The answer was, of course, impossible. Zabuza himself likely never expected the other party to agree. He said it only to apply psychological pressure.
As expected, a battle broke out immediately. The ninjutsu duel between Kakashi and Zabuza was extremely intense and could be considered one of the most exciting and representative battles in the early stages of Naruto.
Being right there, Ethan, who could act as an in-battle spectator, watched with great satisfaction until he was fully satisfied.
As a side note, Kakashi truly lived up to his reputation as the man of fifty fifty. He could have a difficult, evenly matched fight with almost anyone. However, in this battle with Zabuza, he clearly did it on purpose.
Ethan always felt that Kakashi had deliberately allowed himself to be trapped, wanting to see whether Naruto, Sasuke, and the others could handle the situation. After all, he did not believe that a mere Water Prison Jutsu could truly trap Kakashi.
Because he was too absorbed in watching, Ethan almost forgot that he was actually part of the mission. Fortunately, neither Sasuke nor Naruto was the type to ask for help. When facing trouble, they always chose to confront it themselves.
As a result, even without Ethan's reminder or assistance, Naruto and the others performed very well and successfully rescued Kakashi. Kakashi then showed the strength expected of an elite jonin and quickly defeated Zabuza. He had clearly been holding back earlier.
From Zabuza's appearance to his defeat, not much time passed. Combined with how sudden everything was, almost no one noticed that Ethan had been watching the entire time without doing anything or even saying much.
At this moment, Ethan folded his arms and thought to himself whether he should stir things up a bit after Haku appeared.
Just as he was considering this, his body moved on its own. Before Haku could use senbon to put Zabuza into a state of suspended animation, Ethan threw a shuriken and forced Haku, who was hidden in the shadows, to reveal himself.
Kakashi glanced at Ethan. He had already noticed that this young genius possessed excellent sensory abilities. This was already the second time Ethan had been the first to detect an enemy hidden nearby.
"With such sharp senses, could he have already discovered Aoba and the others?"
Kakashi thought about it and felt it was unlikely. No matter how outstanding Ethan was, he was still a genin. Even if his strength exceeded that level, experience still required time to accumulate. Aoba and Raidō were experienced ninja, and since they had kept a sufficient distance, Kakashi believed Ethan would not have noticed them.
As for the person who appeared in front of them now, he seemed to be a Mist ninja.
Haku was also troubled at this moment. He had intended to impersonate a Mist pursuit squad member to rescue Zabuza, but his presence was directly exposed, forcing him to reveal himself. If he continued with the disguise now, he would have to face Zabuza directly.
"In the end, is it still going to be a fight?"
Or should he reveal his identity and join Zabuza to defeat the Leaf ninja?
Naruto and Sasuke tightly gripped their kunai and stared warily at the stranger. Sasuke also took the chance to glance at Ethan again.
"He did not act earlier because he sensed someone hiding in the shadows?"
During the previous battle, Ethan had barely shown any presence. Unlike Sakura, his strength was clearly outstanding, yet he remained silent the entire time, which felt strange in hindsight.
But when Haku appeared, everyone naturally assumed that Ethan had been guarding against hidden enemies, which explained why he had not acted earlier.
Even Kakashi thought so at this moment.
"A Mist ninja?"
Haku was about to speak when Zabuza answered first.
"Alright, Haku, take off that deceiving mask."
Zabuza's words directly revealed to Kakashi and the others that this person was his comrade, meaning an enemy.
"So there is an accomplice."
Kakashi realized the situation was becoming unfavorable. In his fight with Zabuza, he had continuously used high level ninjutsu and activated the Sharingan, greatly depleting his chakra. If the battle continued, he likely would not be able to use large scale techniques like the Great Waterfall Technique.
Just as Kakashi was worrying, a sharp sound rang out, like a blade being swiftly drawn. Immediately after, a figure appeared behind Haku.
