The copy nin cursed as he blocked and dodged several more strikes, channeling chakra into his kunai so that it could allow him to counter the rogue nin's mighty sword. Despite his words that he believed in his students which was largely true. He was still very much worried about them. Despite having a lot of raw talent, all three of them were just fresh out of academy. Zabuza was practically a demon incarnate and the imposter hunter ninja had received training for many years from a ninja of the same caliber as him, even dealing with clones possessing a fraction of their power wasn't going to be easy. He was even starting to get worried about Ben too. Even though the young Tennyson was in a league of his compared to his genins, the imposter hunter ninja had a lot of experience and prior knowledge about how Ben's bloodline limit worked. If they could come up with a strategy to disable Sharingan, what stopped them from figuring out some ways to render Ben's bloodline limit useless. He needed to finish this as soon as possible.
"Well well, Just like I guessed before, you rely on your sharingan too much." Zabuza chuckled as he disappeared back into the thick mist, "Now that your sharingan is useless, You are nothing."
You won't get me this time around, Demon!
Kakashi quickly pulled out a scroll, unrolling it as he wiped out some of the blood across the slash wound on his chest and spread it across the seal, "This might not suit your style but let's end the fun." The copy nin smirked beneath his mask as he threw the scroll in the air, caught it and began forming hand signs.
"Hmph! Show me what you have got!" Zabuza said, his voice echoing from every direction in the mist.
...xxxxxxx...xxxxxx...xxxxxxx...
Meanwhile in the dome of ice mirrors, the newly transformed young hero smirked at Haku as his left eye went through some form of metamorphosis once again. Now appearing to bloody red with the flowery pattern replaced by a strange design of three tomoe followed by three curves spiralling counter clockwise around the pupil. He didn't know why but all of a sudden he felt about a hundred and fifty pound or so lighter, making him wonder if this yet to be named alien which mostly mirrored his normal physical appearance (apart from weird changes in his eyes) could use some form of superspeed.
"You seem a lot more focused than you were before." Haku said, she waited but received no response from Ben, "Are you still going to continue with this battle? I don't want to have to kill you."
"I don't want you to kill me either, Killer Frost." Ben cracked his knuckles , leveling his stare with Haku causing her to quickly raise her defenses, "But I can't let you kill my boss, we have a lot of work to do and I didn't even get my paycheck last week."
"Here he comes." Haku thought, her eyes narrowing down as the boy hustled forward like a speeding bullet , with incredible speeds. The masked nin, almost invisible to the naked eye, increased her own speed and bounced to another mirror, forming multiple hand signs mid air. Inhaling a deep breath before exhaling
"Secret Technique : Ice Mist!"
Ben noticed within a fraction of second as thick white mist began engulfing the area, crystalizing the small water molecules present in the atmosphere. At the same time he was also quite surprised that he could see her movements as if she was moving at normal speed
Incredible! She has the same ability as Big Chill and Articguana . Damn! If I got struck by this once again, even bathing in the lake of Pyros won't be able to heal the frostbite I receive.
Not wanting to become a popsicle once again, he substituted himself with a piece of metallic slab lying on the bridge, which froze into his place, turning into a pure white crystalline structure.
Haku ended the technique and waited for the mist to clear, however she was quite surprised to see that Ben was nowhere to be found.
"What's this? How did he manage to escape once again?" Haku thought in awe and worry , "Even Zabuza-sama has trouble dealing with this jutsu."
Suddenly her eyes bulged as she found the wind knocked out from her. Ben, apparently a bit irritated with how long the fight had been going on, punched Haku into her solar plexus smashing her onto the ground.
Gasping in both surprise and a bit of pain, she retreated into one of the mirrors. Or at least she would have if Ben hadn't appeared right above her, grabbing her by head and with a huge battlecry smashed a chakra enhanced fist into her face.
"Stone Cutter!
The force of the impact not only caused the mask to shatter instantaneously, it also sent her flying through the air, cracking a couple of mirrors upon collison. Before she could land on the railings, an invisible force slammed into her forcing her to bounce of the ground and skidding to a stop on her stomach. Unable to muster the huge amount of concentration and chakra needed to maintain the ice mirrors, they shattered and fell apart.
