Naruto: The New Beginning

44. Zabuza vs Team 7

Thank you," Cody Dennis ", for becoming an Elite member on P@treon, shoutout to you. Enjoy!

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Naruto quietly moved behind Kakashi, quickly forming three hand seals.

A sudden thought crossed his mind: 'What if I hit Kakashi with the Mysterious Art of Konoha right now?'

'No, no, focus. This is a battle,' he reminded himself.

'inclusive thoughts are dangerous.' Shaking off the weird idea, Naruto launched his ninjutsu.

"Water release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A massive water dragon, easily four or five meters wide, erupted from the water, cutting through the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza.

Zabuza's eyes widened in shock. 'You call that a water dragon jutsu?'

In an instant, Zabuza grabbed the giant sword at his feet, kicked off the tree trunk, and swung it with both hands, striking the water dragon's head.

The force of the strike launched him away, and he landed a bit awkwardly in the nearby lake.

Watching this, Naruto thought, 'Is this really how you're supposed to use the Executioner's Blade?'

He recalled an episode where Jūzō and Itachi were able to strike down most of the hunter-nin, but Yagura entered his Version 2 form and launched a Tailed Beast Ball toward Jūzō.

Naruto had been stunned back then—Jūzō was impaled by his sword. With little time to react, Jūzō attempted to deflect the attack with the Kubikiribōchō but failed.

'Even if Itachi didn't join Akatsuki in this timeline, Juzo probably still would've died on some mission for Kirigakure.'

It was funny how all three wielders of the Executioner's Blade—Juzo, Zabuza, and Suigetsu—ended up as rogue ninjas from Kirigakure. 'Maybe the sword has some weird curse that makes its wielders defective.'

Back to the fight.

The water dragon's head shattered, sending the rest of the water crashing into the large tree where Zabuza had been standing a moment before.

The tree, already weakened from Zabuza's earlier attack, swayed and then broke.

Water cascaded down, flooding the forest, though it was a bit of a waste.

Zabuza stood on the water, raising one hand to the sky and the other in front of his chest, striking a pose that practically screamed mid-level boss.

He sighed dramatically, "As expected of Hatake Kakashi—using such a large-scale Water Style jutsu without me noticing!"

It made sense—no one would think that three genin could pull off such a high-level Water Style jutsu.

Kakashi, though, didn't bother correcting him. 'When did you see me using a Water Style jutsu?'

But explaining things mid-battle would only give away his weaknesses, and Kakashi wasn't about to do that.

"Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza's voice echoed as the already thick fog became even denser, and he disappeared into the mist.

"Everyone, be careful. He's a master of silent killing," Kakashi warned the team.

"Zabuza killed over 100 of his fellow students during the Kirigakure graduation exam, earning him the title 'Demon of the Hidden Mist.' Don't take him lightly."

Zabuza's eerie voice seemed to come from everywhere at once:

"There are eight vital points in the human body. The throat, the cervical vertebrae, the lungs, the liver…"