Here we are, back again for another chapter, I see! Well, who am I to not deliver...sometimes.

NeoShadows here with another update to A Certain Maelstrom of Misfortune. And just before I head back to the working forces of this world.

Seriously, it's been half a year since I put on my uniform and went to work to earn a living. If I was living with my family, I'd have died. I got nothing in the dried bank account due to never being given any unemployment benefits despite filling out the forms. The system sucks.

Anyways, I'll be back to my old forty-hour shifts, five to six days, under new regulations and such. I'm excited. All I've done is sit in my desk and type while taking care of my siblings and doing chores. Basically, I've resorted to status as a house husband without the sexy wife. Yes, those are salty tears streaming down my face. I'm thankful that I've saved up plenty of chapters for this return to my busy life, especially with this story having plenty typed up already. As always though, as is my new policy, I can't make any promises about when I'm about to update. I'll update when I update; simple as that.

There's a shit load to do once I'm back to work, so let's enjoy some reading before then, huh?

As always, Reviews!

Batthan The Dark Knight: Good question. Such answers won't come until we've moved onto Konohagukre though. It's all just speculation till then.

Shiroryuu012: Happy it turned out good in your eyes. It took me months of planning and writing to get it this polished. Kamachi had once said Kamijou Touma was a character who could fit in almost anywhere if properly introduced, something MrQuestionMark told me once that I wholeheartedly believe. No matter the change in setting, story, or plot, he'll continue to stick true to his ideals and that's what I love about him.

-Deprecation: The rant on Onee-sans is just the beginning, my friend! Truly, this world has no idea to the chaos on high school boy will bring!

Lovecrazyhedgehog: If I remember right, I think I answer that question this chapter. Pretty sure I looked over that little detail while editing too. Whoops?

MrQuestionMark: I am a proud Hispanic sloth given human form to break the limits of laziness our lord has shackled me with; my laziness knows no more bounds! Plus editing one's own work can be both draining and mind-numbing; I'm you understand perfectly well.

I'm sure anyone who noticed a ToAruxNaruto crossover would be on the fence about it despite how curious they may be. I've read what few there were, so I know it was a longshot to grab anyone's attention of this being a good fic when all others were lacking in what makes a ToAru fic a ToAru fic. I'm happy to have once again caught a big fish like yourself into my net. Now, flap around and struggle for more content like the gasping fish desperate for more! Also, I laugh at your assumptions I won't acknowledge just yet of what's to come.

As you said before, Kamachi created Touma to fit in just about every setting there is. That's why I'm always searching for crossovers who can get him right. I want to see how he can interact with different franchises and see what his brand of normality can do to change an already known story with his involvement. Very few have caught my attention and done Touma right. Also, it's true with how the difficulty level in this world will be far more than what the battle-hardened Touma had dealt with already. I have ideas in mind, but you'll only have to wait and see if this world can force a change in Touma's already violent set of fangs. He just might shatter your expectations, that's for sure.

I am a fan of fight scenes; it's what I'm good at. You're in for a good series of fights to come. You are right to be excited, especially with everything to be seen in this arc alone. Get onboard the hype train! Just how will this world built upon war and bloodshed handle a normal high school boy's small fist? The life of a high school boy is the very definition of tough, my friend! Never forget such a simple fact!

Sagnik Deb: After ten years of writing on this site, my writing skills better be up to snuff, damn it.

Aminadab Brulle: Before I started writing this fic; the last time I watched Naruto was as the series ended and I had already read the conclusion in the manga. If I was to go by TV standards of watching, I think it was back when I was in middle school and Naruto Shippuden would only air on I think Jetix or something? It's definitely made me go back to relive those old days for sure, so I'm happy the same's for you too!

Qrow454: We'll just have to see if a high school boy can adapt to this new world of ninjas, won't we? How? Pfft, like I'd tell you that! As for Imagine Breaker's reactions to certain dojutsus and chakra related subjects; no spoilers, damn it. You can only guess, ya curious George.

TazalTerminals: The Kami-yan Disease has hardly even spread its wings yet! Nami no Kuni's only a chapter away right now, so hold your horses, eh? Konohagakure is safe for now. As for the Haku situation; I see no reason to hide it; Male. Why? Because there's too much fun to be had with that poor bastard! Ahahahahahahaahahaha!

Nam Wasnaihc: Don't worry, I'm done stressing about uploading after being hounded by the troll from earlier. I update when I update. So I hope you guys are patient enough to wait for a good read from this lousy author.

Pasapack: Gracias, hermano!

That's it for reviews. Get on reading then!


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to A Certain Magical Index or Naruto. Both rights are reserved for Kamachi Kazuma and Masashi Kishimoto.

Back to work I go, back to chugging dark coffee like a mad lad, and back to talking up sweet rich girls for a living. Except it'll all be done via phone now and my charming hot Latin passion smile hidden by my mask. Damn this epidemic! Flirting should never be done through technology! This isn't porn, damn ittttttttttttttttttttttt!


Chapter 3: Demons In The Fog.

Break_The_Killing_INTENT.

No one was sure how time had passed since Zabuza had gone silent to Touma's warning. It felt like a life-time to Naruto as he thickly swallowed the nervous tension building up between a demon swordsman and an average teenager. Beads of cool sweat trickled down his pale face. Like everyone else, he was observing the ex-Kirigakure ninja contemplate the warning delivered by a powerless civilian carefully.

The expression made by the gray-skinned monster resembled a cook mulling over adding a new ingredient to their bubbling stew for the sake of adding some spice. To Zabuza, nothing else in the world existed other than himself and the newest addition to his recipe. It was such a casual and nonchalant face, Naruto found himself chilled with how normal the demon appeared with the situation.

Zabuza hadn't moved a muscle since Touma had spoken, showing no concern to the kunai Kakashi held against his throat. Kakashi hadn't even said a word either, focusing on acting to any threatening twitch the massive sword-swinging man would make to everyone in his line of sight.

Their C-Rank mission to escort and protect a simple bridge builder had spiraled out of control within hours of departing Konohagakure no Sato. It had only taken a good hour or two before they found an ambush awaiting them on the main road for crying out loud! And while Naruto had been craving action to prove himself in the eyes of his team, he had failed to do anything useful to protect Tazuna's safety when the time came. Instead, it had been that smug-faced Sasuke who had leaped in to capture the spotlight, countering one of the Demon Brother's attacks. Even Sakura had acted before he did, standing in the way of the second brother as a shield that would take the lethal attack in his stead.

What had Naruto done? He hated to admit it but he had hesitated, paralyzed at the first taste of real combat bearing down on him. It had disgusted him to realize he had contributed nothing. He had been a liability. A cowering child wielding a knife. It pissed him off to see that he had fallen behind and given into fear at the first opportunity it had to bare its fangs.

It was why he had sworn to himself, carving up the back of his hand which suffered a toxic cut by one of the Demon Brothers that he wouldn't allow himself to become that pathetic self again!

The Sandaime Hokage had given him this mission for his team to complete out of the faith they would complete it to the letter. It was a sign the old man believed in Naruto, seeing past his childish demand to prove himself, and realized he was indeed ready for a mission that allowed him the chance to display his potential as a shinobi, one who would definitely replace him as Hokage!

Failure was not an option!

The faint throb located at the back of his hand was a reminder of his sworn belief and promise. Even as they had come across a lost stranger and taken him along with them, adding another life that would need guarding, Naruto swore that neither one would be harmed.

It was then that Momochi Zabuza flew in with a giant flying broadsword aimed for their heads like he had thrown a shuriken.

Demon, it was all that was needed to describe the enemy that had casually addressed them to hand over Tazuna. Like the Demon Brothers, Zabuza was apparently hired by the richest man in the Elemental Nations, Gato, to kill the only hope the country of Nami no Kuni had of escaping his control. Kakashi had explained that Zabuza was a wanted missing-ninja from Kirigakure village who had perfected the art of Silent Killing; the method of eliminating targets without ever giving away one's presence, one's breath, one's footsteps, so finely, not a single sound was ever made until blood hit the ground. Compared to the Demon Brothers who were tied up to some random tree trunk miles away from Konohagakure no Sato's post, the browless shinobi with grayish skin was on a completely different plane of existence.

A deduction which became obvious once Zabuza had activated his Kirigakure no Jutsu and instilled the engulfing fog with his blood lust.

The killing intent had nothing against what Naruto experienced when Mizuki had been trying to kill him after tricking him into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. The once jonin instructor's violence was a drop of water pathetically sinking into the blood dyed wave that had threatened to crush Naruto. He had sworn he had lost all feeling as the blood lust had caused every muscle in his body to stiffen up and steal his breath, numbing every nerve as a cold chill made him quiver.

Was it possible to choke on an invisible emotion despite it being so thick? Even now as the cruel unseen miasma was focused on someone else, Naruto still felt the rolling waves of a demon prickling his skin like the thinnest of needles.

Like a demon summoned by the intentions of a summoner, the assassin had dropped into the middle of the Machi Formation he, Sasuke, and Sakura had formed around Tazuna and Touma. It was as if he had always been next to them and simply been hidden by an illusion. An illusion that had dropped as he swung Kubikiribochu down like he was swinging a hammer sideways.

An opportunity had presented itself at the moment black steel flashed in Naruto's eyes. This was his chance to prove himself, to show he was stronger than Sasuke, that he wasn't some coward who froze up at the first signs of danger! At that moment, he would stop Zabuza's massive sword, catch him by surprise, knocking him back, and finish him off with a few Kage no Bunshin's given kunai to pin him down like a training dummy.

To Naruto's shame, the moment never came as his entire body would refuse to listen to a single command his brain had cried in the face of a devil's eyes.

A right hand had intervened in the reaping guillotine with a punch.

Kamijou Touma, the strange lost traveler they had picked up, had attacked in defense of those trained genin with nothing more than a fist to Zabuza's lower abdomen. And with just one punch, destroyed what had been a clone made of water before destroying another fake. All without a hint of fear on his face.

It was said normal teenager whose right hand creeped Naruto out after being touched by it, that was responsible for the standstill they were at now.

'How did he do it? Did he use some kind of jutsu when we weren't looking to increase his physical strength to the point of breaking a body of water like his hands were an explosive going off? If so, does that mean he's some sort of ninja too?!' Naruto couldn't help but contemplate as he stared in awe of the firm back of their protector.

"...Hehehehehe."

A low, ominous chuckle from Zabuza's throat snapped Naruto out of his awe of Touma, reminding him he couldn't afford to take his eyes off the still deadly ninja.

"Those are some rather bold words, boy. Tell me, are you a trained shinobi too?" Zabuza asked curiously with a devilish glint to his eyes.

To the confusion of everyone, Touma shook his head and answered honestly.

