The air in the Hokage's office was thick with the scent of old paper, pipe tobacco, and the simmering, volcanic fury of one Naruto Uzumaki. He stood, drenched and smelling faintly of pond scum, glaring daggers at the Third Hokage. A particularly fat, angry-looking frog was currently dangling from his ear, its legs kicking indignantly.
"NO MORE!" Naruto roared, his voice echoing through the chamber and making Kakashi sigh dramatically in the corner. "I'm a shinobi! A future Hokage, believe it! My destiny isn't to chase senile toads out of the public bathhouses! I want a real mission! Something dangerous! Something with action! Something where I get to be a hero!"
Sasuke, standing beside him with his arms crossed, looked equally unimpressed with their morning's work, though his displeasure manifested as a cold, aloof silence. His dark eyes, however, held a flicker of agreement. He, too, was an Uchiha, the last of his line, and his talents were being utterly wasted on these glorified chores.
Sakura, meanwhile, was trying desperately to wring pond water out of her pink hair, muttering under her breath. "Honestly, Naruto, do you have to be so loud? You're going to get us stuck on fence-painting duty for a month." But even she was tired of it. The glamour of being a kunoichi was rapidly fading under the relentless tide of D-Rank drudgery.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, took a long, placid drag from his pipe, the smoke curling around his weathered face. He looked at the three genin before him. Team 7. A powder keg of volatile potential. The number one knucklehead ninja, the last loyal Uchiha, and the brilliant, if still green, kunoichi. Kakashi's reports were telling: they were powerful, but dysfunctional. They needed a challenge, something to forge them into a real team, or they would simply shatter apart.
"Patience, Naruto," the Hokage said, his voice a calm river against the storm of Naruto's indignation. "Even the greatest shinobi must start with the fundamentals. Discipline, teamwork, humility…"
"I got plenty of humility!" Naruto shot back, finally managing to pry the frog from his ear and pointing it accusingly at the Hokage. "This mission was humiliating! I want something real! Please, old man? A C-Rank! Just one!"
Hiruzen sighed, but a faint smile touched his lips. The boy's fire was undeniable. Perhaps it was time. "Very well," he said, and Naruto's face lit up with a triumphant grin. "I do have a C-Rank mission available. An escort mission. Simple, straightforward, but with the potential for danger. A bridge to the Land of Waves…"
His words were cut off by a polite knock on the door. "Enter," Hiruzen called out.
The door opened to reveal Kurenai Yuhi, followed by her own team. Team 8. They moved with a quiet efficiency that was a stark contrast to Team 7's chaotic energy. Kiba gave a cocky grin, Akamaru perched on his head. Shino was his usual silent, inscrutable self. And then there was Hinata.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. Sakura's jaw went slack. Naruto just outright stared.
The Hyuuga heiress had transformed. It wasn't just that her mission attire was different, more form-fitting and practical. She carried herself with an entirely new poise. Her shoulders were back, her head held high, her gaze steady and direct. She had always been… mousy. Now, she radiated a quiet, dangerous confidence. And her figure… Sakura couldn't help but notice, with a sharp pang of something that felt suspiciously like envy, that the shy girl had blossomed into a young woman with curves that her new outfit did absolutely nothing to hide.
"Lord Third," Kurenai said with a respectful bow. "Team 8, reporting. Our sweep of the southern patrol route is complete. No notable incidents."
"Excellent work, Kurenai," Hiruzen said, his wise old eyes twinkling as he observed the silent reactions between the two teams. He saw Sakura's envy, Sasuke's analytical curiosity, and Naruto's dumbfounded fascination. An idea, sparked by a nagging sense of unease he'd been feeling all morning, began to form in his mind. He looked at Team 8's record. Flawless. Efficient. And young Hinata's performance reports since her 'new summoning contract' were filled with Kurenai's stunned praises. There was something more here.
"Your timing is impeccable," the Hokage said, steepling his fingers. "I was just assigning Team 7 a C-Rank mission. An escort for a master bridge builder to the Land of Waves. However, I have a feeling about this one. Something… unsettling. Therefore, I have decided this will be a joint mission."
"WHAT?!" Naruto exploded. "No way! We don't need help! Especially not from them!" He pointed a finger at Kiba, who bristled instantly.
