While Kisame Hoshigaki was in a state of indecision, Zabuza, another future member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, was the opposite, charging ahead in his actions.
Zabuza had always been the type of Ninja with explosive initiative; having killed all his classmates and later directly attempting to assassinate the Mizukage, his drive was quite evident.
Regarding these Sea Ninja that the Land of Sea had produced, Zabuza prepared to take further action after obtaining some general intelligence.
Although he belonged to a scouting team, besides normal scouting methods, capturing opponents for interrogation was also a very standard approach, and Zabuza, always deeply confident in himself, naturally chose the latter.
The Land of Sea was originally an island nation with thick moisture, and every morning, heavy fog would often rise.
For Zabuza, who was proficient in the Kirigakure Technique, this was undoubtedly a massive boost; within the heavy fog, the stealth of the Hiding in Mist Technique immediately multiplied several times, and many ordinary Ninja were subdued in the suddenly thickening fog before they even realized what was happening.
However, after Zabuza succeeded three times in a row, he began to feel that something was slightly off.
Judging by their combat intelligence and Ninja quality, the three Ninja he had captured were only average in strength, likely just mediocre Genin.
But their physical fitness and Chakra reserves were even higher than the average Chunin, and their neural reflexes were extremely fast, with their overall strength basically reaching the level of a Chunin.
If he had only encountered this situation occasionally, it wouldn't be a big deal.
To put it bluntly, things like combat intelligence and Ninja quality are intangible; although they match a Ninja's own rank in the vast majority of cases, situations where physical fitness is strong but combat intelligence is low do occur from time to time.
But for three in a row to be like this, and during combat, their fighting rhythm was clearly disconnected from their current physical reactions—looking as if their strength had suddenly surged so much that they couldn't control their own bodies—it made Zabuza feel uneasy.
To be safe, Zabuza, who had originally intended to hunt even stronger prey, ultimately stayed his hand.
These few Ninja certainly had some flaws, but their Chunin-level strength was genuine, and according to Zabuza's observations, the status of these Ninja seemed to be at the lowest tier of the hidden village, essentially feeling like ordinary Genin, which was truly terrifying.
A hidden village where everyone is at the Chunin level or above? If they really have this kind of strength, then this Sea Ninja Village might truly not be a joke!
With a grim face, Zabuza had several subordinates take the three Ninja captives toward their temporary base, where several interrogators were located.
A person's energy is limited, making it hard to be perfect in everything; among those of the same rank, most of these Ninja proficient in interrogation are slightly weaker than normal combat Ninja, so those few had remained at the base instead of moving out with Zabuza.
However, by the time Zabuza arrived at the base, the entire place was empty—no, it couldn't be said to be empty; at the entrance of the base stood several Ninja, while the Kirigakure left behind had vanished without a trace.
Almost the moment he arrived at the base, Zabuza's expression changed completely; had his home base been raided?
"Very well, it seems I underestimated you. I didn't expect a newly established small hidden village to possess such intelligence-gathering capabilities!"
Hearing Zabuza's words, the Ninja standing at the front named Wolf Fang Avalanche blushed slightly; with their Ninja village lacking any foundation, how could they possibly scout the movements of Kirigakure?
It was simply that Vegapunk had given them a "cheat," relying on his own Devil Fruit ability to directly simulate and develop a Life Magnetic Field Radar, which could observe the life magnetic field intensity of everyone in the entire Land of Sea who exceeded a certain level.
Although this thing could only detect human life magnetic fields and couldn't tag individuals, a Ninja with powerful Chakra would certainly have a strong life magnetic field; the Kirigakure sent to the Land of Sea this time were all elites, and with a large group of powerful life magnetic fields gathered together, it would be strange if they weren't discovered.
Of course, Wolf Fang Avalanche certainly wouldn't tell Zabuza such things; he merely pulled out a Kunai with a rather indifferent expression and pointed it at Zabuza: "Kirigakure Ninja, what are you doing in our Sea Ninja territory?"
"Pointless talk. Ninja don't make a living with their mouths; if you want to take territory from us Kirigakure, what you really need are Kunai and Shuriken!"
Zabuza spoke coldly, while simultaneously gripping the imitation executioners blade on his back, instantly drawing it and pointing it at Wolf Fang Avalanche.
"Fine, then let's let our strength do the talking!"
Wolf Fang Avalanche's face was tense as he also held his Kunai in front of his chest, ready for battle.
In truth, when it came to actual strength, the original Wolf Fang Avalanche was undoubtedly far inferior to Zabuza.
The Chakra Armor from the movie version hadn't been developed yet, and the Ice Release he relied on basically became pure Water Release after leaving the Land of Snow; without Ice Release, Wolf Fang Avalanche could at most be considered a Special Jonin.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are at least Jonin level, with most of their strength around Elite Jonin; Zabuza Momochi was undoubtedly a standard Elite Jonin.
Even though the current Zabuza didn't have the real executioners blade and was theoretically slightly weakened, the executioners blade's boost to combat power was the weakest among the seven Ninja swords; as long as it wasn't a battle of attrition, the executioners blade could be regarded as an ordinary weapon.
In other words, even without the executioners blade, Zabuza's strength was around Elite Jonin; even if he might have only just reached the edge of this rank due to his age, he wasn't someone a Special Jonin like Wolf Fang Avalanche could compare to.
However, since Wolf Fang Avalanche dared to stand up in a place outside the Land of Snow, he naturally had sufficient confidence in himself; as the former top expert of the Snow Ninja Village, he was naturally the first experimental subject for Vegapunk's modifications and training.
Having gone through training in the Training Pod and been injected with the unique Snow Wolf Gene from the Land of Snow, the current Wolf Fang Avalanche was completely different from before.
Wolf Fang Avalanche and Zabuza confronted each other for a moment; compared to the killing intent Zabuza had condensed from killing countless people since childhood, Wolf Fang Avalanche, who had previously only stayed in the Land of Snow and likely killed fewer than ten people, was undoubtedly at a disadvantage in terms of presence.
Feeling his presence falter, Wolf Fang Avalanche didn't hesitate to swing his Kunai and throw it directly; after Zabuza slightly swayed his head to dodge the strike, he saw Wolf Fang Avalanche let out a wolf howl, his entire body transforming into a White Werewolf as he pounced.