"So it's Kakashi of the Sharingan, the Copy Ninja of Konoha. No wonder the squad led by the Demon Brothers was completely wiped out."
Zabuza spoke in a low voice, an undisguised malice bleeding from his gaze like a jackal eyeing its prey.
"Eh, what's a Copy Ninja, and what's a Sharingan?"
Naruto suddenly piped up with an exaggerated and poorly timed question.
Sakura's eyebrow twitched. *Big brother, aren't you taking this a bit too well...*
Sighing inwardly, she chimed in to play along with Naruto: "The Sharingan is a bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan, but what does that have to do with Kakashi-sensei? Ah, don't tell me...!"
She glanced at Sasuke, who was also looking at Kakashi with a hint of surprise.
Kakashi kept his face calm, showing not a shred of pride, perfectly embodying the demeanor of a veteran powerhouse.
With one hand, he reached up to his ninja headband and slowly lifted it, officially unveiling his scarred Sharingan to the stage.
"Is this the Sharingan that copied a thousand jutsus?" Zabuza said indifferently.
"Awesome, it's the Sharingan, we're saved!" Naruto exclaimed dramatically. "Sasuke, isn't that unique to the Uchiha clan? Did you lend your eyes to the boss?"
Sasuke flew into a rage, glaring fiercely at Naruto.
*Huh,* Naruto thought to himself, *and here I thought strong negative emotions were supposed to awaken the Sharingan.*
Guess the negative emotions weren't strong enough.
Annoyed by Naruto's clatter, Zabuza glanced at him, prompting Naruto to instantly form a swastika formation with Sakura and Sasuke, shielding Tazuna behind them.
Naruto blinked. "Big bro, your eyes aren't as pretty as our boss's."
"That's enough," Kakashi cut Naruto off stiffly. "From here on, protect Mr. Tazuna. I'll handle this guy."
"You are no match for him."
"Copy that." While saying this, Naruto's consciousness plunged once again into his Mind Space.
He sprinted right up to the gate. "Nine-Tails, I'm the landlord, hand over the chakra."
"Trouble again?" the Nine-Tails grumbled in irritation. How could someone finish complaining about its chakra only to demand it back the very next second?
Could they show some respect for Tailed Beast chakra?!
"Hurry up. Finish this gig for me, and I'll let bygones be bygones regarding what happened before." Naruto effortlessly cast himself in the role of the Nine-Tails' boss.
The Nine-Tails didn't agree right away, choosing instead to observe the outside world through Naruto's eyes.
Just then, Zabuza flickered with a burst of speed onto the surface of the water, raising one hand high to push the Hidden Mist Technique to its absolute limit.
Visibility in the surrounding area dropped even further.
Intimidated by Zabuza's overwhelming pressure, Sasuke immediately began to break out in a cold sweat, his legs trembling slightly.
Noticing Sasuke's panic, Kakashi instinctively wanted to offer some words of comfort.
Instead, Naruto slammed a hand onto Sasuke's shoulder:
"You good, little dog?"
Sasuke instantly felt a surge of blood rush straight from the soles of his feet up to his head.
*I fucking thank you so much!*
Naruto felt a twinge of disappointment. *Still not awakening his eyes after this?*
"Oh? Still have the mood for infighting?"
Suddenly, Zabuza materialized right in the middle of the trio. Kakashi's scalp tingled, and he roared at everyone to scatter.
Sakura, however, did the exact opposite, charging straight at Zabuza and trying to wrap her arms completely around him!
Zabuza let out a disdainful "tch," swung his body around, and swept his massive cleaver horizontally toward Sakura!
Dropping low, Sakura narrowly dodged the fatal blow, successfully grabbed hold of Zabuza, and pinned him down firmly with her entire body weight.
She actually intended to use her own flesh and blood to anchor Zabuza in place!
Sakura's expression remained entirely blank. "Do it."
