The clash of steel echoed louder as Kakashi and Zabuza circled each other, the mist swirling thicker around them.
Kakashi's Sharingan flickered, tracking the slightest shifts in Zabuza's posture.
Step by step, their feet touched the edge of the lake, the water dark and still beneath the fog.
Without hesitation, Kakashi spread his chakra evenly beneath his feet, the surface rippling as he began to walk atop the water. His movements were deliberate, cautious, but confident.
Zabuza mirrored him effortlessly, chakra flowing with lethal grace.
The two warriors faced off on the lake, blades gleaming cold under the gray sky.
Kaguya's eyes widened. The fog twisted with chakra, rippling like waves, making every step uncertain.
Kakashi lunged, swinging his kunai in a sharp arc.
Zabuza met the strike, parrying and stepping back lightly, his massive blade skimming just above the water, sending small sprays with each motion.
The battle was fluid, both combatants moving like predators on the surface, every strike calculated.
Unaware, Kakashi followed Zabuza's lead deeper onto the lake.
The water beneath them grew darker, more ominous.
Suddenly, Zabuza's blade swept low, cutting through the water's surface.
Kakashi barely leapt back as the lake exploded in a spray of water, forming a shimmering cage around him—a spiraling prison of liquid, tightening fast.
Kakashi's eyes flickered in surprise.
Trapped.
Water surged up, thick and unyielding.
No air, no room to move.
But Kakashi's chakra flared, reinforcing his lungs, keeping him alive beneath the crushing pressure.
"Well would you look at that, so much for your famous all powerful eye, ay Kakashi" Zabuza remarked, his one had placed firmly on the water prison keeping the jutsu at hold.
"Well… kids, it's about time to decide. Liver. Lungs. Spine. Clavicle vein. Jugular. Kidneys. Heart. Brain."
Zabuza's voice slithered through the mist like a predator circling its prey. His gaze drifted lazily toward the shoreline, where vague shadows hovered near the treeline.
Kaguya's brow furrowed. Her Byakugan pulsed, the veins around her eyes bulging as she focused, trying to pierce through the unnatural haze. But the fog wasn't ordinary—it was thick with chakra, twisting unnaturally, shifting like a living thing.
It's not clear… she thought, struggling to focus on the shapes ahead. His chakra's there... but distorted.
She could barely make him out—just a flickering silhouette behind a wall of rippling chakra-infused mist, like a shadow behind warped glass. Still, it was enough.
"He's at the lake's edge," Kaguya whispered, voice taut with concentration. "I can't see everything... but I can see him. Vaguely. He's holding the jutsu."
Suddenly, her eyes snapped wide. "Down!"
Kaguya lunged forward without hesitation, hands slamming into Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna's backs, shoving them to the ground just as a massive blade screamed through the air above their heads—a giant cleaver of death slicing through the mist with a hungry hiss.
CLANG!
The blade lodged itself into a nearby tree, quivering with force.
Sasuke hit the dirt and rolled, instincts already surging to life. Before the blade had even finished humming in the air, he was back on his feet, hand moving in a blur. With a flick of his wrist, he flung a kunai straight toward the shadowy figure near the water's edge.
Thwip—THUNK!
A solid hit.
The figure staggered. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and confusion—not at the impact, but at the reaction. Instead of blood, water burst from the wound in a violent spray, splashing across the ground.
"A water clone!" Sasuke growled, teeth clenched. "Damn it!"
The illusion collapsed in a splash, dissipating into the mist.
Kaguya's Byakugan pulsed again, veins bulging faintly around her eyes as she strained to pierce the dense chakra fog. "He's masking his chakra... distorting everything. Even the mist—he's using it to hide from my sight."
Behind them, Sakura helped Tazuna to his feet, eyes wide, hands trembling. "We have to keep moving—he's herding us!"
"No," Sasuke muttered, narrowing his eyes as he pulled another kunai. "He's hunting us."
And just then, a faint ripple in the water behind them—
Kaguya's instincts screamed. She reacted on sheer reflex, yanking Tazuna hard to the left.
CLANG!
Steel met steel.
Her kunai clashed against a massive, cleaver-like blade, the impact jarring her entire body. The force of it hurled her backward, feet skidding across the muddy bank as she barely managed to keep hold of her weapon. Tazuna crashed to the ground behind her with a grunt, protected only by the split-second decision she'd made.