"Who are you calling 'them,' you reject?!" Kiba shot back. "We could run circles around you losers any day of the week!"
"Sasuke-kun should have his own mission, not share it with a bunch of… sidekicks!" Sakura added, casting a disdainful glance at Hinata, who met her gaze without flinching, her lilac eyes holding a calm that was more unnerving than any retort.
"Enough!" Hiruzen's voice, though not loud, carried an authority that silenced them all. "This is not a debate. Team 8's tracking and sensory abilities will be a valuable asset. You will work together. You will learn from each other. Kakashi, Kurenai, you will be joint commanders. My decision is final."
Before any further arguments could be made, the door to the office creaked open again, and their client stumbled in. He was a grizzled old man with a towel wrapped around his head, a bottle of sake dangling from one hand, and the distinct smell of a man who had been drinking since breakfast. This was Tazuna, the master bridge builder.
He swayed on his feet, squinting at the assembled shinobi. "What's this? A bunch of snot-nosed brats?" he slurred, pointing a shaky finger at Naruto. "And you, the loud, short one with the stupid look on your face. You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"
Naruto's face went from triumphant to furious in a split second. He lunged forward with a comical roar of rage, only to be held back by the collar by a long-suffering Kakashi. "Who's the short one with the stupid look on his face?!"
Tazuna simply took another long swig of his sake, oblivious to the chaos he had caused.
For Sakura, the indignation of having to share a mission was quickly replaced by a new, more pointed irritation. It was the way Sasuke was looking at Hinata. He wasn't obvious about it, but Sakura, who had spent years cataloging every micro-expression on his face, saw it clearly. He wasn't looking at her with interest, not exactly. It was an assessment. The way a predator eyes another, unexpected predator that has wandered into its territory. He was analyzing her newfound strength, her unnerving calm, her complete transformation from a non-entity into… a variable. He hadn't looked at Sakura with that much focus all day.
Sasuke, for his part, was indeed intrigued. He had dismissed the Hyuuga girl as weak, another fangirl albeit a quieter one. But this new version… this was something else. Her chakra signature was different—denser, more potent, and tinged with something cold and alien. Her posture, her gaze, her utter lack of fear when faced with Naruto's outburst or Kiba's aggression—it all pointed to a fundamental shift. People didn't change that drastically overnight. He filed the observation away, a new piece in the complex puzzle of the world he had to navigate and, ultimately, dominate.
And as the teams stood in a tense, awkward silence, Naruto still struggling in Kakashi's grip and Tazuna taking another swig of sake, Hinata stood perfectly still. Her expression was calm, but in the private theater of her mind, a very different conversation was taking place.
...The old one reeks of fermented grain and self-pity... Venom's voice was a low, contemptuous rumble. ...The pink-haired one is projecting her insecurities so loudly it's giving us a headache. And the brooding Uchiha… he watches us. He senses our power. He fears it. Good. Fear is the first step toward respect...
Hinata simply nodded in acknowledgment of her partner's assessment, her serene expression giving nothing away. This mission was already more complicated than she had imagined. But as she looked at Naruto, still fuming, a small smile touched her lips. Complicated, yes. But it certainly wouldn't be boring.
The next morning, the sun cast long shadows from the towering gates of Konoha. A fragile accord had been reached, though the air was still thick with the lingering tensions of the previous day. Naruto was sulking, kicking a loose stone and muttering about the injustice of it all. Sakura was fawning over Sasuke, who was pointedly ignoring everyone, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. Kiba was boasting to anyone who would listen, which was mostly just Akamaru, who yapped in agreement from inside his jacket. Shino was, as ever, a silent pillar of beige.
Then Hinata arrived, and a hush fell over the genin. She was carrying a mission pack that was noticeably larger and heavier than anyone else's, strapped securely to her back. It bulged in a way that suggested it was filled to its absolute capacity.
"What's in the bag, Hinata?" Naruto asked, his curiosity momentarily overriding his bad mood. "Got the whole Hyuuga library in there?"
