"So it's the Copy Ninja of Konoha, Sharingan Kakashi. No wonder the Demon Brothers' team was completely wiped out."
Zabuza spoke in a low tone, malice in his eyes as blatant as a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.
"Huh? What's a Copy Ninja? And what's a Sharingan?"
Naruto suddenly asked exaggeratedly at the worst possible time.
Sakura's brow twitched. Big bro, are you seriously joking around right now…?
She sighed inwardly and explained, "The Sharingan is a kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan. But what does that have to do with Kakashi-sensei? Ah—wait, don't tell me…!"
She glanced at Sasuke, who also looked surprised at Kakashi.
Kakashi remained calm and composed, showing no hint of pride—just the demeanor of a seasoned elite.
He reached up and slowly raised his forehead protector, revealing his scarred Sharingan eye.
"So this is the Sharingan that's copied over a thousand jutsus?" Zabuza said indifferently.
"Awesome! It's the Sharingan—we're saved!" Naruto yelled dramatically. "Sasuke, isn't that an Uchiha thing? Did you lend our boss your eye?"
Sasuke immediately flew into a rage and shot Naruto a deadly glare.
Sheesh, Naruto thought. I heard intense negative emotions could awaken the Sharingan, but I guess it's still not strong enough yet…
Zabuza grew irritated by Naruto's chatter and gave him a side-eye glare. Naruto instantly joined Sakura and Sasuke in forming a protective formation around Tazuna.
Naruto blinked and said, "Big guy, your eye's not as cool as our boss's."
"That's enough," Kakashi said stiffly, stopping Naruto. "From here on out, protect Mr. Tazuna. I'll handle this one."
"You're not his match."
"Got it," Naruto said with his mouth, but his mind had already entered his mental space.
He rushed to the cage door inside his consciousness. "Kurama? It's me, the landlord. Hand over some chakra."
"Trouble again?" Kurama sounded annoyed. How could someone complain about my chakra one minute, then beg for it the next?
Could you at least show some respect for tailed beast chakra?!
"Hurry it up. You get this job done, and I'll let bygones be bygones," Naruto replied shamelessly, fully embracing his role as the 'landlord' over the Nine Tails.
Kurama didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked through Naruto's senses and observed the outside world—
Zabuza had leapt to the surface of the water, blade held high, maximizing his Hidden Mist Technique.
The surrounding visibility dropped even further.
Sasuke, overwhelmed by Zabuza's killing intent, began to sweat and tremble slightly.
Kakashi noticed Sasuke's panic and was just about to comfort him when Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"You good, twiggy?"
A surge of blood instantly rushed from Sasuke's feet to his head.
Thank you so much, you damn idiot!
Naruto clicked his tongue. Still no Sharingan?
"Oh? You've still got time to bicker among yourselves?"
Suddenly, Zabuza appeared right in the middle of the trio. Kakashi's scalp tingled. He shouted for everyone to scatter.
But Sakura did the opposite—instead of backing off, she charged straight at Zabuza and tried to grab him in a full-on tackle!
Zabuza scoffed in disdain and swung his massive blade horizontally at her.
Sakura ducked just in time, narrowly dodging the fatal blow, and managed to grab Zabuza, using her full body weight to pin him down.
She was trying to immobilize Zabuza with sheer brute force!
Expressionless, Sakura commanded, "Now."
Naruto, watching from the sidelines, internally shouted, Holy crap!
This girl doesn't fight often, but when she does, she's straight-up wild!
He, Kakashi, and Sasuke all reacted at once, pulling out kunai and rushing Zabuza.
Kakashi moved fastest, vanishing with Body Flicker and stabbing toward Zabuza.
Zabuza narrowed his eyes and elbowed Sakura in the forehead—but she didn't even flinch.
At that moment, Naruto swung in with his extra-long kunai—slicing through both Sakura and Zabuza.
SPLASH!
Both turned into puddles of water—Water Clone Jutsu!
It was Sakura's trump card. She had secretly cast the jutsu when they landed and left her clone in her place.
This was one of the results of her recent training. Inspired by Naruto in the original timeline, she had decided to take a similar path and master the highly practical Water Clone Technique.
It gave her huge tactical flexibility.
Meanwhile, the real Sakura received a ninja tool pouch from Naruto's shadow clone and began setting traps around the battlefield.
She was aiming to ambush Haku—ideally capture him, or eliminate him if necessary.
Clone Naruto began helping her set traps, awed by her strategic thinking.
So this is the high-level macro view of a veteran gamer, huh?
Back on the frontlines, Zabuza, having lost momentum, summoned more water clones, trying to bait Kakashi.
Kakashi managed to flank one of Zabuza's clones—only for the real Zabuza to sneak behind him, making Kakashi tense.
But just then, another twist occurred.
Naruto held his long kunai right up against Zabuza's back.
"Don't move. From my height, if I stab downward, you can kiss your ass goodbye."
Side note: At this point in time, Naruto was still a short, underdeveloped kid.
So he was actually aiming… at Zabuza's butt.
"Naruto! I told you to stay back! You're not ready to face him!" Kakashi shouted.
From his perspective, Naruto's personality made him too unstable for a situation like this.
"Heh, kid." Zabuza chuckled without turning around. "You think someone like me is scared of a runt like you?"
"Killed a few people and now you think you're hot shit, huh?" Naruto grinned.
"Let me put it this way—this move is a hidden taijutsu secret technique from Konoha. Personally taught to me by Sharingan Kakashi. I guarantee, in one second, I'll skewer you from the inside out."
Yup. Though this version of Naruto hadn't experienced the Thousand Years of Death, he had read the original manga.
From Earth. Trained by Kakashi. Yoroshiku~
Zabuza finally began taking the kid seriously.
Not because of the weapon at his back, but because of Naruto's attitude.
He spoke with ease, as if this wasn't a deadly battle but a picnic outing.
Why is he so calm? Was he modified? Emotionless? Or… is he like me? Has he killed countless people before?
Zabuza couldn't help but wonder.
He glanced at Sasuke nearby, who stood there dumbfounded—his face a mask of shock.
He too had been stunned by Naruto and Sakura's earlier antics and was too shocked to react.
"This kid's the most normal one," Zabuza muttered to himself, finally finding something real in Sasuke.
I mean, not every brat can be a freak like Haku, right?
Besides, Haku never acted this deranged.
Truth be told, Zabuza wasn't the only one doubting reality at this point.
Kakashi stood there, emanating a kind of quiet despair.
Can't I just have a peaceful one-on-one duel with Zabuza, for once…?