"Mr. Tazuna, we're almost there. It seems Gato hasn't noticed us yet," the young man rowing the boat said, letting out a slight sigh of relief as he saw the bridge arch ahead.
He knew that leaving the island and going out to sea without Gato's permission, especially to pick up Tazuna who was building a bridge, would mean he probably wouldn't see the Sun tomorrow if he were discovered.
"You've worked hard!"
Tazuna adjusted his hat, his expression turning serious.
Upon hearing their conversation, Li Chuan's eyes glinted.
He knew that he was about to face two Jonin-level Ninja: Zabuza the Demon and White, who possessed a Bloodline Limit.
He had a rough idea of a Jonin's strength from his daily training with Chiriku.
This was also why he wanted to come to the Land of Waves with Kakashi and the others.
Without Kakashi's help, he wouldn't be able to handle Zabuza and White alone.
After passing through the bridge arch, the mist dissipated, and a beautiful small island gradually appeared before everyone's eyes.
The only slight drawback was that the houses on the island looked quite dilapidated, and most of the residents on shore had numb expressions and were very thin.
"My home is still some distance from here; everyone, follow me!"
After disembarking, Tazuna led everyone through the small town on the dock, along a dirt road covered by dense forest, and deeper into the island.
"Sasuke can't hog the spotlight anymore!"
Naruto, walking ahead of Li Chuan, saw Sasuke, who was strutting around with his hands in his pockets, and immediately ran to the front, pretending to look around, even throwing a few shuriken occasionally.
His eagerness to show off couldn't fool anyone, and Sakura immediately started scolding him angrily.
However, at this moment, Li Chuan secretly became vigilant.
His keen perception, honed as a martial artist, made him vaguely sense a killing intent-laden gaze that had just swept over him.
However, he couldn't pinpoint the exact location of that gaze.
"There!"
Just then, because Naruto's random shuriken throw accidentally hit something, Li Chuan noticed a subtle anomaly.
He immediately pushed aside the dense bushes by the roadside and cautiously stepped forward to investigate.
Naruto's shuriken had landed squarely at the root of a large tree, and a small White rabbit beneath the root was trembling in fear.
"Did he use the Substitution Technique to get away?"
Li Chuan secretly paid close attention to the movements around him with utmost vigilance, but on the surface, he pulled out a shuriken, threw it to Naruto, and walked out smiling, holding the trembling little rabbit.
When Kakashi, who was standing there, saw the rabbit in Li Chuan's hand, his gaze instantly sharpened.
With his extensive experience, he could tell that this was not an ordinary rabbit, but a rabbit specially bred by Ninja to confuse enemies when using the Substitution Technique.
Sakura, seeing the cute rabbit that Naruto had almost killed, started yelling at him again.
"What a cute little rabbit."
Li Chuan walked back to Tazuna's side, deliberately held up the small rabbit in his hand, and then immediately said, "Do you think such a cute rabbit should be braised or steamed?"
On a tree with dense foliage, Zabuza, who had just used a pre-prepared rabbit as a substitute, crouched down and secretly poked his head out.
He was observing the monk below who was not in his intelligence report, when he was suddenly caught off guard by Li Chuan's extremely contrasting remark, and his otherwise perfect concealment revealed a slight flaw.
And it was this tiny flaw that allowed Li Chuan and Kakashi, who had also become suspicious, to discover his whereabouts.
"I've been exposed, so I'll just go for it!"
Knowing that his momentary Chakra disruption had very likely been detected by the famous Konoha Copy Ninja Kakashi below, Zabuza no longer hid.
He drew the Kubikiribōchō from his back and swung it forcefully towards his target, Tazuna.
"Everyone, get down!"
Seeing the exaggeratedly large Kubikiribōchō flying towards them like a meat grinder, its attack range encompassing all of them, Kakashi immediately chose the most effortless and safe countermeasure.
If he were to block the Kubikiribōchō for everyone, he might be ambushed by the Ninja hidden in the shadows.
If he didn't act, at the speed and force with which the large sword was flying, Naruto and the others wouldn't be able to withstand it at all.
However, if everyone got down, they could perfectly evade the sword's attack and remain vigilant against any ambushing Ninja, ready to counterattack at any moment.
Li Chuan secretly sighed in admiration at Kakashi's quick-witted solution, thinking, "As expected of an Elite Jonin who has experienced countless missions and battles."
However, he didn't lie down like Sasuke and the others.
Instead, his eyes widened, he held his breath, and at the very moment the Kubikiribōchō was about to strike in front of him, he leaned back, bent at the waist, and lightning-fast raised his staff, precisely inserting it into the round hole at the front of the Kubikiribōchō.
Then, relying on his rock-solid core strength, he forcibly halted the Kubikiribōchō's momentum, pulling it back.
With Kakashi watching, he wasn't afraid of Zabuza ambushing him, so he naturally took the opportunity to seize Zabuza's weapon first.
"What?"
Seeing Li Chuan actually stop the large sword with his staff, Kakashi couldn't help but be surprised.
He knew that given the speed and power of that large sword, stopping it like Li Chuan did, especially inserting it precisely into the round hole in the blade to prevent it from bouncing off, required extreme demands on strength, speed, and eyesight.
This young monk from the Fire Temple certainly had considerable attainments in Taijutsu, at least.
It made sense, as the Fire Temple was known for Taijutsu, and its current head, Chiriku, was once a bodyguard for the Daimyo, just like Asuma from the village.
It was understandable that his disciple, Li Chuan, possessed such strength.
On the other side, as soon as Zabuza threw his Kubikiribōchō, he immediately followed it by leaping towards the large tree where the sword was supposed to land.
The Konoha Copy Ninja Kakashi's reputation preceded him; he wouldn't be easily taken down by this throwing knife.
Most likely, he would tell everyone to lie down and dodge while secretly remaining vigilant.
Therefore, this attack was just a small probe, and incidentally, a sufficiently imposing entrance.
Ninja combat tests all aspects: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, combat strategy, Chakra reserves, and psychological warfare, among others.
Especially for equally matched experts, the outcome of a battle could change due to a very small factor.
Zabuza created a sufficiently imposing entrance not to show off, but to psychologically and emotionally suppress his opponent first, in order to create an advantage for the upcoming battle.
However, when he appeared at the spot where his Kubikiribōchō should have landed using the Body Flicker Technique, he found it empty; there was nothing there.
"Where's my sword? Where's my huge sword?"
Landing on a large tree branch, a bewildered Zabuza felt his cool instantly plummet.
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