Meanwhile, Satsuki, who jumps down and arrives at her destination quickly, walks towards Fugaku and Hinata while secretly surveying the area for the presence of Naruto.
"Satsuki, where is Naruto?" Fugaku asks, and beneath his voice there is confusion that only those who focus can hear.
Satsuki's expression turns to confusion before turning dark.
'So he didn't appear here either? 'She thought while also cursing inwardly.
"Sensei, he didn't come back to Tazuna's home. I'd assumed that he already went ahead of me and arrived here early," Satsuki responded.
Before Fugaku could respond, the three of them heard a scream. They immediately rush to the source, and what they find surprises them, but it doesn't shock them.
Tazuna's workers are all scattered, and they appear to have been attacked. Fugaku frowned after seeing the mist slowly cover the area, and he already knew the people behind it.
"It seems he's back," Fugaku whispers, and his two students draw their kunai while Fugaku creates two Shadow Clones to guard Tazuna.
Three approaching silhouettes become visible in the mist. The two are bigger than the other.
One of them is Zabuza wearing his usual outfit. The other person is a girl who is a similar age as Satsuki and Hinata and was wearing a mask with a blue pattern on the edges with the symbol of the Hidden Mist. This girl is also wearing a light-colored kimono with wide sleeves tied neatly with a dark sash around her waist.
The last person was a Black-skinned man wearing dark sunglasses. He is also wearing a white short-sleeve shirt, dark slim pants, and red shoes.
"Sensei, the girl was the second person following us back then," Hinata whispers, and her Byakugan is already activated.
"Thanks," Fugaku responded while not letting his eyes off the three people.
"Where's the white-haired brat?" Zabuza asks while looking at the group.
"I will answer your question if you answer mine," Fugaku said, and before Zabuza could even respond, he continued, "Who is the person next to you? A backup? I didn't think someone like you called a backup after our first meeting."
"Gato's called him in case the situation turns awry, but I personally think his presence isn't needed," Zabuza responds before adding in a cold tone, "Answer my question."
"He's not here yet, but he's on his way, but I don't think his presence is needed to defeat you," Fugaku responds, challenging Zabuza.
Zabuza narrowed his eyes, and he brought out his Executioner Blade from his back. Before Zabuza made a move, he made eye contact with the
"I won't make a move unless necessary," the Black-skinned man carelessly said while raising two of his arms in the air.
Zabuza's eyes then turned towards Haku, and he coldly said, "Just as planned, you can handle those two girls while I deal with Fugaku myself."
"Yes, Master Zabuza," Haku calmly responds while jumping away. Hinata and Satsuki followed suit.
The three know that the fight between Fugaku and Zabuza is something they can't join in to help.
Fugaku suddenly appears in front of Zabuza, making the black-skinned man interested in Fugaku's capabilities, which haven't gone unnoticed by Fugaku.
Fugaku heard the conversation between him and Zabuza, but that doesn't mean he let his guard down against this unknown man. He already mentally commanded one of his clones to keep an eye on the man in case he makes a move towards his students and Tazuna.
Fugaku quickly thrust his kunai towards Zabuza's chest, but Zabuza reacted much faster and used the Executioner Blade to block the attack.
"You do realize that she was enough to deal with those brats. They are merely newly promoted genin, while she was on another level far above them," Zabuza said while overpowering Fugaku.
"As I'd said before, you already have your hands full with me, so I would advise you not to allow yourself to get distracted," Fugaku responds, smirking. The two jump back from each other. They stand in silence.
"Let's see about that," Zabuza responds and launches a sword slash towards Fugaku, which the latter easily dodges and parries the attack.
"It seems like your previous defeat didn't make you learn the difference between us!" Zabuza yelled out loud as he swung his sword with the intent of cutting Fugaku in half.
Just as the sword is about to reach Fugaku's body, suddenly it is replaced by a piece of wood, which is cut horizontally by the Executioner Blade.
