The construction of the bridge was slowly coming to an end, but so was Zabuza's rehabilitation period; within a couple of days, he was supposed to attack. That's exactly what happened. On the morning of the eighth day in the Land of Waves, my clone, sitting at the top of the construction crane and gathering sen-chakra for me, noticed Zabuza approaching the bridge with Haku. The clone quickly jumped down onto the bridge and evacuated the workers who had already come to work, leading them far away from the future combat zone. Then it created another shadow clone, which dispersed and passed the information to me. That clone itself stayed behind to watch the bridge. I got the information about Zabuza right during breakfast.
"Alright, gentlemen, my clone spotted Zabuza and that girl in the mask. They're approaching the bridge in a small boat," I informed those present, "The clone evacuated all the builders, so no bystanders will get hurt. What shall we do? Zabuza is probably setting up an ambush for us."
"We have to deal with Zabuza, because they could easily destroy the bridge with Explosion-Seals," Kakashi said.
"Then let Tazuna stay at home. I will leave a few wooden clones here just in case Gato sends someone. The clones will protect Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari. If necessary, I can teleport here in a second and enter the fight myself, but I think the clones can handle it," I made the cross-shaped hand seal, "Mokuton: Multiple Wood Clone Technique." In twenty seconds, I created six wooden copies of myself. These clones were more for calming the nerves of Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami, so that they could feel safe.
"Good luck, brother. You'll beat Gato," Inari hugged me.
"I'm glad you believe in me," I said, stroking the girl before leaving. When we stepped outside, I put on my mask over my face as well as clawed gloves on my hands.
"Eh…" Sakura rolled her eyes when she saw my mask.
"Don't be jealous," I replied to the pink-haired girl's reaction, "So, since we're walking into a trap by Zabuza, I'll transform into Tazuna so that this swordsman doesn't suspect prematurely that he's been uncovered." I used Henge, taking the appearance of the bridge builder.
When my team and I arrived at the bridge, it was already completely enveloped in fog.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi," a voice came out of the fog, "Are you still babysitting these kids? Oh, some of them are even trembling with fear." Seven figures with swords emerged from the fog and surrounded us.
"That trembling isn't from fear, but from impatience," Sasuke answered.
"Engage," Kakashi ordered, and everyone except me and the jonin rushed into battle. Within moments, all of Zabuza's water clones were destroyed, and water spilled across the bridge.
"Not bad, you defeated my water clones," the real Zabuza stepped out of the fog, with Haku in a masked oinin stance behind him, "And where's that talkative brat in the mask who pissed me off last time? I wanted Haku to deal with him."
"I'm here," I dispersed the Henge, "And you seem to be upset because last time I called your arm guards and greaves with the cow print ridiculous, so you changed them to ones with vertical stripes. It didn't really help, and you still look ridiculous. And if anyone here is the talkative brat, it's you, considering you ran away in disgrace last time with the help of this girl. By the way, Haku, your mask sucks, nothing compared to mine." I tapped my clawed finger on my mask.
"It seems our assumptions were correct; this shinobi in a mask was a fake oinin, and in reality, he's in cahoots with Zabuza—they're partners," Kakashi said.
"Yeah, partners," I added, "Haku, nobody likes liars, and not only did you fool us by pretending to be an oinin, but you also pretend to be a guy, even though you're actually a girl," I said, pointing to Haku.
"I'm a guy," Haku insisted.
"Is that Haku's friend, dattebayo?" Mito asked, recalling who she had talked to in the clearing a few days ago.
"I'm a guy."— repeated Haku.
— Girl, you're trying to fool the sensor, I sense everything within a five-kilometer radius. For example, right now two clowns with swords are approaching Tazuna's house. One second. — I teleported between these two "samurai" sent by Gato to kill Tazuna's family.
Tsunami told me that Gato hired two samurai as bodyguards; they were the ones who executed Kaiza, first crucifying him on a cross, then cutting off his limbs with a katana. According to identification data, one samurai's name was Zori; he was twenty-eight years old but looked like a teenager, mainly due to his style of dress. The second katana-wielding mercenary was named Warashi, thirty-three years old, and this man looked more like a pirate. He walked shirtless, his torso covered with tattoos, and this "samurai" lacked his right eye, which was covered with a black bandage.
