In the dense forest.
Zabuza withdrew his Executioner's Blade from Tazuna's chest, causing a spurt of blood.
After parting ways with Team 7, Tazuna embarked on his journey home, filled with resentment and unwillingness.
He consoled himself, thinking that he could return safely without those lowly ninjas.
However, self-consolation was just that. He hadn't gone far before running into Zabuza and Haku.
Life vanished with the gush of blood.
However, all of this didn't cause any ripples in the heart of the powerful ninja known as the Demon.
Only the handsome youth beside Zabuza showed a hint of pity in his eyes, but in the end, he said nothing.
"Zabuza-sama, are we going to rescue the Demon Brothers?"
Recalling the information he had gleaned from Tazuna earlier, the youth named Haku spoke softly.
They had successfully killed their mission target, Tazuna, but they had also learned about Kakashi's group and the whereabouts of the missing Demon Brothers from him.
"That's Kakashi, the Copy Ninja known as the Konoha's Genius Ninja. I'm not necessarily his match, but since he's with three Genin brats, he should be wary. Let's try chasing after them."
"If we can negotiate, we'll negotiate for the exchange of prisoners. If we can't, we'll try to rescue them. Our information has already been leaked. After this, whether we succeed or fail, we can't stay in the Land of Waves."
Zabuza pondered for a moment, then finally made up his mind.
He was seeking the position of Mizukage, and he needed not only funds but also manpower.
Although the Demon Brothers' strength was average, they were still rare subordinates that he couldn't easily abandon.
With that, Zabuza leaped onto a tree branch and bounded forward.
"Yes."
Haku responded obediently and followed.
...
"Tazuna is dead."
Thirty kilometers away, in a forest stream within the Land of Fire's territory, Sasuke, who was eating Grilled Fish by the fire, suddenly spoke.
Naruto calmly ate his Grilled Fish, noncommittal.
Compared to Sasuke, who needed to rely on the Sebun'arōbukku ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan to confirm the old man's death.
Even at such a distance, Naruto could still clearly observe Tazuna's Chakra signature with his Kagura Mind's Eye.
And just a moment ago, the other party's Chakra signature disappeared, and at the same time, two powerful Chakras were advancing towards them.
If there were no accidents, it should be Zabuza and Haku.
Only Sakura-ge was full of question marks.
How did you two know from such a distance?
Are you gods?
"Tell me, what exactly is going on with this mission?"
Naruto finished his grilled fish, washed his hands, and asked Kakashi, who was beside him.
He didn't believe that whether it was in the manga or in reality, specifically choosing him, the Jinchuriki with the status of a strategic nuclear weapon, to carry out a mission would be an ordinary one.
There was no such coincidence.
Any random mission could escalate from C-rank to A-rank.
He estimated that before he even started the mission, those Anbu had already investigated the mission requester's ancestors for three generations.
"Didn't you notice that two teams of Anbu around us are missing?" Kakashi said softly.
Hearing this, Naruto was thoughtful.
He hadn't paid attention before, but now that Kakashi reminded him, he remembered.
After a careful search, he found the missing Anbu within the territory of the Land of Waves, eighty kilometers away.
These Anbu were still moving at high speed, and soon they were about to disappear beyond Naruto's sensory limit.
Although Naruto could only vaguely sense their aura at the moment, it was not difficult to deduce some facts based on the manga and the information he had previously obtained from Tazuna.
"These Anbu following me, are they going to take advantage of that so-called multinational merchant Gato? We were sent here for this escort mission to give us some experience?"
"And by the way, find an excuse to kill Gato, gain the favor of the people of the Land of Waves, and take over Gato's property?"
"It's just that now that we've abandoned the mission, those Anbu can only directly go and cause trouble for Gato, and later they'll blame his death on this group of Hidden Mist Rogue Ninja?"
"They killed their employer out of greed for money, and we Konoha are pursuing those who violate the ninja rules, using this as an excuse to silence them."
Naruto said softly, his eyes cast on the Demon Brothers who had fallen victim to the Sharingan's genjutsu and were tied to a tree.
Not long ago, they had obtained a lot of information from these two Hidden Mist Rogue Ninja, including the existence and purpose of Zabuza and Haku, without any omissions.
Kakashi didn't speak, but nodded to affirm his thoughts.
The funding of the ninja village was always tight, and as a qualified Kage, he would inevitably try to obtain funds for the development of the village, even if it meant doing some shady things.
Naruto scoffed at this.
"No wonder ninjas can never be taken seriously. The rulers of the largest ninja villages in the Ninja World only have this kind of vision, so naturally they can't become the mainstream of the world."
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura all heard Naruto's sneer, and naturally became interested, casting curious glances at Naruto.
Kakashi and Sasuke both attached great importance to and paid attention to Naruto's most genuine thoughts.
Because this would determine their attitude towards certain things.
"Naruto, the Hokage's actions can increase the village's funding without damaging the village's reputation, so it should be considered a good way to handle things, why do you say that?"
Sakura-ge asked.
She didn't have any malice, just purely curious about what insights Naruto, her intelligent teammate, had on this matter.
Naruto, who was about to speak, paused for a moment, and then said with a smile, "Let's talk about it later, there are two guests who are about to arrive."
As soon as he finished speaking, they heard the sound of wind breaking.
Immediately, Team 7's vision blurred, and two figures appeared before them.
One of them was wearing a fitted outfit, carrying the Executioner's Blade on his shoulder, bandages wrapped around his face, with no eyebrows, and surrounded by a terrifying aura.
The other was wearing a high-collared long coat, with a Hidden Mist Anbu mask on his face, standing quietly beside the former.
It was Zabuza and Haku.
This place was not far from where Tazuna had died, and with Zabuza and Haku traveling at full speed, they had followed the scent of the Demon Brothers and caught up with Team 7 while they were chatting.
"You must be the famous Copy Ninja, Konoha's technician Kakashi Hatake?"
After standing firm, Zabuza looked around, ignored the three Genin brats, and fixed his gaze on the white-haired Jonin's face.
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