"I'll admit that I allowed my emotion to control me back then, causing my defeat, but now it's different. Unlike before, I'll take you seriously now, and you wouldn't have had a chance of winning this battle," Fugaku said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"We'll see about that," Zabuza responded, not taking Fugaku's statement seriously.
Zabuza knows that the current Fugaku was a far cry compared to the infamous one who became well known in the Third Great Ninja War, and while this battle might be quite difficult, Zabuza still had greater chances of winning than Fugaku.
Fugaku didn't continue his response, and smoke suddenly appeared on his hand. The moment the smoke disappeared, a tanto with a black blade appeared.
Zabuza grins after seeing this, and the two quickly dash towards each other to continue their clashes once again.
Meanwhile, in a different area of the bridge, Haku, Satsuki, and Hinata are standing in silence, preparing to clash at any moment.
"I'm very sorry, but I must do as Master Zabuza orders," Haku calmly said, sounding genuinely apologetic.
Hinata's eyes slightly narrowed as the voice of the enemy in front of them felt familiar for some reason, but she quickly snapped back to reality after hearing Satsuki.
"What are you apologizing for?" Satsuki said while running towards Haku alongside Hinata.
"You are the one going down here!" She added. Hinata quickly throws a bunch of shuriken towards Haku while Satsuki weaves a series of hand signs.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu." Small balls of fire emerged from Satsuki's mouth and set the shuriken ablaze and flew straight towards Haku.
Haku dodges the attack easily, but just as she is about to launch her own attack, she sees Hinata launching her own attack.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" Hinata yells as she sends multiple balls of water flying towards Haku, which focuses the latter on dodging the attack.
Satsuki quickly closed the distance between the two of them and sent a powerful kick, which Haku blocked, but it wasn't as easy as she expected.
'She is faster than I expected,' Haku thought to herself.
'I thought I could use such an opportunity to finally land an attack towards her,' Satsuki thought.
Haku and Satsuki didn't had chances to exchanges blow when Haku force to dodges after Hinata who also appeared close by launch a sneak attack.
This time Haku was barely able to dodge the attack, and her eyes stared at Hinata for a moment longer before sending senbons towards the two.
'Her presence is far too weak that it makes her incredibly hard to sense,' Haku thought before getting close to Satsuki and launching a punch towards her face.
Haku already guessed that in terms of taijutsu, Hinata is far superior compared to Satsuki. The reason for this guess was the fact that Hinata had the Byakugan, the infamous doujutsu of the Hyuga Clan, which is known for its Taijutsu Style Gentle Fist.
Haku didn't waste time dealing with Hinata in close combat but instead attacked Satsuki, who hadn't awakened her clan's infamous doujutsu yet.
Satsuki uses one of her hands to redirect Haku's punch and at the same time launch her own attack targeting Haku's chest.
Haku quickly took action and grabbed Satsuki's punch and used it to send Satsuki flying, but before Haku could even take a breath, Hinata suddenly launched an attack targeting the chakra point in Haku's hand.
Haku manages to gain enough distance that Hinata's arms are unable to touch her.
'It seems I had to eliminate Hinata first if I wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible,' Haku thought while sending a kick towards Hinata.
Meanwhile, as Fugaku and Zabuza fought, a shower of sparks rained down in their area as the two ninja blades clashed.
In the early part of the fight, Fugaku had a hard time exchanging blows with swords against Zabuza. Fugaku wasn't a swordsman by nature, and while he knows a little swordsmanship, it's still small compared to Zabuza, a swordmaster.
But as time passes, the two start to equalize as Fugaku copies Zabuza using his Sharingan. Not only that, but Fugaku slowly pressured Zabuza that the latter was the first one who was injured in their clashes.
"Do you finally realize the fact that I will be the one winning this battle?" Fugaku said in a matter-of-fact tone, staring at Zabuza, who frowned and glanced at the wounds in his arm.
While he did think he was going to win, Fugaku knows he still had to handle the unknown man that was the backup of Gato. Fugaku felt that the Black-skinned man was an incredibly powerful fighter but was unable to remember information surrounding the man.