— Shinobi! — these guys suddenly saw me and tried to draw their blades, but I was faster than them. Taking their weapons from these losers, I smashed their heads with their own swords, then returned to the bridge holding two katanas covered in blood.
I get a bit of energy for killing due to the ability "Soul Fragment Absorption," the amount depending on the victim's strength, on who did the killing (if it's me, then much more), and on the distance— the closer I was at the victim's death, the more Skill Points I get. For the previous two unlucky samurai, I received only one Skill Point, but I hadn't used the "Soul Fragment Absorption" ability before because I couldn't kill people in Konoha, so its effectiveness was low, though it should improve greatly over time.
— I hope I didn't miss anything. — I said and shook the swords to get rid of excess blood that splattered onto the pavement, — So, where were we? Oh, I remember, Haku, you're a girl, you can't fool me. — I said.
— I don't care who this Haku is, I'll finish her off. — Sasuke said impatiently and charged at Haku with a kunai ready, while Zabuza only nodded at Sasuke, prompting Haku to use Shunshin and instantly appear next to Uchiha.
— Sasuke, how can you kill girls? You need to restore your clan, you're really shortsighted. Enemy kunoichi should be defeated, tied up, and turned into your concubines. — I said.
— Naruto, don't teach Sasuke such nonsense! — Sakura shouted.
— What, Sakura, afraid of competition? — I asked, turning to the pink-haired girl.
— Doesn't matter. — the girl replied, looking away.
— It really doesn't matter, because Sasuke still won't beat Haku. — I said and turned my gaze to the fight between Uchiha and Haku; it would be a good chance to copy Ice Element techniques, since I can control ice but don't have any techniques for this element yet.
At first, Sasuke and Haku clashed in a fight with kunai and senbon, while everyone else just stood and watched. Sasuke's opponent, without breaking focus on close combat, started forming hand seals with one hand and created a technique:
— Hyoton: Ice Needles. — Haku stomped on water spilled after clones disappeared and created icy senbon that flew towards Sasuke.
But Uchiha wasn't careless and dodged the attack by jumping into the air, throwing shuriken at Haku from there. When Sasuke landed, he reentered close combat, and with a kick to the face, sent Haku to Zabuza's feet.
— Sasuke is so rough, he went and kicked a girl in the face. — I commented, — Sakura, looks like your potential future husband likes hitting women, so get ready to be beaten often in your family life with Sasuke. However, they say: hits means loves, maybe Sasuke just likes Haku. — I commented.
— Haku, if things keep going like this, we won't be able to handle them, and that can't be allowed. You understand, we can't be embarrassed twice. — Zabuza said, looking sternly at the girl in the mask.
— Yes. — said Haku, folding a strange seal,began to emit Ice chakra, — Hyōton: Demonic Mirrors. — she said, and the water spilled on the bridge started turning into ice, forming huge ice mirrors, one of which Haku entered, and immediately began to be reflected in the other mirrors.
— Damn! — Kakashi rushed to Sasuke, but Zabuza attacked him.
— Your opponent is me. — the Mist Swordsman attacked Kakashi, — With this technique, your genin can't handle Haku. — Zabuza said, not letting the jonin get close to Sasuke.
— Now let's begin, I'll show you my real speed. — Haku said and started attacking Sasuke from all sides with ice senbon from the mirrors, making it hard for Uchiha to keep up and dodge the needles.
— Ghaa! — Uchiha cried out in pain as several needles pierced his flesh.
— Sasuke-kun! — Sakura rushed to help and threw her kunai at the ice mirrors, which Haku caught and threw back at Sakura, with much greater force and speed, so that her own weapon almost stabbed her in the forehead, but I moved in front of Sakura, and the kunai struck my mask.
— This is why, Sakura, you need to wear metal masks, or at least a protector, that you wear like a headband. — I said.
— Katon: Fireball. — Sasuke took advantage of Haku being distracted by Sakura and used a fire technique to destroy the mirrors surrounding him, but it didn't work.
— This ice can't be melted with such a weak fire technique. — Haku said, and continued to bombard Uchiha with ice needles, which Sasuke kept trying to dodge, but not always successfully, and three senbon were already stuck in his body. But when Uchiha collapsed weakly to his knees, Haku didn't attack him, giving him a break.