"Nothing close. I'm just your average teenager who's found himself lost in a foreign land. I'm nothing as grand as a ninja or even a warrior. The closest thing you can even remark as training would be the constant running I've been subjected to because of BiriBiri's demands to pick a fight. Her attacks have certainly helped me build a decent amount of stamina." lamented Touma while rubbing the back of his head casually, "If you were to rank this Kamijou-san's ability in numbers than you would find that I'm a Level-0; One Without Power. If it comes down to a fight, I'm confident enough to take on one opponent who's not using any firearms, struggle against two, and book it once three becomes an issue. That's just the normal response a guy as unfortunate as I can give."

He was a normal civilian teen then? Was that what he was honestly telling them after they had witnessed how quick he had been to react to Zabuza's attacks? Was this false confession a diversionary tactic to lower his enemy's guard? It had to be.

Why else would the spiky teen give out such information as if he was telling them what he wanted for lunch? Why else would be acting so nonchalant and treating the Demon Zabuza as a fussy brat demanding to play?

Zabuza's eyes grew sharp, his temper further building by the lackluster response he was given by a boy brushing off his hostile aura.

"Do you think me a fool? Even those brats were unable to stand up against my killing intent! And you expect me to believe some random, untrained, powerless boy could destroy my Mizu no Bunshin Jutsu with nothing more than a fist?! It's obvious you must have had been trained to move that quickly, not to mention the jutsu you're using to clear away my Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

"Question, Momochi-san!"

A round of gaped mouths was dropped as Touma rose his hand up like a diligent student in class seeking his teacher's aid. Even Zabuza had found himself stumped by the action. And nearly stumbled.

"...Yes?"

"What exactly is a jutsu? Is it some kind of Magic Spell or something? All I really got from it before now was how such a spell could turn a twelve-year-old boy into a naked chick with big tits."

"Okay, now I know for sure that you're fucking with me."

"I'm judging by your tone that it's a yes? Does that mean you can turn into a busty chick with wide hips and a flirty smile? Because if you can, I kindly ask that you don't."

"Are you expecting me to believe that you don't even know what jutsu are?! What's next, you're going to say that you don't even know that jutsu are channeled by chakra!?"

"Would it if piss you off if I asked what you mean by 'Chakra'? Isn't that some make-believe energy that spiritualists use to rip people off of money? Though I think Index has mentioned it in Hinduism before. Have I faced off with a magician spouting about chakra before? I think I might have recalled seeing someone who looked like a kunoichi following after Hamazura once."

Chakra, huh? Was that the substitute for Magic and a Personal Reality in this world then? From what Touma had understood thus far, jutsu were techniques that allowed the caster to perform various powers and abilities using chakra as the fuel to perform them. In other words, this system of chakra allowed the people of this new world, which he was cementing with the fact that they used ninjas as the stand-in for supernatural figures in place of magicians and espers, to distort reality. It was an entirely new set of supernatural laws allowing the people of this world to perform miracles for their benefit. He found himself scratching his chin with interest at what he was putting together.

It explained several things so far, like how Zabuza's doubles had been destroyed by Imagine Breaker. Or how parts of the fog were negated since they were created using chakra. It was no different than dealing with a fog created by magic in that sense. Even if that energy was internal from what he was getting at, it was still, without a doubt, a supernatural power. Meaning when faced with a towering ball of licking flames said to possibly last for seven days without ever losing their heat, his right hand would undoubtedly erase the phenomena.

Imagine Breaker was utterly useless against that which was natural to the world. It couldn't defend against bullets, knives, debris, or naturally occurring elemental forces. It was nothing more than a right hand under normal circumstances. Such was not the case when the supernatural was involved.

It didn't matter if what was meeting his right hand was a devastating laser, an iron sword of sand that vibrated like a saw, a massive fist of stone, a condensed funnel of tearing wind, flames burning at over 3,000 degrees Celsius, or even the might of God; as long as the said attack was born of supernatural power or twisted beyond its original form by outside means, Imagine Breaker would zero out the disturbed harmony.

His right hand would destroy the supernatural. Simple as that.

Even in a new world governed by a different set of laws and rules, his right hand would shatter the illusions of those distorted realities with kind or cruel intentions.

There were a few other tricks Touma had learned through trial and error regarding Imagine Breaker's negating effects but its main function was to eliminate supernatural phenomena with a touch. Or, in most of his cases that he was involved in, a punch.

The new world Kamisato had exiled him to with World Rejector appeared to rely on a supernatural system as well. The only difference being that such a system of powers must have been well known.

How fun.

"...You're mocking me, aren't you?"

Touma blinked, feeling stupid for nearly forgetting about the bloodthirsty ninja who wielded a butcher blade as easily as a stick. His eyes inspected Kubikiribochu up and down.

Yup, Acqua's mace was far bigger.

Wait, didn't the once Saint have a new weapon last he saw him in London when they were fighting the Second Princess in charge of Military Might, Carissa? Right, it was a giant sword too! Eh, it was cooler looking too in his honest opinion.

"Would you sooner believe I was some master of the drunken fist? On second thought though, that might be true if what Index and BiriBiri were saying weren't exaggerations," he muttered to himself before Zabuza's deep chuckle brought him back.

Carefully, Zabuza glanced back at Kakashi, noticing that the gray-haired jonin had been paying close attention to Touma as well. Did that prove that even the Sharingan user hadn't been aware of who the boy was?

It didn't matter.

The time for messing around was far past the point of being seen.

"I'm impressed, Hatake. Not only by you, who picked apart my Mizu no Bunshin, implanted it with the exact same words you would say to distract me, but also copy my Kirigakure no Jutsu in the same move to observe me in the mist as I would; but also...Kamihou, was it?" Zabuza asked out of curiosity, looking to Touma for confirmation.

"It's Kamijou Touma actually." Touma corrected in annoyance.

"Kamijou Touma." Zabuza found he was laughing at the given name as he couldn't help but translate its meaning.

Didn't the first name roughly translate into Invisible Demon?

How interesting.

"You took me by surprise too. I originally picked you out as a frail boy, no different than the old geezer, and no better than some wet behind the ears brats who play ninja. But your reflexes are unnaturally sharp, your will isn't as weak to fall apart when faced with blood lust, and you've even got a hold of a rather strange jutsu that's continuing to clear away my fog. I definitely hadn't thought to counter someone like you."

For the first time since they had met Zabuza, the man grinned, his grin seen against his bandages of a dark amusement as he leaned against Kakashi's kunai.

"It appears that I'll have to honestly take you seriously. Don't think that I'm so easy to capture."

Water spurt from the kunai digging into Zabuza's jugular vein, forcing his body to collapse into a sopping puddle of water in Kakashi's hold. Kakashi was taken back, stiffening as a gritty voice spoke into his ears.

"I'm only just warming up myself!"

Kubikiribochu was reared back for a full swing by the time Kakashi spun around frantically. The full weight of that massive blade would cleave him in two if it hit. Reacting as quickly as he could, the Copy Ninja ducked the diagonal swing as far he could touch the ground. A great gust was unleashed even as the severing sword missed, carving the dirt as it completed its revolution swing. Zabuza didn't pause, switching his attack after anticipating his opponent's move. His right leg had already shot up as Kakashi ducked, catching him off guard.

The kick to the Copy Ninja's stomach not only robbed him of his breath but launched him several meters away to the lake. Zabuza holstered Kubikiribochu to his back, sprinting after him while evading the caltrops the Konohagakure Jonin had tossed to the ground to stumble. He grinned viciously, vanishing with a burst of speed to appear atop of the lake just as his prey had fallen in.

By the time Kakashi had emerged and noticed how oddly heavy the water was, Zabuza had already completed the necessary hand-signs required for the finishing move.

"Suiro no Jutsu(Water Prison Technique)!"

Even the Sharingan's adaptability hadn't helped Kakashi from interrupting the sudden rush of water that spun around his body, engulfing him in a full-body orb of dense water. His breathing grew labored under the intense pressure that restrained his body within the prison. Any action he attempted, even a slight twitch of his hands to perform a hand-sign, was stopped due to how heavy the water was threatening to crush him.

All he could within the prison of swirling clear water was glare hatefully at the smirking ex-Kirigakure ninja who kept one of his hands submerged into the trapping liquid ball.

"Don't bother trying to escape. Suiro no Jutsu traps its prey within dense water that's comparable to moving beneath fifty feet beneath the water. Even elite ninja such as yourself will have trouble escaping such a jutsu." Zabuza explained against the struggling movement's Kakashi was creating, "I've almost forgotten that I've got a job to complete while I was playing with you fools. So, sit tight while I deal with one more troubling target that's in the way of cutting down the old man. I promise to finish you off once I've slaughtered the lot of them."

'Damn it, I underestimated him! I knew he was good, but I didn't believe he was that adept in water jutsu!' Kakashi furiously cursed as he was forced to watch Zabuza look away to the next target that he believed was of interest.

During the entire exchange, Touma hadn't moved an inch from his spot that stood in Zabuza's way of Team-7 who returned to guarding Tazuna.

Seeing that strong leader of the young ninja's caused Touma to grit his teeth in frustration, even more so as Zabuza regarded him with amusement.

"I do seem to recall a mention of 'Shattering my blood-crazed illusions', boy. Am I to assume now that I've turned my eyes to those cowering disgraces calling themselves ninja that I'll be dealing with you next?"

"As much as I despise it, you're right. If you want to get to them then you'll have to take me out before I free Hatake-san from that ball of water. But I'm guessing I won't be dealing with you directly, will I?" Touma reasoned with a step forward, "You're awfully intent on keeping your arm within that water prison, meaning that it needs you to keep constant contact to remain. All I would need to do is negate it and then you've got to deal off with a pissed off and soaked scarecrow with a creepy red eye."

Zabuza laughed at the brazen comment, further interested in the boy's ability to analyze the jutsu. With one hand, he flashed through the required hand-signs for the next attack.

"Oh, do you honestly believe that I'm going to waste my time with you? Someone's got a swelled head. Don't you remember that my true target in all this is a certain old man? I don't need to drag this out any longer than I have to if all I need to do is cut down those kiddies who're in the way of my only objective! And I seem to remember a certain someone saying that they struggle against more than two opponents!"

Numerous ripples were created on the surface of the lake, twisting up to mold several bodies of water that took on the form of Zabuza to step foot onto the shore. Touma scowled as his eyes took count of each water attribute clone, making out a total of six Zabuza's who each possessed their own copy of Kubikiribochu.

He just had to open his big mouth, didn't he? Hadn't that bastard ever been taught that using clones was cheating!? Give this weak Kamijou-san some handicap!

The leader of the small clone army grinned as he reared Kubikiribochu back and took a running start, leaving the remaining copies to slink away into the deep fog unaffected by the odd right hand.

"What will you do, boy?! Can you keep up with more of me and ensure the protection of those brats!?" Zabuza taunted before kicking off the ground with his severing sword motioned to rip him in two.

