The air crackled with tension as Kakashi lifted his forehead protector, revealing the crimson Sharingan beneath. The single eye swirled, locking onto Zabuza with chilling precision. The rogue shinobi smirked, his stance shifting as he prepared to face the infamous Copy Ninja.
Naruto barely breathed. This wasn't like the fights at the Academy, or even against those assassin brothers. This was different. Zabuza radiated something—something primal, something that sent every instinct screaming that this wasn't just a battle. This was a hunt.
And they were the prey.
Zabuza's grin stretched wider. "So the rumors are true. You really do have the Sharingan."
Kakashi's voice was steady. "And you're as talkative as the Bingo Book says."
A low chuckle rumbled from Zabuza's throat. "Hah! This is going to be fun." He vanished.
Naruto's muscles tensed, his breath hitching as the mist around them thickened. It wasn't natural mist. It was heavy, cloying, unnatural. Chakra-infused.
Sakura shifted closer to Tazuna, gripping a kunai in her trembling hands. Sasuke's jaw tightened, his fingers curling.
Then—
Kakashi's voice rang out. "Get down!"
A shadow exploded from the mist.
Steel met steel in a violent clang as Kakashi's kunai deflected Zabuza's massive cleaver mid-swing. Water sprayed from the force of impact, rippling through the mist.
Zabuza laughed. "Not bad."
Then he vanished again.
Naruto clenched his fists. He couldn't see him. He couldn't sense him. His eyes darted through the mist, scanning, searching, but Zabuza was a ghost.
Then, a whisper.
"Eight points."
Naruto's blood ran cold.
"The lungs… the liver… the spine…"
A shadow loomed behind them.
"The jugular… the kidneys… the heart."
Zabuza was inside their guard.
Naruto turned, fast—
Only for Kakashi to materialize in front of them, kunai raised.
Shhhk!
Zabuza's massive blade clashed against Kakashi's weapon, forcing him back.
The rogue smirked. "Your reaction time's sharp. But how long can you keep up?"
Kakashi's Sharingan spun. "Long enough."
Water surged around Zabuza's feet as he leapt back, forming hand seals in a blur.
Naruto saw it, saw the way the water moved unnaturally, and his stomach dropped.
Water Clone.
Multiple Zabuza clones rose from the mist, stepping toward them with matching grins.
"Protect Tazuna!" Kakashi snapped before vanishing into the mist after the original.
Naruto didn't hesitate, stepping in front of the bridge builder as the clones lunged.
Sasuke moved beside him, kunai flashing as he intercepted the first.
Sakura stayed behind Tazuna, her back rigid as she gripped her weapon.
Naruto's instincts screamed. He dodged left, barely missing the swipe of a clone's blade. His footwork was quick, fluid—too fast for a genin, too sharp for someone his age. But the clone was relentless, pressing forward, forcing Naruto into a defensive dance.
Not good.
Water clones were durable. Even if they weren't as strong as the original, they were still fast, still dangerous.
Naruto twisted, flipping backward as the clone swiped again. His fingers blurred through seals.
Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Three clones burst into existence beside him, immediately rushing the water clone with synchronized attacks.
A punch to the ribs. A sweep to the legs. A kunai to the throat.
The water clone burst into a splash of liquid, dissolving back into the mist.
Naruto exhaled sharply, already pivoting as another clone lunged.
Sasuke had taken down one already, his breathing heavy but controlled. His Sharingan wasn't active yet—probably couldn't be—but his movements were efficient, calculated.
Sakura hadn't engaged yet, holding position near Tazuna, her kunai shaking slightly in her grip.
Naruto's eyes flicked to her, then back to the enemy.
If even one clone got past them—
Another surge of chakra rippled through the mist.
Naruto felt it before he saw it.
Kakashi's chakra spiked.
His head snapped toward the fight between their sensei and the real Zabuza, eyes widening.
Zabuza was winning.
The mist thickened, swallowing Kakashi's figure. Then, a shadow moved—
And Kakashi collapsed into the river, trapped inside a sphere of swirling water.
Naruto's stomach clenched.
Water Prison.
Zabuza stood on the surface, his arm outstretched, holding the jutsu effortlessly. His grin was sharp. "Well, this was easier than I thought."
Kakashi's face was calm, but his eye was sharp. "Don't just stand there. Move."
Zabuza chuckled. "It's pointless. That brat team of yours can't do a thing."
Naruto's breath was steady.
The situation had turned sour, fast. Kakashi was trapped, suspended inside Zabuza's Water Prison Jutsu, his body rigid but his eye sharp, tracking every movement, every shift in the battlefield. The enemy's clone loomed over them, cleaver resting lazily on his shoulder, daring them to make a move.
"Run," Kakashi ordered, voice firm. "Take Tazuna and go."
Sasuke's jaw clenched. Sakura looked frozen. Naruto stared, unblinking.
Leaving a comrade behind.
He hated shinobi. Always had. They hunted, killed, and took what they wanted—no remorse, no hesitation. He had been prey, predator, and everything in between. He had been torn apart, poisoned, eaten, skinned alive, and discarded as nothing.
But Inu—Kakashi—had never hurt him.
And Naruto didn't want him to die.
He thought fast. The Water Prison was sturdy, formed from thick, swirling chakra-infused liquid. He had no wind jutsu strong enough to disperse it. No weapons sharp enough to cut through it. No speed fast enough to counter it.
But he had memories.
Memories of wind ripping through the sky, of powerful currents lifting his wings, of soaring so high the earth became a distant blur beneath him.
A Quetzalcoatlus.
Naruto took a breath.
He brought his hands together, fingers curling into a seal, channeling his chakra.
Sasuke saw it first—the way the air around Naruto shifted.
The way the mist started to pull toward him.
The way the leaves on the trees trembled.
The way the very atmosphere around them seemed to inhale.
Naruto exhaled.
And the world roared.
A hurricane-force gale exploded from his hands, a sheer force of wind that howled through the clearing, erasing the mist as it surged forward. It slammed into Zabuza like a tidal wave, tearing him away from the water prison, away from the river, away from everything.
Zabuza flew.
He crashed through trees, slamming against the earth, rolling before skidding to a halt, dazed and breathless.
The Water Prison shattered.
Kakashi dropped to his knees, coughing sharply, water dripping from his form as he whipped his head around to Naruto.
Naruto stood, arms still outstretched, face blank. The gale had already died down, but its effects remained. The mist had vanished, trees bent at unnatural angles, leaves scattered across the battlefield.
Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed slightly.
Then, without another word, he turned his attention back to Zabuza.
The rogue shinobi groaned, pushing himself up. He wiped blood from his mouth, then tilted his head, staring at Naruto.
"What the hell was that?"
Naruto just blinked at him.
Zabuza's smirk twitched back into place. "Heh. Interesting."
Kakashi didn't give him a chance to recover.
With a burst of speed, he vanished.
Zabuza barely brought up his cleaver in time to meet Kakashi's kunai, the two clashing with a spray of water.
Sasuke finally exhaled. "What… just happened?"
Sakura swallowed. "Naruto, what was that?"
Naruto tilted his head. "Wind."
Sasuke scowled. "No shit."
Tazuna gawked at him. "Kid, remind me never to piss you off."
Naruto just stared as Kakashi and Zabuza engaged in a brutal exchange, steel meeting steel in a flurry of precise, calculated strikes.
But in the back of his mind, he wondered.
How many more memories of his past lives could he use?