Chapter 24: Overwhelming Zabuza

"Don't struggle anymore. This is a special water jutsu. There's no way you can escape on your own. But I don't have time to deal with you. After all, a ninja's mission comes first," Zabuza said with a victorious smile. He formed a hand seal, and the liquid in the lake condensed into another Zabuza, slowly walking towards Naruto and the others.

"You guys run! As long as his real body is trapped in this Water Clone, he can't stray too far. Take Tazuna-san and run!" Kakashi immediately shouted at Team 7.

"Run? Don't be ridiculous. Our fate was decided the moment you were captured. It's either save you or die. Exposing our backs to someone like Zabuza will only result in a faster death!" Sasuke shook his head and voiced his thoughts.

"I think the same way. My ninja way doesn't involve running away! Sakura, protect Tazuna-san. Leave that guy to me and Sasuke," Naruto said.

"What about our plan? You're always so impulsive," Sakura asked.

"We do have a plan. Remember the Body Replacement Jutsu we used when we stole the bells?" Naruto replied.

"Oh, the Body Replacement Jutsu, right," Sakura recalled. Zabuza chuckled. These kids were just kids. Even though they might have some unspoken understanding, once he knew their trump card was the Body Replacement Jutsu, he had countless ways to deal with them.

"Aren't you afraid?" Zabuza asked.

"Yeah, I'm scared. But I won't die here because I'm going to become a Hokage," Naruto said, lifting his foot and walking toward Zabuza.

"I really can't do anything about you. I'll accompany you once," Sasuke reluctantly followed. For some reason, being with Naruto calmed his originally racing heart, and his heartbeat returned to normal. The two of them instinctively raised their fists and lightly bumped them in the air, silently understanding each other's thoughts.

"I really underestimated you, brats. Do you think you can defeat me with just the two of you?" Zabuza said mockingly.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto formed hand seals, and as a puff of smoke dispersed, hundreds of Naruto clones appeared on the ground, all rushing towards Zabuza.

"So, this is your trump card? This number of clones is enough for me to remember you in my little book. But the so-called life-or-death battles aren't won just by numbers," Zabuza said, slightly surprised. He didn't expect this unremarkable kid to be able to create hundreds of clones. However, his surprise didn't last long. To him, they were just a bunch of extras.

"Chop, chop, chop, chop." Zabuza casually swung his sword and sliced over ten clones. Suddenly, he felt a surge of heat. A giant fireball with a diameter of two meters came from behind the clones, burning both the clones and the high-temperature flames headed toward Zabuza.

"Sacrificing clones, huh? Not a bad plan, but the intensity is too weak," Zabuza said.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Zabuza's real body quickly formed hand seals, and a water dragon soared out of the lake, intercepting Sasuke's Fireball Jutsu. The water dragon extinguished the flames just as it reached the water clone.

"It's not over yet!" Sasuke shouted. He threw the unfolded fuma shuriken in his hand, which bypassed the water clone and headed straight for Zabuza's real body.

"...Hm?" Zabuza squinted his eyes. With a casual reach, he caught the swiftly rotating Shuriken in his hand, but what he didn't expect was that another Shuriken, hidden underneath the previous one, flew towards him from the same direction. Unable to free his hand, he could only use a jump to dodge the fatal attack.

"I got you!" The demon wind shuriken transformed into Naruto behind Zabuza and threw a kunai at Zabuza's back.

"How crafty! You're so crafty! You have more than enough sword to use as a shield!" Naruto angrily cursed. He could only say that the Executioner's Blade was too wide. If it were an ordinary sword, it wouldn't have been able to block that kunai.

"You're too naive. Go die, brat."

Zabuza, without hesitation, threw the wind demon shuriken that he had just caught. Naruto, unsurprisingly, was cut in half and disappeared into smoke.

Zabuza knew that this brat was not ordinary when Naruto split into hundreds of clones. He had prepared for all possible defenses, and his carefulness paid off as he managed to block the fatal attack.

"Naruto, what should we do now?"

"We need a plan... Sasuke, help me buy some time against this guy for thirty seconds."

"What? Are you kidding me? Do you expect me to hold him off alone?"