— What kind of technique does this Haku have? — Sakura asked worriedly, looking at Sasuke, who was having a hard time and could do nothing against Haku.
— It's the Advanced Genome Technique. — Kakashi answered, who was just standing opposite Zabuza for now, the Mist Swordsman simply didn't let the jonin get close to Haku and Sasuke, and while Kakashi was doing nothing, Zabuza was just standing too.
— Advanced Genome? — Sakura repeated.
— Yes, it's an ancient bloodline of a perfect genotype, Advanced Genome techniques can't be learned, only inherited. Even I can't copy Ice Techniques with my Sharingan, because to use these techniques you have to belong to a specific clan. — Kakashi said.
— Haku, what's with the delays? — Zabuza asked.
— If possible, I don't want to kill him, but if he keeps attacking, I'll do what I must. — Haku replied, — Honestly, I wouldn't call myself a true shinobi; I've never killed anyone before. Right now, we're fighting on a bridge for our dreams. I fight to protect someone dear to me. I want to work for them, fight for them, and fulfill all their wishes. That's why I live. For this person, I can become a real shinobi, but at the moment, our battle is somewhat pointless. We were tasked with eliminating Tazuna, but he's not here… and that masked guy, for some reason, is also hesitating and not joining the fight. — Haku spoke.
— I'm just waiting for you to show some techniques I could copy. Come on, fight more actively, or I could finish you off in a couple of seconds, but I wouldn't gain anything from that, except maybe selling your corpses on the black market. However, there's still time for that. You're still alive only because of my thirst for knowledge. Haku has already shown some interesting Ice techniques and created them using strange one-handed seals, so I've already picked up something useful from this fight. If it continues, I'll be able to learn even more. — I answered.
— Oh, I remember why you annoyed me last time. — said the Mist Swordsman, — For a regular kid genin, you're way too arrogant. — added Zabuza.
— Shut up, fanged one, if you don't want to lose your head. — I teleported behind Zabuza and crossed my two katanas at his neck. When the swordsman attacked me, I used phasing, causing his strike to pass right through me.
— Illusion. — Zabuza guessed incorrectly.
— Wrong guess. — I rested my katanas on Zabuza's shoulders, and he felt their weight. He tried to strike me again, but I simply teleported back to my previous spot.
— That's not Shunshin… spatial jutsu? — Zabuza asked.
— Exactly. I'm arrogant because I can become intangible and teleport out of here anytime, bringing my team with me. — I replied and then addressed Sasuke:
— Uchiha, stop slacking off. If you keep pitying yourself, you'll remain weak and never defeat your brother or avenge our wiped-out clan! — I said, which made Sasuke get up painfully and envelop himself in dark chakra, activating his Sharingan with two tomoe in the pupil.
— Now I see all your attacks! — said Uchiha as Haku threw ice senbon at him again, but this time Uchiha was fast enough to dodge the projectiles.
— Another Sharingan. — Zabuza said grimly, — Haku, stop holding back. Kill the Uchiha, that's my order. — The swordsman said harshly and attacked Kakashi himself to deal with him quickly.
— Fine, Zabuza-san. — Haku replied and literally within seconds turned Sasuke into a porcupine, pelting him with ice senbon. As another volley of ice needles flew at Uchiha, I teleported to Sasuke and used:
— Dragon Whirlwind! — I created a whirlwind of spinning Wind chakra around me. Essentially, it was the Kaiten Hyūga powered by Fūton, and thanks to my Rasengan training, I didn't have to spin myself to create this technique, — Uchiha, you're not very impressive. I don't know what Sakura sees in you. — I bent toward Sasuke and started quickly pulling needles from his body.
— What technique is that? — Uchiha noticed the rotating Wind chakra shield still protecting us from Haku's ice needle attacks.
