Because it is currently wartime, the Chunin Exam does not contain too many performative elements, so everyone merely rested briefly for a day, and the next day, the next round of duels began.
The first match was between Number One's victor Zabuza and Number Two's victor Kakashi.
The two arrived at the battlefield, facing each other.
Kakashi looked at Zabuza's gaze and attire, and suddenly felt that he didn't really dislike this guy.
Zabuza's gaze was blurry, with a hint of emptiness amidst the confusion. It was just like how he looked after his father died.
'Is this guy really someone I personally killed in the future?'
If they didn't belong to different villages, Kakashi even felt that he and Zabuza would get along well.
After all, both liked wearing masks, clearly people of the same kind.
Zabuza was the first who couldn't bear it, removing the large blade from his back and holding it in his hands, "Hey, you bastard, don't look at me with that weird gaze."
Kakashi sighed softly and said blandly, "A ninja is not a tool. Find yourself again."
This sentence seemed to sting Zabuza, and his gaze instantly turned angry, "What do you know, you arrogant bastard!"
As he spoke, he slashed toward Kakashi with his blade.
Kakashi simply stepped back and easily dodged.
Kakashi continued, "I believe you can definitely find the meaning of your own existence. Just like I did."
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Don't say those weird things to me during a fight!"
Zabuza roared and began wildly hacking at Kakashi.
Kakashi had no choice but to dodge left and right.
In the stands, Kisame watched this scene and said to Hozuki Ren beside him, "That Zabuza bastard, actually lost his composure just because of a few words from the opponent, losing the strongest side of him as a ninja."
However, Hozuki Ren remained silent, recalling Kakashi's words just now.
On her beautiful but emotionless face appeared a trace of confusion.
She murmured, "A ninja is not a tool... does one have the meaning of their own existence?"
Kisame was a bit speechless, 'What's up with these teammates of mine? How come one after another is acting like their souls got snatched by just a few words from Kakashi?'
He could only say… worthy of being Konoha's genius?
Not only was his strength overwhelming, but he was also good at using words to attack the enemy's weak spots, making their will collapse. Achieving an effect similar to genjutsu...
On the field, Zabuza gradually calmed down.
He squinted his eyes, "Quite the schemer. Using words to disturb my mind."
"But I won't listen to your nonsense anymore."
After saying that, Zabuza formed hand seals with both hands and used the Hidden Mist Technique again.
His voice came from all directions, "Without Sharingan, how will you respond to this move of mine?"
"Where should I start? The human body can be very fragile, with eight vital points," Kakashi simply stood in place and closed his eyes.
He slowly pulled the blade from his back.
"This move of yours… is useless against me," As he finished speaking, Kakashi raised his blade and slashed toward a certain spot.
Zabuza felt the incoming blade and was extremely shocked.
'How is this possible, he can actually sense it!'
Forced, Zabuza could only swing his blade and clash with Kakashi again.
The movements of the two didn't seem affected by the thick mist at all. Their strikes were fierce, each blow deadly.
For a moment, the figures of the two continuously blurred and exchanged positions, the fight was unusually intense.
Zabuza gradually adapted to Kakashi's attacks, becoming more and more at ease.
He mocked, "So these are the ninjas of Konoha. The world's strongest? Not bad, but not as strong as the legends say."
Kakashi didn't answer, simply keeping his eyes closed and experiencing the sensation of completely losing vision and fighting relying only on the other four senses.
Although back then, under Minato-sensei's guidance, he often trained like this and even sparred with Minato-sensei and Obito, after all, it was different from real combat.
In this battle, he gained a lot of experience. For a moment, he didn't even want to end the fight too quickly and lose such a good sparring partner.
Like this, the two exchanged dozens more moves, and Zabuza gradually noticed something strange.
'No, something is very wrong!'
Kakashi, when fighting him, seemed to always be on passive defense.
Even when he counterattacked, it didn't seem like he wanted to defeat him, but rather forced him to defend so the fight would return to a certain exchange rhythm.
'Could it be…'
Zabuza thought of a possibility.
"Don't tell me. You've been using me for practice?"
Kakashi looked a bit awkward and said with eyes closed, "Can't believe you figured it out."
"Damn it!", Zabuza was furious again. Whatever determination he had about not being affected by Kakashi's words had already flown out of his head.
"I'll definitely kill you, you bastard!"
After saying that, his attacks became frantic.
For a while, Kakashi felt immense pressure.
But this pressure also let him feel great improvement, so he silently endured it.
Zabuza grew more anxious as he fought and couldn't help but shout, "Attack! Come hit me! Why are you always defending. Do you look down on me that much?"
Kakashi thought for a moment and sighed, "Fine, the practice is about done. It's time to show you some respect. Be careful now."
After saying that, the hand Kakashi held the blade with suddenly sparked with lightning.
"This is… Lightning Release," Zabuza's expression became serious. It's said that Lightning Release can greatly enhance the body, and it's also very effective against his Water Release.
In the next moment, Kakashi moved, his lightning-wrapped blade drawing an afterimage in the air, sweeping a half arc.
"This is the Hatake clan's sword technique!"
Zabuza widened his eyes. It was too fast, completely different from before.
He barely twisted his body to dodge the first strike, but the second strike was already close behind.
He used all his strength to leap up and dodge the second strike.
But Kakashi almost simultaneously jumped up as well, appearing right in front of his eyes at a terrifying speed.
The third strike came swinging at his neck.
In midair, he had no way to dodge.
He suddenly smiled bitterly. So it turns out, until now Kakashi hadn't been serious. Once he got serious, he was that strong.
Zabuza's expression suddenly became calm, accepting this fate.
However… the blade stopped at his neck and didn't fall.
Kakashi's blade wasn't just fast, it was also well-controlled.
Zabuza closed his eyes and said, "I don't need my enemy's pity."
But Kakashi simply said, "This is the Chunin Exam, not a battlefield of life and death. At least at this moment, I won't choose to kill you."
Zabuza asked in confusion, "Why?"
Kakashi opened his eyes that had been closed until now. By this time, the dense mist had already dissipated quite a bit.
His gaze was deep as he looked at Zabuza, "Because you should go seek the meaning of your life. Maybe it's a certain task, maybe it's a certain person. But not like you are now, numb and empty, like a walking corpse."
Zabuza painfully closed his eyes and knelt on the ground.
He loudly said, "I admit defeat."
The examiner saw this and immediately announced, "Zabuza versus Kakashi. Kakashi wins and advances to the next round. Next match: Number Three versus Number Four."
Kakashi withdrew his blade and extended a hand toward Zabuza, "Get up."
Zabuza stared blankly at the hand Kakashi extended, thought for a moment, then reached out, grasped it, and stood up.
He withdrew his hand, turned his back, and his tone returned to somber: "I hope that one day… we won't meet again on the battlefield."
After saying that, he jumped back to the stands.
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