The speed Zabuza came after Touma reminded him of a lot of the Saint's physical capabilities of his original world. He was fast-incredibly fast. Within a span of seconds, Kubikiribochu's finely crafted, severing edge was already singing a deathly tune as it shaved the mist before breaking into Touma's personal space that was free of the fog due to his right hand. Seeing that kind of agility was honestly rattling.

But it was still nowhere near close to what Kanzaki, Acqua, Silvia, and Brunhild had beaten him with.

The Zabuza Momochi that swung the ridiculous broadsword was not the original. From what Touma had witnessed, the false bodies had risen from the lake water by what he assumed was the jutsu. An interesting note he found was that the shirtless swordsman had been flashing hand-signs before activation the spell. Did that mean that those flashy hand-signs were vital to the spell's activation?

He shelved that observation away for later as he faced Kubikiribochu ready to sever through the skin, veins, arteries, muscle, and bone in one fell swoop.

Just like the false body, the great broadsword that reminded Touma of a certain buster blade in a fantasy game popular in Japan, was made of water. Regardless of its make up of water, it was still capable of killing easily. But it was still, without a doubt, a weapon born along with the false body linked by the energy which had molded it.

Imagine Breaker met that fine edge with no protection, coming into contact with the sound of breaking glass.

Whatever form the magic, AIM, or, in this case, chakra, molded itself to didn't matter. The killing potential could be equal to a hydrogen bomb. So long as said 'body' was created through the use of supernatural forces it would be destroyed no matter its specs!

The Mizu no Bunshin Zabuza erupted in a burst of water, similar to a popped bubble, splashing Touma's naked right arm. He didn't mind the water drenching his only clothing in this new world, having already spun around to another swinging Kubikiribochu that came in hot to slice him down from the waist. His right hand dipped, intervening at the wrist as that large blade cut into the skin. Or would have if not for the fact that the simplest glance of his right hand would negate not just the sword but the body like its brothers before.

So, the large decapitating blade wasn't alone in being negated? Was it similar to Birdway's countless water blades? Did disrupting the deadly blade held by a Mizu no Bunshi cause a ripple-like effect to destroy the harmony of the fake and cause it to fall apart due to the remnants dealing enough damage in the violent spray?

Another body splashed into a puddle. Touma stepped back, shaking off the droplets of water and scanned the fog circling the clear space he was creating with every swing of Imagine Breaker. No other clone was coming in after just two had been defeated in mere moments. Zabuza was an assassin, right? Clearly he wasn't planning in repeating a rushing attack like that again. He would be in the mist, hidden from view to plan out his attack. As long as said mist was up, he could play-and-seek all day long.

Touma flexed the fingers of his right hand. That fog was born of supernatural powers as well. He had already realized he could erase parts of it by touching the space that was occupied by the gray low-hanging clouds. Unlike a simple destructive attack, the fog was a wide-area spell that wouldn't come apart by touching one part of its body. Kirigakure no Jutsu was a unique ability, large and widespread enough to escape complete erasure when compared to a fine point attack that held a core.

If they were to have any chance of beating the master of the silent killing art than his smokescreen would have to go.

With that in mind, he would have to take care of the mist obscuring the three young ninjas and Zabuza's target first. Throwing out his right arm, Touma rushed back to where he had last seen a hint of blond spiky hair before the fog had regenerated. The fog that came into contact with Imagine Breaker was easily torn apart, clearing his view as if he was dragging a large eraser across a dry erase board painted with a marker by a child.

"NARUTO!"

A thick thud rang out in the battlefield and specks of blood had splattered into the air as the mist was cleared away.

Touma scowled furiously upon arriving at the scene of a Zabuza water double lowering his right foot from the same powerful kick that had knocked Kakashi into the lake. He made out Sakura and Sasuke protecting the terrified Tazuna from the elite, their faces concerned and painted with fear as Zabuza stomped his foot down with a metal click. The sound grabbed Touma's attention, bringing his gaze to locate a certain forehead protector crushed beneath the swordsman foot like a trophy.

Wait, where did Naruto go?

"You're brats, don't forget that. These little trinkets on your head don't make you a shinobi, nor do the steel toys you wield. If you haven't even wet your kunai with the blood of your enemies than you have no right to believe that you can ever become forgetful footnotes in my Bingo Book. Be content that you got to experience what a true shinobi is capable of as you I cut you all down."

His mere presence had the effect of making Sasuke and Sakura lock up in a nervous sweat, their eyes trained on the massive sword on his back that he had no need of. Zabuza didn't give them a glance, focused intently on the groaning spiky-blond boy on the ground with a busted, bloody lip. Something was missing from the orange jumpsuit ninja, an important accessory that's lack of caused Naruto's blond spiky bangs to fall over his forehead.

The forehead protector beneath Zabuza's foot made a metallic click as he pressed down.

"Does it really make you feel more competent that you can threaten a bunch of kids, you dead-toned exhibitionist!?"

Zabuza cast a single eye Touma's way, grinning darkly beneath his bandages as a hand went to grip the handle of Kubikiribochu. The severing blade was bared to the charging 'normal' teen rearing his barreled fist back with a determined glare.

The clone knew better, watching out for the rushing fist plowing through more of his fog. Zabuza swung his butcher blade at Touma, aiming to chop his head off. Touma ducked low, rolling out of the way as a foot stamped down to crush his skull before rising up and leaning far back from the slicing gray steel of death nearly nicking his jugular. Cracking his fist, Touma reacted to the next heavy slash with his fist aimed to punch through the false weapon of water.

Seeing the attack coming, Zabuza dodged the devastating fist, wary of letting the spiky teen make any contact with him as they fell into a dance of attack and evade played by both parties who could kill another with one hit.

"Kids? Hear that, brats? Even this supposed normal teenager doesn't acknowledge you all as shinobi! The very client you have been hired to protect is cowering like a leaf in a storm behind you! The random boy you picked up out of pity is fighting in your stead! And what are you little pups doing as certified shinobi of Konoha!? What are you brats doing other than dressing up as killers out of some desperate, childish, spoiled dream!? Are you going to fight or hide behind a nobody!?"

The taunt was accented by the heavy crash of Kubikiribochu carving into the earth to add a cloud of dirt to mix into the fog being dissipated bit by bit my Touma's right hand. The genin flinched at the violent action and stepped back, or in Naruto's case, crawled back.

Zabuza didn't pay them any mind as he turned to face the undaunted spiky-haired teen who jumped back from his earth splitting attack.

"But you? Compared to those spoiled brats that have been cuddled by a softhearted village, you're different. Unflinching, sharp-eyed, cautious yet not fearful, and with quick reflexes that have even me impressed. You're even devious enough to fool me into believing you were nothing more than a commoner no different than the old man. Out of everyone here, you are second only to Hatake in threat level and that's simply because, despite those above-average skills you've displayed, I can't figure out how you've been able to erase my fog and destroy my clones."

Kubikiribochu was lifted, ripped from the earth to aim its butchering tip to that false boy of unknown specs.

"You're truly an Invisible Demon who hides behind a boring persona. There's no other way to describe someone who's taken out four of my Mizu no Bunshin without ever displaying any use of chakra or superhuman capabilities. Meaning that I'm going to have to switch targets to relieve this boredom and disappointment I've been feeling." he laughed gravely.

Another drowning wave of blood lust was summoned to prevent that green-leaf genin from getting in his way.

Color Zabuza curious.

He knew he could take out the brats if he didn't play with them and abandoned the mental manipulation he was using to weaken them in both body and mind. He could even summon a few clones and have them stab their copies of Kubikiribochu into the water cell that entrapped the Copy Ninja. But this was the first time, in a very long time, that he had caught himself interested in the potential of someone he had once labeled as weak. The warrior inside of the demon was excited and itching to face a unique challenge he had never encountered before.

The mission could be finished at any time. So, why not have a little fun before he brought Gato the old architect's head over to him on the flat of Kubikiribochu?

Touma shrugged off the killing intent as he raised his right hand.

He had suffered countless worlds that were filled with nothing but the blood lust of a god and died over countless lives to that atmosphere. That wasn't to say he wasn't afraid, he recognized the man he was facing had no doubt created countless corpses in his wake. But that human emotion was shoved deep down for sake of those who were being threatened by such a human monster.

"Big talk coming from a puppet. If you were really hoping of scaring me than you'd be saying it to my face instead of through the mouth of a body of water." Taunted Touma before something in the far corner of his gaze made him grin boldly, "Besides, one of those childish, spoiled brats doesn't seem to be afraid of you anymore either."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A running shout made Zabuza glance at his right to see a sweaty faced spiky-blond squirt charge straight at him. He rolled his eyes, allowing that brat to reach him and gain a glint of victory in his blue eyes before smashing his elbow below the genin's jaw. A splash of red wet his forearm as his foot slid a bit in the impact that sent the boy skidding on his side with a busted lip and bruised jaw. Out of kindness, he had made sure the blow sent him rolling to the feet of the other scared brats and old man.

What a foolish loudmouth.

"Idiocy overwhelms fear that would save your life. I see nothing worthy of praise in shinobi who would stupidly throw themselves to a blade." Zabuza dully drawled as he had never lowered Kubikiribochu from its glare at Touma.

Touma didn't think so as he smirked and glanced down at Zabuza's foot. Frowning, the swordsman decided to see what had caught his prey's gaze only to find his eyes widen. He spun his head, taking his eyes off Touma to spy a grin seeping with trickling blood on the face of the whiskered faced genin in an ugly orange jumpsuit.

"I got a question, Zombi-freak. What's life like without eyebrows? I-It's gotta be a pain to always be stared at because you're shirtless, gray-skinned, and got no eyebrows; right?"

A twitch, a visible twitch upon said hairless brows had Zabuza tighten his grip on his severing blade at the smug blood-smeared fox grin on Naruto's face as he worked to tie his beloved forehead protector back on its rightful place. That grip only cracked audibly as a certain normal teen spoke up with mirth behind his back.

"You're right, it was my mistake to call those ninja's kids. After all, wouldn't that be admitting that a spoiled little child had got one over on you? Only children fear the boogeyman and I don't see a snot dripping, sniffling, bawling child meeting your steel glare, Boogeyman-san."

With a tight knot now holding his forehead protector, Naruto cleaned off the blood running down his chin, the last vestiges of fear born of that demon swordsman's blood lust vanishing as he put on a fierce mask. He had to thank that Touma guy later for distracting Zabuza enough for him to remember that haunting throb on his hand reminding him to stand and fight.

Run away?

Cower in fear?

Give up?

Screw that! Because-!

"Remember this name the next time you open that Bingo Book, bastard! Name's Uzumaki Naruto, proud shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato and future Hokage-dattebayo!"

A nerve had been snapped by the smug-faced little child who thought he could play shinobi, causing Zabuza to kill him with one revolving fling of Kubikiribochu.

"Hey, don't forget to keep your eyes on the Invisible Demon on your back?!"

