The journey to Wave Country took three days.
Three days of heightened vigilance, of watching every shadow and analyzing every sound. Three days of Tazuna revealing more details about Gato's operation—the shipping routes he controlled, the mercenaries he employed, the ninja he had hired to eliminate any threat to his power.
Three days of the girls hovering even closer than usual, their protective instincts amplified by the knowledge of real danger ahead.
On the morning of the second day, they encountered their first sign of enemy activity—a puddle in the middle of the road, conspicuous in its existence given the lack of recent rain. Kakashi noted it with a subtle hand signal, and the team prepared accordingly.
Two ninja burst from the puddle moments later—the Demon Brothers, chuunin-level missing-nin from Kirigakure. Their chain weapon connected them, gauntlets dripping with poison, movements coordinated by years of partnership.
They lasted approximately four seconds.
Naruto had created a shadow clone before the puddle even rippled. While the original drew their attention with a direct charge, the clone circled behind. When the Demon Brothers committed to their attack, the clone struck—precise, lethal, efficient.
Two bodies hit the ground. The chain rattled once and fell silent.
Kakashi, who had been preparing to intervene, lowered his hand. "That was... fast."
"They were predictable," Naruto said, cleaning his kunai without any visible reaction to the violence. "Their attack pattern was obvious from their positioning. I simply exploited it."
Sakura and Satsuki stood on either side of him, their weapons drawn but unused. They hadn't even had time to engage.
"Naruto-kun is amazing," Satsuki breathed, her eyes shining with adoration. "So fast, so strong..."
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, checking him for injuries despite the obvious fact that he hadn't been touched. "Did they hurt you?"
"No."
Tazuna stared at the bodies, his face pale. "They... they were after me, weren't they?"
"Almost certainly," Kakashi confirmed. "Chuunin-level assassins. This confirms that Gato has hired serious opposition." He looked at the bridge builder with a stern eye. "Anyone else we should know about?"
Tazuna swallowed hard. "There were rumors... about a jonin. Someone Gato brought in specifically to deal with anyone who might protect me."
"A jonin." Kakashi's voice was flat. "Do you have a name?"
"I heard the workers whispering about someone called... the Demon of the Mist."
The temperature seemed to drop several degrees.
"Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi said quietly. "One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure. An A-rank missing-nin with a kill count in the hundreds."
"Is that... is that bad?" Tazuna's voice trembled.
"It means this mission is now A-rank at minimum. Way beyond what we should be handling." Kakashi was silent for a moment, clearly weighing options. "We should turn back."
"No."
Everyone turned to look at Naruto.
"We agreed to complete the mission," he said. "The threat level has increased, but so has the potential reward. Defeating an A-rank opponent would provide valuable experience and demonstrate our capabilities to the village leadership."
"This isn't a training exercise, Naruto. Zabuza has killed jonin before. Many of them."
"Then we will need to be more capable than those jonin."
Kakashi stared at him, something unreadable in his single visible eye. "You're not afraid at all, are you?"
"I don't experience fear."
"That's not always an advantage. Fear keeps people alive."
"So does power. I have cultivated power extensively. Fear would be redundant."
The jonin was quiet for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Alright. We continue. But if we encounter Zabuza, you follow my lead. No solo heroics, no unnecessary risks. We work as a team or we die as individuals. Understood?"
"Understood," the three genin responded—though Naruto's agreement was more acknowledgment than acceptance.
They resumed their journey, the bodies of the Demon Brothers left for the wildlife.
Wave Country revealed itself gradually as they crossed the water toward the main island.
The boat that ferried them moved through thick mist, the boatman rowing silently to avoid attracting attention. Through the haze, they caught glimpses of the massive bridge under construction—a skeleton of metal and stone stretching across the water, incomplete but impressive.
"That's it," Tazuna said softly, pride momentarily overcoming his fear. "That's our hope."
