Land of Waves (4)

"GET DOWN!" He warned, and as expected, a giant blade spun towards them.

All of the genin, including Tazuna who was pushed down by Sasuke, managed to throw themselves to the ground as the giant blade flew above them and embedded itself into a tree before a masked, shirtless figure landed on the blade.

Zabuza took a moment to survey the target and his bodyguards.

'Three genin - judging by their age and stupid faces, they must have just graduated from the academy. Threat level harmless. Their sensei on the other hand…'

The jounin hummed jovially, "Well, well, if it isn't Momochi Zabuza, missing nin from Kirigakure?"

The Demon of the Mist grinned under the bandages masking the lower half of his face upon seeing the Konoha jounin reach up the headband covering his left eye, "Copy Ninja, Sharingan no Kakashi. Did I get that right?"

Kakashi stayed silent for a moment before giving instructions to this team, "Get in the Manji formation. Quickly. Protect Tazuna and stay out of the fight."

The three genin complied and retreated to form a triangle around the bridge builder, with their kunai held up in preparation. After that, Kakashi lifted up his headband to reveal the eye that gave him his nickname.

"Hoh, looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action. What an honor." Zabuza mockingly remarked.

He continued, "You know, in the assassination unit of Kirigakure, we had a standing order to eliminate you on sight. You had quite a high bounty in our bingo-book. 'The man who copied over a thousand jutsu' they called you. Copy Ninja, Kakashi."

"Same to you. Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Or rather, ex-member of the Seven Swordsmen. Did you know that Kirigakure is offering a bounty for your sword, Kubikiribocho, that is higher than the bounty for your head?" Kakashi remarked as he drew a kunai from his holster.

Zabuza laughed, "I should be offended. A weapon is nothing but a tool for the user to wield. The only reason why Kubikiribocho is famous is because of me! But enough talk. Hand over the old man. Now. Or I will kill you and your students."

"Sorry, but that's not happening." Kakashi shot back. "How would any other client trust Konoha if we simply gave them up when asked? And if you want to get to my students, you will have to go through me."

The missing nin's eyes narrowed, "So you would rather die for your village then? Praiseworthy, but foolish. I'll just have to eliminate you first then. So be it. I have always wanted to test myself against an Uchiha, but I never got the chance before they got wiped out. I guess you'll do."

Upon saying that, Zabuza retrieved his giant blade that had been embedded into at tree before jumping off and landing on the surface of a nearby lake.

The missing nin formed a single handseal, a testament to his proficiency and skill with the jutsu to require only a single handeal.

"Suiton: Kirigakure no jutsu."

A heavy mist soon enveloped the area, leaving visibility limited and obscured the team's sight of Zabuza.

Kakashi who already knew this was a likely strategy for his opponent gestured to Naruto, "Naruto, wind!"

The blonde looked caught off guard for a moment before remembering that this was the plan all along, "Futon: Great Breakthrough!"

He put up a hand to his mouth after forming several handseals and breathed out a large gust of wind. This was the jutsu Shinji had exchanged with Naruto in return for the Kage Bunshin. It was one of the few wind release techniques that did not require a fine control.

Though the jinchuuriki had been putting much effort into chakra control the past few months, even mastering tree walking in a matter of days due to his generous usage of shadow clones, it was still not at the level where he could boast about it.

So the Great Breakthrough jutsu which required only an abundance of chakra and nothing more was perfect for a chakra powerhouse like Naruto.

The great gust of wind expelled from Naruto's mouth blew away the mist, preventing Zabuza from hiding within it. But when the mist cleared, Zabuza was already missing from the surface of the lake where he had been standing on just moments before.

The missing nin only needed that one moment out of sight from his opponents to vanish into thin air, hidden somewhere around the forested area.

Kakashi immediately readied himself. At his level, relying on his sight alone was no longer sufficient, so instead of looking around to find his enemy, he merely stared ahead and waited for Zabuza to show any sign of his presence.

The area was quiet, the three genin uncharacteristically remaining as silent as possible so as to not distract their teacher. Even Tazuna stayed quiet, only looking slightly fearful at the unseen enemy.

Zabuza, who had immediately moved to hide himself in the foliage upon sensing the massive buildup of chakra prior to Naruto's usage of his futon ninjutsu, levied a silent curse in his head.

Despite his boasts, he had initially planned on quickly dispatching the bridge builder under the guise of his mist before swiftly retreating. As a missing nin, he had learned to pick his battles. Their lives were constantly in a state of peril, so limiting unnecessary wastage of chakra was just common sense. Clashing against an elite jounin of Kakashi's calibre was simply pointless if he could complete his mission just by killing the bridge builder.

However, with the mist now removed from the battlefield, he would have to assassinate his target out in the open. Chances of which was slim.

