A flat path wound through the dense forest, and a group of four walked along it.
Kakashi's visible dead-fish eye was filled with caution; ever since he had arrived in Land of Waves, he felt that this mission was very unusual.
Especially the boatman who had brought them over just now—his strange expression when he heard Tazuna say they were going to deal with Gato was deeply etched in his mind.
Just then.
Kakashi vaguely sensed a surge of killing intent, and three figures appeared in the middle of the road, blocking their way.
The moment he saw their attire, his mind automatically matched their identities.
He feigned a relaxed tone and said, "You must be the rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village, Momochi Zabuza, aren't you?"
But no sooner had he spoken than he heard the young man standing in the center point to him and say, "I'll leave this kidney-deficient man to you, Haku… You handle those two, and I'll take care of the rest."
Kidney-deficient man?
Before Kakashi could react to the nickname, Zabuza had already charged forward in response.
"Naruto, Sasuke, you be careful! I might not be able to help you…"
Naruto and Sasuke were currently unable to answer him; they were completely intimidated by the killing intent emanating from Zabuza.
Sasuke felt as if even moving his eyes would result in him being killed instantly.
Whoosh…
Two slender Kunai flew rapidly towards the two, and at this critical moment, Sasuke shouted inwardly, 'Move… Damn it! Move…'
Bang…
Ultimately, the protagonist's halo came into play.
He blocked the slender Kunai with his own Kunai, while Naruto, beside him, wasn't so lucky; he barely managed to dodge the vital points.
Sakura, on the side, was already slumped on the ground; compared to her two overpowered teammates, she was just an ordinary genin from a civilian background.
She had no Kekkei Genkai, no family secret techniques, and no old man to give her cheats.
Fate was truly unfair to her.
"Tazuna, there's nothing for you to do here anymore. You can return to your village. Your adorable granddaughter and daughter are still waiting for you to come home."
Tazuna's face turned ashen upon hearing this, and he stared intently at Yang Tao, demanding, "You… What did you do to them?"
"Won't you know if you go back and see? Haha…"
Tazuna's eyes were bloodshot, and his body staggered, almost collapsing to the ground. He completely disregarded the struggling group and ran straight into the distance.
Sasuke, who was currently fending off Haku's attacks, almost spat out a mouthful of old blood when he saw his mission's protection target run off on his own.
"Sakura, quickly go protect the client!"
As a ninja, the mission is naturally the most important.
Sakura gave no response whatsoever, but what surprised Sasuke even more was that the opponent did not hinder or harm Tazuna at all.
In an instant, Sasuke understood that the opponent's target was not Tazuna at all, but them.
Bang… Bang… Bang…
Kunai clashing against Kunai produced a series of metallic sounds.
Sasuke had no time to think too much now; the beautiful girl in front of him was simply too strong, even though she only seemed slightly older than them.
On the other side, Yang Tao walked up to Sakura, extended his hand, and showed a friendly smile on his face: "You're Haruno Sakura, right?"
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. After all, we have to leave one person alive to send a message back to Konoha, don't we?"
Upon hearing Yang Tao's words, Sakura finally came to her senses. Slumped on the ground, she couldn't help but retreat, trembling as she looked at the man with a blue parrot perched on his shoulder.
She didn't even have the courage to pick up a Kunai now.
Yang Tao looked a little regretful at this.
'Hana left a bit early, otherwise, practicing combat experience with Sakura in this state wouldn't be bad…'
Yang Tao turned to look at Haku.
Haku was indeed the mini-boss of the Land of Waves instance; the two protagonists were suppressed, unable to even lift their heads, their bodies covered in blood, with Kunai embedded in them.
"Haku, bring Sasuke over to me…"
Upon hearing this, Haku immediately forced Sasuke towards Yang Tao's position with Kunai. Sasuke looked at Yang Tao, who was within arm's reach, and fiercely stabbed his Kunai towards Yang Tao's vital points.
But the next moment, he was grabbed by the collar with one hand, and the Kunai in his hand could no longer penetrate even slightly.
Bang, bang, bang…
The opponent's body seemed to be like steel; no matter how he attacked, the opponent showed no reaction whatsoever.
'How is this possible… How can there be such a monster!'
He had the expression of an ADC seeing an 8000-stack Heartsteel top laner.
"Good attack!"
Yang Tao rarely praised him, then lifted Sasuke high and slammed him heavily onto the ground.
Bang…
Such a heavy blow made Sasuke cough up a mouthful of blood, instantly losing his combat ability.
Sakura, who had been intimidated by the killing intent, saw this scene, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
"Let… Let go of Sasuke!"
Sakura, holding a Kunai, stood up from the ground and charged towards Yang Tao.
Slap…
A slap went down.
+120
No pain, even a little comfortable… This instantly sobered up the hot-headed Sakura.
"Stay down obediently!"
Yang Tao picked up the Kunai Sasuke had dropped on the ground, squatted down, and held the Kunai against Sasuke's neck, saying, "Otherwise, I can't guarantee what might happen if my hand trembles."
Seeing this, Sakura, who had just managed to muster some courage, burst into tears again…
She didn't want to be like this, but facing Yang Tao, besides bursting into tears, she seemed to have no other choice.
Looking at Sasuke, who was lying on the ground spitting blood but had activated his one-tomoe Sharingan, he whispered softly, "Do you want to gain such power?"
"With such power, whether it's revenge or seeking the truth, it can be said to be within your grasp…"
"Staying in Konoha will not help your growth at all. Think about that man: he entered the Ninja Academy at 6, graduated at 7 with top honors, awakened the Kekkei Genkai Sharingan at 8, and successfully promoted to Chunin at 10."
"At 13, he successfully awakened the Mangekyo, and his ocular power reached Kage-level. With his current power, Kakashi doesn't even have the right to stand before him…"
"Do you expect a guy who reads perverted books all day to teach you how to defeat that man?"
Upon hearing Yang Tao's words, Sasuke, who had originally wanted to struggle to stand up, lay still on the ground without any movement.
He was thinking about what Yang Tao had said.
"Who are you? Why do you know so much?"
Sasuke's voice was intermittent, and mouthfuls of blood spilled from his mouth.
Seeing this, Yang Tao reached out and slapped Sasuke's face. Don't ask why he slapped his face; if you ask, it's because it felt good.
+120
Sasuke's current health was only 400 points, and this one healing touch was enough to allow him to speak normally.
A golden business card appeared before Sasuke.
"This is my business card."
"Take it, pledge allegiance to me, and I will lead you to revenge and bestow upon you sufficient power."
Sasuke felt the healing effect brought by that slap just now, looked at the golden business card, and reached out to take it.
"Yang Tao… As long as you can help me get revenge…"
Slap…
"Remember, in formal settings, you must call me by my title, call me Boss!"
☰