The mist thickened as they approached the shore, visibility dropping to mere meters. Kakashi's hand rose in a signal for silence, his body tensing.
"Something's wrong," he murmured.
Naruto had already noticed. The mist was too thick, too uniform, too precisely distributed. Natural fog didn't behave this way.
"Hidden Mist Technique," he said quietly. "Someone is here."
A laugh echoed through the fog—low, dangerous, edged with killing intent that pressed against them like a physical weight.
"Well, well. Sharingan Kakashi. I didn't expect to find you escorting a simple bridge builder."
A figure emerged from the mist—tall, muscular, bare-chested except for the bandages wrapped around his lower face. He carried a massive blade across his back, the weapon nearly as tall as he was.
Momochi Zabuza. The Demon of the Mist.
"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi said, his voice steady despite the tension radiating from his body. "I'd heard you were working for Gato."
"Money is money. The bridge builder dies, I get paid." Zabuza's eyes moved across the group, dismissing the genin before settling on Kakashi. "Your brats can run if they want. My business is with you."
Kakashi's hand moved to his hitai-ate, preparing to reveal his Sharingan. "Team, protect Tazuna. Manji formation. I'll handle—"
"No."
Naruto stepped forward, moving past Kakashi before the jonin could react.
"Naruto, what are you—"
"You are needed to protect the client if additional enemies appear," Naruto said, his flat voice cutting through the mist. "I will handle this opponent."
Zabuza's laugh was incredulous. "You? A genin? Handle me?"
"Yes."
"Kid, do you have any idea who I am? I've killed more people than you've probably met. I graduated from Kirigakure's Academy by slaughtering the entire graduating class. I am one of the Seven Swordsmen of the—"
"I'm aware of your history and capabilities. They are insufficient."
Something in Naruto's voice made Zabuza pause. The complete absence of fear, of bravado, of any recognizable emotion. Just flat, certain statement of fact.
"You've got guts, kid. I'll give you that." The massive blade swung down from his back, held easily in one hand despite its ridiculous weight. "But guts won't save you from—"
Naruto moved.
One moment he was standing in front of his team. The next, he was in motion, his body blurring with speed that exceeded anything he had displayed before.
"First Gate: Gate of Opening—release."
The words carried across the clearing, and with them came a surge of power that made the air itself tremble. Green energy began to radiate from Naruto's body, his skin flushing red as blood flow accelerated beyond normal limits.
Zabuza's eyes widened. "The Eight Gates? A genin knows—"
"Second Gate: Gate of Healing—release."
The power doubled. Tripled. Naruto's muscles visibly expanded, veins standing out against his skin. The ground beneath his feet cracked from the sheer pressure of his chakra.
"Third Gate: Gate of Life—release."
His skin went completely red, blood pumping so fast that it heated his body to visible effect. Steam began to rise from his flesh. But his expression remained unchanged—blank, empty, showing no sign of the agony that opening the Gates should have caused.
Zabuza took an involuntary step back. "That's... that's not possible. A genin shouldn't be able to open the third gate. And even if he could, his body would be—"
"Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain—release."
The world seemed to distort around Naruto. The mist that Zabuza had created was being pushed back by the sheer force of his presence, visibility clearing as his power ripped through the concealing technique.
"Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit—release."
The ground exploded beneath Naruto's feet, unable to withstand the pressure any longer. He stood in a crater of his own making, green chakra visible around his body, eyes burning with intensity that should have been impossible for someone who claimed to feel nothing.
Zabuza had abandoned his confident posture entirely. His sword was up in a defensive position, his body tensed for combat or flight. "What the hell are you?"
"I am Uzumaki Naruto. And you are an obstacle."
Naruto moved.
To the observers—Kakashi, Sakura, Satsuki, Tazuna—he simply vanished. One moment he was in the crater, the next he was behind Zabuza, his fist already connecting with the missing-nin's spine.
But Zabuza hadn't survived this long without exceptional reflexes. He managed to turn partially, transforming what would have been a crippling blow into a merely devastating one. The force still sent him flying, his body crashing through three trees before coming to a stop.