— It's a Hyūga clan technique. I copied it from the Hyūga and improved it. Actually, I expected you to show some secret Uchiha techniques too, but you were full of needles and nearly died, so to be able to steal some Uchiha technique from you in the future, I saved you and will heal you now. Tatsumaki Hiden: Dragon's Healing.—I placed my hand with Sasuke's Chakra Core on him and transferred some Kōgenryū chakra, causing a brief glow around the Uchiha that healed his wounds, — "Alright, get up and use some secret technique. I'm watching closely." — I helped the Uchiha stand up, then expanded the Kaiten dome, which destroyed all the ice mirrors, and from one of the mirrors Haku jumped out.
— "How did you manage to destroy the Demonic Mirrors?" Haku asked with mild surprise.
— "I'm full of surprises. Look what else I copied." — I repeated the seals to Haku and used the technique:
— "Hyōton: Ice Needles." — I took control of all the ice after the mirrors' destruction and turned it into needles, directing them at Haku, but she was able to dodge them; although I didn't really try hard to hit her.
— "How did you do that? Only the Yuki clan could control ice, but they were wiped out, and I'm the last of them." — Haku was even more surprised.
— "I don't know, I'm an orphan from Konoha. Maybe my parents were from some clan, maybe even yours, but that doesn't matter now, since soon Kakashi-near-sensei will finish off your buddy, the Mist Swordsman." — I nodded toward Kakashi, who summoned a pack of dogs that pounced on Zabuza and pinned him down.
— "Time to finish this, Zabuza. Now I'll show you a technique I created. Death awaits you." — Kakashi made three hand seals and a chakra concentration seal in his hand, after which a ball of electric plasma appeared in his palm, crackling loudly. — "Raikiri!" — the jonin shouted, creating the Thunder Blade in his palm, which he barely managed to hold, then charged at Zabuza, intending to pierce his chest with the technique.
Haku saw that Zabuza was in deadly danger and used Shunshin to move right in front of Zabuza and take the attack herself. Kakashi's lightning-wrapped hand pierced through Haku's left chest, destroying her heart, and at the last moment, Haku tried to help Zabuza by grabbing Kakashi's hands, giving the swordsman a chance to attack Kakashi.
— "Zabu…za-san." — blood trickled from Haku's mouth as she struggled to hold back Kakashi, who had pierced her body with Raikiri.
— "Death awaits me? Looks like you're wrong, Kakashi. Death awaits you. Well done, Haku, you were a great weapon." — Zabuza broke free from the dogs' hold and struck a blade at Haku and Kakashi, but the half-dead girl was holding Kakashi now, so he simply caught her and jumped out of the attack's path, then freed himself from Haku's grip, who had already lost consciousness and was ready to die in the next seconds.
— "Naruto, don't interfere. I'll kill Zabuza myself." — Kakashi said as I teleported to him, — "This is my fight now." — the jonin added and continued battling Zabuza. After the operation to properly integrate the Sharingan, Kakashi became twice as strong, able to use his dōjutsu without fearing his chakra would run out mid-battle, so this time the Mist Swordsman was in a losing position… and it was clear that after seeing Haku's death, Zabuza lost focus and was swinging his cleaver wildly instead of fighting thoughtfully.
— "Yeah, and you said he was a kid." — I said, using the healing technique on Haku as I had recently done on Sasuke, causing the through wound in her chest to close, and now, through a hole in her clothes, small milk-white mounds of the girl's chest were visible, tightly wrapped in bandages. — "Alright, I should cover her up." — I tightened the girl's kimono, hiding her chest under a whole piece of cloth.
But when I removed Haku's mask from her face, I admired her features… she would have made an excellent concubine, but this girl was completely obsessed with Zabuza, so it was unlikely anything would happen between us, unless by force.
While I was healing Haku, Kakashi managed to damage Zabuza's hands with kunai — so badly that he couldn't hold his sword, and they hung down at his sides — and just as the swordsman was almost killed, an old short guy with a nasty face and small glasses on his eyes emerged from the fog.That was Gato, and right behind him came his henchmen, gathered from ordinary bandits:
"I see you got your ass kicked again... what a pity, Zabuza." Gato said with glee.
"What are you doing here? And who are these people?" Zabuza asked Gato.
"Plans have changed a bit... or rather, I planned it all from the start. Zabuza, I'm going to kill you; I never intended to pay you for the job." Gato responded with a smirk, behind whom stood several dozen armed fighters, which made him think he was safe and could say whatever he wanted.