Ben ran over to her, ready to finish this for once and all, however he couldn't help but hesitate a bit when she rolled over, revealing her face. At the end of the day, She was just a child and now that he had defeated her, there was no point in continuing with this battle any more
Also this was the first time Ben could notice how much his view of the world had changed. Finally noticing how much incredible clarity and insight he had. Hack, he could even magnify up to cellular levels on his targets and see the chakra coursing through Haku's body, that was amazing.
"Why did you stop?" Haku coughed up blood as she raised herself on her arms and began to get up again, "Finish me off, To show mercy to anyone who stand against your master is a betrayal to your life's purpose." She said while wiping away the blood on her mouth, "What use are you to anyone then? Your life has no purpose."
"Huh, You are a fine one to talk. I don't think I need any advice from someone who has devoted her life to someone who runs errands for the scumbags like Gato. " Ben scoffed in annoyance, unable to understand why a child like Haku would give her life for someone like Zabuza.
"I was born in the land of water, a small village heavy with snow. I had a family. My father and my mother. " Haku began "My parents were farmers and they were very poor but we were happy, then everything changed. Because of something that happened before you and I were even born."
"What do you mean? What happened?" Ben asked out of curiosity.
"My father killed my mother and almost attempted to kill me." Haku said much to Ben's shock, "After years of suffering due to civil wars, the people of my land came to fear and hate anyone who carried a kekkei genkai."
"Kekkei Genkai?"
"It's an anomaly of the DNA that allows the wielder to use unique techniques. These powers are passed on through certain families, passed down from generation to generation. The families were exploited for all sorts of battles because of their powers and fearsome abilities. So after the wars were over, they hid their abilities, knowing that discovery meant death. If you were to search the memories of your clan, you would probably find this to."
Ben didn't know how to answer that question as he had powers for completely different reasons than Haku did.
"My mother hid her bloodline and married my father, but I accidently ended up revealing my abilities one day. " Haku began in a forlorn tone, explaining that how she ended up killing her father and his friends while instinctively defending herself from their assault. How she lost her purpose and no one wanted her. That Zabuza was the first one to acknowledge her.
"I am no longer a useful tool to Zabuza. Ben-kun...I want you...to kill me."
...xxxxx...xxxxx...xxxxxx...
Kakashi smirked under his mask as he rolled his scroll back up, slamming it on the ground he called out his jutsu, "Ninja Art: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique !"
Seals spread out from the point of impact, taking a life of their own as the ground began to tear up, indicating that something was moving underground.
"Whatever you're trying Kakashi, it's not going to work!" Zabuza said, knowing that whatever Kakashi was going to do was useless. "You can't figure out where I am. However, I now know where you are…what!"
"If your eyes don't work then just use your nose," Kakashi grinned confidently as he heard the sound of ground cracking.
The mist cleared and showed a complete immobilized Zabuza with several dogs latched onto them with their mouths. There was a giant bull dog latched onto his left shoulder, two dogs biting each of his legs, two dogs biting his thighs, one dog attached to his right wrist, another holding his large sword down by the hole at the end, and lastly, a small pug dug its sharp teeth off his headband.
"That's what happens when you keep your eyes closed in the mist," Kakashi commented, his tone smug and satisfied. "This technique is specifically designed for tracking down an opponent. I realized that if I couldn't see you, I would have to smell you. I let you through my guard , I wanted you to cut me so I could get my blood on your weapons which could lead my cute little ninja dogs to you. Their sense of smell far exceeds that of all other dogs. " Kakashi put a finger to his forehead as he closed his one normal eye. " Ah, the mist is finally clearing, and do you know what I see? I see your death."
"My future is death?" Zabuza asked, scoffing at the silver-haired Jonin and seemingly not the least bit worried. Though Kakashi could definitely see from the subtle changes in the man's demeanor that he felt otherwise, " Stop sprouting bullshit Kakashi!"