"Gah—!" The Demon of the Mist coughed blood, struggling to rise. "Fast... so fast..."
Naruto was already there, appearing beside him with another burst of impossible speed. His hand formed a familiar shape—fingers curled, chakra gathering in his palm.
"That's..." Kakashi's voice was strangled. "That's not possible. Jutsu shouldn't work with the Gates open. The chakra disruption alone—"
But the technique was forming regardless. Lightning crackled, the distinctive chirping sound filling the air.
"Chidori," Naruto said.
And he thrust his hand forward.
Zabuza barely managed to substitute, a log taking the lightning-charged strike that would have ended him. He reappeared twenty meters away, his breathing ragged, blood dripping from the wound in his back.
"This is wrong," he gasped. "The Gates and ninjutsu don't work together. Everyone knows that. The chakra pathways can't handle—"
"I modified the technique," Naruto interrupted, his voice still flat despite the green energy raging around him. "The standard Gate opening disrupts normal chakra flow, preventing jutsu use. I developed an alternative pathway that maintains jutsu capability at the cost of increased physical strain."
"Developed... alternative..." Zabuza shook his head in disbelief. "You're a genin. A child. How could you possibly—"
"I had time. I had shadow clones. I had motivation." Naruto began walking toward him, each step cracking the ground. "You are not the first dangerous opponent I've prepared for. You will not be the last."
Zabuza's hand tightened on his sword. He was the Demon of the Mist. One of the Seven Swordsmen. A legend in his own right. And he was being pushed back by a twelve-year-old.
"Fine," he snarled. "You want to fight seriously? Let's fight seriously!"
He formed hand seals with desperate speed. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
The lake beside them erupted as a massive dragon of water formed, roaring toward Naruto with devastating force.
Naruto didn't dodge.
Instead, he formed his own seals—movements so fast that they blurred together into a continuous stream.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A wall of compressed air blasted from his hands, meeting the water dragon head-on. The collision was cataclysmic—water and wind combining into a maelstrom that tore the landscape apart.
But Naruto was already moving, using the confusion as cover. He appeared at Zabuza's flank, a Rasengan spinning in his palm.
The Demon of the Mist twisted desperately, bringing his sword up to block. The massive blade—Kubikiribōchō, the Executioner's Blade—met the spiraling sphere of chakra.
Metal screamed. Chakra shrieked.
And the legendary sword shattered.
Fragments of the blade exploded outward as the Rasengan tore through it, continuing onward to slam into Zabuza's chest. The missing-nin was launched backward, his body carving a trench through the earth before finally coming to rest against a boulder.
He didn't get up.
Naruto stood over his fallen opponent, the Gates still burning through his body. Steam rose from his skin, blood vessels visible beneath the surface, muscles trembling from the strain.
He should close the Gates. Should let his body recover before the damage became permanent.
But something made him pause.
A new presence. A new chakra signature, approaching rapidly from the treeline.
A figure emerged—young, feminine, wearing a hunter-nin mask from Kirigakure. They moved toward Zabuza's fallen form with obvious concern, barely sparing Naruto a glance.
"Zabuza-sama!"
"You were watching," Naruto observed, his voice distorted slightly by the power still raging through him. "Throughout the fight. You didn't intervene."
The masked figure hesitated, their body language shifting from concern to wariness. "I... I was waiting for the right moment. To retrieve him."
"He's not dead."
"What?"
"I struck to disable, not kill. His heart is still beating, his chakra still flowing. He'll survive, assuming he receives medical attention."
The hunter-nin—clearly a partner or subordinate rather than an actual hunter—stared at him through their mask. "Why? Why would you leave him alive?"
Naruto considered the question.
The logical answer was that killing wasn't necessary for mission completion. Tazuna needed protection, not revenge. With Zabuza disabled and his sword destroyed, the immediate threat was eliminated.