A faint blush touched her cheeks. "Just… rations," she mumbled, shifting the weight of the pack. The contents were, in fact, almost entirely food: high-energy soldier pills, dense protein bars, dried fruit, and, hidden in a waterproof pouch at the very bottom, a large, secret stash of her favorite chocolates. The hunger was a constant, living thing, and the thought of being caught on the road without enough fuel was a more terrifying prospect than any missing-nin.
...The supplies are adequate. For the first two days, at least... Venom commented from the back of her mind. ...After that, we may need to hunt. The orange one still looks… nutritious...
Kakashi and Kurenai appeared in a swirl of leaves, their expressions all business. Kakashi, with his usual lazy demeanor, and Kurenai, her red eyes sharp and observant. Tazuna, looking hungover but marginally more sober than the day before, grumbled beside them.
"Alright, let's go over the formation one more time," Kakashi said, his visible eye curving into a smile that didn't quite reach it. "I'll take the lead with Kurenai. Tazuna, you stay in the middle. The genin will form a protective diamond around him. Naruto, you're front point. Sasuke, left flank. Sakura, right flank. Team 8, you'll form the rear guard. Kiba, your nose covers our back trail. Shino, your insects patrol the perimeter. Hinata…" his gaze lingered on her for a moment, "your Byakugan gives us our 360-degree early warning. Nobody gets the drop on us. Understood?"
A chorus of grudging "yes, sensei"s followed. With a final nod, the two jounin set a brisk pace, leading the mismatched group out of the village and onto the road to the Land of Waves.
The first few hours passed in a state of armed silence. Naruto, true to form, was the first to break it, loudly declaring his superiority to Sasuke, who responded with a dismissive "Hn." This led to Sakura scolding Naruto, which prompted Kiba to laugh at all of them, earning him a sharp glare from Sakura and a quiet, analytical stare from Shino. It was less a team and more a collection of clashing personalities forced to walk in the same direction.
Hinata walked at the rear, her senses fully extended. The world was a symphony of information to her. She could feel the faint vibrations of her teammates' footsteps through the soles of her shinobi sandals, hear the rustle of a snake in the grass fifty yards away, and see, with her Byakugan, the intricate flow of chakra in every living thing around them. It was exhausting, but it was also a shield. She watched as Naruto, in a fit of pique, threw a kunai at a tree, only to have Sasuke throw one that split the handle of the first. A childish display of rivalry.
...Wasted energy. Wasted movements. Amateurish... Venom critiqued. ...The Uchiha's throw was more precise, but his arrogance is a critical weakness. They are children playing at being predators...
They had been walking for nearly half a day when Hinata's senses registered an anomaly. Up ahead on the road, there was a puddle. It was a sunny day, and there had been no rain for at least a week. The puddle should not have been there. It was a small detail, something anyone else would have walked past without a second thought. But to her, it was a glaring error in the tapestry of the world.
She focused her Byakugan on it. The water itself was normal, but beneath it… beneath the road… she saw them. Two distinct chakra signatures, compressed and hidden with a skill that was far beyond that of any common bandit. They were shinobi. And they were waiting.
"Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata's voice was low and clear, cutting through the bickering. "Stop."
Both jounin halted instantly, their years of experience recognizing the cold certainty in her tone. They turned, their eyes questioning.
"Up ahead," Hinata said, pointing. "The puddle. There are two shinobi hiding within it. Chuunin-level, maybe higher. Their chakra is… cold. Like a coiled snake."
Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly. Kurenai's expression hardened. They hadn't sensed a thing. Hinata's detection abilities had just proven to be on a level that surpassed their own.
They continued to walk, not altering their pace, but the entire dynamic of the group had shifted. They were a coiled spring, feigning ignorance. As the two jounin walked right past the puddle, the water erupted.
Two figures shot out, a blur of motion and steel. A chain with wicked-looking claws on each end shot out, wrapping instantly around Kakashi. With a vicious tug from both sides, the chain tightened.
"One down," one of the attackers hissed, his face covered by a mask, his forehead protector marking him as a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist.
In the next horrifying second, Kakashi's body was torn into four bloody, unrecognizable pieces.
Naruto screamed. Sakura's face went white with terror. Sasuke froze, his eyes wide, the memory of his own clan's slaughter flashing before him. Tazuna looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, his voice cracking with despair and rage.
But as the two Mist-nin moved to attack the rest of them, their victory was cut short.