"What?!" Zabuza couldn't believe it, knowing that from the start he had risked his life for nothing.
"Hiring proper shinobi from the villages is too expensive, so I hire rogue shinobi like you, and then eliminate them." Gato said smugly. "Usually, shinobi fight among themselves, weaken each other, and then my people finish them off. It's a great plan that saves me a mountain of money. I didn't become rich for nothing. But this time, Zabuza, you became a problem... The Demon of the Hidden Mist, it's a joke to me. In my eyes, you're just a harmless little devil who couldn't handle a simple task and then died." Gato looked at Zabuza with contempt.
"Yeah, we'll finish you off, we'll finish all of you!" the crowd behind Gato shouted.
"Kakashi, sorry, it looks like our fight is over. Now that I have no reason to kill Tazuna, I have no reason to fight you either."
"Yeah, I understand." Kakashi said, slightly tired.
"Hey, Zabuza, I have a proposal for you." I said, moving next to Zabuza.
"Brat, I have no desire to listen to your proposals. Haku is dead, she died protecting me from death. She fought only for me, she didn't even want to kill you because she was too kind. But I still lost. Now my only wish is to kill that bastard Gato. So better give me your kunai." The swordsman, whose hands didn't work, opened his mouth with triangular teeth, hinting where the kunai should be placed.
"Okay, choose which kunai you want? There's a spiked one I usually use, a normal one, and a slightly lighter one." I gave Zabuza three kunai from my reserves.
"Give me the normal one." The swordsman made his choice.
"Alright, here you go." I placed the kunai into Zabuza's toothy mitten. "But once you're done, you'll still have to listen to my proposal." I patted the swordsman's cheek, and he turned irritably toward Gato and charged to finish him off.
Seeing Zabuza rush at him, Gato ran to hide behind his bandits, while Zabuza started breaking through the crowd, injuring and sometimes even killing bandits, who in turn stabbed the swordsman with their weapons. But that didn't stop Zabuza, and he kept running toward Gato.
"Kill him!" Gato shouted as Zabuza caught up with him and stabbed him with a kunai, but not deep because Gato's men interfered, stabbing Zabuza's back with swords, which weakened him.
"Die already!" the injured Gato screamed, backing away from Zabuza, but then I appeared behind the short guy and grabbed him by the throat.
"Gato, you must have forgotten that besides Zabuza, there are other shinobi here." I lifted the little villain with my clawed hand, then looked at the wounded swordsman. "Zabuza, about that proposal you have to hear... but before that, I have to remind you that I'm an A-rank medic-nin, and I've already healed Haku. Her heart was destroyed, of course, but I have some secret techniques from my clan that helped heal her. I can heal you too if you agree to my proposal." I said, and when Gato tried to get out of my grip, I banged his head against the bridge railing, which calmed him down.
"Haku's alive? Brat, why didn't you say so earlier?" Zabuza spat out the kunai and asked.
"Actually, I wanted to say,"But you asked me for a kunai and went heroically to die in battle. — I added, and created several shadow clones, giving one of them Gato's body to watch over.
— All right, you're right. So, what's the offer? And could you heal me right now? I'm afraid I won't listen to the whole offer and might die before then. — said the swordsman, barely staying conscious with his last strength.
— People will do anything for money… now my clones will remove all unnecessary objects from your body and slightly heal you, and a bit later I will heal you completely. For now, I want to deal with the trash that came to the Gato bridge. By the way, don't touch Gato yet, I have plans for him. — I said, starting to form three seals that Kakashi had recently used, then applied the chakra concentration seal on my hand to gather Lightning energy in my palm. Besides the seals, I also copied the chakra movement inside the Jonin's body, which I saw with the Hoshin'gan, so on the first try, I managed to create:
— Raikiri. — I said, holding the Thunderblade in my hands, which I could control only thanks to the Hermit mode and activated Hoshin'gan, — Let's test this technique now. — I charged at Gato's bandits, and powered by Lightning chakra I ran somewhat too fast, straight and slightly uncontrollably, as if I was moving on ice instead of the pavement. I cut the first three enemies in half with Raikiri, which enveloped my hand clad in a metal clawed glove, making my hand effectively the Thunderblade. But then I almost fell off the pavement, losing control of the technique. Luckily, I used teleportation to correct my trajectory, continuing to eliminate Gato's thugs, occasionally teleporting again to adjust my path. From the outside, my movement looked jerky and zigzagged, but I killed forty-seven bandits in a few seconds and gained seventeen Skill Points in return.