The killing shot had changed directory as Zabuza spun around, sending Kubikiribochu spinning like a mad shuriken that shaved away the mist. Black steel buzzed in its flight towards the sprinting high school boy who only reacted with a right fist that smashed into the sawing wheel. Water burst as the severing blade was destroyed, leaving Zabuza without his favorite weapon to deal with the charging right fist. He clicked his teeth in annoyance and settled for a different approach, leaving behind a single clone to engage the no longer cowering brats.

[-]

A clash between a demon and a high school boy should not have lasted more than mere moments. Considering the specs of those fighting another, there was no need for childish bets to be made. A winner was obvious, the outcome was a no brainer, and a body should have already been left a mangled mess of ugly, wild gashes reminiscent of a wild bear testing its claws on a meaty grindstone.

So, why was it that Zabuza had yet to behead a simple faced boy who was fighting him with a shitty form of taijutsu?!

Zabuza skipped a step to the left, avoiding the fist that plowed through more of his mist to create another bubble of free visible space. He eyed the dark spiky-haired teen, finding his gaze drawn to an important area as he led him further into the fog, to the nearby forest and away from the brats.

The right hand.

'Whatever technique he's relying on to destroy my Mizu no Bunshin appears to be centered on his right fist. Just what kind of jutsu allows the user to destroy water bodies, fog, and even a water-born Kubikiribochu that should be no different than the real thing other than its material, with a mere touch?'

Though he missed, Touma rounded on Zabuza, now intent on bringing the fight to him. There was no more filler talk at play in the trapping mist circling the clear space, where even more body doubles of a Demon lurked. Action was the only voice heard as Touma cleared a wave of fog away with a swipe of his right hand and ran straight at the deadly swordsman.

Zabuza ducked under a straight fist with a right fist of his own pulled back. He drove his knuckles into Touma's abdomen only to met a left knuckle that didn't destroy his body. Instead, water molded flesh cracked against human flesh that cut the skin. It was an informative exchange that proved his theory that the boy's technique relied on his right fist. Speaking of said odd right hand, Zabuza was forced to drop back on his hands for support, just barely missing the hammer arm blow to his skull as he kicked his feet up in a handstand maneuver that knocked underneath Touma's jaw. Adding a bit more strength than necessary should have created a satisfying bone crunch as the boy's lower jaw was shattered.

What he had felt instead was just the tip of Touma's jaw, savagely ripping off the skin and knocking teeth together with a clack that would chip a tooth.

'His reflexes are quick but not enough to expertly dodge all my attacks.' Zabuza flipped back to gain some distance, standing back as he observed what the grimacing dark spiky-haired boy would do next as he held his bleeding chin.

From the thinning fog, a volley of deadly steel flashed and shot at their primary targets via the spare Mizu no Bunshin in the mist; Kamijou Touma.

'Against such a widespread attack of kunai, what will you do?'

It was certainly surprising what Zabuza had witnessed next.

Touma didn't bring out a weapon to attempt to deflect the kunai, didn't flash a series of hand-signs to overcome the deadly ninja knives, and didn't pitifully try to outrun them. What he did was rather casual, betraying the sweating facade he put up as he only jumped back.

The volley of kunai, fired from left to right of Touma's previous position, struck one another with a ringing clash of steel that fell apart to water. In a short amount of time, he had pinpointed where the kunai were flying from, and instead of negating what he could, opted to back away and let them strike themselves out.

Why hadn't the spiky teen used the odd right hand to destroy his water kunai? Was there something to be said by that simple maneuver? Was the ability he was relying on held back by a time limit? Did it have a number of uses to it before it lost its effectiveness?

Frustration aside, Zabuza couldn't stop himself from prodding his rather unique prey more.

Picking out a kunai as his weapon since his copy of Kubikiribochu was destroyed, Zabuza charged ahead as the fog was broken through by two more copies that dragged along the edge of their severing blade for rising slashes. It was a three-point choke conversion. Three against one; wasn't that the exact situation that the normal faced boy said he would run away from?

Two Kubikiribochus swung widely across, rising up to lob off anything they could as two water copies of Zabuza reached Touma in a flash of speed that left him little time to evade. Meanwhile, the lead clone had already leaped high into the air with a handful of kunai set to rain down death.

Scissoring metal ready to bisect him from chest level and drizzling steel tips from above. It was an insta-kill to those inexperienced with such a brutal tactic and no experience.

Touma didn't think, relying on his body to follow through as he squatted down just as the two Kubikiribochu's went for a bloody snip like scissors. He threw up his right hand, sacrificing his limb to the chopping board. An unbreakable object met the flimsy steel; such was the observation discovered by the sound of shattering glass. Imagine Breaker reduced those great killing tools to frigid water that splashed over him.

Next came the kunai barrage from the air as the two Zabuza opted to jump away to escape early destruction. Somehow they had reacted in time to let go of their weapons before the rippling destructive spray damaged their bodies.

Touma had already realized there was no escaping the kunai without speed that equaled Zabuza's own. Which meant that he could only face those kunai head-on. They were made of water too, right? So, that only meant that he had to deflect them with Imagine Breaker!

Cracking said hand, Touma grit his teeth as he swung his outstretched fingers to slap away the downpour of slicing steel pouring down upon the earth. Blood flew from the few knives his had hand had missed and skimmed his body as he continued to frantically swat the water made steel blades away. Another volley of kunai took the place of the earlier barrage, striking from his back. He spun his right hand to the attack, negating a few but missing three kunai stabbing into his back.

His eyes snapped wide open, reacting to the sensation of his flesh being pierced by water knives as hard as steel. He grit his teeth, refusing to scream as he felt his sweaty back grow damper with the dark crimson running down.

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu(Watery Release: Water Bullet Technique)!"

Not a moment later, a great torrent like a bullet of water was expelled from the mouth of one of the water clones who had escaped into the outer ring of mist. Touma ignored his stinging cuts and the knives dug in his back adding fresh blood to his dirty jacket and met the heavyweight clump of rushing water head-on with an open palm of Imagine Breaker. The water shattered upon contact but did not let up, gushing forward at a constant speed that met against the speed of negation. A spray of water began to soak his clothes, washing away the fresh blood on his person.

'Shit! Whatever this water spell is, it's being fueled to match the speed of negation! I can even feel the prickling needle-like pressure bruising my palm. It's not powerful enough to break my hand but it's not allowing me to break free either.'

In other words, it was a trap to keep him pinned down.

The rushing feet heading his way was his only warning to think quickly or met a Game Over by whatever killing method Zabuza had planned for him. Water continued to strike his right palm, never letting up as Touma was forced to keep up his 'shield' and await what would follow next.

The hair on the back of Touma's neck tingled, screaming at him to act now. Timing his next move carefully, he held back the stream of blunt water and stepped to the far right, his right palm skimming along with the rush of crushing water before letting go of his hold of the Suidan no Jutsu to let it strike the wide eye Zabuza copy. The gushing pressured stream crashed into the chest of the fake, collapsing his chest and reducing its body back to its original state, much to the visible relief of Touma.

"Don't think you can breathe easy, boy!"

Touma's eyes flew open as an elbow struck him below the ribs, nearly breaking two of his bones as he was sent flying off his feet. Blood bubbled from his mouth as he hit the dirt, coughing violently as he rolled around with a twisted grimace. It grew hard to breathe as he struggled to get back up before the sole of a foot drove itself into the center of his rib cage.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Above him, Zabuza's exhaled with a euphoric light dancing in his dark brown eyes.

"Oh, that's the sweet stuff. The sound of bones groaning before the break, the screams of blood-curdling agony, the copper scent of blood in the mist; it always reminds me of good times! I'm getting a small flashback to my graduation ceremony again!"

"G-Graduation...ceremony?" Touma rasped before coughing up another wad of blood from the increased pressure applied to his chest. At this point, it felt like his heart was being squished by his chest.

"That's right, you weren't close to the other water double that's dealing with the brats right now. Meaning you missed out on the little background story Sharingan no Kakashi shared with his students. Hardly matters now though. By the time I'm done dealing with you, those little try-hards blood will be splattered all over the headless corpse of the old man."

The strong foot belonging to the Demon Zabuza attempted to crush the rib-cage and heart in one sickening stomp. But Touma's right hand already rushed to prevent his demise by punching against Zabuza's ankle, reducing his entire body to water that splashed against his weakened body.

Touma sputtered as water entered his lungs, causing him to cough out the remains of the double and drops of blood as he got back up on his feet.

Was that the last of the clones? Or could the original Zabuza create more while keeping Kakashi imprisoned? If so, then there wasn't any moment to rest. Those fake demons were most likely hidden in the thinning mist, waiting to rush him with more surprise attacks.

Back on his feet, he rushed towards the fog swimming around him. Imagine Breaker erased more of the low hovering gray clouds, giving him the sight of trees around him. Had his fight with Zabuza led him to the nearby forest? How far away were the others? He grit his teeth, working his legs to push him farther into the fog he was working on clearing while keeping an eye out for a fake demon swordsman waiting to cut him down.

"Kamijou-san!? Is that you?!"

"The boy's still alive?!"

Enough of the heavy mist had been destroyed for Touma to pick up the owners of the two voices calling out to him. Holding a hand gingerly to his chest, he parted more of the mist to find Sakura and Tazuna standing where he had last previously seen them. And was he seeing things or were there suddenly a whole lot more Naruto's than he previously remembered battling a lone Zabuza clone?

More copies? Was everyone here ignoring international law and copying Academy City by cloning themselves?! Did no one have any decency or respect for copyright infringement?!

Seeing the bright orange kid cast aside his doubt and fear to face such an imposing demon with brandished kunai was enough to cause Touma's lips to lift brightly.

Now that there looked like a ninja.

"KAMIJOU-SAN, BEHIND YOU!"

Out of reflex, Touma's hand moved back, never turning around as he caught the hand wielding a kunai belonging to the Mizu no Bunshin. The metal knife turned to water, its wielder following suite as Zabuza's wrist was crushed by Touma's hand.

How many did that make? Five? Then it means the current Zabuza that Naruto, and from the looks of it, Sasuke, were facing was the only one left. Once that fake was done for they would only need to take care of the original. It would all be over with if he could just free Kakashi who was the more likely of them all to beat up that swordsman.

Against clones made of water, Touma felt confidant enough to take them on with just his fists. If this was similar to a certain beast capsule game in Japan, then the current enemies would be classified as Supernatural-Types. And Touma himself would be labeled as Negation-Type. A Negation-Type was Super Effective against Supernatural-Types. It was a different matter altogether if the real Zabuza faced him.

Momochi Zabuza wasn't reliant on using supernatural means to attack like the magicians and espers in Touma's original world. He was similar to a Saint, possessing a weak filtered version of those monster's super-human capabilities. Not to mention the butcher blade he lugged around with ease. If he were to face such an opponent, Touma would be very hard-pressed to survive the battle in one piece. It was more than likely he would suffer a fatal blow in their exchange.