"Primitive," Kurenai's voice was like ice. She had already moved, a blur of motion appearing behind one of the attackers, a kunai pressed to his throat. "Did you really think that would work?"
Behind the other, Kakashi appeared, completely unharmed, his expression one of bored disappointment. "A basic substitution jutsu. Honestly, your fundamentals are sloppy."
The Demon Brothers, as they were known, froze, their triumphant sneers turning to panicked shock. But the counter-attack wasn't over.
From the rear guard, a black tendril, thin as a whip and moving faster than the eye could follow, shot out. It wrapped around the metal gauntlet of the ninja Kurenai held, the one with the poisoned claws. The tendril squeezed. There was a sickening crunch of metal and bone as the gauntlet, and the hand within it, was crushed into a useless ruin. The ninja screamed, a high, thin wail of pure agony.
The other brother, held by Kakashi, didn't even get a chance to react. Hinata had flowed past the terrified genin of Team 7, a silent, lavender blur. She appeared before him, her hand open in the classic Gentle Fist stance. Two fingers, glowing with a soft, silver-blue light, tapped him twice on the chest. Not with the devastating, explosive force she had used before, but with a surgical precision that was somehow even more terrifying. The ninja's eyes rolled back into his head, and he crumpled to the ground, his entire chakra network severed and shut down, leaving him alive but completely paralyzed.
The entire engagement had lasted less than ten seconds.
Team 7 could only stare, their minds reeling from the whiplash of seeing their sensei brutally murdered, only for him to be fine, and then witnessing the quiet Hyuuga girl take down a powerful enemy ninja with a terrifying, silent efficiency that bordered on contemptuous.
Kakashi and Kurenai stood over the two defeated shinobi, their expressions grim. They looked at each other, then at the trembling, terrified bridge builder.
"Tazuna," Kakashi's voice had lost all of its lazy warmth. It was cold, sharp, and deadly serious. "It seems we have a problem. These are no ordinary bandits. These are shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist, assassins. C-Rank missions do not involve battles with other ninja. You have some explaining to do. You lied to us. What is this mission really about?"
Tazuna flinched under the combined, icy glares of the two jounin. The fight was over, but the real interrogation had just begun. The bridge builder, stripped of his bravado, seemed to shrink, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He sat down heavily on the road, his head in his hands.
"You're right," he admitted, his voice thick with shame and fear. "I lied. But I had no choice."
He told them the truth. The Land of Waves was a poor nation, isolated and economically strangled by a ruthless shipping magnate, a short, psychopathic tyrant named Gato. Gato controlled the seas, the only link to the outside world, and he bled the people dry with his exorbitant fees. The bridge Tazuna was building was their only hope, a permanent, free link to the mainland that would break Gato's stranglehold and restore their economy. It was a symbol of freedom.
"Gato has hired mercenaries to make sure that bridge is never finished," Tazuna explained, his voice raw. "He's hired real shinobi. I knew that. But a mission to protect me from other ninja would be a B-Rank, maybe even A-Rank. My village… we couldn't afford that. We scraped together everything we had for a C-Rank, hoping we could slip by unnoticed. It was a lie, yes. But it was a lie to save my home. To give my grandson a future."
Kakashi and Kurenai exchanged a look. It all made sense now—the Hokage's unease, the assignment of two teams for a simple escort mission. The old man had known this was a possibility from the start and had given them the resources to handle it. The mission parameters had changed.
"This is beyond the scope of the original contract," Kurenai stated calmly, turning to the assembled genin. "Protecting a client from ninja assassins is a mission of a much higher rank and danger level. As your commanding officers, we cannot force you to continue. We will escort Tazuna back to the village, and the mission will be terminated. The choice is yours."
There was a moment of silence as the genin absorbed the weight of the decision. Sakura looked scared, her initial excitement for a real mission now curdled by the reality of facing trained killers. Sasuke's expression was unreadable, but a dangerous light glinted in his eyes. This was the kind of challenge he craved.
Then Naruto stepped forward, a fierce, determined frown on his face. "No way," he declared, his voice ringing with conviction. "We can't just abandon him now! His whole country is counting on him! He's a hero! And we're gonna protect him, believe it! That's what being a shinobi is all about!"
