"Being able to fight me this well—your student is impressive," Zabuza remarked, holding Sasuke by the throat in one hand while lifting his executioner's blade in the other. "At such a young age, your strength is remarkable. If I'm not mistaken, he must be one of your village's prized pupils."
"Too bad he lacks battlefield experience."
Zabuza suddenly shifted tactics and made an offer: "Hand over the old man, and I'll let this kid go."
"How about it?" he challenged Kakashi.
"You'd rather see your own disciple die here?"
Zabuza didn't truly want a fight unless it was unavoidable. Sharing village borders aside, if he battled Kakashi, both sides would be severely harmed. Even if he killed Kakashi, the risk of being hunted by Kirigakure's forces afterward is high — not worth it.
"But my disciple won't die so easily," Kakashi retorted indifferently, pulling his forehead protector back over his eye to conceal his Sharingan.
Zabuza sneered, "If you won't lose him, then first I kill him—and then your other students."
Kakashi simply flashed a confident, smug look. "Are you sure you even caught my disciple?"
Zabuza glanced at the water prison where Sasuke was trapped—then a puff of mist, and Sasuke had vanished.
"Dammit!" he shouted, dispelling the Water Prison technique and brandishing his blade defensively. Sasuke had given him quite a scare—lack of experience apart, he was talented.
Unseen by Zabuza, a shuriken dropped to the ground near him.
In less than three seconds, Zabuza felt a gust behind him.
"Impossible—he's behind me?"
He barely raised his hand—but Sasuke struck with a powerful reverse kick to his arm.
"Great strength," Zabuza remarked, feeling as if he'd hit a steel wall; his entire arm went numb and deformed slightly under the impact.
He could only muster one slashing attack—but Sasuke didn't stick around. The strike missed, and his roar trailed off into the distance.
"How did you flank me so fast… unless…"
"Real body?"
A smug glint crossed Kakashi's eyes.
Furious, Zabuza realized his misjudgment—Sasuke's 'water prison' had trapped his true body, not a clone.
But now his arm had swollen badly. He couldn't move it properly—and losing use of an arm would cripple his combat power.
He growled softly and ripped his arm back into place with a sickening crack. He'd recover some functionality, but without treatment, it could cause permanent damage.
---
Zabuza's voice cut coldly: "I underestimated you, kid. Next strike, I finish you."
He stared at Sasuke, then melted back into the mist.
Now the fog around them deepened—visibility under two meters. This was triggered by Zabuza's dark-red chakra aura, an extension of his Silent Killing technique—sound and life seemingly sucked into oblivion.
He shed his playful mood and braced for full battle mode. As one of Kirigakure's elite Seven Ninja Swordsmen, few in the shinobi world could challenge him.
---
Zabuza faded like a phantom through the fog, reappearing behind Sasuke in an instant. Sasuke sensed him—but when he spun, Zabuza was gone.
A ghost.
---
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage fire Technique!" Sasuke flung a volley of shuriken, quickly followed by a blazing arc of fire, coating them in an inferno like bursting phoenix blossoms.
But Zabuza was nowhere to be found—slipping through the mist like an apparition.
Zabuza's Silent Killing technique was formidable; had he faced a different shinobi team, even a Konoha Jōnin might falter.
---
Among jinchūriki and young genin, few could challenge his dominance. Even Kakashi's peer and fellow special Jōnin Suzumebachi fell to him via Silent Killing.
As Sasuke scanned around, Zabuza streaked in from behind with his sword raised—silent as death.
The moment of truth: Zabuza's blade, the deadly "Kubikiribocho," came down—yet Sasuke felt no cut.
At that instant, they locked eyes.
---
"Zabuza, don't think anything escapes my eyes," Sasuke declared. His Sharingan burst into three-tomoe brilliance, spinning with resolve.
"Genjutsu! Sharingan!"
In Team 7, they now had two sharpened senses (Naruto and Karin) and two with full-on three-tomoe Sharingan (Sasuke and Kakashi) — perfect countermeasures for Silent Killing.
---
This is how they nullify it.
At that moment, Zabuza realized he was defenseless—caught by enemies stronger than he'd anticipated.
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