He wasn't arrogant to believe he could win a fight by himself against such a demon of a man. If there was any hope of surviving the bloodthirsty swordsman than Hatake Kakashi would need to be granted freedom from his watery prison. Bail needed to be set to secure a victory from the warden in this prison riot.

"Please tell me you guys have a plan to free that sensei of yours?" Touma groaned as he made his way over to Sakura and Tazuna. He winced from both the pain he was in and the sight of the dog pile of Naruto clones being torn to shreds by Zabuza's Kubikiribochu.

It was like he was observing a whirlwind of steel mincing clumps of orange.

"I think Naruto came up with something with Sasuke-kun's help?" Sakura answered carefully, unsure of what to make of Touma as he stepped past them, almost as if he- "Wait! Don't tell me you're going to go help them!? Look at you! You were already hurt when we found you and now you've been wounded even further! You're not even part of this fight! Stay back with Tazuna-san and let us protect you!"

She stared incredulously at the civilian who appeared even more injured when compared to the state they had discovered him in.

Was that idiot seriously considering joining Naruto and Sasuke? Didn't he understand that he was wounded? He wasn't even a shinobi! He had no place participating in this fight in the bloody state he was. She could clearly see a fresh paint of blood trickling down his face like a runny faucet!

She hadn't even hesitated when she grabbed that foolish boy's left hand, gripping it tightly.

It was at that moment that Naruto and Sasuke were both knocked off their feet by Zabuza, skidding against the ground close to Sakura, Touma, and Tazuna. Both boys were bloodied and bruised, wounded just as much as Touma. Still, they picked themselves up, panting in exhaustion from their clash against the chuckling Demon in the mist.

Naruto spat the blood in his mouth to the side, glaring at his dark-haired teammate who mirrored his action, "Sasuke-teme, you weren't supposed to be taken out! What if I had thrown you the Fuuma Shuriken when Zabuza smashed his leg across your face? Our plan would have been for nothing if you dropped it! I only got the one!" he complained loudly as he waved said large folded shuriken at the glaring boy.

"Say's the punching bag who's all talk! It's not my fault Zabuza suddenly grew aggressive!"

"You two look like crap."

Touma's voice cut the two rivals off as they spun around to find Touma littered with tears on his jacket and hoodie, the latter of which had stains of blood from the cuts he had suffered. His jawline also had a matching bruise still seeping with a small trickle of red as Naruto had from a heavy hit that could have taken his jaw off. Safe to say that the ones not hurt where Sakura and Tazuna.

Wait...did the spiky teen just reach his right hand back to touch what was obviously kunai and reduce them to water? What was that sound of something breaking from?

Naruto grinned, happy to see the older boy before his blue eyes honed in on the hand that held his own.

"Oi! What the hell did I say about making a move on Sakura-chan, you girl stealing jerk!? Are you seriously using this as an opportunity to snare her heart from me?! Does your girl stealing nature know no bounds?!"

"Are you seriously focusing on that while we're being stared down by a lame B-rated horror movie villain?! Get your priorities straight, Kitsune-kun!"

"I'll get my priorities straight once I'm done breaking your smooth teeth in!"

"Are you two morons seriously arguing right now?! Stop bickering and get back to dealing with the eyebrow-less monster!" A blushing Sakura yelled as she tried to pull back the stubborn teenager with a surprisingly strong and firm grip.

"...Huh, I didn't notice. What stops the sweat and dirt from getting in his eyes then? I mean that can't be natural, right? But that would mean he did it himself for some reason. You think it's because he thinks having no eyebrows makes him look edgy?"

"You think they were burned off in some freak Katon Jutsu? He was probably too embarrassed about the incident and told everyone that he shaved them on purpose to save face too. What an idiot."

Sasuke sighed out his nose, pinching the bridge as two spiky-haired idiots began to insult the obviously ticked off Zabuza. Did neither of them notice the Demon Swordsman's hairless brow was twitching like crazy?

Sakura growled at the idiocy she was witness play out but decided to save the knuckle bashing for later. Right now she was busy pulling a certain teen away from danger like Kakashi had ordered them to.

"Just stand back, Kamijou-san! You're not supposed to be fighting! And it's our responsibility to protect you!"

"Aw, how adorable. The brat wants to shield the bigger brat from a boo-boo. Isn't that just precious!"

The remaining Zabuza had enough of the idle chit-chat as he split the earth with the swing of Kubikiribochu. Vibrations could be felt traveling along with the soaked earth by the sheer monstrous strength displayed threateningly. The cool demeanor he wore was gone, replaced by an infuriated scowl.

"And sorry to disappoint you, little cherry blossom, but that boy, above all of you fucking brats, is going to be the first to die!"

The Demon Swordsman's knee's bent, giving those genins and Touma the only warning of the mad dash he was going to hit them all with. Kubikiribochu would follow swinging and cut down whoever was unfortunate to get in the way of its target.

Question was, who was that annoyed shinobi focused on now?

"Shut up, No-Brow! We're busy talking, so go play with my boys for a bit, and then we'll kick your ass! Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!"

From the smoke clouds popping up around Team-7, a small army of Naruto clones dashed out with matching war cries to distract the Demon Zabuza. At most, they now had a minute to strategize. And that was being generous. With the clones knowing on a conscious level to buy them time, Naruto silently led everyone deeper into the fog, only to click his teeth as their cover was being dispelled by Touma.

Touma frowned as Sakura lead him away with the others, contemplating how to go about taking out the last fake. Five of the six water clones were destroyed, but wouldn't Zabuza be able to create more from the lake? It didn't matter if he could smash this next one to a puddle on the ground, more would soon follow. And this time, they might decide to forget him and target the kids and old man. Even if they were made of supernatural energy, it didn't mean he would masterfully take them all out before one of them was seriously hurt.

What he needed was a sure-fire way to stop the clones from being created again. To do that, he would have to target the original or at least free Kakashi to take all the attention away.

"Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-san, didn't you two say you had a plan?" Touma recalled the little in between from Naruto and Sasuke, picking out mentions of a plan of attack. Did that mean those two young ninjas already had an idea of how to take the monstrous swordsman out?

Naruto nodded as he cleaned off the blood on his face with the sleeve of his jumpsuit, "Yeah, I got one that's sure to work and free Kakashi-sensei from that prison! We just need to aim for the main body with my Fuuma Shuriken and the rest will speak for itself!" he grinned confidently.

"We need to catch him by surprise though, right?" Sasuke continued with a conflicted frown, "The clone won't let us aim for the core and intercept instead, ruining what you've got set up. And with how the fake is now targeting us, I'm not sure we can catch him off guard."

"In other words, you need a distraction?" Touma figured quickly, knotting his brows as he thought of how he could contribute, "I can destroy the fake with just a touch but I'm not sure that will help in catching Zabuza off guard; he would see it coming by now. Once his puppet's gone, he could just make more trouble to get in the way. And I'm just a normal teenager, I don't have the skills or stamina to keep going in the condition I'm in now."

He lamented while rubbing the back of his neck, wincing as he pulled back to find blood staining his palm. Looked like the scab from his fall into the new world was leaking.

Sasuke scoffed at the wounded older boy, "You think you can keep up with his clones? I admit, you were lucky to destroy the first two, but if trained ninja, like us, can't even take out one measly fake, how can you possibly do any better?"

"Those clones were created using...chakra, right?"

The Uchiha heir nodded, eyeing Touma as he held out his right hand for emphasis.

"I don't have much time to explain it to you, or for you to believe me but trust me when I say that I just need to touch the clone and his weapons to smash them to bits. Anything made of chakra has nothing on my right hand; how else do you think I took care of the other five he summoned?"

Naruto flinched at what was said. Anything made with chakra? Was that why he had felt so weak when Touma had touched him earlier? If that was true...how was he still alive if the right hand could destroy his chakra?

Staring skeptically at said normal-looking right hand, Sasuke was ready to dismiss him before someone spoke up on Touma's behalf.

"I-It's true, Sasuke-kun! I saw it with my own eyes, so did Tazuna-san!" Said Sakura with a nervous expression at the skeptical gaze now on her. She gulped, hesitating to say more if it would somehow involve Touma before sighing, "Just a moment ago, one of Zabuza's clones attacked Kamijou-san from behind and all he had to do was catch his wrist, causing the clone to return to water. I don't know how he did but I don't think he's lying either. I think...I think he might be able to help."

Even with Sakura's word, Sasuke remained skeptical at any involvement of their extra ward. Kakashi had explicitly told them to run away, to take Tazuna and Touma, and escape from a threat they had no hope of defeating. Instead of listening, they had decided to remain in the fight and save their sensei. As long as they protected Tazuna and Touma, they could defy the odds stacked against them. They were proud Konoha shinobi, this wasn't just a fight for their lives but their pride.

Involving a civilian who was untrained would just be adding a ball and chain to their legs.

"HIT THE BASTARD WITH ANOTHER BARRAGE!"

"HAI!"

Another round of Naruto clones was created to further buy time to strategies, putting a visible strain on Naruto's face. Even with his large chakra reserves to pump out more clones, he was beginning to pant at the drain to his life force coupled with his wounds as Zabuza began making quick work of the charging blonds with vicious swings.

"So, you're saying that you can kill a clone with just a punch and that you can hit it? Does Zabuza know that?" Naruto panted lightly as he watched four clones simultaneously lose their heads to a sweeping wide slash.

"By the third clone, they were already wary of my right hand and careful to avoid it when attacking."

Tired as he was, Naruto grinned. An idea was brewing and ready to be served like fine instant ramen after 7-8 minutes.

"No-Brows would probably freak then if a bunch of you attacked at once, don't you think? Especially if he doesn't know which of the fakes is hiding the real one. An ambush like that would be pretty distracting."

"Yeah, I guess it would?" Touma responded slowly even as Sakura's face lite up and Sasuke clicked his teeth, "But I can't do those neat magic tricks like you guys. That's the thing about my right hand, it cancels out supernatural energy like chakra, making sure that I'm never capable of being anything more than a normal guy."

"Don't you worry about that, Touma. You won't even need to make a move for this one. I just need to borrow that bland face of yours! Besides, as far as No-Brows knows, you can use jutsu like the rest of us!"

Bland? Touma knew his features were nothing worth falling over but he wasn't that boring looking!

Having already come up with a plan, Naruto threw over the large folded shuriken to Sasuke as he began to mold his chakra.

"When you see your chance, take it! We only got one shot before No-Brow's gets sick of messing around with my clones and comes at us seriously! And Sakura-chan, make sure that Tazuna is kept out of the way! You never know if Zabuza might create a clone to sneak into what mist remains and take him out. If this is going to work, we're going to need to stick to our guns and show that bastard that we're not spoiled brats playing ninja!"

[-]

Zabuza was annoyed.

"Hey, No-Brows! Why don't you shave your head too and just own up to being a no hair freak!?"