After using Raikiri and moving between bandits, I ended up not far from Kakashi, who clearly saw how exactly I was killing Gato's subordinates.
— Ouch… it's so hard to maintain and control this technique, especially since I've only been mastering the Lightning Element for one week… looks like I damaged my arm from the inside with this technique… yeah, I now have electric burns all over my hand. — I inspected my arm using the Hoshin'gan.
— Naruto, you stole my technique. — Kakashi said with surprise and accusation.
— Good that you admitted I "stole" it, not that you taught me, otherwise, I'd have to call you sensei, Kakashi-not-a-sensei. — I replied boldly, and my injured hand glowed, healing the damage before I turned to the corpse-strewn bridge, — Suiton: Raging Wave. — I created a simple Water Element technique that raised a wave from the sea, swallowing the corpses and carrying them back into the sea. Nearby lay Zabuza's sword, so I picked it up before returning to the Mist Swordsman, also taking the unconscious body of Haku with me.
— Naru… — Kakashi wanted to say something, but I teleported to Zabuza, who stood at the end of the unfinished bridge, — …he really annoys me… — the Jonin added.
Returning to Zabuza, I said:
— All right, the trash from the bridge is cleared, now I can heal you and talk. — I carefully laid Haku and the sword on the pavement, then approached Zabuza to use the healing technique.
— You're strong, brat, maybe even stronger than your commander Kakashi. — said the Mist Swordsman.
— Call me brat one more time and I'll tear out your heart. — I used phasing to plunge my hand into Zabuza's chest, then pulled it out and placed it on his Chakra Core, — Tatsumaki Hiden: Dragon Healing. — I fully restored all the Mist Swordsman's wounds.
— Dude, where did you come from? — Zabuza looked at his fully healthy body in surprise, all the wounds even from the last fight with Kakashi healed completely.
— Don't you know where kids come from? I'd tell you, but I don't like vulgar language. — I said and approached Haku, — Come here,I'm going to wake Haku now, so the first thing she sees will be your nasty face, not my beautiful mask. — I lowered myself to the girl and placed two fingers on her temple to send a pulse of yin chakra into her nervous system and awaken her.
— Looks like you're a joker. — Zabuza also leaned slightly toward Haku, so when I awakened her, she saw her mentor.
— Zabuza-san… — Haku touched the swordsman's face.
— Haku, you're alive… — Zabuza smiled slightly with his fang-like grin.
— Just don't forget who you're alive thanks to. — I reminded her, and Haku saw me and became wary.
— Haku, the plans have changed; we no longer work for Gato. This kid saved you and me, and now he wants to make us some kind of offer, probably a business one. — Zabuza helped Haku up from the pavement and also raised his sword.
— That's right, I have a business proposal for you: I propose that we rob Gato, nothing less. — I pointed to the short guy that the clone brought to us, and Gato was terribly scared, having seen how I almost instantly dealt with a crowd of his thugs.
— I have a suspicion that Gato himself will actively try to stop us from robbing him. — said Zabuza.
— Oh, on the contrary, this short guy will actively help us and hand over all his money if he doesn't want to die a painful death. Gato, see these seeds? — I showed two seeds, one of which I sprouted with Mokuton and turned into a wooden spike the size of a spear, — And I will place this seed right in your chest; if you don't cooperate with us, I will sprout this seed and impale you from the inside. And you know what? This spike will be a living little tree that will keep you alive, so you won't die immediately but suffer for a very long time; it will grow inside you, tearing your flesh apart and making you experience hellish pain. — I phased and inserted the seed into this scoundrel's chest.
— You're quite the sadist, though this Gato fully deserves it. — said Zabuza.
— Now remember that I shoved my hand into your chest too. — I looked at Zabuza, — I also healed Haku, who had a hole in her chest. Guess if I left similar gifts there or not? — I tilted my head questioningly.
— So, we have no choice, help you or not? — clarified the Mist Swordsman.