The speed Ethan displayed shocked even Zabuza. At this moment, Zabuza was in poor condition. Even with the opponent right in front of him, he did not have the strength to help Haku. In fact, Ethan's speed was so fast that Zabuza did not even have time to warn him.
The blade flashed, and Haku's body was cut cleanly in two by Ethan's short sword, then dissolved into water and scattered across the ground.
A Water Clone.
The Land of Waves had abundant water, making Water Release techniques especially easy to use. Ninja did not need to create water from nothing. They only needed to manipulate the water in the environment.
Water Release users in such terrain gained enhanced speed and power, which often made enemies struggle.
However, this applied only to ordinary ninja. Ethan did not care that he had cut down a clone. Before acting, he already knew it was a clone. Otherwise, he would not have sliced it in half, but instead would have targeted vital points with precise strikes.
After dispelling the water clone, Ethan used the Body Flicker Technique again, dodging countless senbon fired from the mist. The senbon embedded themselves in the ground, then quickly turned into water and disappeared.
"Water Senbon?"
That first wave was only the beginning. Dense senbon followed from all directions, sealing off most of the available space.
Ethan immediately retreated to a large tree and used Earth Release: Mud Wall for defense.
The number of Water Senbon was exaggerated, but their power was mediocre. The Mud Wall easily blocked the seemingly terrifying attack. As for why Sasuke had suffered such serious injuries before, it was because his speed advantage had been suppressed by the enemy's secret technique, and he lacked defensive ninjutsu.
"Ethan, behind you."
Kakashi's warning came just in time. As Ethan defended against the senbon, a mirror had appeared behind him at some unknown moment. Haku emerged from it, about to launch a fatal attack from behind.
What surprised Kakashi was that Ethan seemed to have sensed it already. At the same moment Kakashi called out, Ethan had begun dodging. He then stomped the ground and charged directly into the enemy.
This was a famous move from Bājíquán. Even though Ethan had never formally studied Bājíquán in his previous life, he knew this move from countless fighting games.
More importantly, the angle at which Haku rushed out was perfect for this technique, so Ethan used it instinctively.
Haku was caught completely off guard and took the full impact, being sent flying into a large tree behind him and shattering the trunk.
Pfft.
Haku crashed into the tree and violently coughed up a mouthful of blood. This was different from what had happened to Sasuke earlier. Ethan had used controlled force on Sasuke, making it look serious without causing real damage.
Against Haku, Ethan still held back. If he had gone all out, Haku's body would have been destroyed. Even so, this attack used the maximum strength Ethan could currently apply with precise control, which was enough to cause severe damage to most ninja.
Ethan stood up and looked again. His blow had knocked off Haku's mask. His pale face now looked even more colorless, with blood at the corner of his mouth. He lay half collapsed at the base of the tree.
"Cough, cough. I am sorry, Zabuza-sama. It seems I can no longer serve you."
"However, I am truly glad that I was able to help in the end."
As Haku spoke, Kakashi suddenly sensed something wrong. Zabuza was too quiet. He had been distracted by the fight between Ethan and Haku, and with his own poor condition, he had not noticed that Zabuza had already escaped.
"What a headache. The trouble is not over yet."
Kakashi worried about Zabuza, while Ethan looked at Haku lying on the ground, feeling conflicted about what to do with him.
Personally, Ethan neither liked nor disliked Haku, so he had never considered saving this tragic character. When fighting earlier, he had not deliberately held back. If Haku had died, then he would simply be dead, and Ethan would not have felt regret.
Instead, this half dead situation was troublesome. Should he save him or not?
Fortunately, Ethan was not the leader, so he could leave this problem to Kakashi.
"You did very well, Ethan."
Kakashi endured his discomfort, checked Haku, and confirmed that he was severely injured and no longer able to fight. Only then did Kakashi finally collapse to the ground.
"Next, I may need to rest for a while. I might have to rely on you to protect our teammates, Ethan."
(To be continued.)