Kubikiribochu rushed forward, its tip slicing through the blond brat's collar to his waist and exiting out of the cleanly split spine in a splash of red. Much like the other loudmouth's, the dead boy poofed out of existence.

To think a brat knew such a high-level jutsu as Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

Scratch that, Zabuza was incredibly annoyed.

"Nah, nah, na-na-nah! You can't kill us, you can't kill us~!"

A blond brat blew a raspberry from behind only to find his left arm and head severed by a diagonal weave of metal. A faint splash of blood, bone, and muscles flew out but turned to smoke along with the body. As did four more blonds that rushed at him from four directions but died to a full circle swing of his giant broadsword.

No, annoyed wouldn't describe what he was feeling that made his blood boil in rage.

"That's a pretty big sword, No-Brows! Are you trying to compensate for something? Come on, you can tell a future Hokage if you are. Are ya?!"

"Are ya?!"

"Are ya?!"

"Are ya?!"

"Are ya?!"

"Look at him blush! He's probably too shy to admit that he's got a small di-!"

A demonic roar ripped its way out of Zabuza's throat as he began to savagely swing Kubikiribochu at the swarm of jeering Naruto's running around him. To his growing fury though, no matter how many of the clones he dismembered, maimed, or decapitated, the fox-eyed pest came back like smart-mouthed cockroaches! He would have been impressed at the massive chakra reserves required to perform so many Kage Bunshin no Jutsus if he wasn't overwhelmingly pissed!

Swing after swing, a new bunch would run out to either annoy the hell out of him or attempt to attack the real Zabuza. It was an obvious ploy to distract him while the brats in clear view of his gaze talked to another, planning out their next move with him.

Kamijou Touma, the boy who had defeated five of his clones who fought at 1/10 of his strength with just his fist. No chakra, no jutsu, no weapons, or anything noteworthy. Just a touch of his right hand's bare skin rendered his clones into puddles of water! Even kunai, shuriken, or Kubikiribochu weren't any different since they were created from the lake along with his clones.

As a clone and not an illusion, all information gathered by said clones was shared through all the minds and relaid back to the original once they were destroyed. This meant that as the last Zabuza, he knew all too well of what that ordinary boy was capable of and so did his main body keeping Kakashi from interfering.

Fast reflexes, a durable body, tactical, sharp-eyed, and creative. None of those qualities fit the average persona that the boy had been walking around with. It had all been a mask to hide the abnormal skills that had caught him off guard and underestimate him. And then there was that boy's right hand.

It must have been an unknown jutsu that required virtually no hand signs. How else could it be explained that his clones and water jutsu were negated so easily!? If the dark spiky-haired boy wanted to, he could destroy the remaining mist if he ran around the field! Such ability must have been born of a Kekkei Genkai.

What appeared to be a final round of Naruto clones began to hastily throw a volley of shurikens his way which he deflected with a spin of Kubikiribochu. He vanished with a burst of speed, appearing in front of one of the anxious faced blonds before continuing to cut down all that remained with wild swings.

Compared to these pesky clones that were nothing more than fodder, it was Kamijou Touma who Zabuza had to watch out for. Just a touch was needed to kill his last clone. And though he could create more, what would happen if that boy's right hand touched the original? Would that cancel out the jutsu he was trapping Kakashi in? Would he still be able to perform jutsu if that right hand touched him? Would it snuff out his chakra with one punch, killing him as his life energy was extinguished like a candle in the wind?

There were far too many unknowns in regard to what the right hand of the boy could do to Zabuza. He would have killed him by now if it hadn't been for the brats distracting him or that right hand! It would be a great drain to his reserves but it appeared he would have to create a large batch of Mizu no Bunshin to overwhelm that boy and put him to an end.

Slamming the full weight of Kubikiribochu in the last Naruto clone that pulled down his eyelid at him, Zabuza was prepared to wait for his original body to create back up, only to freeze as about twenty separate footsteps marched out from the thinning mist. More clones then?

Screw it, he was just going to start taking them out with Suidan no Jutsus and get it over with!

"Getting frustrated, Momochi-san? Or is it that you're growing sick of playing games with Uzumaki-san? If you are, don't worry,"

Zabuza stopped forming the necessary hand signs for his Suidan no Jutsu, his face muscles locking up as one of the Naruto clones came into view with a wide grin. A cold sweat broke out over his face.

Kamijou Touma stood in his sights, cracking his right fist in his left palm alongside over twenty more clones of himself who matched with the same posture, grin, and stance as the original as they circled him in a cage. And as one, the ordinary boys spoke up fiercely.

"YOU CAN PLAY WITH THIS KAMIJOU-SAN ALL YOU WANT INSTEAD!"

For the first time since he had arrived, Zabuza found himself taking a single involuntary step back in the face of a small army of Touma's aiming their lethal right hands at him as if they were brandishing kunai. Compared to those killing instruments, the hand he was cautiously eyeing was far more lethal against his false body. The grip on his death reaping blade grew tense at the cocky grins on those ordinary faces.

These were the actions of a clone, a fake that held 1/10 of the original's strength. It was the dreg of one renown as a Demon; a weaker self that by no means reflected the creator's true emotions. Did that mean 1/10 of the original was actually...fearful of the unknown hand and the boy connected to it?

One touch; a simple graze of that boy's right hand was all it would take to destroy this body.

Kubikiribochu glared at those spiky-haired boy's as they each cracked their knuckles. The pop of bones was the snapping tethered rope that ordered those two dozen Touma's to charge ahead with barreled fists.

A bombardment of right punches rained down upon Zabuza, each of intent on ridding the fake for a clear path to the real body controlling them. Even if it was a fruitless effort that accelerated his demise, the water made clone swung the large chopping blade at the wave of ordinary boys. Its death wasn't a major blow, not when Zabuza simply needed to create more.

How long would it take though to replace his Mizu Bunshin's between the time it took to mold the chakra and perform the hand signs required to activate his jutsu and the time it took for Touma to fall within striking range?

If that boy decided to attack the main body in the time it took to complete his jutsu than he would just resort to Kubikiribochu. Its real steel body wasn't created from chakra; it was as real as Zabuza. Unlike his clones, it wouldn't be destroyed and surely put an end to that abnormal boy.

The razor edge of Kubikiribochu sang as it sliced through the six right fists that aimed to eliminate him. To his original belief, the fists hadn't reduced his copy of the severing blade back to lake water; they didn't even bleed. Upon the skin of the hands being sliced, the six copies popped out of existence. Did that mean that whatever technique the older boy was using couldn't be duplicated?

'Would it if piss you off if I asked what you mean by 'Chakra'? Isn't that some make-believe energy that spiritualists use to rip people off of money? Though I think Index has mentioned it in Hinduism before. Have I faced off with a magician spouting about chakra before? I think I might have recalled seeing someone who looked like a kunoichi following after Hamazura once.'

Wait, hadn't that same ignorant boy confessed that he didn't even know what Jutsu, let alone chakra, was? If Kamijou Touma had been honest then how could he perform a Kage Bunshin no Jutsu without possessing the basic knowledge of chakra? The only one among those brats capable of performing such a high leveled skill was…

"The Blond-Loudmouth!? Are all these just Kage Bunshin's simply faked with Henge no Jutsu(Transformation Technique) in the illusion of that older brat's face?!"

He spun the fine edge of Kubikiribochu wildly, tearing apart the false Touma's and reducing them to puffs of smoke. It was a distraction! Those spoiled little brats had used that cautious approach to the only one among them to their advantage. Using the sheer numbers of Touma's who would disrupt his jutsus, they had planned to use his distraction to-!

Amid Zabuza's ferocious swings that tore up the earth, his sword melted away to water. A blurring windmill of steel flew by him. His hand acted quickly to intercept the fuuma shuriken but found the fingers melting away to clear liquid. A right fist, the real right fist hidden among the clones of Touma, had already pierced his stomach cleanly through and finished off the last water fake.

[-]

Observing the events transpiring in what remained of his sea of mist, Zabuza scowled as the memories of the finale clone rushed back to him. An interesting note about true clones; the original retained the memories shared among them once they were dispersed due to damage or command, the minds of all those created by the clone technique being linked like a network of sorts. The feedback and experience gained weren't as in-depth as anything like the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu but it was still a valuable gem. Because of this, the original Zabuza had experienced the battles his clones had participated in before their demise.

A demise that was delivered by the same opponent.

Kamijou Touma.

"What's wrong, Momochi-san? You appear to be frustrated with dealing with spoiled brats playing shinobi, an old man, and a random bystander we picked up on the road. Don't tell me the fearsome Demon of The Mist is having difficulties. Or were those details about your proficiency in the killing arts nothing more than exaggerations?"

"Cut the chatter, Copy Nin! Or I'll move to increase the pressure of the prison to rob you of the last of your oxygen! How the fuck are you even able to talk when you're submerged in water?!"

"I'm just saying that a B-Rank ex-nin would have at least killed one normal boy who apparently can't use chakra."

Before Zabuza could answer back, the sight of a flying fuuma shuriken came into view; the same deadly windmill that his clone had attempted to stop but failed.

He would give the brats this; it was a cunning strategy for rookies. Knowing they couldn't defeat the clone, they distracted him with a horde of the only real threat to his doppelgangers and aimed to zero in on their true objective. It would seem he would have to think twice about those kids lacking any instincts.

Amateurs were still amateurs none the less.

Kakashi quirked an impressed brow as his Sharingan picked apart the body of the single fuuma shuriken. He watched Zabuza expertly catch the deadly weapon with just one hand, noting the smug grin under the bandages on his face before his jaw dropped a few centimeters in disbelief.

From the shadows of the fuuma shuriken, a second buzzing windmill slithered out to catch him off guard and aim to slice into his chest.

'Kage Bunshin Fuuma Shuriken no Jutsu? They hid a clone shuriken in the shadow of the first as Zabuza caught it, leaving him with no other way to stop the true attack. Those kids...have really grown these past few weeks.' he thought proudly.

Zabuza grit his teeth but did not reveal a shred of panic. Instead, he jumped high like a frog, evading the large shurikens cutting wheel as it flew past him along the waters.

"Fools! Did you seriously believe you could pull one over an elite such as myself!?" he laughed victoriously.

"Just where do you think you're looking, No-Brows?!"

The familiar puff and voice of an annoying blond genin spoiled Zabuza's victory as glanced back to find the demon wind shuriken disperse to reveal a grinning Naruto. Before the whiskered faced blond would fall into the water of the lake, he threw a single kunai blade at the stunned Demon. The speed and element of surprise made it impossible for that skilled swordsman to dodge as he did earlier as the gleaming point came in hot.

He had no other choice but to let go of his hold of the water prison ball as he jumped as far back as he could from the ninja blade. Even a trained, skilled, and experienced shinobi like Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsman of The Mist, wasn't capable of evading such a surprise attack without a wound. The fine edge cut into the skin of his cheek, slicing a long red line that spilled his blood as he escaped a fatal wound. Just the sensation of the sting on his face and the blood that sunk into the surface of the lake caused his blood to boil.

