"Huff... huff..."
Zabuza, with his upper body naked, was currently sprinting through the forest with Haku on his back.
Not far behind them, the noise of pursuit grew louder.
"Zabuza-sama, please... put me down."
On Zabuza's back, Haku spoke weakly.
It had been over a day since their defeat at the hands of Kakashi, and neither had rested. Haku knew that even someone as physically resilient as Zabuza must be nearing his limit.
Especially while carrying burden like him.
"...Shut up."
Zabuza only muttered those words in response, not slowing his pace in the slightest.
'That damn Gato.'
Zabuza seethed inwardly, committing the name of their employer to memory.
Let's rewind the clock just a bit earlier.
Zabuza, whose Chakra was almost exhausted, had been saved by Haku's desperate sacrifice. The two of them sank to the bottom of the water together, using the lingering mist to escape with their lives.
Battered and wounded, it took them an entire night to return to the hideout of their employer, the wealthy businessman Gato.
"Get us a room."
Zabuza, who was supporting Haku, spoke unhappily to Gato, who walked towards them with a smile.
Unexpectedly, after seeing their miserable condition, Gato not only did not ask anyone to take them to rest, but instead chuckled softly.
Then, from behind him, dozens of figures emerged.
Zabuza also knew these ill-intentioned men. They were all thugs who were rampant in the countryside, and some third-rate Ninjas from small Ninja Villages.
Under normal circumstances, Zabuza could slaughter these amateurs, which were weaker than even the Demon Brothers, without breaking a sweat.
But now, with both of them on the verge of collapse and Zabuza's Kubikiribocho left behind, he couldn't do anything.
"Kill them!"
At Gato's command, this group of rabbles stepped forward with malicious grins.
The first few men charging ahead were impaled by Zabuza's kunai to the throat, collapsing instantly.
But the others didn't even glance at their fallen comrades, with some even stepped over the corpses and blood to keep advancing.
With the huge profits promised by Gato on the line, the fewer people splitting the money, the bigger their individual shares would be.
As the saying goes, even ants can kill an elephant if there are enough of them. And right now, the gap between Zabuza's strength and theirs wasn't nearly as vast as usual.
After sacrificing a few more lives, the mob closed in on Zabuza.
At this range, kunai and shuriken were far less effective, and Zabuza barely had any weapons left on him.
[Ice Release: Ice Swallow!]
Behind Zabuza, Haku gritted his teeth and forced himself through the hand seals despite his injuries.
A spike of ice shot toward the thugs lunging at Zabuza's side, piercing one before fanning out in a deadly arc.
The technique claimed several lives in an instant, it also left Haku open.
A short ninja had somehow gotten up behind Haku, and when he saw the other party forming hand seals and performing Ninjutsu, he seized the opportunity and drove a dagger deep into Haku's back.
In an instant, blood instantly soaked through Haku's clothes.
The pain forced Haku to his knees, and the intense pain almost overwhelmed Haku's consciousness.
Zabuza, who is at the front, also noticed what was happening behind him. After cutting a guy's throat with a kunai, he couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Haku.
And what he saw was that the smaller Ninja had succeeded in his attack, and he wanted to take this opportunity to completely decapitate Haku.
At that sight, Zabuza's eyes turned red.
It was not some kind of Dojutsu like the Sharingan, but the lingering madness of Kirigakure's [Blood Mist], where he had once been known as the [Demon].
Bloodlust nearly dyed Zabuza's vision completely red. His skin seemed to take on a crimson hue, his entire body resembling a true Demon.
This was precisely the origin of his nickname, [Demon].
"Die!"
Without even using a weapon, Zabuza caught the dagger aimed at Haku with his barehand. With a sudden exertion of force, he snapped the dagger in half and drove the sharp tip straight through the skull of the ambusher.
"Haah-"
The enemy's blood drenched Zabuza's upper body entirely. As he turned to glare at the thugs who fought only for money, his ferocious appearance momentarily froze them in place, too terrified to advance.
Haku, suppressing the pain and dizziness from blood loss, gently placed a hand on Zabuza's back.
"What are you afraid of?! There are only two of them! Get them!"
"Whoever brings me their heads first gets 50 million Ryo!"
Money is a powerful thing, and facing the high reward offered by Gato, this group of thugs seemed to regain their courage.
Just as they were about to close in again, Haku, who is standing behind Zabuza, spoke softly.
"Ice Release: Thousand Frost."
With a single-handed hand seal formed behind Zabuza's back, Haku expended his remaining Chakra to unleash one final Ninjutsu.
A swirling storm of ice and snow burst outward, instantly obscuring everyone's vision.
By the time they recovered, Haku and Zabuza had vanished.
Gato stomped forward furiously, bellowing at the thugs, "Where did they go?! Where?! You useless trash! Get after them and finish this!"
Though Gato knew nothing of combat, he understood the principle of 'you get what you pay for'. The gap between Zabuza and these hired thugs wasn't something numbers alone could bridge.
The thought of letting the two escape, recover, and return to hunt him down endlessly sent panic surging through Gato.
He angrily jabbed his cane against the floor, only to realize the sensation was off.
Lifting the cane, he spotted blood on its tip, then followed the trail to the ground.
A large pool of blood remained where the two had stood moments ago.
"After them! They're badly wounded… they can't have gone far!"
As Gato gave the order, all the thugs in the base rushed out and quickly chased after the bloodstains left on the ground.
Gato sat down on a sofa in annoyance, snapping for a servant to pour him a drink to calm his nerves. But then he found that no one answered after he called out several times.
"Where is everyone?! Are they all dead?!"
He stood up in a rage, but he never expected that a strange voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Mmm~ Now this is a proper drink. Rich scum like you really do get the good stuff, huh?"
Gato's first instinct was to shout angrily, but then he came to his senses and cold sweat instantly flowed down his forehead.
Looking at the stranger who had broken in silently and was drinking leisurely in front of him, Gato raised defensively and shouted loudly, "D-Don't kill me! Whatever they paid you, I'll double it! No… five times! Ten times!"
He had already begun to regret letting everyone chase after Zabuza, but unfortunately, the situation has reached this point, so the only thing he had to consider was how to survive.
He hadn't had enough of life yet, he still wanted to indulge in his decadent luxuries.
But Gato's thoughts ended there.
"Idiot. Once you're dead, all your money will be mine anyway."
Looking at the fallen Gato, the man swirled his glass gently, took a sip and said.
Then, glancing at the wine, he clicked his tongue.
"Tch. I still can't get used to this stuff."
After putting the wine glass aside, he slowly walked out the door in his wooden clogs, gazing in the direction Zabuza had fled.
"Zabuza and Haku, huh..."