The attacker stepped forward from the mist—a perfect copy of Zabuza, water dripping from its skin, eyes just as cold. A water clone. But it didn't matter. The threat was real.
Kaguya's chest heaved. Her heart thundered in her ears. She hadn't even heard him come.
Too fast. Too strong...
Still, she raised her kunai again.
The clone lunged.
She dodged to the side, the blade missing her head by inches, but the pressure of its swing cut a groove into the earth. She retaliated instantly—chakra surging to her fingertips—and struck at the clone's wrist.
Two strikes. Four.
The chakra connection pulsed—but not strong enough to disable it. This wasn't like sparring in the Academy. The clone recovered immediately and swept its foot toward her midsection.
She flipped backward, landing hard, just barely keeping herself upright.
Tazuna was still behind her, scrambling to his feet.
I can't let it get to him.
The clone charged again.
She took a breath. Focus.
Veins around her eyes flared—Byakugan igniting.
Suddenly the mist shifted. The outline of the clone sharpened in her sight—its chakra network a web of light. Imperfect, diluted, but there.
She stepped forward.
"Eight Trigrams—Two Palms!"
She struck. Her fingertips met the clone's chest with precision, her chakra lancing forward. This time, she felt it break through—disrupting flow points inside the water-crafted body.
"Four palms! Eight palms!"
The clone reeled, unsteady.
"Sixteen palms!"
Her final strikes landed like a drumbeat. The clone wobbled—then exploded into a splash of water and mist, soaking the ground where it stood.
Kaguya staggered, panting, soaked and trembling, her arms burning from the exertion. Her eyes scanned the treeline.
Still more chakra in the mist. The real Zabuza was out there.
But she'd held her ground.
Tazuna looked up from the ground, wide-eyed. "Kid… you—"
Kaguya cut him off with a sharp gesture. "Stay behind me. Don't move unless I say."
And then—
Sasuke didn't wait. "That's all we need."
He moved first—a blur against the mist, closing the distance with silent speed. Sakura stayed behind, protecting Tazuna, her eyes darting nervously around the haze.
Zabuza chuckled. "Guess it's time to pop the balloon."
A ripple in the mist—and a water clone burst forth from behind them, its massive blade already descending.
Sakura gasped, freezing—but Kaguya was faster.
She stepped forward, spinning gracefully. "Eight Trigrams—!"
Her fingers glowed with chakra as she slammed them into the clone's chest—two strikes, four, eight, sixteen—until it exploded into harmless spray, dissolving around her.
"Not bad," Zabuza muttered. "Even through the mist, huh? You're not just a pretty little eye."
"She's not alone," came Kakashi's voice.
The water prison trembled. A second later—shatter!—he burst free in a rush of collapsing liquid, kunai drawn, Sharingan burning.
Kaguya's earlier strike had weakened Zabuza's grip enough. His hand trembled where her palm had landed—nerve pathways disrupted, just as she'd intended.
Kakashi landed beside her, soaked but steady. "Nice work."
Zabuza growled, yanking his blade free. "Tch. You little freaks."
Kaguya stood still, the Byakugan's glow flickering faintly. The fog still danced with chakra, but her gaze never left Zabuza's shape—blurry, warped, but there.
"I don't need to see clearly to hit you," she said quietly.
The mist thickened again—another clone forming in its depths.
But Kakashi stepped forward, calm now, the familiar presence of the copy ninja restored. "You're not the only one who can play in the dark."
His own water clone surged forward—and the next phase of the battle began.
Kakashi stood tall beside Kaguya, steam rising from his soaked form, one eye burning bright with the Sharingan.
Zabuza's grip on his blade faltered for only a second—but that was enough.
"You copy my moves," Zabuza growled, "but you'll never match the killing intent behind them."
Kakashi tilted his head slightly, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his voice was calm. "No need to match it. I just have to stop you."
And then—he vanished.
Zabuza's eyes narrowed—too late.
Kakashi's clone struck from behind, water spiraling off its fists as it connected with a hard blow to Zabuza's side, sending him stumbling across the lake.
Zabuza skidded, planted his feet with chakra, and growled in frustration. The water swirled in angry ripples as the fog grew even thicker, chakra saturating the air.