A murderous glare was aimed at the blond brat that splashed into the water. To think, a genin, an annoying pest of a brat, had gotten one over on him! The Demon of The Mist! The insult to his pride was far more damaging than the wound on his face!

Such humiliation wouldn't go unanswered. Out of kindness, he would return that brat's weapon; deep into his skull!

"DON'T FORGET TO LOOK UP!"

Zabuza cursed as he stopped spinning the fuuma shuriken, turning to incline his head up to find a bruised, cut, knuckle staring directly into his eyes.

"WHA-!"

The landing superman punch to his face echoed with a sickening crack. Red seeped into Zabuza's bandages, courtesy of the flowing blood from his broken nose as his head was knocked back. His grip on the large shuriken was lost, dropping it to the waters as his large body was slammed straight into the lake's surface with a great resounding splash. Before his vision was flooded with water, he found the fierce dark blue eyes of his attacker driving him down as a right hand had gripped his face and pushed him further into the depths of the lake.

An incredible weakness overcame Zabuza as he and Touma sank deep into the lake's depths. It was as if his chakra, the life energy keeping him alive, was suddenly clogged. Nothing else could describe the sensation of the chakra pathways in his body being blocked once that abnormal boy's fist made contact with him. After all, it hadn't been the force of that boy's punch that drove him into the water but the loss of his chakra's control that kept him standing on the surface.

He couldn't stand it any longer. Never mind the water making its way into his lungs, he couldn't stand that...thing's touch any longer!

Gathering whatever strength he could, Zabuza repaid the favor back to Touma in the form of a larger fist bashing into his left eye. It was a weak hit in his opinion but was more than enough to make Touma let him go and gasp, causing the lake's body to slither into his lungs. Without that right hand on him, Zabuza felt his chakra burst free like a flame, returning to him the strength he had lost as he sent a powerful knee into the stomach of the drowning teen that sent him up.

If it wasn't for the water attempting to drown him, Zabuza would have breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Touma hurriedly swim back to the surface.

[-]

Touma broke the surface of the lake with a desperate gasp for sweet air. He coughed harshly, trying to get rid of the water that clung to his lungs accompanied by blood. As if he hadn't already been spitting blood from that brow-less monster! It wasn't as if he had been trying to drown him! He just wanted to drown him a little is all.

Surely that water-based shinobi had some kind of spell that allowed him to breathe underwater; right?

At least he had finally gotten a crack in -literally- at the face of that smug bastard. To his disappointment though, Zabuza did not go down with just one punch unlike most of his enemies back home. Unlike your common Esper or Magician, the swordsman trained his body to take heavy hits and power through. If all shinobi in this world were the same then he might have to seriously consider working on his arm strength to keep up.

Reaching the edge of the lake that touched the earth, the weakened high school boy struggled to pull himself out but found a kind hand reaching out to him.

"Stop staring and take it, Kamijou-san."

To the surprise of many, it was Sasuke Uchiha who had decided to help Touma out of the water. He was annoyed from the water that splashed onto him from the older boy emergence who nearly collapsed in once his feet touched the ground.

"T-Thanks, Uchiha-kun! My arms are so weak now that I'm not even sure I could wipe my own ass if I had to!"

Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust as Touma started to cough up more water mixed with specks of red as he stumbled onto land.

This was the guy who's very face had made Zabuza visibly lock up when he believed there was an army of him? What was so fearsome about some random bystander they picked up? Other than the strange right hand which had been responsible for dispersing Zabuza's clones, nothing about the older boy was threatening. He would say that the leaping punch that had sunk Zabuza was rather impressive to witness.

After everything Touma had been through upon waking up to this strange, violent new world, it was no surprise his knees gave out on him after making a few steps. He would have hit the ground, adding further injury to his weak body, if it were not for a much kinder, gentler set of hands that caught his tall body.

"Kamijou-san!" Sakura cried out in alarm, catching him as he fell. She may have been shorter and less muscled but she wasn't as frail as she appeared. She was more than strong enough to let that tired, wounded, and out of breath teen to lean on her for support. A bright blush colored her cheeks as the leaning older boy's breath washed over her neck.

'Don't let it bother you, Naruto! She's just being kind to him because she's a sweetheart. Not to mention he did help us take down No-Brows.' An equally wet and tired Naruto lamented from the side, eyeing his crush helping to steady Touma. 'Even if I was the hero who saved Kakashi-sensei from No-Brows and deserves the same treatment and close contact as him!'

No, those were not salty tears running down his face; it was plain old lake water.

"I must admit; you three have greatly matured when compared to the three genins who hadn't a notion of teamwork when we met. That strategy you just used? Brilliant."

Naruto and Touma weren't the only ones soaking wet. Groaning, Kakashi patted the left side of his head to push out the water in his ears as he proudly addressed his students' actions against a far superior opponent.

Hearing such praise from their teacher lifted the worn-out spirits of those green-leaf genins.

"Sakura, it may have seemed that you didn't do much in the fight but you were in charge of the most important task of this mission; protecting Tazuna from all harm. You guarded his life like a true kunoichi, never wavering, and never leaving his side despite the overbearing blood lust Zabuza was conveying."

Said cherry blossom haired kunoichi blushed with a happy smile as she patted the groaning Touma's back softly while he vomited water and dregs of blood.

"Sasuke, you overcame your own fear and arrogance today. The Uchiha I met all those weeks ago wouldn't have bothered to work with anyone, choosing instead to charge ahead and rely on his own skills. You've grown, learning to fight alongside others is a great tool for a truly proud shinobi to attain."

No one could see it but the slightest of tugs could be found on that bruised cool faced Uchiha's face as he stepped away from the puddle of vomit from the spiky teen.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaand? Are we saving the best for last, sensei!?"

Kakashi chuckled at the expecting tone on the wide grinning orange themed blond.

"And let's not forget Naruto, who came up with a brilliant plan, I assume?"

"That's right, datte-bayo!" Naruto smugly admitted as he crossed his arms over his puffed out chest, "It was my idea to distract No-Brows with my Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, all of which I had disguised with a Henge Jutsu to look like Touma! With the water clone focused completely on the army of Touma's, I was then able to disguise myself as a shuriken that my clone handed to Sasuke, who hid me beneath another shuriken he had. Then it was just a matter of the real Touma dealing with the fake No-Brows before Sasuke sent me flying after the real No-Brows. The rest is a successful history."

"Such a marvelous plan from Konohagakure no Sato's Dead-last of the Academy. You've grown sharper in mind and not just strength, I see. Just like Sasuke, you didn't allow yourself to charge ahead because of a big head and instead planned out a strategy to overcome a great obstacle. Out of all you, you've truly matured; if just a little in mind." Kakashi said mirthfully.

Ever so steadily, those naive shinobi were finding the path to becoming extraordinary ninjas. Against his demands for them to run away and protect Tazuna, they stood their ground and overcame their limits. He wasn't sure he had ever felt so proud. His students had saved his life.

Finally, that left the Copy Ninja to divert his eyes to the tired faced bystander they had picked up in the middle of their mission. The same ordinary teen who had exceeded the expectations of everyone in defeating all of Zabuza's clones on his own with only a fist. Said stranger cleaned his dirty mouth of vomit and blood with his left sleeve with a grimace.

Kamijou Touma, the self-proclaimed normal teen had gone toe-to-toe with Kirigakure village's most deadly assassin and lived.

"You did...very well yourself, Kamijou-san. For someone who claims not to be a fighter, skilled, or able to perform jutsu, you were able to deal with Zabuza's clones very well. It's almost as if you're familiar with violent confrontations like this." he said suspiciously.

"Don't remind this simple Kamijou-san of his shitty luck! It's not my fault that every Event that I stumble into usually winds up with me having to punch the face of some monstrous idiot caught in their own illusions! I refuse to fall into the familiar realm of crap like this occurring frequently in my life that it seems that I'm some expert in dealing with this mess! Do you think I want to be reminded that this isn't the first time this Kamijou-san has had to deal with some overpowered, muscle figured, giant sword-wielding, monster of a man that can walk on water?!"

Kakashi despite his suspicions, blinked slowly at the mini-rant the sulking dark spiky-haired teen had gone off into while a frantic Sakura tried to counsel him. It sounded like the rambling of someone on the verge of undergoing a mental break down.

Whatever the reason for Touma's display of abnormal skills, Kakashi relaxed. As he had come to understand already, the boy wasn't a threat to their team. More so now after he had gone to defend his students and Tazuna from a demon of a man as Zabuza. The teen hadn't even lost control of his emotions once the ex-Kiri ninja had flooded the mist with his killing intent to damage their psyches.

Even though he had been trapped in Zabuza's water prison, Kakashi had been able to make out the fights between Team-7 and Touma. Enough of the heavy mist had been thinned to allow him a decent view of the struggle his students were in as well as how their guest had dealt with the majority of the clones.

Zabuza hadn't been the only one taken back by what he had seen. Utilizing the Sharingan, he had hoped to see through the gaps in the mist to copy whatever technique Touma had been using to destroy not only the Demon's fake bodies but negate his jutsus. Yet the greatest copying dojutsu had failed to gain anything worth of notice as his single red eye hadn't even picked up Touma's movements.

An odd phenomenon had occurred when Kakashi's Sharingan detected Kamijou Touma's right hand. A blank, a glitch like distortion, was all his powerful eye could make out. It was almost as if there was an empty void where the spiky teen's right hand would be. Whatever jutsu the boy was using was almost...alien, a technique far beyond the realm of the Sharingan's capability of copying to a microscopic level.

Once this was over with, Kakashi would have to ask Touma for a moment of his time to discuss a few things.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu(Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!

If they survived that is.

Their enemy broke the surface of the lake with a thunderous roar created by the mighty aquatic jaws of a towering, long-necked dragon from the east. Its arrival came with a downpour from its geyser-like rise as the water dragon swam in the air, its jaw cracked open to give them all a clear view of its rending fangs. At the bottom of that draconian beast stood Zabuza, face bandages stained with fading red and a murderous expression. His dragon leered down on the stunned ninjas like a judgmental lake god debating its punishment to the lowly humans blessed with its presence.

"Is that...a dragon made of water?" Tazuna, the ordinary and old civilian, asked fearfully.

"Yup." Kakashi helpfully answered, internally cursing himself for missing the opportunity to copy such a technique.

"….I know it's a jutsu meant to kill us and everything, but that is sooooooooooooo cool!" Naruto gushed with a twinkle in his eyes.

"And I thought him wielding a giant sword was overkill." Sakura nearly fainted in the face of a literal water dragon towering over the surrounding greenery.

"….I've seen bigger."

Sasuke couldn't help but stare strangely at Touma's flat expression that said he wasn't the least bit impressed by the legendary beast as the downpour from the jutsu release came to an end.

