The group continues walking until they reach the port, where they have to ride a boat to arrive at the Land of Waves.
Hinata and Satsuki were in awe after seeing the beauty of the ocean for the first time, while Naruto remained indifferent to it since this wasn't the first time seeing the ocean.
As they are about to get close to the Land of Wave, they are able to see the bridge that Tazuna is currently building despite the thick fog.
"Wow," Hinata and Satsuki said as they looked at the huge bridges.
Tazuna's eyes shined with pride, but he seriously said in a whisper, "Be quiet. We don't want Gato's man to know our location."
Hinata and Satsuki nod their heads before watching their surroundings.
Naruto was also staring at the bridge with some interest, but quite different from the other two. Naruto's interest lies in the intention behind Gato's action, but since he didn't have enough data to guess, he decides to keep these thoughts to himself.
After leaving the boat, the group continues walking while being on guard for any kind of attack, especially with the thick fog around them blocking their view.
Hinata already activated her Byakugan and surveyed the surrounding area for any possible sneak attack like they had previously experienced.
Hinata wasn't the only one being on guard; so was Satsuki. She already learned the danger of the mission, so she was more alert compared to before.
"We're about an hour and a half away from my home," Tazuna informs the group as they continue their journey.
As the group continued moving, Hinata slightly frowned, which attracted Fugaku's attention.
"Sensei," Hinata said while looking at Fugaku.
"I know," Fugaku responded. He already senses someone following the group, and compared to the Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist, the one following them is many times stronger.
"How many?" Fugaku asks.
"There are two of them. One is further away, while the other is following more closely," Hinata reports.
"Stay on guard," Fugaku ordered his other two students, who had been listening the entire time.
The group continues but is more alert than ever, and Tizuna is even staring at the surrounding area as if he were searching for the people who are following them.
"Everyone get down!" Fugaku yelled out loud while grabbing Tazuna down as a large blade soared through the air where their heads had been and embedded itself in a tree a few meters from them.
A man appears standing on the handle of the sword. This person had spiky black hair and bandages covering the lower half of his face. The only piece of clothing on his upper body is the arm warmers on his arms.
"Fugaku Uchiha of the Wicked Eye. It's no wonder the Demon Brothers failed," the man said calmly.
"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist," Fugaku said, recognizing the enemy in front of him.
"The one and only," Zabuza responded, and his eyes stared at Tazuna. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. If you hand over the old man, I'll allow you and your genin to leave quietly," Zabuza added coldly.
"I'm afraid that isn't going to happen," Fugaku responded plainly while his eyes turned crimson red with three black tomoe marks around the pupil.
Naruto secretly glances at Fugaku before his attention once again focuses on Zabuza.
"Alright. I can do it that way. I don't mind having the head of one of the Third Great Ninja War Legends," Zabuza said while his hand was already in a seal position.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu"
A thick mist begins to gather, engulfing and covering everything in sight.
Satsuki and Hinata immediately pull out their kunai and guard Tazuna while staring at their surroundings. Hinata's Byakugan eyes are unable to see where Zabuza is right now thanks to Zabuza's ninjutsu.
Just as they were surveying the surrounding area to keep an eye out for a surprise attack, they felt an intense killing intent that took their breath away.
Satsuki's and Hinata's bodies were trembling uncontrollably, and their hands started to sweat thanks to the uncomfortable feeling they felt right now.
'This feeling... I can't... I haven't felt like this since Satsuki's thoughts and her mind flooded with memories of that bloody night illuminated by the moonlight.
Hinata, on the other hand, started to remember the day she was kidnapped by the Cloud Ninja and the killing intent she felt that day, and she almost fell to her knees as fear started to attack her entire being.
Naruto just calmly stared at the surroundings, and the killing intent he felt wasn't a problem since he had already experienced far stronger killing intent than Zabuza.
Naruto himself had far stronger killing intent than the enemy in front of them.