"He's right!" Kiba yelled, pounding a fist into his palm, a wide, feral grin spreading across his face. "A real fight against real ninja? This is what we signed up for! Team 8 isn't afraid of a couple of losers from the Mist!"
Sasuke gave a short, sharp nod. "Hn. Let them come."
Sakura, seeing her beloved Sasuke agree, quickly found her own resolve. "I-I agree! We can't back down!"
Shino simply adjusted his glasses. "Abandoning the mission now would be illogical. It would damage the reputation of Konoha and leave a vulnerable ally exposed. The potential benefits of continuing outweigh the risks."
All eyes turned to Hinata. She met their gazes, her own lilac eyes calm and clear. "I will not abandon Tazuna-san," she said, her voice quiet but firm as steel. "We will protect him."
Kakashi's eye curved into a genuine smile this time. "Well, there you have it, Tazuna. The kids have spoken. Looks like you've got your bodyguards."
With a newfound, if tense, unity, the group continued their journey. The playful bickering was gone, replaced by a heightened state of alert. Every shadow seemed to hold a threat, every rustle of leaves a potential ambush. They moved in their diamond formation, a tight, efficient unit, their eyes constantly scanning the trees.
They reached the coast and hired a small, silent boatman to row them through the thick, unnatural mist that shrouded the waters around the Land of Waves. As they glided through the fog, the half-finished skeleton of Tazuna's great bridge loomed out of the gloom like the carcass of some colossal beast, a testament to his people's desperate hope.
They had just disembarked and were walking along a forested path when it happened.
It started not with a sound, but with a feeling. A sudden, oppressive drop in temperature. The air grew heavy, thick with a palpable, killing intent that was so immense it felt like a physical weight. Every bird in the forest fell silent.
"Down!" Kakashi and Kurenai yelled in unison, shoving their stunned genin to the ground.
An instant later, a massive sword, a zanbato so large it looked more like a sharpened slab of iron, spun through the air where their heads had been. It embedded itself deep into the trunk of a massive tree with a deafening THWANG, the entire tree groaning from the impact.
And then, standing on the hilt of the blade, his arms crossed and his face wrapped in bandages, was a man. He was tall and powerfully built, wearing the standard flak jacket of the Mist and baggy pants with their striped pattern. His presence radiated a predatory danger that made the Demon Brothers feel like playful kittens by comparison.
"Well, well," the man's voice was deep, muffled by his bandages, and dripping with contempt. "If it isn't Kakashi of the Sharingan. And Kurenai Yuhi, Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress. I wasn't expecting such esteemed company."
The name sent a ripple of shock through Naruto, Sakura, and Kiba. They knew that title. Everyone did.
But Kakashi, Kurenai, and Hinata had been ready. While the others were still reacting to the pressure of his killing intent, the three of them had already sensed him. Kakashi and Kurenai through their years of experience, recognizing the signature build-up of a powerful shinobi's approach. But Hinata… Hinata had felt him on a different level.
She had felt the cold, sharp spike of his chakra, yes. But through Venom's senses, she had felt something more. She felt the subtle displacement of moisture in the air as he prepared his hidden mist jutsu. She smelled the faint, metallic scent of his bloodlust on the wind. She heard the almost inaudible whisper of his silhouette moving through the trees long before he revealed himself.
Now, standing before them, was the Demon of the Hidden Mist, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Zabuza Momochi.
Kakashi slowly reached for his forehead protector. "Zabuza Momochi," he said, his voice grim. "This is a bit above my students' pay grade. Kurenai, Hinata, flank me. The rest of you, guard Tazuna. Get ready." His hand closed on the cloth, and he began to push it up, revealing the scar, and the legendary, crimson eye that lay beneath it. "This is about to get serious."
The air crackled with killing intent. The revealed Sharingan, a crimson vortex of power, spun to life in Kakashi's left eye socket, its three tomoe swirling ominously. Zabuza threw his head back and laughed, a harsh, grating sound that scraped at the nerves.
"So the rumors were true," he sneered. "Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, a man who has copied over a thousand jutsu. It's an honor to see the famous eye in person. But it won't be enough to save you."