The real Naruto, who had flashed off to the side, mentally screamed *holy shit*. This girl didn't say much, but when she did, she blew everyone away—her fighting style was completely off the charts!
Yet reacting in perfect sync with Kakashi and Sasuke, he whipped out his kunai and charged fiercely straight toward Zabuza.
Kakashi was the fastest. Shaking off his shock, he executed a Body Flicker Technique and lunged to slash mercilessly at Zabuza.
Zabuza narrowed his eyes and drove a powerful elbow strike straight into Sakura's forehead, but she didn't budge an inch.
Right at that moment, Naruto pulled out his newly purchased, extra-long kunai and swept forward, catching Sakura in the backswing!
"Splat!" Both Sakura and Zabuza dissolved into two puddles of water!
Water Release: Water Clone Technique!
This was Sakura's contingency plan. Right after coming ashore from the boat, she had seized an opportunity to perform the jutsu, while her real body—just like Naruto's clone—had stayed hidden in the rear.
This was one of the fruits of Sakura's recent training. Taking inspiration from the original Naruto storyline, she had resolutely chosen to follow a path similar to Naruto's by first mastering the highly practical Water Clone Technique.
This would grant her a massive margin for error in future battles.
Meanwhile, Sakura's real body at the back took the ninja tool pouch from Naruto's clone and began laying traps all around.
She was waiting for an opportunity to snipe Haku—taking him alive would be best, but killing him worked too.
Naruto's clone also began helping with the setup, thinking to himself: *Is this the grand strategic vision of a hardcore veteran souls-like gamer?*
Back on the front lines, having his rhythm disrupted didn't slow Zabuza down for a second. He summoned another water clone to fish for Kakashi.
Kakashi successfully flanked Zabuza's clone, only to find the real Zabuza flanking him right back, sending a chill straight through Kakashi's heart.
Right at that moment, another twist unfolded.
Naruto pressed his elongated kunai right against Zabuza's back. "Don't move. If I stab down from my height, your chrysanthemum won't survive."
As a side note, Naruto was undernourished at this point in time, and his height barely reached Zabuza's waist.
Therefore, he was aiming straight for Zabuza's butt...
"Naruto, I told you to fall back! You're no match for him right now!" Kakashi yelled anxiously. In his view, given Naruto's current state of mind, pulling something like this was still far too reckless.
"Heh, brat," Zabuza sneered without turning his head. "What kind of person do you take me for? You think I'd be scared by threats from a little squirt like you?"
"Killing a few people really inflated your ego, huh?" Naruto twisted the corner of his mouth. "Look, this move of mine is the ultimate secret technique of Konoha taijutsu, personally taught by Kakashi of the Sharingan. Guaranteed to skewer you from the inside out in one second flat."
Well, even though this-dimension's Naruto had never experienced the Thousand Years of Death, he had certainly read the original story.
Straight from Earth, apprenticed to Kakashi—yo-ro-shi-ku!
Zabuza finally began to take the brat in front of him seriously.
Not because of the threat to his back, but because of his tone of voice.
He was entirely relaxed and at ease, as if he weren't locked in a desperate, bloody life-or-death battle, but rather attending a spring picnic.
*Why is he so calm? Could he be modified, lacking emotions? Or is he like me, having killed countless people?* Zabuza couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt.
Zabuza glanced over at Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't completely dumbfounded, but he was certainly standing there with his jaw dropped.
He too had been stunned by Naruto and Sakura's string of bizarre maneuvers, completely forgetting to move in the heat of the moment.
*This kid is actually the most normal one here,* Zabuza thought, finally finding a shred of reality in Sasuke.
It couldn't possibly be that every single kid he ran into was a freak like Haku, right?
Besides, Haku didn't have this kind of temperament either.
In truth, Zabuza wasn't the only one questioning his life choices at that moment.
Kakashi's entire being exuded a quiet, profound despair.
*Can't you guys just let me have a nice, quiet one-on-one fight with Zabuza in peace?!*