The only advantage he had was the mind games he had played with Kakashi before the battle began. The Konoha jounin had three things to look out for – himself, his students and the bridge builder. Any of them could be Zabuza's target, so Kakashi had to split his attention three ways. That, and the fact that Haku was still in hiding and could make a move at any point.

However, even though his initial strategy had been ruined, his objectives did not change. He had to kill the bridge builder, even if he had to go through Kakashi to do it.

Zabuza concealed his presence even deeper, before moving towards the group of genin and the bridge builder – slowly and stealthily. With such a large weapon, one would think he'd stick out like a sore thumb. However, his expertise in silent killing trumped the cumbersome size of the weapon.

It didn't take long before he suddenly reappeared amidst the trio of genin and the civilian bridge builder, grinning at the incompetence of the genin and the famed Sharingan no Kakashi for their failure to notice him.

Kakashi immediately turned around and his eyes widened at the sight of Zabuza, his stance ready to decapitate everyone around him.

"It's over." Zabuza commented before swinging his sword in a circle around him, cutting through the three genin, the blade then headed towards the bridge builder.

However, his eyes widened when instead of blood and gore, the three genin he had carved through all merely disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Bunshin? That can't be!' He realized before his thoughts were suddenly interrupted as his instincts flared.

The bridge builder had somehow avoided the large blade, betraying his civilian origins, and lunged at the Demon of the Mist with a kunai aimed at the back of Zabuza's head.

Despite the absurdity of the situation and the element of surprise, Zabuza still managed to avoid the knife that almost ended his life right there and then but a devastating kick saturated with chakra still managed to land on the side of his torso, launching him away and breaking a couple ribs with a single blow.

To avoid detection, Zabuza had avoided using chakra enhancement, relying sole on his body's base abilities to reach his target. So the kick that had been strengthened with chakra blew through his body's defences, including the half-assed layer of protective chakra he had barely managed to put up upon sensing the attack.

Despite his injuries, Zabuza still managed to catch himself in mid air and landed on his feet, albeit roughly and a lot more worse for wear.

The bridge builder eye smiled before the henge was released from his body, revealing another Kakashi who similarly had his headband lifted to show the crimson glare of his Sharingan.

"It's a sad day when the infamous Demon of the Mist fails to see through bunshin and henge used by a mere genin. How the mighty have fallen." Kakashi commented. After the first clash that saw Zabuza heavily injured by his kick, he knew the fight was already over barring any further surprises. He chuckled as he recalled how the plan had been formulated.

When they were crossing the ocean to head towards the island of Wave, Shikamaru had proposed a strategy to the team. According to Gozu and Mezu, their troupe of rogue shinobi planned for Zabuza to finish the job should they have failed. And the Demon of the Mist would attack somewhere on the road when the Konoha team were on their way back to Tazuna's town.

So Shikamaru proposed for Naruto to create Kage Bunshin and use Henge to replace the three genin while Kakashi created his own shadow clone to replace Tazuna. He reasoned that Zabuza's main target would be the bridge builder, and since the rogue shinobi would be expecting a helpless civilian, Kakashi's shadow clone would be able to take him by surprise when he attacked.

The result was a smashing success that saw Zabuza taking a serious injury while the rest of the team safely and sneakily trailed behind the shadow clones from a distance.

The missing nin glared with a murderous fury but could only curse himself for his own idiocy. He could feel that two or three of his ribs had been broken from the impact. While the pain was a mere fraction of his actual tolerance for punishment, the injury would undoubtedly affect his battle prowess. Even if he generously assumed that Kakashi and himself were on the same level when he was in his healthy state, that had completely changed now.

He had to admit that he had underestimated this group of Konoha shinobi. Kiri nin always thought of themselves as superior to the shinobi from every other village. He himself held firm that Kiri's method of pitting Academy graduates against each other in death matches was what defined their superiority. Konoha especially, was too kind and too benevolent towards their own shinobi.

Sure they were a proper shinobi force; sending shinobi on suicide missions were par for the course. But their shinobi never held the same emotionlessness, brutality and savagery true shinobi really needed to excel. Or so Zabuza believed. Which was a large part of why he had underestimate them in the first place.

Perhaps it was the years he had spent in hiding and running away from hunter nin or maybe even his edge dulling from age. But Zabuza had to face the fact he was getting soft. His instincts no longer what they used to be when he was a proper member of Kiri's Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, fighting and killing any of Kiri's enemies.

And now, he paid the price of his carelessness. The best case scenario here was managing a successful escape. Fighting and killing Kakashi was no longer even an option. Worst case?

Zabuza cleared away his pessimistic thoughts. They were only a hindrance. Focus, he reminded himself. Emotionless. Cold and sharp like the metal of his sword. Unfeeling like a tool he was raised as.

His grip tightened on his blade, though because of his injury, he could now feel the real weight of the weapon which he once wielded like a feather. The strain on his muscles pressing against his broken ribs sent surging waves of raw, unadulterated pain shooting up his torso. But he ignored it. There was only one goal here: run!