He pulled his massive blade from the tree with a grunt, the metal screaming in protest. A thick, cloying mist began to pour from his body, billowing out in all directions, rolling across the forest floor and obscuring everything in a dense, white fog.
"Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu," Zabuza's voice echoed from within the mist, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Hidden Mist Technique."
Visibility dropped to near zero. The genin instinctively huddled closer around Tazuna, kunai in hand, their backs pressed together. The world had shrunk to a few feet of misty ground, the oppressive silence broken only by the sound of their own frantic breathing.
"He'll come for the client first," Kurenai's voice cut through the fog, calm and steady. "Stay sharp. Hinata, can you see him?"
"He's everywhere," Hinata whispered, her Byakugan active. The world was a churning sea of white, but she could see Zabuza's chakra, a massive, malevolent presence, suffusing the entire mist, making it impossible to pinpoint his exact location. "He's using the mist as an extension of his senses. He can see all of us."
...The moisture content is high. We can feel his movements through the water vapor... Venom added, its own unique senses providing another layer of data. ...He is circling. A predator sizing up its prey. He is to your left, Kakashi...
"Now!" Kakashi yelled, already moving.
The two jounin vanished into the fog, the clang of steel on steel echoing a moment later, followed by the roar of churning water. They had engaged him.
The genin stood frozen, their knuckles white on their kunai, listening to the muffled sounds of the high-level battle raging somewhere in the mist. Then, Zabuza's voice echoed again, laced with dark amusement.
"You think you can protect the old man? You're just children. Let me show you what a real ninja can do."
From out of the mist they came. Not one Zabuza, but a dozen. Water clones, perfect replicas of the swordsman, burst from the fog on all sides, their eyes cold and lifeless, their massive blades held ready.
For Team 7 and Kiba, the sudden assault was overwhelming. The sheer pressure of facing multiple versions of a legendary, S-Rank missing-nin was paralyzing. Naruto stood frozen, his mind blank with terror. Sakura let out a small, terrified squeak, her hands trembling so hard she could barely hold her kunai. Kiba growled, a brave front, but his scent was thick with fear.
Two clones lunged at Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke shoved Naruto out of the way, spitting a small but potent fireball that caused one of the clones to dissolve into steam. But the other was on him instantly, the huge blade swinging down. Sasuke leaped back, barely avoiding the blow, his face pale.
Sakura and Kiba were no match for the coordinated assault of two more clones, forced back into a desperate, clumsy defense. Shino's insects swarmed one clone, but it simply dissolved and reformed a few feet away, his tactic useless against an enemy with no chakra to drain.
They were going to be slaughtered.
But one of them wasn't faltering. One of them wasn't afraid.
Hinata met the charge of her own two clones not with fear, but with a cold, predatory focus. ...They are just water. Unstable constructs. Their strength is a pale imitation of the original. Break them... Venom's voice was a battle cry in her mind.
A clone swung its massive sword at her. Instead of dodging, Hinata lunged forward, under the arc of the blade. A slick, black armor of hardened symbiote instantly covered her forearm as she brought it up, blocking the flat of the sword with an audible CLANG. The clone, not expecting such a solid defense from the small girl, was thrown off balance.
She didn't give it a chance to recover. Her other hand, glowing with the churning blue and silver of her unique chakra, struck the clone's chest. Gentle Fist! The blow wasn't a tap; it was an explosive release of force. But this time, it was controlled. At the point of impact, her chakra didn't just disrupt the clone's water form—it flash-boiled it. The clone detonated in a violent explosion of steam and scalding water.
The second clone charged, and Hinata spun to meet it. She didn't use her chakra this time. A thick, jagged blade of black, bone-like symbiote extended from the back of her elbow. She spun like a top, a whirlwind of deadly grace, and the bone-blade sliced cleanly through the clone's torso, bisecting it. It dissolved into a harmless splash of water.
She landed lightly on her feet, her lilac eyes, now glowing faintly, sweeping over the battlefield. The sight of her—calm, powerful, and utterly lethal—was a splash of ice water to the terrified genin.
Naruto, seeing her stand her ground, seeing her effortlessly destroy two opponents that had seemed unstoppable, felt a fire ignite in his gut, chasing out the fear. "She's right…" he muttered. "They're not invincible!" He bit his thumb. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The clearing was suddenly filled with a hundred orange-clad Narutos, who charged at the water clones with a unified battle cry, a chaotic wave of sheer numbers that threw the clones' coordinated attack into disarray.
