On the bridge, Tazuna persevered in its construction.
Not far away, Sasuke and Sakura diligently practiced their tree climbing.
Kakashi leaned against a tree, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a book, seemingly engrossed in reading.
In reality, he had devoted most of his attention to vigilance of his surroundings.
At the first sign of any disturbance, he would react immediately and respond in time.
The reason for such alertness was his knowledge that:
Once Zabuza saw only them present here, he would certainly launch an attack.
He didn't attack yesterday, so the probability was extremely high he would today.
Therefore, Kakashi was prepared for battle today, waiting only for Zabuza's assault.
Just as everything seemed peaceful, his eye suddenly shifted.
Then, in a flash, he instantly appeared at the edge of the bridge.
As his figure materialized at the bridge's edge, two figures, one large and one small, also appeared before him.
They were none other than the attacking Zabuza and his tool, Haku.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Noticing the commotion, Sasuke and Sakura immediately stopped their training and rushed over.
They then stood beside Kakashi, staring warily at Zabuza and Haku.
'Another person?'
Kakashi glanced at the masked Haku, his visible dead-fish eye narrowing slightly.
'Judging by their build, their age is probably similar to Naruto and Sasuke. It's just unknown what their strength is like.'
After rapidly processing this, Kakashi issued orders,
"Sakura, you protect Tazuna-san."
"Sasuke, I'll handle Zabuza. You keep a close eye on the person next to Zabuza."
Upon receiving the orders, Sakura retreated a distance, moving closer to Tazuna, who was watching nervously from the bridge.
Sasuke silently nodded, his eyes coldly fixed on Haku.
"Haku, it seems you have an opponent."
Hearing Kakashi's arrangement, Zabuza smirked coldly.
"I just wonder how many moves they can last against you."
He knew Haku's strength very well, understanding that facing a genin like Sasuke would be child's play for him.
"I will definitely help Zabuza-sama complete the mission."
Haku responded from behind the mask.
Then, he moved, charging towards Sasuke with a kunai in hand.
'Hmph! Bring it on!'
Sasuke thought to himself, similarly advancing with his kunai drawn.
Immediately after, the two engaged in combat.
Meanwhile, wanting to complete the mission quickly and prevent Goku from arriving as reinforcement,
Zabuza had no time to watch Haku's fight. He swiftly cast the Hidden Mist Jutsu, enveloping himself and Kakashi.
"Kakashi, we didn't get to properly face off last time."
"This time, I'll see for myself if the legendary Copy Ninja truly lives up to his name."
Within the heavy mist, Zabuza's voice echoed, elusive and intangible.
Kakashi lifted his forehead protector, revealing a single, ominous blood-red Sharingan.
"Indeed, I share the same thought."
"77, 78, 79..."
In the forest, Naruto held the large stone from yesterday, performing squats in place.
Both yesterday's and today's training targeted multiple parts of the body simultaneously.
According to Goku, good training is what exercises multiple areas at once.
And this was also what the Turtle Hermit old man had once taught him.
Nearby, Goku still leaned against the tree, munching noisily on the wild fruits he had picked from the forest.
Beside him, a pile of fruit cores had already accumulated like a small mountain.
It showed how many fruits in this forest had fallen victim.
While eating, he glanced in the direction where Kakashi and the others were.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the forest, seeing Kakashi and the others engaged with Zabuza.
"Hmm, that person's Ki from last time."
He muttered to himself, then withdrew his gaze and looked at the training Naruto.
"I'll tell him after he finishes this set."
Soon after, Naruto finished this set of training and lay on the ground, panting heavily.
"Huff! Seventeen more sets to go!"
His goal for today was to complete twenty sets of weighted squats. Having just finished the third set, he still had a long way to go.
'So tired... but I can feel the Ki inside me has grown a little stronger. It seems I'll be able to defeat Sasuke and become Hokage soon!'
He thought happily, lost in his imagination.
"Naruto, that person from last time is here again."
Abruptly, Goku spoke up.
"Huh? Who?"
Interrupted from his reverie, Naruto looked at Goku blankly.
"The one who fought me last time."
'Someone who fought Goku?'
Naruto's sluggish brain took a few seconds to process before a name surfaced in his mind.
'The Demon Zabuza?!'
He sprang up with a thud, drawing his kunai and looking around frantically,
"Where? Where?!"
His face was full of excitement.
'After over a day of hard training, surely I, the great Naruto, could exchange a few blows with Zabuza now, right?'
"He's over where Kakashi is."
Goku pointed in a direction.
Seeing Goku point the way, Naruto wanted to rush over immediately, but the next moment he froze in place.
'Uh, where?'
'At Kakashi-sensei's location?'
"Goku, how do you know Zabuza went to Kakashi-sensei's side?"
He looked at Goku, bewildered.
"That? You can sense the other party using Ki."
Goku pointed to the space between his own eyebrows.
"Then why can't I do it?"
Naruto tried but found he couldn't sense anything.
"Because that requires further training."
Goku provided the explanation.
"I see."
Naruto nodded thoughtfully, then his expression turned serious.
"Then let's go to Kakashi-sensei's side now. This battle can't be without me!"
With that, he prepared to set off.
But Goku suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his way.
"You want to go over? Then hold my hand."
Huh??
Question marks instantly popped up above Naruto's head.
But trusting Goku based on the last two days, he hesitantly took Goku's hand.
Goku raised the index and middle fingers of his other hand and placed them on his forehead.
In the next instant.
Whoosh!!
Their figures abruptly vanished from the spot.
On the battlefield by the bridge.
Sasuke was covered in wounds, looking at Haku, who was almost unscathed on the other side, with great unwillingness.
'I'm still too weak!'
At first, he could trade blows with Haku fairly evenly.
But ever since Haku started performing one-handed seals, he had been completely outmatched.
Elsewhere, within the heavy mist, Kakashi and Zabuza fought fiercely, frequently employing lethal moves.
Suddenly, during a rapid exchange of attacks and defenses, Kakashi was caught off guard and kicked into a puddle of water.
It was created earlier by Zabuza's Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"
"Hmm? Not good!"
Just as Kakashi tried to stand up, the water from the puddle surged upward, instantly forming a sphere of water that encased his entire body.
Zabuza, maintaining the water prison from behind him, smirked coldly,
"You fell for it after all, Kakashi."
"Now, you can't stop me from killing that old man."
Just as he created a water clone, intending to push forward and complete the mission in one go...
"Where are we? Why is there so much fog? I can't see anything!"
A somewhat youthful voice suddenly rang out from within the mist.
Immediately after,
Whoosh—!!!
A gust of wind came from nowhere, almost instantly dispersing the thick, heavy fog.
As the mist cleared, two figures, one large and one small, were revealed not far away.
It was none other than Goku and Naruto, who had just arrived on the scene.
Goku stopped exhaling, rubbed his nose, and grinned,
"That should help you see now, right?"