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Meanwhile, with Naruto... in the end, he stood up.
He was a shinobi now! He... was a shinobi!
When was the last time he faced such terrifying killing intent? Ah, yes... Naruto remembered. That night when Kagaya said he would kill him. That time, he was utterly powerless against Kagaya. Was he about to meet the same fate now?
Naruto clenched his fists.
'I've already decided! I won't run away anymore! I won't run!'
He took a step forward and charged at Zabuza.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Naruto! Don't!"
Naruto rushing at Zabuza bare-handed was simply foolish to an extreme degree!
Sakura clutched her head, unable to believe it. "Ah! Naruto, what are you thinking?!"
Within the mist.
Karin said happily, "Great! That kid didn't run away! I lost, Kagaya! Kiss me now!"
Kagaya rolled his eyes, using one hand to block Karin. "Who wants to kiss you? I already said I wasn't betting. Don't come closer!"
"What?! How can you do this?!"
Elsewhere.
Zabuza snorted coldly. "Fool!"
With that, he drew his large sword and slashed down!
Naruto dodged the slash, but not completely; it still drew some blood.
The most important thing was...
Zabuza frowned, looking at his feet.
'This kid...'
Naruto was sent flying back by the slash.
Sakura shouted worriedly, "Charging in alone like that! What on earth were you thinking?"
Naruto didn't speak. He slowly stood up from the ground. In his hand was the forehead protector that had been previously trampled under Zabuza's foot!
He had charged at Zabuza to retrieve this forehead protector!
Holding back the pain, Naruto stood up, lowered his head, and spoke to Zabuza.
"Hey, you with no eyebrows. Write down my name in your little handbook. Write down the name of the man who will definitely become the Hokage of Konohagakure!"
As he spoke, Naruto lifted his head, took a deep breath, and put on the forehead protector.
"I am! A shinobi of Konoha! Uzumaki Naruto!"
Earlier, Zabuza had mocked Naruto and the others, saying only those recorded in his handbook were strong.
Now, Naruto told Zabuza to write down his name.
From a distance, Haku couldn't help but praise, "Impressive!"
For a mere Genin to muster the courage to fight under Zabuza's killing intent was an impressive feat in itself.
Zabuza spoke disdainfully, "You're already panting like that. Do you still think you have a chance?"
Kakashi couldn't help but shout again, "Run! Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura! Take Mr. Tazuna and run! There's no chance of winning! Even if you rescue me, there's no chance of winning!"
Sasuke looked at Kakashi, unable to comprehend. "Are you saying you have no way to defeat Zabuza?"
Zabuza couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't think that's it. The reason Kakashi is so desperate isn't me, but the other person who has already arrived nearby."
Sakura spoke incredulously, "Another one? There's an accomplice?!"
Just dealing with Zabuza alone was this difficult. If another accomplice appeared, how could they possibly cope?
Zabuza glanced towards Kagaya's direction. "Well, you could call him an accomplice. But relax, the 'accomplice' you mentioned doesn't seem to have any intention of acting now. Of course, he doesn't need to. I can handle you all myself! Hah!"
With that, Zabuza's clone instantly appeared beside Sasuke and kicked him away.
Then it quickly moved to Sasuke's landing point, crouched down, and delivered a powerful elbow strike to Sasuke's stomach.
Blood spurted from Sasuke's mouth. Zabuza stood up, placed a foot on Sasuke, put a hand on the hilt of the Executioner's Blade behind him, and said to Sasuke, "Die!"
But the next moment...
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Dozens of Narutos surrounded Zabuza.
Zabuza stopped his action to kill Sasuke and looked around. "Oh? Shadow clones? And quite a number."
To be honest, Zabuza was slightly surprised. This many shadow clones—even he wouldn't casually create so many, as it consumed too much chakra.
He hadn't expected a mere Genin to produce this many shadow clones.
It seemed this kid wasn't a simple Genin.
"Attack!"
Dozens of Narutos spoke in unison, each pulling out a kunai and charging at Zabuza.
Zabuza sneered. The number of Naruto's shadow clones was indeed large, large enough to surprise him. But that was all.
The absolute difference in strength meant that no matter how many such shadow clones came at him, they were useless to Zabuza.
Zabuza let out a loud shout, swinging his blade fiercely. All dozens of Narutos were violently sent flying.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Shadow clones kept disappearing. In the end, only one Naruto remained.
Naruto took a Fūma Shuriken from his backpack and threw it to Sasuke, who had escaped from Zabuza's hold during the attack.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke quickly raised his hand and caught the Fūma Shuriken Naruto threw.
The moment he caught it, Sasuke suddenly understood Naruto's plan!
"So that's it!"
Sasuke unfolded the Fūma Shuriken.
"Fūma Shuriken: Shadow Windmill!"
Within the mist.
Karin narrowed her eyes slightly. "That shuriken..."
With her exceptionally powerful sensory abilities, Karin easily detected something unusual about that shuriken.
Meanwhile, Sasuke immediately threw the Fūma Shuriken in his hand at Zabuza.
Zabuza sneered. "Shuriken are useless against me."
Watching the Fūma Shuriken fly towards him, Zabuza neither dodged nor evaded, standing in place, waiting for it to arrive.
But this time, Zabuza miscalculated. This shuriken directly bypassed Zabuza's clone, heading straight for Zabuza's main body!
Zabuza's main body frowned slightly. "I see. This one's targeting the main body. Still too naive."
Saying this, Zabuza reached out a hand and directly caught the incoming Fūma Shuriken with his bare hand.
But another shuriken suddenly appeared, continuing to fly towards Zabuza!
Zabuza was somewhat surprised.
'A shuriken hidden in the shadow of another shuriken?!'
When Sasuke made his move, he had actually thrown two Fūma Shurikens. One he took from his own backpack, and the other was the one Naruto threw to him!
One Fūma Shuriken was in plain sight; the other was hidden in the shadow of the first.
This was the Shadow Shuriken Technique!
At this moment, Zabuza's main body held a Fūma Shuriken in one hand while maintaining the Water Prison Technique with the other. It seemed he couldn't block this shuriken.
"Still too naive."
However, the reality was that Zabuza leaped into the air, dodging the attack of this shuriken.
From a distance, Kagaya sighed. "Zabuza... underestimated them."
The moment Kagaya's words fell, the shuriken Zabuza had dodged, accompanied by a puff of white smoke, instantly transformed into Naruto behind Zabuza!
Everything before had been a feint. The real attack...
"Is here!"
Naruto shouted loudly, hurling the kunai in his hand with all his might at Zabuza!
Zabuza's eyes widened. This attack was aimed at his head. He had to dodge!
Taking a step to the left, Zabuza dodged Naruto's kunai.
But with this action, his right hand left the Water Prison Technique that was trapping Kakashi.
Kakashi was free!
Zabuza stared fixedly at Naruto.
"You little brat!!!"