Inspired by both Hinata's stand and Naruto's reckless courage, Sasuke's fear turned to cold fury. "You're in the way," he snarled at a Naruto clone, before weaving a series of hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A massive orb of flame erupted from his lungs, engulfing two water clones at once and turning the surrounding mist into a curtain of thick steam.
Kiba, his courage restored, grinned fiercely. "Can't let you have all the fun! Let's go, Akamaru! Fang over Fang!" The boy and his dog became a whirling vortex, tearing through a clone that was distracted by the swarm of Narutos.
Shino, adapting his strategy, sent his kikaichu bugs not to attack the clones directly, but to blanket the ground, creating a moving carpet that could sense the vibrations of the clones' footsteps, feeding tactical information back to him and the others. Sakura, seeing Tazuna left exposed, snapped out of her fear, planting herself in front of the bridge builder, kunai held in a surprisingly steady grip. "I will protect you!" she declared, her fear replaced by a fierce, protective resolve.
But the anchor of their newfound courage was Hinata. She moved through the battlefield like a phantom, a force of nature. She flowed around the clumsy swings of the water clones, her movements a perfect fusion of Hyuuga grace and symbiotic power. A thick, black shield would sprout from her back to absorb a blow aimed at a Naruto clone. A whip-like tendril would lash out to trip a clone bearing down on Sasuke, giving him an opening. Her hands, sometimes bare and glowing with chakra, sometimes coated in black, monstrous claws, struck out with a controlled, devastating precision, shattering one clone after another.
She fought with a terrible beauty, and her teammates, emboldened by her presence, rallied around her. They began to work together, not as two separate teams, but as one cohesive unit. Sasuke would use his fire to create a smokescreen, and Kiba would charge through it, guided by Shino's insects to a vulnerable clone that Hinata had forced off balance.
With a final, unified push, the last of the water clones was overwhelmed. Naruto's clones dogpiled it, Sasuke's shuriken pinned it in place, and Kiba's Gatsuga tore it apart. Hinata stood over the dissolving puddle, her breathing calm, her eyes fixed on the mist where the real Zabuza still fought their sensei.
The genin stood victorious, panting and bruised, but their fear was gone, replaced by the exhilarating, adrenaline-fueled high of a battle won against impossible odds. They gazed in awe at the quiet, lavender-clad girl who was, without question, the reason they were all still alive. The battle for the bridge builder was far from over, but the battle for Team 7 and 8 was complete. They were no longer a mismatched collection of individuals. They were a team. And they were ready for the next round.
The mist, once Zabuza's greatest weapon, was now his cage. With his water clones gone, he was no longer an omnipresent god of the fog; he was a single, isolated target facing two jounin and six battle-hardened genin. The oppressive killing intent was still there, but it was now tinged with something new: the faint, coppery scent of desperation.
"Impressive," Zabuza's voice echoed, but it had lost its mocking tone. "It seems you've got some thorns among your roses, Kakashi. But it doesn't matter. Your little brats are spent."
"Don't be so sure," Kakashi's voice shot back from the fog. And then the assault began.
Kurenai was a phantom, weaving through the mist and launching illusory attacks—shuriken that weren't there, pitfalls that shimmered and vanished—all designed to distract and disorient him, to keep his mind occupied and his senses overloaded. Simultaneously, Kakashi pressed the physical attack, his movements a blur, the Sharingan allowing him to predict and counter Zabuza's every move with his massive blade.
The genin, taking their cue, fell into a support role. They formed a wide, loose circle around the sounds of the fight, their gazes sweeping the mist.
"He's going for another clone!" Sasuke yelled, his own Sharingan, not yet mature but still perceptive, catching the surge of chakra. He didn't hesitate. A volley of shuriken shot from his hand, guided by a near-invisible wire that he expertly manipulated, forcing the half-formed clone to dissolve before it could even become a threat.
Zabuza, his clone gambit thwarted, tried to change tactics, his hands flying through a complex series of hand signs for a powerful water-style jutsu. From the opposite side of the clearing, Shino's kikaichu bugs, guided by their master, swarmed onto Zabuza's arms. They didn't bite, but their sheer mass and the crawling sensation were enough to make him flinch, breaking his concentration and causing the jutsu to fizzle.
