Chapter 154: Long Time No See, Zabuza
"Zabuza, you're already a rogue ninja now. So why not join us?"
In the dense forests of the Land of Waves, Kisame Hoshigaki stared coldly at the man before him—Momochi Zabuza.
Standing silently beside Kisame were two others: Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Itachi.
Though Itachi and Kisame had only just recovered from their last mission—and Itachi's body was still far from healthy—when it came to Kirigakure defectors, these three were the most familiar with how to deal with them.
"Hmph. And why the hell should I join you?"
Zabuza's tone was full of contempt and disinterest.
"But I didn't expect you to team up with them," Zabuza said, narrowing his eyes at Kisame. "You killed Fuguki, didn't you?"
"I did," Kisame answered without hesitation, his gaze drifting to the massive executioner's blade strapped to Zabuza's back.
A grin tugged at his lips.
"You're no better, though. You led a coup, remember? And after Jūzō Biwa died, that blade was supposed to remain in the Mist Village. I guess you still haven't let go of Kirigakure after all."
Zabuza said nothing.
It was true—the Executioner's Blade had been left behind after Jūzō's death. But Zabuza had secretly infiltrated the village later and reclaimed it during his investigations.
Now, he was still in the early stages of raising funds. For the time being, he had aligned himself with Gato, though he never expected to be found by… them—his former colleagues.
"I don't care about your little schemes," Zabuza said flatly. "And I suggest you don't interfere with mine. Otherwise…"
His hand slid toward the hilt of the Executioner's Blade on his back, and his gaze sharpened like a drawn blade as he glared at the three.
But his words only made Obito shake his head in amusement.
"You Mist ninjas really are something else. Always itching for a fight before you say anything. Jūzō, Raiga Kurosuki—you're all the same."
"Oh? Kurosuki Raiga?"
Zabuza's brow twitched slightly at that name.
It was becoming clear now: these guys were recruiting rogue nin from Kirigakure specifically.
Just as he was processing that, a masked figure suddenly appeared beside Kisame.
"Sir," the newcomer reported, "we've located Tazuna. Haze and Fang have already engaged. However… it seems he's hired Leaf shinobi for protection."
"…Konoha shinobi?"
Zabuza's expression darkened instantly, fists clenching by reflex as a wave of unpleasant memories surged up from the depths of his mind.
He hadn't forgotten.
How he was once cornered—strangled by Jiraiya, Kakashi, and a brat—and dragged all the way back to Kirigakure.
"Konoha…?"
Even Obito, Itachi, and Kisame all stiffened at the mention. It couldn't be… them, could it?
Over the years, they'd developed an unspoken understanding: running into Konoha shinobi in the wild—especially the wrong ones—never ended well.
Tch. I don't have time to play games with you.
Zabuza fell silent for a moment, then turned to leave. Nearby, Haku knelt, quietly watchful.
"I'm going to check things out. Do what you want."
Without another word, he disappeared into the forest, and Haku rose soundlessly to follow. In a blur of motion, he vanished into the trees after Zabuza, leaving the trio behind.
Without another word, he disappeared into the forest, leaving the trio behind.
"…So, what now?" Kisame asked after a pause.
"Do we follow him? Our condition right now doesn't favor fighting," he added.
Itachi nodded slightly. "We've just recovered… not ideal for a clash. Besides, didn't you have another plan?"
Obito frowned, clearly hesitating. But after a moment, he exhaled sharply.
"Let's go take a look. What are the chances it's them again?"
"…Then again," he added darkly, "even Hiruko is still alive."
---
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Suddenly, two masked figures lunged from the trees toward Kakashi—startling Sakura, who screamed in horror from the rear.
"What!?"
The very next moment, blood sprayed from Kakashi's body.
Frozen in place, Sakura could only stare, stunned. It was the first time she'd seen such brutal violence firsthand.
But she didn't notice that both Sasuke and Naruto remained unusually calm.
The two Mist assassins didn't waste a second. Their eyes darted toward Beichuan Gen.
Yet as their chains lashed forward—
He was gone.
"Where'd he go?!"
"No time to think—finish the mission!"
Though caught off guard, the two Mist shinobi quickly regained their composure. As elite assassins raised by Kirigakure, they suppressed their fear and redirected their attack toward Tazuna with expert precision.
"Damn it…"
Sakura had already felt uneasy about being assigned such a dangerous mission right after graduation.
And now, it was clear—
Her instincts had been right all along.
Seeing the enemy charging forward, she gritted her teeth and stood in front of Tazuna to shield him. Sasuke and Naruto also sprang into action.
"Kakashi-sensei, it looks like the only ones you managed to fool were Sakura and that old man,"
From a nearby tree, Kakashi was observing the situation, but Kitagawa Gen's voice reached his ears quickly.
"These brats these days… really aren't cute at all,"
Kakashi said lazily, rubbing his chin.
"But that old man tricked us too. He never mentioned anything about enemy ninja being involved."
"This mission itself is suspicious from the start."
Gen crouched down beside him and nodded. The mission from Tazuna didn't offer high pay and was only ranked as a C-rank assignment, yet he still requested a jōnin-level escort.
Such a request would normally be hard to accept in Konoha. Missions like that would typically be left sitting in the system for a while before being outright rejected.
In Gen's memory, the original version of this mission only happened because Naruto and the others had been stuck doing D-rank missions for over a month. After Naruto threw a tantrum, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave them this one.
But now the situation was different. Tazuna had probably just submitted the request—and happened to run into Kakashi, who wanted a warm-up.
"Kakashi-sensei, I'm starting to think the mission you picked for us before had the same kind of issues…"
"Cough cough cough!"
Before Gen could finish, Kakashi let out a very tactical cough.
