Wielding the long blade in his hand, Zabuza struggled to force back Wolf Fang Avalanche, his brow furrowing.
"What kind of transformation is this, a werewolf? You bastard, you don't have some connection to the Inuzuka clan, do you?"
"Hehe, this is the power we've newly acquired! With this power, even Kirigakure won't be a match for us!"
Wolf Fang Avalanche licked his claws and spoke with a hint of excitement, a faint green light flickering in his eyes.
Although he had turned into a werewolf, the changes to Wolf Fang Avalanche's hands were limited to his nails, which didn't interfere with forming hand seals. As soon as he finished speaking, his hands began to weave signs.
"New power?" Zabuza thought back to those strange Chunin, his pupils shrinking slightly. However, now was not the time for such thoughts. Seeing the opponent begin to weave signs, Zabuza also began forming hand seals to use Ninjutsu without hesitation.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Almost simultaneously, the two of them used the same Water Release Ninjutsu.
In fact, this was quite normal. The Dragon Bullet series of Ninjutsu was widely circulated in the Ninja World. Having undergone extensive refinement, they had reached a near-perfect balance between power and difficulty, which was why so many Ninjas learned them.
The two Water Dragon Bullets clashed against each other. After a moment, Wolf Fang Avalanche's Water Dragon Bullet gained the upper hand and quickly crushed Zabuza's, forcing him to dodge and retreat.
Fortunately, after crushing Zabuza's Water Dragon Bullet, Wolf Fang Avalanche's technique lost most of its power, preventing Zabuza from being injured.
The Ninjutsu proficiency of both sides was roughly equal. Considering Wolf Fang Avalanche began his hand seals before Zabuza, Zabuza was actually slightly superior in terms of Ninjutsu mastery.
However, in terms of Chakra volume, the modified and trained Wolf Fang Avalanche was more than a level above the still-young Zabuza. The power of all Ninjutsu ultimately comes down to the amount of Chakra; Wolf Fang Avalanche, who held an absolute advantage in this regard, undoubtedly surpassed Zabuza in the power and stamina of his Ninjutsu.
Unable to win in a Ninjutsu clash, Zabuza instinctively reached out to form hand seals and performed his signature Hiding in Mist Technique. Instantly, the world became shrouded in a thick mist, and everyone disappeared within it.
Although the Silent Killing Technique was Zabuza's trademark, it was difficult to use in group combat. After all, this move didn't distinguish between friend and foe; even Zabuza himself couldn't see anything in the thick fog and had to rely on sound and basic sensory abilities to judge his opponent's movements.
Fortunately, Zabuza's subordinates had also learned the Silent Killing Technique. In this thick mist, they still possessed a certain degree of sensory ability and could distinguish friend from foe. After all, with a boss like him, if they didn't learn the Silent Killing Technique, they might one day be killed by their own leader's move.
Having transformed into a werewolf, Wolf Fang Avalanche twitched his nose in the thick mist and grinned, revealing a sinister expression: "What a fool, to use the Hiding in Mist Technique against me, who possesses the abilities of a Snow Wolf! Don't you know that a wolf's sense of smell is forty times stronger than a human's?"
Indeed, besides the Byakugan and sensory Ninjutsu, Ninjas with abnormal senses of smell or hearing could be considered the natural enemies of the Hiding in Mist Technique. In the original story, the one who truly defeated Zabuza wasn't so much Kakashi as it was his Ninken.
Otherwise, it would have been an unknown whether Kakashi Hatake could have won against the Hiding in Mist Technique.
Kakashi needed the help of Ninken to determine Zabuza's location, whereas Wolf Fang Avalanche's own sense of smell already surpassed that of Ninken, making it even more convenient within the range of the Hiding in Mist Technique.
With a slight twitch of his nose, Wolf Fang Avalanche threw a shuriken in one direction without hesitation. Subsequently, the sound of a blade entering flesh and a muffled groan came from that direction as the scent of blood slowly spread.
"The first one!" Wolf Fang Avalanche sneered, then turned into a white blur and pounced in another direction, directly taking down another Kirigakure Ninja.
A few minutes later, the mist gradually dissipated, leaving only Wolf Fang Avalanche and his two subordinates standing there, though Wolf Fang Avalanche's expression was grim.
Tossing aside the piece of clothing in his hand, Wolf Fang Avalanche's face was full of anger and frustration. Gritting his teeth, he barked, "After them!!"
Wolf Fang Avalanche never expected that Zabuza would pull an Empty Fort Strategy on him at the end. In reality, the man himself had long since escaped, leaving behind only a Water Clone wearing his clothes.
His sense of smell had been confused by Zabuza Momochi's clothes. It wasn't until Wolf Fang Avalanche finally dispersed the Water Clone that he realized something was wrong, but by then, Zabuza had already fled far away with a prisoner.
In fact, this was because Wolf Fang Avalanche hadn't quite wrapped his head around things. Zabuza was, after all, a veteran of the Ninja World War. Although Kirigakure had always been the type to be eliminated in the first round, he was still much stronger than a novice like Wolf Fang Avalanche, who had never experienced any war.
In Zabuza's mind, they were just a reconnaissance squad after all. The most important thing was to bring back information. As for fighting to the death with the opponent, it was never within Zabuza's consideration.
Even if Zabuza won the battle, it wouldn't really mean much. Moreover, this was the Land of Sea; the enemy could receive new reinforcements at any time. No matter how much confidence Zabuza had in himself, he didn't think his vanguard squad could deal with a hidden village of over a thousand Ninjas.
Under these circumstances, retreat was the primary factor Zabuza needed to consider. As for his Kirigakure subordinates, they were even less of a concern to him.
Although Wolf Fang Avalanche immediately led his subordinates in pursuit, Zabuza was no pushover. He had already prepared for his escape and hadn't overlooked Wolf Fang Avalanche's keen nose.
Standing by the river, Wolf Fang Avalanche's face looked deathly pale. After taking a few deep breaths, he eventually gave up the chase.
For those with an excellent sense of smell, the best way to shake them off was naturally a river. As long as one jumped into the water, no matter how powerful the sense of smell, they wouldn't be able to scent anything in the end.
Then, by simply coming ashore anywhere upstream or downstream, one could throw off the pursuers. Although the countermeasure was simple, it was extremely practical when facing pursuit, especially for Ninjas who possessed the ability to walk on water and wouldn't even leave a ripple.
"I've certainly been taught a lesson. But if you think it's that easy to escape, you're too naive. Or rather, the next opponent you face will be the one who truly makes you despair!"
Wolf Fang Avalanche was angry for a moment but quickly calmed down, speaking indifferently with a cold sneer on his lips.