"GGRRRAAGH!" Zabuza roared in frustration, batting the insects away. He was becoming sloppy, his movements more erratic. He swung his zanbato in a wide, furious arc, trying to clear the space around him, but Kurenai was no longer there, having already melted back into the mist.
He needed to end this. He landed on the surface of a small pond, deciding to use his trump card. "You've pushed me, Kakashi! Now you'll drown in my power! Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
He began the incredibly long and complex sequence of forty-four hand signs. But as his hands flew, a single, expertly-aimed kunai, thrown by Sakura of all people, struck him in the shoulder. It was a shallow wound, but the sharp sting of pain was enough. He fumbled the last hand sign. The massive dragon of water that erupted from the pond was malformed and weak, collapsing into a harmless spray of water.
But Kakashi, his Sharingan blazing, had seen it all. In that split second, he had committed every single one of the forty-four hand signs to his photographic memory.
"So that's how it's done," Kakashi said, his own hands beginning to fly, mirroring Zabuza's sequence with perfect, flawless clarity. "Let me show you the finished product. Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A colossal, perfectly formed dragon of swirling, high-pressure water erupted from the pond, its roar a deafening torrent as it surged towards the stunned Zabuza.
Panicked, Zabuza leaped, his powerful legs launching him into the air to dodge the massive attack. For a second, it looked like he would make it. He would escape the jaws of the dragon and retaliate.
And then he met Hinata.
She moved faster than any of them had ever seen her move, a blur of motion that intercepted Zabuza's desperate leap. She appeared before him in mid-air, her face a mask of cold, serene fury. Her right hand was coated in a thick, black, symbiotic gauntlet, crackling with a churning vortex of blue and silver chakra.
The voice was a unison of Hinata's and Venom's, echoing in Zabuza's mind an instant before the blow connected. Her palm struck him square in the chest. It was not a gentle tap. It was a focused, controlled explosion. The chakra component of the attack bypassed his defenses, injecting a crippling jolt directly into his internal organs. The symbiotic component provided a wave of pure, brutal concussive force that shattered his ribs and stopped his heart for a terrifying second. There was a sound like thunder cracking, and Zabuza's body was blasted backward, all the air driven from his lungs in a choked gasp.
He was thrown directly into the path of Kakashi's immense water dragon.
The jutsu hit him with the force of a tidal wave. The combined impact of Hinata's concussive strike and the multi-ton torrent of water was catastrophic. Zabuza was sent hurtling through the air like a ragdoll, smashing through half a dozen trees before vanishing into the depths of the forest, his signature blade flying from his grasp and landing yards away.
Silence descended, broken only by the dripping of water and the panting of the victorious shinobi.
"He's… he's finished," Naruto breathed, his eyes wide with awe.
"Don't be so sure," Kakashi said, his face grim. He and Kurenai moved to pursue, to confirm the kill. "A man like Zabuza doesn't go down that easily."
"Wait!" Hinata's voice was sharp. She stood, staring into the forest where Zabuza had vanished, her Byakugan blazing. "Don't. It's too late."
"What do you see, Hinata?" Kurenai asked, trusting her student's senses implicitly.
Hinata's gaze was focused on a point deep within the woods, far beyond their range of sight. "He's not alone," she reported, her voice low. "Another shinobi just reached him. Small, fast… wearing a mask. He is carrying him away. Their chakra… it's gone. They're already too far. We'll never catch them."
Kakashi and Kurenai stopped. To pursue a target that far away, into unknown territory, with a second, unknown enemy, was reckless. They were already deep in enemy territory, and a B-rank mission had clearly escalated.
Kakashi let out a long, weary sigh. "She's right. He got away." He walked over and picked up Zabuza's massive blade, hoisting it over his shoulder. "Let's get Tazuna to his home. We need to rest, regroup, and figure out what to do next. This mission is far from over."
They stood for a moment, the two teams, looking at each other, their initial animosity burned away in the heat of battle. They had faced a legend and won. They had survived. And now, they had to move on, deeper into the gathering shadows of the Land of Waves.