"Don't be foolish, with a single command my ninja hounds will tear you apart!" Kakashi said, his voice filled with cold fury, "You went too far, your ambitions were too great. You abandoned your country and became a missing ninja, story of your exploits even reached Konoha. Your attempted coup d'etat and your attempt to assassinate the Mizukage failed. You were forced to flee the country and become a missing ninja with what little followers you had. You realized that in order to try again, you would need money, and so you ended up working for scums like Gato."
Kakashi formed three hand signs, held up his right hand and grabbed his wrist. Lightning and chakra began gathering in his palm, crackling with repressed energy so potent it was visible.
"Raikiri."
Zabuza felt a trickle of fear at seeing the lightning shooting from Kakashi's hand.
"You're too dangerous Zabuza," Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the nuke nin as he spoke. "Tazuna-san, the person you are trying to kill is this country's courage. The bridge he seeks to build is this country's hope. Your ambitions will sacrifice too many people. That's not what a shinobi would do."
"I don't give a shit about other people!" Zabuza growled as he tried to fight against the dogs hold on him, only to find their grip tightening even further and now he could not even bulge more than a few centimeters. "I have my own ideals and ambitions to fight for!"
"And that, Zabuza is why you will die," Kakashi said, his sharingan eye blazing.
...xxxxxxx...xxxxxxx...
Haku stood before Ben, waiting for the young Tennyson to deliver the final blow.
"Go on. Kill me, why do you hesitate?" Haku said, her voice devoid of emotions.
"Individuals who are truly evil make use of the people around them and prey on them. Those that look after the people around them still have some hope." Ben responded in a thoughtful tone, "Go back to those time where you were just an innocent girl living in a village, you don't need to sacrifice yourself for someone who uses you like a tool."
"I came too far to switch paths right now. " Haku smiled, "Zabuza-sama gave me a purpose and a reason to live. It doesn't matter if he considered me as nothing but a tool. What's important to me that...he made me feel special. He was the reason of my existence and...I failed him. Ben-kun, do it for both of our sake."
Ben cracked his knuckles. He still wasn't going to kill Haku but right now she was being all suicidal so he needed to do something before she pulled off some crazy stunt on her own. Knocking the living daylights out of her seemed like the best option.
At that moment, Kakashi charged at Zabuza, intent on ending the life of rogue swordsman. Sensing that her master was in danger, Haku immediately jumped on her feet, dodging the powerful jab Ben was about to land on her. Ben's eyes narrowed as he quickly took a few steps back, wondering whether she decided to fight back even if her body wasn't in the best condition.
"Forgive me, Ben-kun. I may be of some use to Zabuza-sama for one last time." Haku said before changing her focus to the ongoing battle between Kakashi and Zabuza as she started doing hand signs using one hand, simply disappearing with a body flicker.
Ben immediately caught the drift of her intentions , his enhanced eyesight allowing him to see through the dispersing but at the same time extremely thick mist, he could even see their unique chakra. He also noticed Kakashi rushing towards Zabuza while holding a mass of lightning chakra in his hand, intent on impaling him. His eyes were even able to catch up with Haku as he appeared between Kakashi and Zabuza, threw a couple of senbons at Kakashi's summoning scroll and turned towards the copy nin...
She said she wanted to help..her master! Wait a minute...She is going to attack Kakashi!
Ben quickly dashed forward, something clicked inside of him as a cyan colored chakra shroud engulfed his body, radiating flickering flames as if his entire body was on fire. As if on a cue, Ben brought forth both of his palms, just as Kakashi was about to reach Zabuza and Haku.
"DON'T!" Ben yelled and with that, a wave of powerful repulsive force, akin to that of the gravity of this planet, hit all three of them at the same time. Kakashi had no idea what was going on as he was hit by an unstoppable force which knocked him off his feet and threw him on the ground with a loud bang, cracking a couple of stones in the process. Zabuza and Haku were thrown nearly towards the end of the bridge driven hard enough to bend a couple of railings. Kakashi's attack had dispersed thanks to this invisible force smacking onto him and his ninja dogs disappeared once they went airborne as Haku had already damaged the summoning scroll.
