This wasn't a fight Naruto could treat lightly. Zabuza was one of the seven swordsmen of the mist. His skills were well-earned. While he went light in them in the first timeline, it didn't mean he was weak.

Plus, at this timeline, he is an active frontliner for the rebels, so his skills were sharp. Naruto spent a lot of time training in kenjutsu, but he wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could beat Zabuza in a kenjutsu match.

Naruto released the gravity and resistant seals. He wasn't going to hold back. While he wasn't going to use his trump cards or fuinjutsu, he still had a lot of moves to use. He was trying to dodge Zabuza's attack and use his spear to keep him away.

Zabuza was taller and more robust than him, and years of training meant he could match his speed. Naruto redirected a blow to his side and jumped back, holding the spear in one hand and quickly making hand signs with the other.

A few water bullets shot toward Zabuza, who easily dodged them as he ran to Naruto. Zabuza raised his sword for a blow, but Naruto Shunshined behind him to make some distance.

Naruto used a water torrent to keep Zabuza back. Zabuza used the hidden mist jutsu and covered the clearing. Naruto felt him making his clones. He wasn't able to use his chakra sensing, but he could still use his other senses.

Naruto used this to his advantage and made a few clones to hide. He then used the first trick of his spear. He sent a pulse of chakra to the correct seal, and suddenly the spear separated into two. With another quick pulse and a shake, the metal coverings came off, showing two hidden blades.

Naruto needed a sharp object to dispel the water clones, and his swords were perfect for this. He closed his eyes since he couldn't see in the mist and waited for an attack. Soon he felt Zabuza behind him. Naruto used the blade in his right hand to stab the clone in the gut dispelling it.

Zabuza was talking, but Naruto wasn't listening. He knew the talk was to distract him. the noise would block his hearing, making him unable to detect the attacks coming for him. so he focused on the sounds around him.

He knew he could quickly get rid of the mist with a wind jutsu, but this was a test for him to showcase his skills. It wasn't a fight to finish quickly. Naruto dodged an attack from the clone in front of him. Jumping in the air and kicking the clone in the shoulder. Using the momentum to throw himself into the air and using senbon to dispel the clone who was coming from behind. The fight was getting exciting. The real Zabuza decided to join his clones, and Naruto was dodging and attacking the clones as well as the real one. Zabuza was strong, and once he was sure Naruto could handle it, he took it up a notch.

Naruto used a great breakthrough to dispel the mist. When the mist was dispelled, Zabuza saw three Naruto clones finishing the last of his water clones and dispelling. Now it was only the two of them.

"Great going, gaki. Now it's time for some ninjutsu." He said as he finished the signs for a water dragon. Naruto used the divine wind to create a giant tornado to counter the dragon. The dragon hit the tornado, and splashes of water spread everywhere.

Zabuza kept sending water jutsu to Naruto, and Naruto was countering them just as hard. Two of Naruto's clones, who had been hiding until now, attacked Zabuza—giving Naruto time to get close to the fight.

Zabuza finished the clones and countered Naruto just in time. Naruto was once again holding a spear. They engaged in a combination of kenjutsu and taijutsu. They were both winded.

Naruto had a few bruises from defending against Zabuza's taijutsu. He was also bleeding from a shallow cut on his shoulder. Zabuza had a few minor cuts on his arms and legs. They were both panting and tired.

They both knew the other was holding back to some extent, but the fight was over. Naruto's skills were tested, and there was no need to injure each other seriously when there was a war going on.

Zabuza signaled the end of the fight, and Naruto happily stopped. "Well, brat, I have to give it to you. You are better than some of the jonin I fought. Your ninjutsu is good, but you need some strength in taijutsu and kenjutsu."

"Overall, you did well enough. Tomorrow you will work with your seals. The day after that, we will take our first mission. Let's head back for now." Zabuza said.

Naruto bowed politely and followed Zabuza to the camp. Naruto asked where he could clean himself, and he was pointed to a shared bath. He quickly cleaned himself and changed. He needed some rest, so he went back to their tent.

Itachi and Shisui were not back yet. Naruto didn't want to sleep alone, so he summoned a fox to stand guard and wake him up when the others were back.


He woke up a few hours later. Itachi and Shisui were back and were discussing something quietly. Naruto made some noise to inform them he was awake. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. Did we wake you up?" Itachi asked.

"No. It's ok. I was just taking a nap. When did you come back?" Naruto said as he did some stretches to wake himself up. His bruises were healed, and the shoulder wound was only slightly irritated. It would heal by tomorrow.