But that wasn't the whole truth.
"I'm observing something," Naruto said finally. "The reaction of someone who cares for another. Whether they will stay, fight, or flee. What choices devotion leads to."
The masked figure was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, they bent and gathered Zabuza's unconscious form.
"Thank you," they said quietly. "For sparing him."
"Don't thank me. If you attack us again, I will not show mercy twice."
"Understood."
The masked figure disappeared in a swirl of mist, taking Zabuza with them.
Naruto finally released the Gates, the green energy fading as his body returned to its normal state. The pain hit immediately—muscles screaming, bones aching, chakra pathways burning from the abuse.
He didn't react to it.
Pain was just information. Just data indicating damage that needed to be healed.
He turned to find his team staring at him with expressions ranging from shock to awe.
Kakashi's Sharingan was exposed, having apparently been uncovered during the fight to observe. The spinning tomoe were fixed on Naruto with an intensity that suggested the jonin was seeing something he couldn't quite believe.
"Naruto," he said slowly. "What the hell was that?"
"The Eight Inner Gates. Modified to allow simultaneous jutsu use."
"That's not... that shouldn't be..." Kakashi struggled for words. "How long have you been able to do this?"
"I began developing the technique shortly after copying the Scroll of Seals. The theoretical framework required significant modification, but shadow clones accelerated the testing process."
"You opened five Gates. Five. Most jonin can't open three without suffering permanent damage. And you combined it with high-level ninjutsu."
"Yes."
Kakashi was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet, almost subdued.
"Your father was considered a genius. The youngest Hokage in history. The man who created the Flying Thunder God and the Rasengan." He shook his head slowly. "But I don't think even he could have done what you just did."
"I had advantages he didn't. Shadow clones for accelerated learning. The Nine-Tails for enhanced recovery. Emotional emptiness allowing me to push through pain barriers that would stop normal people."
"Emotional emptiness." Kakashi's voice was heavy with something that might have been sorrow. "Is that really an advantage?"
"In this context, yes."
Sakura and Satsuki had moved to either side of him, their hands hovering as if wanting to touch him but afraid of causing more pain. Their eyes were bright with worry and admiration in equal measure.
"You were amazing," Satsuki breathed. "So powerful, so strong... but you're hurt now. We need to get you somewhere safe, somewhere you can rest—"
"I'll be fine. The damage is already healing."
It was true. The Nine-Tails' chakra was already working through his system, repairing torn muscles and stressed bones. Within hours, he would be fully recovered.
One of the few benefits of containing a demon.
Tazuna had fallen to his knees at some point during the fight, his face pale with shock. "He... he beat Zabuza. The Demon of the Mist. The one everyone said was unbeatable. He just..."
"The enemy is disabled but not eliminated," Naruto said, ignoring the bridge builder's rambling. "Zabuza's companion will attempt to heal him. We should assume they will attack again within one to two weeks."
"You let him live deliberately," Kakashi observed. "Why?"
"Several reasons. Killing wasn't necessary for mission completion. His companion's presence suggested emotional investment that might lead to useful observations. And..."
He paused, searching for words to express something he didn't fully understand himself.
"I wanted to see what happened. When someone's precious person was threatened. How they reacted. What they chose."
Kakashi studied him for a long moment. "You're trying to understand emotion. By observing others experiencing it."
"I'm gathering data. Whether that constitutes understanding remains to be determined."
"That's..." The jonin shook his head. "I don't know what that is. But it's something."
The group gathered themselves and resumed their journey toward Tazuna's village. Naruto walked in the center, flanked by girls whose devotion had only intensified after witnessing his display of power.
Behind them, the battlefield bore witness to what had occurred—craters and trenches, shattered trees and scattered water, and the broken fragments of a legendary blade.
The Demon of the Mist had been defeated.
And Naruto, empty as ever, had filed the experience away as data.
Just another observation in his endless analysis of a world he couldn't feel.