If Sasuke had the time now, he would have grabbed Naruto by the collar and punched him. This Zabuza, also known as Demon of the Hidden Mist, was far beyond an average Jonin. Even the request of multiple Naruto clones was too much to ask.

"Hm! My ninjutsu's hand seals take too long. I'm counting on you."

Naruto smiled slightly, his eyes showing no signs of joking.

"Tsk, fine. You go. I must be crazy! Leaving my back to a deadweight."

Sasuke tapped his own head and irritably waved at Naruto, then approached Zabuza alone.

"Sasuke, don't die, okay?"

Naruto released his Shadow Clone Jutsu and took a few steps back, disappearing into the mist, out of sight.

"Oh? You're thinking too much. The concept of running away won't exist in a dumb brain like yours. Besides, Kakashi isn't the only one with Sharingan!"

Sasuke closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, his Sharingan was activated. Two pairs of tomoe rapidly spun in his eyes as he vigilantly stared at Zabuza.

"Sharingan, a Uchiha boy? Let me see your power!"

"I can see through your movements!"

Perhaps due to the activated Sharingan, Sasuke was able to fight skillfully with just a kunai and Zabuza's decapitation sword.

"Even if you can see, can you react in time?"

Zabuza frowned slightly, and after making a feint move, he kicked Sasuke and sent him flying. However, he was surprised to see that the flying Sasuke turned into a wooden log.

"Now, I can do more than just that! Rat-Tiger-Dog-Ox-Rabbit-Tiger!"

Sasuke instantly appeared behind Zabuza. His Sharingan spun rapidly, increasing his hand seal speed, while chakra quickly gathered near his throat.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

"Hoo!" "Hoo!" "Hoo!" "Hoo!" "Hoo!"

Five flowers formed from the flames expelled from Sasuke's mouth and flew toward Zabuza.

"What can this level of flames do?"

Zabuza casually raised his decapitation sword to counterattack, but he found that the flower-shaped flames were able to change direction, bypassing his sword and hitting his abdomen. Then, the other four flame flowers hit various angles on Zabuza's body.

"Being able to control the trajectory with chakra, this is the Uchiha clan's Phoenix Flower Jutsu! Ugh!"

Sasuke said while clutching his eyes, kneeling on the ground. It was his first time using the Sharingan in conjunction with a high-precision ninjutsu, and his young body couldn't handle it well.

"I have to say, your ninjutsu is impressive, but it's too foolish to bet everything on defeating my clones."

Zabuza was surprised that his water clone was defeated by a low-level ninja. He once again formed hand seals and created another water clone, lifting his decapitation sword and approaching Sasuke.

"Who said I'm trying to defeat you alone? As a fugitive ninja like you, you wouldn't understand the concept of teamwork."

Sasuke smiled faintly, and his strength to stand vanished. He slowly fell to the ground and uttered his final words.

"I leave it to you, deadweight!"

"We'll take it from here!!!"

Dozens of Narutos emerged from the mist and rushed toward Zabuza's water clone. They all held a round sphere emitting a gentle glow in their right hands. No one knew what it was, but Zabuza's years of assassination experience told him that it was not something to be taken lightly.

"Rasengan..."

Kakashi widened his eyes. Rasengan was one of his teacher's proudest techniques, and now it was being manifested by his student, evoking complex feelings within him.

"Darn it, the water clone was broken!"

Zabuza growled in anger as he realized the fighting strength of the water clone was formidable, but its defense was weak. Even though he managed to break several of Naruto's clones, he was grazed by one of those spheres and instantly turned into liquid. The power was evident.

"Who said it was only there!"

Zabuza's Mist Concealment Technique became his stumbling block. Naruto had been stealthily approaching from a close distance before being noticed. When Zabuza realized he had already drawn his decapitation sword from his back and blocked Naruto's Rasengan.

"The power, the quantity... Are you a monster?"

Zabuza could feel his decapitation sword shaking as sparks flew from clashing with the Rasengan. The force he felt on his hand was like fighting against an ancient monster, which had bitten onto his decapitation sword and continuously pulled him in, devouring him. And this was just the power of a single Rasengan. Zabuza glanced at the multiple shadow clones of Naruto approaching from behind and finally panicked.

"I'm leaving the rest to you, Kakashi-sensei."

"Well done, Naruto!"