"We came back a few hours ago. Ao-san explained our tasks to us. We have to use genjutsu and help some people in and out of the village. We will mostly work at night. he was also showing us the map of the city and places we could hide." Shisui said as he made room for Naruto to sit beside him.

"Oh, that's nice. I had a training session with Zabuza-san. I must make some seals for tomorrow, so I should get to it soon." Naruto said.

Naruto unsealed some food and snack as they all got to their work. Naruto summoned a few clones and handed them all the supplies, and they got working.

It was nearly midnight when Kakashi and Yugao came back. They looked exhausted. Naruto gave them a brief report while they drank some tea and went to sleep. Naruto summoned Kuro to stand guard for the night even though he wasn't planning to sleep.

He knew he would get scolded later, but he had work to do. His clones were making general seals that all rebels could use while he was focusing on a few more complicated ones.

He was planning on making a barrier around the camp so only authorized people could come and go. he had a design for a key that would be given to Mei. This way, she could apply a small seal on others. Marking them safe to enter. Of course, she could also remove the seal if she wished.

The barrier would have a lightning agent giving anyone who wasn't authorized a violent shock. He could, of course, make more complicated seals but the amount of chakra needed to keep them up would be too much.

He finished the main design and worked on the extensions when he finally fell asleep.


Naruto woke up in his bed. He didn't remember going to bed, so someone must have moved him. He got up quickly to change for the day when he bumped into Itachi, causing them both to fall. "Sorry, Itachi. I wasn't paying attention." Naruto said as he got up and helped Itachi up.

"It's ok, Naruto-kun. When did you come to bed last night? I didn't notice." Itachi asked as he dusted himself.

So it was Kuro who put him in bed. Naruto made a mental note to give him some treats. "It was a little after Kakashi-san and Yugao-san came back." Naruto could sense them with Mei.

He took a quick look outside the tent. It was still early morning, so he wasn't sleeping for long. Itachi pointed him to a breakfast tray and ordered him to eat before returning to work. Naruto took a few bites before heading out to find Zabuza.

He found Zabuza overseeing the training of some rebels. He gave a nod of acknowledgment to Naruto and handed the training to someone else before having Naruto follow him.

They worked most of the morning discussing the seals. Naruto had clones making more supplies while he worked with Zabuza. Mei joined them shortly during the lunch break to confirm the seals.

The discussions were going well; they sent the drafts for Hokage to sign and were waiting for a reply. Naruto was given the go to make the barrier. The barrier would need at least four people with Jonin reserves to recharge daily. All they needed to do was to charge the scrolls that would be put in the corners of the barrier and replace them daily.

The barrier could maintain itself for 26 hours after each recharge. When the scrolls were put in place, it would charge the barrier in under an hour to the full capacity again, and the scrolls could be taken to be charged again.

If the barrier was under constant attack, it would burn more quickly. That was why Naruto had put two features into it. There were four particular scrolls that he was going to charge personally. These scrolls could hold the barrier for 1 hour no matter how much pressure it was under, and then it would cause the barrier to break with a massive shockwave, hopefully injuring as many enemies as possible.

The second feature was a map that showed the camp and the barrier around it. The map was connected to the seal and would show the complete status of the seal and if any side needed faster reinforcement.

Naruto explained the complete functionality to Zabuza, Mei, Ao, and four people who were going to be in charge of maintaining the barrier. When he was done, Zabuza accompanied him to the area where he would set up the barrier.

It took him hours and a few soldier pills to fully set up the barrier, but it was done. He was too exhausted to activate it and was sent to rest until the next day. He didn't have any complaints.


For the next few days, he finished the barrier and made sure the people involved knew how to work with it. It took some time for Mei to apply the seals to all the rebels. The seal was invisible after initial activation unless chakra was fed into it, so they didn't have to worry about the placement.

Naruto also made an entire stock for any kind of easily activated seal he could think of. Overall he had significant progress and would soon be deployed with Zabuza for some missions.

Itachi and Shisui helped Ao free some of the rebels and those who were hiding in the village. They were also gathering intel. Kakashi and Yugao were trying to infiltrate the kage tower and find the military status.

They were all busy. They tried to make some time for each other at night and to also update each other on their missions. Everything was going according to their plans. By the end of the month, they should be able to take back Kiri.


They were planning a full attack at night. Some of their forces will act as distractions all over the city. There were certain areas prepared to evacuate civilians to safety. Kakashi and Shisui were among these forces to hold back some of the stronger jonin.

Meanwhile, Itachi, Naruto, Mei, and Zabuza would get to the Mizukage and defeat him. Naruto wanted to avoid bloodshed as much as possible, but he didn't know how to keep the Mizukage alive.

If worse came to happen, he knew that Yagura would forgive him.