— Exactly, you're on my hook, just like Gato, but as long as you all listen to me, you'll live, and if you don't, you'll die in agony. — I replied.
— Damn kid, and they still call me the Demon… — Zabuza said with a hint of resignation.
— Well, Gato, so you agree to give up all your riches so I don't kill you? And keep in mind, if you run away, this seed will still sprout; only if I pull it out of your carcass will you be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Choose: your life or all your money? — I said, and my clone, who was holding the old man, tightened his grip.
— I will cooperate, take the money, but don't kill me. — Gato answered fearfully.
— See, the client is ready to cooperate, I hope you are too? Your help will be a good support for me in the robbery, but if necessary, I can manage without you. — I looked at Zabuza.
— Alright, we'll help you… but what then, you're just going to kill us, right? — asked the Mist Swordsman.
— I promise to let you go, and I don't break promises; after all, I will be the clan leader, so I have to keep my word. We'll split the loot like this: a quarter to you, half to me, and a quarter to the Land of Waves, which suffered from Gato. Are these conditions acceptable?
— As if you left us any choice. — said Zabuza, — Kid, it's hard to believe you're from Konoha, since they tend to be such wimps there. You easily blackmail people by threatening them with punishment, and you kill dozens of people easily like a real shinobi. — said Zabuza with some respect.
— Thanks for the compliment. So, now you can go rest, and tomorrow I will find you and we'll go rob Gato.More precisely, you will go along with my clones, they will have scrolls, and they will be able to seal everything valuable. We'll meet tomorrow morning. Take Gato with you for now, later he will help you rob yourself, and if he doesn't, then he will understand what it means to be impaled alive. — my clone passed this to Zabuza Gato, whom he lifted by the scruff.
— How will you find us then? — asked the swordsman.
— I can track the seeds I placed in your bodies, as long as you are within a radius of three hundred kilometers, I'll know exactly where you are… but if you try to run away by leaving this radius, you'll die immediately.
— I see… — Zabuza rubbed his chest with dissatisfaction.
— Okay, I'm going to my team. — I said and disappeared.
— Zabuza-san, what should we do? — Haku asked, putting on the Oinin mask.
— We'll have to play along with this kid for now. — answered the Mist Swordsman.
Kakashi, Mito, and Sakura stood near Sasuke, who was sitting on the concrete with an almost depleted chakra reserve; after all, he recently awakened the second tomoe Sharingan here and used almost all his chakra for that, not to mention his previous fight with Haku.
— Naruto, what happened back there? There was a crowd of people, and then they just disappeared. — Sakura asked.
— Didn't you see how I… oh, you were probably looking at Sasuke and missed everything, right? — I clarified, and Sakura averted her gaze, — Well, if you missed it all, that's your problem. Well, we can go back to Tazuna's home, I've solved the problems with Gato and Zabuza. Sakura, help Sasuke get home. — I said.
— Sasuke-kun, let me help. — Sakura said happily, but Sasuke stood up himself and said:
— I'll go on my own. — Uchiha swayed slightly.
— Eh… hopeless guy, it seems the Uchiha clan is not destined to rise from the ashes again. Let's go already. — I went ahead and took off my mask to scratch the spot where my horns grow.
— Naruto, what were you negotiating there with the rogue shinobi-defector? — Kakashi asked seriously as he caught up with me.
— What, am I not allowed to talk to shinobi from another village anymore? — I asked.
— You probably don't know who Zabuza is. He's not just a runaway shinobi. Before leaving the Hidden Mist Village, he tried to overthrow the Fourth Mizukage — Yagura Karatachi, by staging a military coup… but he failed, and Zabuza fled. I suspect the Mist Swordsman worked for Gato to raise money for a second coup attempt. — Kakashi replied.
— Considering that this Fourth Mizukage was the inspiration behind the idea to exterminate clans with Enhanced Genes in the Land of Water, it's a pity Yagura's coup attempt failed. — I said thoughtfully.
— Now Zabuza is one of the most wanted Kirigakure defectors, so I'd like to know what kind of dealings you have with this nukenin? — the jonin asked insistently.