Kaguya's Byakugan flared, straining. Zabuza's chakra signature warped and blurred. It was like watching a candle through rippling heat—there, but barely stable.
It's getting harder to track him…
"Kakashi-sensei," she called, "he's circling back—fast!"
Kakashi's eye flicked toward her, then spun to his left—just in time to block another blow.
Steel clashed violently. Sparks flew.
Their duel reignited.
Kakashi moved with mirror-like precision. Each time Zabuza lunged, Kakashi matched him—parried, twisted, countered. He didn't just react—he anticipated.
"I've seen it once," Kakashi said as their blades locked, "and that's enough."
Zabuza's eyes widened. "What...?"
A split-second later, Zabuza moved—and so did Kakashi, perfectly in sync.
The same hand seals. The same jutsu.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Two dragons erupted from the lake—twin serpents of churning liquid, howling as they collided mid-air. The sheer pressure burst outward, shattering the fog briefly, exposing the battlefield.
Sasuke shielded his eyes. "What the hell…?"
Kaguya's eyes adjusted instantly. The blast had cleared enough mist for her to see it: Kakashi was controlling the tempo. *Copying his every move—*no, getting ahead of him.
Zabuza stumbled, the edge gone from his strikes. His chest heaved from exertion.
Kakashi advanced, step by step, forcing him back.
"You're not fighting me anymore," Kakashi said, lifting a single hand sign. "You're fighting yourself."
Zabuza snarled and lunged one last time—but Kakashi was ready.
"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"
A massive spiral of water roared from Kakashi's position, slamming into Zabuza like a battering ram. He was hurled backward, his sword flying from his grasp, crashing through the water like a ragdoll before slamming into the shallows.
He didn't rise
The lake was quiet again.
Zabuza's body floated near the shore, barely conscious, his limbs trembling from chakra exhaustion. Kakashi stood panting, his kunai still raised, his Sharingan slowly dimming.
Sakura exhaled shakily. "Is… is it over?"
Kaguya didn't answer.
Her Byakugan was still active, eyes scanning the mist's remnants as it finally began to thin.
And then—movement.
A figure darted in from the treeline, light-footed but just a little too quick, too theatrical.
Porcelain mask. Long hair tied neatly. A standard-issue hunter-nin outfit.
But something was off.
The figure landed beside Zabuza with a splash, nearly slipping in the shallow water before regaining balance with a stiff motion. Their hands hesitated for a beat before checking Zabuza's pulse.
"...ANBU?" Sakura asked, uncertain.
Kaguya narrowed her eyes. The figure's chakra… it was young. Too clean. Too controlled. Nothing like the hardened presence she'd expect from a real Kirigakure assassin.
The masked shinobi fumbled with a pouch, then produced a pair of senbon.
"I-I'll finish him," the figure said, voice carefully flattened, but with a faint waver beneath it. "He knows too much… Kirigakure protocol…"
They jabbed the senbon into Zabuza's neck with deliberate slowness, almost as if checking a manual in their head.
Zabuza's body went limp.
Too limp.
Kakashi watched, expression unreadable. His visible eye flicked from the masked figure to Zabuza's body, then to Kaguya.
The girl gave a subtle shake of her head.
That wasn't standard technique. The pressure points hit were real—but not fatal. Temporary paralysis at best.
The hunter-nin stood and hoisted Zabuza over their shoulder. "I'll… return him to the Mist. This is normal procedure. Thank you for… your cooperation."
Their bow was shallow. Quick. Almost polite.
Too polite.
The stranger turned and began walking away at an awkward pace before vanishing into the treeline with a puff of mist—too much mist for such a short departure.
Kakashi didn't move to stop them.
Sasuke watched the figure go, his eyes sharp and silent. He didn't say a word, but his clenched fists and furrowed brow made it clear—he didn't buy it.
Sakura stepped closer to Kakashi. "Should we really just let them take him?"
Kakashi kept his gaze on the trees. "No… but picking that fight now would only make things worse."
Kaguya finally deactivated her Byakugan, her vision slowly returning to normal. "He's not dead," she said quietly.
Kakashi gave her a faint nod. "I know."
The wind rustled the surface of the lake again, but the fog had begun to fade.
The battle was over—for now.
But something told them all this wasn't the last they'd see of the hunter-nin… or Zabuza Momochi.
…