"Those were all just... accidents. Besides, Naruto and Sasuke trained under Jiraiya-sama for quite a while. A mission like this isn't exactly hard for them."
"True, it's not that hard. But we can't let this old man off that easily. I've got no sympathy for him."
"What are you planning?"
"Just follow my lead when I give the signal."
"...?"
"Alright, time to wrap this up."
Gen didn't explain further. He gave the battlefield a quick scan, and then vanished from his spot in a blink.
Sasuke and Naruto were holding their own, but the masked figures though not top-tier—were still trained in the brutal ways of Kirigakure and had completed plenty of missions.
Both sides seemed locked in a bit of a stalemate, though Sasuke and Naruto were doing well under the circumstances.
"These kids aren't simple. We need to speed this up."
"Yeah, let's just kill the old man and be done with it!"
Sensing something off, they whispered to each other and launched another attack.
But just as they moved, the ground beneath them suddenly turned to mud—before they even realized it, they were already sinking!
"What the—?!"
Sasuke and Naruto just clenched their jaws at the sight, while Sakura and Tazuna widened their eyes in shock.
"Gen-senpai? Kakashi-sensei?"
"Mm."
Gen nodded slightly, and Kakashi stepped out of the forest.
"Your awareness isn't sharp enough. These two idiots did such a poor job disguising themselves—and you didn't notice a thing."
"K-Kakashi?!"
Hearing that name, their faces turned pale. They stared at Gen in disbelief.
"Then... you must be that new 'White Fang of the Leaf,' the 'Silver Flash,' the one who wields the purple lightning... Kitagawa Gen?!"
"Huh?"
Gen blinked. Was his title really that long?
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all stared wide-eyed. The earlier battle had been intense, but this sudden revelation had their curiosity fully piqued.
Even Tazuna was stunned. Who would've thought this white-haired kid with a baby face had such a fearsome reputation?
"You said a bunch of nonsense, but yes—I'm Kitagawa Gen."
Gen casually touched his chin and gave a light nod. The confirmation made the attackers' faces go completely ashen.
"Alright, enough chit-chat. Your target is the old man, right?"
"Y-Yes! We were ordered to kill him!"
They didn't hesitate in the face of Gen's question. There was no point lying.
Tazuna froze in fear.
After all, he had deceived the Leaf Village to get them to escort and protect him. He'd even lied about the danger level just because he couldn't afford to pay for a higher-ranked mission.
He knew full well that this task wasn't something a regular squad could handle. But he was broke—this was the only option he had.
"P-Please! Let me explain!"
Seeing everyone's eyes turn to him, Tazuna panicked and waved his hands.
"Relax. If we didn't care about your explanation, Kakashi-sensei would've taken you out already."
Gen nodded, and Kakashi rolled his eyes.
"In the Land of Waves, there's a businessman named Gato. He's taken control of the country and cut off all outside contact…"
Tazuna cast a fearful glance at Kakashi, then quickly continued.
"He's been exploiting us mercilessly. Everyone lives in misery. We tried to resist—but anyone who did was killed…"
"That's why I had to resort to trickery. With the protection of Leaf shinobi, I could build a bridge…"
"Only then can the Land of Waves escape this poverty and suffering…"
He paused for a moment, then suddenly knelt down with an exaggeratedly 'sincere' apology.
"But it's fine… this was my fault. If I die, the Land of Waves will just continue to suffer. Maybe my poor granddaughter will cry herself to sleep... but I'm sure she won't hate you…"
"..."
Everyone went silent. Gen rolled his eyes. Kakashi's dead-fish eyes were in full effect. Naruto and the others looked speechless.
"Kakashi-sensei, should we do him a favor?"
Gen suddenly spoke, and Tazuna lit up with hope—only to freeze at the next words.
"If it's that painful, why don't I refuse the reward and just wipe out his whole family? That way no one has to suffer anymore."
"..."
Kakashi and Naruto audibly inhaled in shock. Tazuna almost jumped out of his skin!
He had just wanted to emotionally manipulate them a bit. How was this kid even more heartless than Gato?!
Suddenly, he remembered—when they first left the village, hadn't this brat muttered something like "there are some issues with education lately"?
Maybe it wasn't just "education" that was the problem…
"Gen, stop saying such nonsense. We—huh?"
Kakashi sighed and rubbed his temples—but suddenly paused, sensing something.
"Get down!"
Without hesitation, he pushed Naruto and the others to the ground, and also shoved Tazuna aside.
Tazuna went sprawling face-first—just as a giant spinning blade flew overhead!
Gen leaned slightly to one side, narrowly avoiding it, and the long sword embedded itself in a nearby tree.
In the next moment, Zabuza's figure landed atop the sword, his back calmly turned to the group.
"Looks like Haze and Fang failed…"
He spoke indifferently and slowly turned around.
"But I'm afraid this old man is mine—huh?!"
The moment his gaze caught the two white-haired figures, terrible memories rushed back to him.
"No way…"
"So it's you, Zabuza."
Suddenly, a small white-haired boy smiled. That familiar voice made Zabuza realize instantly who he was facing.
"Been a while, hasn't it?"
The words had barely left Gen's mouth when several kunai, crackling with purple lightning, shot toward him.
They came so fast that Zabuza couldn't react in time. He instinctively tilted his body, narrowly dodging one.
But the rest had him scrambling. His heart was already unsettled from seeing Gen and Kakashi—and that threw off his balance completely.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, Zabuza slammed into the ground with a deafening crash. Birds scattered from the trees.
His eyes were wide with pain and bloodshot from the impact.
"…What just happened?"
Kakashi and the others were frozen in shock. What was that?
"This guy…"
Meanwhile, Uchiha Obito's team had just arrived and were also speechless at the sight.
"…Is this guy actually reliable?"