide in disbelief.
Sasuke coughed up some blood and blinked in confusion, looking around.
"Cough… Am I still alive…?"
Naruto's eyes were already filling with tears, but Sasuke's words made him choke them back.
"What the heck! You scared me! I thought you were dead…"
Kakashi frowned as he helped Sasuke sit up. He still looked rough, but at least he was alive—that was something to be thankful for.
Thinking about it, even though Haku had gone all out fighting them, it looked like he never actually tried to kill them?
"Well then, looks like Sasuke's going to be okay…"
Kakashi squinted his eyes into little crescent moons and gave a small smile.
But before he could say more, Gato's voice suddenly cut in.
"So it's just you Leaf Village brats."
"Where's Zabuza?"
The fog had cleared, and Gato—who had been hiding under the bridge watching—had come up with a group of armed men, hoping to swoop in and take advantage of the situation.
But when he got up there, he realized the only ones still standing were from the Leaf Village.
Still, whether dead or alive, he wanted proof—so where were those two bodies?
Gato walked up, cursing as he went. He had brought so many men—was he really supposed to be afraid of a bunch of kids and one adult with an old man?
"They ran away? Figures. You can't count on those Mist Village guys…"
"I was planning to get rid of them too, hmph."
"Well, whatever. Just a few of you left—nothing to worry about. Get up there and bring me Tazuna."
Gato glanced at Kakashi and the barely-conscious Sasuke, assuming they were already at their limit after fighting Zabuza.
With an arrogant wave of his cane, he ordered his men to move in and finish them off.
A large crowd of men, all carrying swords and other weapons, grinned as they walked toward Naruto and the others.
Kakashi rubbed his forehead, looking annoyed. From the way Gato talked, it sounded like Zabuza had just been another hired hand to him.
Thinking about that dying boy and Zabuza gave Kakashi a strange feeling of frustration.
He didn't know if it was because of that guy from the tracking unit suddenly showing up and stealing the final blow—
Or because Haku had thrown himself in front of a blade to protect Zabuza.
"Guess we're not getting a break yet…"
Kakashi slowly turned his head. His tired, drooping eyes and the dried blood on his face gave him a cold and dangerous look.
"Take one more step, and I'll kill you."
The killing intent coming from him froze everyone in place. No one dared move forward, and backing away didn't seem like an option either.
Just a moment ago, this crowd had been loud and full of bravado, but now they all went quiet, glancing around at each other, not knowing what to do.
This guy didn't look weak or close to dying at all.
If you looked carefully, he didn't even seem badly hurt—just a cut on his chest at most.
The killing intent felt like it was aimed straight at Gato, as if a wild dog was baring its fangs at him.
The crowd quickly parted to form a path, and Kakashi's eyes locked right onto Gato.
What a scary man.
And not just Kakashi—those two kids with him stood firm, protecting Tazuna behind them, glaring fiercely.
Did Zabuza and Haku even fight these guys seriously? How are they still this full of energy?
Gato gasped and realized just how useless his hired men were against this group.
"Tch… Let's go! We'll come back next time."
Gato, trying to sound tough while backing toward the crowd, shouted loudly as he slipped away.
He quickly jumped onto a boat under the bridge and hit the button to blow up the bombs he'd planted.
He had been worried that Zabuza and Haku might fail, so he'd placed bombs under the bridge just in case.
But nothing happened.
Gato frowned and muttered to himself, pressing the button harder.
One of the men standing nearby with binoculars glanced awkwardly at Gato, then at the empty spot under the bridge where the explosives used to be.
"Boss… someone already removed the bombs."
"What?! That's impossible! If anyone tried to mess with them, they should've gone off!"
Gato jumped in frustration and snatched the binoculars.
But the spot where the bombs had been was completely messed up—the wires were all torn and sticking out everywhere.
And on the side of the bridge, someone had drawn a creepy face with a sloppy and arrogant message next to it:
"Don't hang dangerous stuff here~"
…
Zabuza and Haku were lying on beds, each being treated by medical ninja.
The room was quiet, filled with the faint smell of alcohol.
Hatake Satoru stood by the window, looking out. Though there was a bit of mist over the sea, he could still see where Kirigakure was.
The building they were in was right on the coast—nicely built, but clearly not meant for living in. It was just for show.
Since arriving, Hatake Satoru had cleared out the low-level thugs who'd been staying here and made sure they wouldn't tip off Gato.
Those same thugs were now standing guard outside. If Gato made any move, they were to report it immediately.
But with Zabuza and Haku gone, Gato didn't really have anyone strong enough to take on Kakashi.
All he could do was secretly gather more people.
As for the three kids in Team 7, they were splitting their time between guarding Tazuna and helping build the bridge.
Kakashi hadn't shown up in a while, and Gato thought he was secretly preparing something, which made him nervous every day.
But Hatake Satoru knew very well what shape his little brother was in.
The saying went: "Two minutes of Sharingan, two weeks in bed." Kakashi really did burn himself out using that eye.
Hatake Satoru stretched lazily, then pulled down the Kirigakure mask from his face, completely covering his features.
At that moment, the door behind him opened, and a medic in a white coat came out and whispered something in his ear.
Satoru blinked behind his eye mask, then smiled.
He turned and walked into the room, stepping quickly over to Zabuza's bed. His teasing voice followed right after.
"If you're awake, get up already. You planning to rot in bed?"
"It's normal for Haku to be out this long, but with your injuries, you shouldn't still be in bed~"
"Are you just trying to slack off here~? The lodging fee is twenty ryo a day, time to pay up!"
---
Read 30 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---