— Hmm… well, I said I want to rob Gato, so I made a deal with Zabuza and Haku about taking down this bastard Gato, he wasn't going to pay them anyway, and I recently saved both their lives, so they agreed to help me for a quarter of the sum… well, if they had refused, I would have killed them and sold their bodies on the black market… by the way, tomorrow I should give Zabuza those two chuunin I blew up in the puddle, let them slave too. — I remembered the two losers whose bodies I also planned to sell.
— Naruto, so what happened to that bunch of bandits who came with Gato? — the pink-haired girl asked again.
— Sakura, well, what do you think happened to them, huh? Maybe they all learned a stealth technique and suddenly became invisible—how's that theory? — I answered mockingly.
— Naruto killed them all, using a technique he stole from me, and then dumped the bodies into the sea. — Kakashi said with irritation and some resentment, displeased that I copied his technique, which was indeed difficult to do without the Hoshigan.
— You killed them? — Sakura repeated with slight disbelief, — All those people?
— Sakura,Actually, we are shinobi, we were trained to be assassins since childhood, or did you go to the Shinobi Academy to do what? To hold circle dances and make friends? Still, among those I killed, there were only bandits, scoundrels, thugs, and cutthroats who never used the words "honesty" and "goodness" in their lives because they didn't know what they meant. I decided to put what was left of these scavengers to good use, namely to throw their corpses into the sea to feed the fish. — I said, and two katanas appeared in my hands, which I had taken from two samurai bodyguards of Gato.
— Naruto, what are you doing? — Kakashi asked.
— I want to repeat Raikiri, channeling Lightning chakra through the blades… yeah, just as I thought, any random sword won't do for this. — I said as two katanas simply heated up, got red hot, and then melted, spreading as liquid metal on the ground. — Alright, let's try Ryujin. — I took out my Dragon Blade, into which I inserted a yellow dragon sphere, and repeated the Raikiri technique again, which enveloped the sword in electrical plasma, extending it by about twenty centimeters.
— Not bad, now I'm even doubting whether I should reforged this sword or leave it as is? — I pointed the blade to the sky and released electrical plasma in the form of lightning, whose contours resembled a dragon. Considering that I will seal all five pearls into myself anyway, I think I'll need to reforge the Dragon Blade to turn it into a proper sword… and I can also examine Zabuza's cleaver, maybe I'll learn something useful and can use it in the new sword.
— Oh, Naruto, you're going to have so much explaining to do to the Hokage. — said Kakashi.
— I don't understand what you're talking about, Kakashi-lame-sensei. — I put the blade back into my spatial pocket and continued walking toward Tazuna's house.
— So, Naruto, you'll be taking money from Gato and, of course, sharing it with your team and commander, right? — Kakashi inquired.
— Ha-ha, well, you sure said something stupid. — I responded with a smirk, — Why on earth would I share with you? This isn't the official payment for the mission our team took; it's my extra side income, which you have no part in. The plan to rob Gato was mine, I carried it out too. And what was the team doing? Mito was trying to kill me, Sakura was spreading rumors about me, and Sasuke was training to walk on water, then got beaten up by Haku, so I had to save and heal the Uchiha. And you, Kakashi-lame-sensei, were only trying to kill my future worker-accomplices Zabuza and Haku, and you almost succeeded. Haku nearly kicked the bucket from your Raikiri to the chest. Besides, I won't even get all the loot from Gato, only half; Zabuza will get a quarter, and I'll give another quarter to Tazuna's family so that this money serves as humanitarian aid and helps get the Land of Waves out of its plight. — I replied.
— Didn't work… well, whatever. — Kakashi said, looking like he wanted money for nothing. — And I think, Naruto, that you'll give the money not so much because of the Land of Waves' poverty but more because of Lady Tsunami. — added the jonin.
— You're right. Tsunami and I have become close, and I plan to make her one of my wives when I can officially establish a clan. And the main thing is, when I invited her to the harem, she didn't laugh at me or throw tantrums like some others. On the contrary, she approved the idea of polygamy and said that one woman can't satisfy my appetites—that even she couldn't. — I said.
— Naruto, let's skip the intimate details… and your bragging. — Kakashi said.
— Well, don't be jealous. If you were less passive, Kakashi-lame-sensei, and read your erotic book less, maybe you could've gotten a share instead of me. — I said as we approached Tazuna's house.