Though he had to acknowledge that Zabuza started to make him interested in fighting him to death, especially using a sword.
"Satsuki, Hinata, Naruto, don't be afraid! I won't let my comrades die!" Fugaku reassured his student. His voice cut through the mist and its effects as his students visibly eased up.
Naruto almost rolled his eyes after hearing Fugaku's declaration, but he controlled himself. He had confidence that he could easily defeat both Fugaku and Zabuza combined in a fight, and the reason why he didn't make a move against Zabuza is because he wanted to see Hinata's and Satsuki's reactions.
Naruto knows that his two teammates had immense potential, and in order for their potential to be realized in a short period of time, the battle to the death would be the key for that.
Zabuza laughed after hearing Fugaku's declaration.
Suddenly he appears in the middle of the group and in front of Tazuna with his executioner's blade raised in the air and in position to split the elderly man in half.
Just as Zabuza was about to cut Tazuna, Fugaku suddenly appeared in front of him and stabbed Zabuza with a kunai.
Yet before Tazuna celebrated for his life being saved, he saw a silhouette behind Fugaku.
"Father behind you!" Satsuki yelled out.
In front of Fugaku, the 'Zabuza' he stabbed turned into water, and when Fugaku turned his head to his back, he saw Zabuza already in action to cut horizontally.
Zabuza successfully cut Fugaku, or so he thought, as Fugaku's severed body turned into water, just like what happened to himself earlier.
'Water Clone?! 'Zabuza thought to himself.
Zabuza suddenly felt pain on his right side as Fugaku kicked him with his enhanced leg, sending Zabuza towards the tree... or that was supposed to happen when Zabuza turned into water once again.
Fugaku wasn't surprised about it and instead stared at the specific tree. At the top of one of the branches of the tree, there was Zabuza staring down on Team 13.
"You're quicker to run than I expected," Fugaku calmly said.
"It was just a warm-up," Zabuza responded. "Now I will go all out."
Zabuza quickly dashed, which was followed by Fugaku. Using his Executioner Blade, Zabuza tries to cut Fugaku, but the latter quickly parries it using the kunai in his hands.
Yet despite how much Fugaku tries, he is unable to get closer to Zabuza, who clearly knows his advantages against Fugaku. Seeing this, Fugaku quickly disengaged and gained some distance between him and Zabuza.
Zabuza tries to prevent this, but his eyes immediately widen as he sees Fugaku's action.
'Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu'
Fugaku breathes out a fireball the size of a regular house and flying towards Zabuza at incredible speed.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" Zabuza yelled out loud before releasing a torrent of water aimed at the fireball, creating a large volume of steam.
Fugaku uses the steam as cover to close the distance between him and Zabuza in a short period of time. When the distance between the two of them gets closer, Fugaku immediately tries to stab Zabuza on his right side, but Zabuza notices and quickly uses his sword to block the attack and launch a counterattack at the same time.
Fugaku manages to duck and tries to sweep Zabuza's legs, intending to disturb the latter's balance, but Zabuza just quickly jumps back to dodge the attack.
Before Zabuza's feet touched the ground, out of nowhere he saw in the corner of his eyes another Fugaku, who appeared out of nowhere and was already in action, kicking him in his liver.
'Damn! 'Zabuza thought, but he was unable to defend or dodge the attack.
Zabuza quickly found himself sent flying towards the tree. Fugaku quickly dashed towards Zabuza, but the latter had already made a quicker move and balanced himself before distancing himself from Fugaku.
Using the mist as a cover to hide himself from Fugaku.
Fugaku quickly surveys the surrounding area and even checks his students' location, especially Tazuna, in case Zabuza made his way towards him.
Yet Fugaku was unable to find Zabuza and completely hide himself.
Zabuza currently hides himself in the tree closer to Fugaku. Zabuza knows that he can't fulfill his mission if he is unable to deal with Fugaku, who is his greatest obstacle right now.