"Uh! What the hell was that?" Zabuza groaned in pain as he began to get up. Once he regained his bearing, he noticed Haku lying besides him, unconscious from the impact. Though the nuke nin quickly deduced that his apprentice was about to sacrifice herself for his sake before that happened.
"Well, isn't that touching?" A new voice rang out, Filled with malice and sarcasm.
"Gato.." muttered Tazuna, his brow furrowing as he saw who it was.
It wasn't just Gato standing there though. Behind the short, businessman was an army of thugs, every single one of them armed with a weapon.
"I must say, that when I sent you two to kill the bridge-builder, I never knew how entertaining it would be," Gato said with a shrill laugh. I was just going to have you fight each other until you were all weak enough so that I could just send in my thugs to kill you all," He concluded, sneering at all present ninjas in front of him
"So you finally decided to show up, Pig." Ben growled
"Hmph! " Gatou grunted, "You must be the infamous beast I have heard so much about. You have been nothing but trouble ever since you showed up here. You should learn not to stick your nose in where it isn't wanted."
"Gato.. You bastard," Zabuza snarled as he turned to face the short man, his fists clenched in anger.
"What did you expect from a businessman?" Gato scoffed in response.
"This isn't business. This is treachery," Zabuza snarled in outrage.
"Hah! A ninja is angry at me? For treachery?!" Gato replied with a laugh, "You're killing me here with those jokes of yours!" The thugs behind him began to laugh, unaware they were basically about to commit suicide.
"Well, Kakashi, Brat! It seems like our fight is at an end." Zabuza said, unsheathing his gigantic sword once again, "I have no reason to kill Tazuna now."
"Seems that way" Kakashi replied in a crouch. The moment he noticed one of Ben's eyes, he nearly had a heart attack.
That was none other than famed Sharingan. He had no qualms about this after seeing the three tomoe inside Ben's left eye. However he couldn't recognize the other strange pattern surrounding it. But how could this possibly happen? As long as they were alive, Uchiha clan never ventured outside of Konoha apart from shinobi business.
Besides as far as he could tell Ben's bloodline limit seemed sort of physical nature, similar to Kaguya clan and such. And why Ben's Sharingan seemed so different at the same time, extremely potent compared to his. That didn't make sense at all.
He needed to talk with Ben in private once everything was over. ASAP
Meanwhile, with Gato's command, the thugs charged and what followed wasn't even worth of being called a battle. Kiri's demon started to stab, slash, jump, push and kick his way to the businessman. When people attempted to grab him from behind, Ben and Kakashi sped up their movements to provide cover. The thugs were never skilled enough to take on Ben and now with his enhanced eyesight, catching up to him became even more difficult. His eyes not only saw in greater detail but also predict their movements just based on slightest muscle tension in their body. Something, Kakashi took a note off. He knocked out his opponents while Kakashi and Zabuza weren't that forgiving, just flat out murdering anyone who dared to come at them with weapons. Soon the remaining mercenaries abandoned their employer, running for their lives as Gato was cornered by the famed demon ninja.
Gatō begged, pleaded, and bargained for his measly life. Attempted every trick in the dirty, underhanded book, in order to refuse and escape his fate. Everyone stood in complete and utter shock, The hulking nuke nin ripped his head apart like a watermelon, He didn't raise it high and declare that the people of the Wave were free; .One of his hands lifted up his gigantic blade and slashed apart Gatou's remains with a single swing. Then he dropped them in the water below.
His head followed soon after. The waterways he ruled became his final resting place. It wasn't heroic, but it was the closest possible thing to a happy ending. It was brutal, savage and graphic. However, People of Wave wouldn't have had it other way. The man deserved to be punished beyond death, For the atrocities he committed , The way he terrorized them , This was the sort of end he deserved. He needed to be butchered like the pig he was.
And as for Team 7, This truly was a C rank to remember.
...xxxxxxxx...xxxxxxxx...xxxxxxx...
Next time- Benjamin Uchiha Tennyson?