There came no warning, no threat, no promise of death as the water dragon surged forward like an intense stream carving its way through the earth. Its jaw was snapped as wide as it could go, intent on swallowing its targets and crushing them. With such speed, it left little room to dodge especially when Kakashi knew that the jutsu was more than capable of chasing after them like a hungry carnivore.

The devastating torrent in the body of a dragon speared forward, devouring what mist was in its way and dug through the earth as it roared at the pale white faces of its prey. Regardless of the threat, one of its prey stepped forward, meeting the great water dragon's charge with nothing more than his chambered fist.

Even if each member of Team-7 and Tazuna had seen the effects before, it was still none the less stunning to see an ordinary teen's hand stop even a deadly and powerful jutsu as the water dragon bullet in its tracks. The dragon's head was smashed apart upon Touma's right fist blocking its kill strike with a straight forward punch. Even without the head, the water continued to surge forward like a high pressured hose, constantly negated as the right hand created a field of negation forcing the torrent to part like a V at the head of the impact. All those who stood behind him were protected from the crushing torrent of liquid, left stumped as they bore witness to the water dragon being destroyed so easily.

Such a jutsu could not hold up forever. It died away with a great splash of water that doused the entire field in a spraying wave, leaving in its wake large mud puddles and pools of lake water in the lingering fog.

Zabuza grit his teeth face marred by a livid rage as one of his most destructive, intimidating, and deadliest jutsu was blocked by a mere right hand.

"What the fuck are you?!" he roared in absolute rage and confusion.

Tiredly, Touma sighed as he shook off the water on his aching right hand, never mind the killer set of murderous eyes locked onto him.

"I've told you before; I'm just an ordinary, down on his luck, teenager. Trust me, I'm not exactly happy that I got to deal with the likes of you either. But it seems my misfortune is destined to drag me into dealing with idiots like you who believe death is the only way to sort out your problems." he said in frustration.

"Idiots like me?" Zabuza hissed lowly before grinning cruelly at the unfazed traveler, "Do you even know who I am, boy?! I am Momochi Zabuza, Demon of The Mist, ex-kirigakure shinobi, and member of the Assassination Corps, one of The Seven Demon Swordsman! I've left nothing but corpses in my wake and terrorized villages at the tender age of ten! Do not speak of me as some mere annoyance! People like you, supposed 'ordinary', 'average', 'normal', 'powerless', civilians should be cowering in fear and running for their lives; not protecting the very shinobi who are more fit to defend anyone! You should be pissing yourself stupid at the face of a demon!"

"Is that your excuse for why I shouldn't clench my fist and fight back?! Because it sounds rather shitty to me!"

A step forward made Zabuza take one back as Touma clenched his fist again, more than prepared to charge into the fight.

"What does it matter if I am normal, weak, and ordinary?! Is that your idea for an excuse as to why I should simply abandon the notion of protecting those who are in harm's way because they're stronger than me?! Demon of The Mist? Assassin? One of The Seven Demon Swordsman? Just what the hell do those titles have to do with barring my own fangs back at some senseless killer who has no other reason to swing his sword around than for the orders of some pompous, arrogant, dumb ass who picks a fight with civilians?! It doesn't mean a damn thing that I'm far less experienced to fight you, far less knowledgeable to understand the kind of monster you are, or far less powerful to stand up against you; I'll fight you none the less if it means I can save those whose are in harm's way of violent idiots like you!"

Another step from that intense boy had nearly made Zabuza take another step back. He refused, clenching Kubikiribochu's grip tightly as he viciously forced his body to stand.

"So, you would rather throw away your life for strangers even though you're far weaker than your enemy? That's nothing more than a pointless death that rewards you nothing! You're not even a shinobi, are you? If you truly are a random wanderer than there is nothing for you to gain in defending some old man, a couple of brats, and a jonin. No pride in your village, no monetary reward, no praise, no honor, nothing but a bloody one-way road to your grave! There's no logical reason an ordinary boy would stick out his neck for others if there's nothing to gain from his death!" Zabuza argued as he readied his severing blade to put an end to the stubborn boy.

"You're right; I have nothing to gain for myself here. But just because there's no reward doesn't mean I have a reason to stand aside while you hurt others! I don't need a logical reason to kick your ass here! I wasn't ordered to protect anyone, there's no money in it for me if I've successfully beat you down, and I won't be earning any kind of medal or pride from home for doing so; this is nothing more than the selfish desires of a weak nobody who can't stand idly as blood is shed pointlessly by a hired thug!"

Bloody, bruised, dirtied by dirt and mud, a certain right fist rose up in rebellion to the notions of being seen as lacking a reason to be brandished. Against a ninja tool designed to kill, the tool of a high school boy challenged its brand of violence with its own brute violence.

"I've dealt with thug's like you before, you're nothing special to this high school boy far from his home. I'll have you hit the ground as many times as I have to until I've shattered those blood-stained illusions of yours to shambles!"

A fierce grin greeted Zabuza as the Demon sprung forward, dashing along the lake's surface as Kubikiribochu was positioned for a mighty swing. It was as if demonic shroud had burst from the swordsman's body, creating the illusion of a bloodthirsty demon barreling forward with the intent on slaughtering the average teen who defied him.

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, YA BRAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

Steel, finely tempered with an edge that could easily peel the skin off a wooden trunk, and not molded by chakra was swung down with a furious roar as Touma found himself unable to evade the attack by the mad dash. His body grew tense as he planned to duck at the last second and hope he didn't suffer a surprise attack in the form of a knee to the face.

A firm hand gripped Touma's shoulder before he could react to the slashing Kubikiribochu, pulling him back with enough force to send him falling on his backside as the one responsible took his place. A green vest with a red swirl on the back gazed at him as Kakashi swung two kunai to collide with the heftier, longer, and more durable blade. Sparks were seen as the metal weapons met the demon's beheading blade with a metallic crash as neither shinobi would surrender to the others might.

Touma winced as he landed on his tailbone, his sore muscles crying out as he tried to spring back after the sudden push back.

"That's enough, Kamijou-san. I believe it's time for the adults to return to their conflict and allow the kids a much-deserved rest; don't you agree?"

The kind yet stern words from the gray-haired shinobi with the creepy red eye spoke to Touma, ceasing his actions. Kakashi held back the large cleaver with two crossing kunai in his grips, struggling to overcome the overbearing strength of the frustrated demon's Kubikiribochu.

"Get out of the way, Hatake! I promise," Zabuza spat darkly as he slammed his blade furiously against the metal toothpicks that guarded the Copy Ninja, and by extent, Touma. Sparks lit up the space between the two elite ninjas falling into a blitz of attacking and guarding, "Once I'm done with that arrogant boy, I'll return to chopping the lot of you all to fine bits instead of the sloppy slabs of red like that boy!"

"Apologies, Momochi-san but your fight isn't with some random bystander. Your fight is with shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato who have been assigned to protect Tazuna from the likes of you. So, I'm going to have to divert your blade to someone more worthy of your ire!"

With a deluge of strength, Kakashi pushed back the towering blade that was Kubikiribochu, sending Zabuza stumbling back in surprise. Taking advantage of the small opening he created, Kakashi then flung the two kunai in hand at the center of the shirtless swordsman chest.

Kubikiribochu acted swiftly in deflecting the measly blades as Zabuza prepared for his counter-attack only to discover Kakashi vanish from his gaze in a puff of smoke. Was that a Shunshin no Jutsu(Body Flicker Technique)? Using the high-speed movement that was all but teleportation, a shinobi could disappear from sight and reappear anywhere. It was a simple technique that all shinobi would learn but in the hands of well versed and veteran shinobi, it could be a rather lethal tool.

Zabuza's eyes flitted over his surroundings, growing uneasy at the lack of the Sharingan user. His opponent was nowhere to be seen in the low hanging fog that remained on the earth.

'If he's nowhere to be seen on the ground than-!'

A cascade of shuriken gave away Kakashi's location from above the anxious Demon's form.

As quickly as he could, Zabuza spun his severing sword over his head, bouncing those weak metal disks off to instead stab the muddy earth around him. Readying his broadsword, he swung its blade at the falling Kakashi who thought he could score an attack from above. Grinning viciously, he bore witness to the stunned black and red eyes of the shinobi as Kubikiribochu carved through the man's vest, skin, muscles, and veins. All that was left for the red gush to sprinkle from the fatal slice to rid him of one great annoyance.

Kakashi's airborne death was accompanied by a burst of clear liquid.

'A Mizu no Bunshin? Then where's the real one?!'

"Behind you."

Zabuza choked as he felt a presence from behind. He didn't need to turn to see who's deadly intent was aimed for his life. Hastily, he swung Kubikiribochu for a backspin that would sever Kakashi's upper body from his waist, an action interrupted by a foot crashing into the side of his ribs. A terrible crack could be heard, alerting him of major damage as the force of the kick sent him flying.

Before he would hit the soggy ground, Zabuza flipped so that his feet could touch the muddy bank of the lake. Kubikiribochu was dug into the ground to prevent him from falling over the edge of the waters as he struggled to regain his breath amid the blood that stained his bandages from the inner bleeding. One clean hit to his ribs had been enough to break not one but two of his ribs, sapping his strength.

Biting back the pain, Zabuza opted to approach with a long-range attack to avoid any further complications to his ribs. Kubikiribochu was hoisted back to its home on his back as his hands went to work on the necessary hand signs for a devastating jutsu.

"Don't get cocky-

"Copy-Ninja! I won't go down so easily as you believe!"

Zabuza snarled as Kakashi finished his own sentence, mimicking his hand signs like a reflecting mirror. It wasn't just his hands though but his stance, his facial expressions, and tone of voice were observed, broken down, and thrown back with such detail it was terrifying. Even a shinobi as renown as The Demon Hidden In The Mist was anxious. It was almost as if-

"He could read my very thoughts. But even with the Sharingan, that's impossible!" Kakashi uttered in place of Zabuza's inner thoughts to his ever-growing fury.

"Shut your mouth, you damn pale imitation of a mimicking-"

"Parrot! I'll fucking butcher the lot of you annoying pests before that boy's right hand gets in my way again!" Finished Kakashi, sending Zabuza into a blind rage.

At that moment, the well-composed killer lost all sense of thought. Whether it was due to his chakra drained after performing several powerful jutsu, the broken nose, and ribs, or the blows to his mental state by the parrot known as Kakashi, or to his pride as a shinobi by some abnormal boy's right hand, Zabuza had discarded caution to the wind as he neared completion of his attack. Even as his overblown anxiety created the phantasmal illusion of Zabuza's own reflection standing behind Kakashi like a ghost, he didn't waver.

He was the great Demon of The Mist; Momochi Zabuza! One of Kirigakure's greatest assassins! His body count was nothing to laugh at. Compared to those wet behind the ears genin who had never so much as drawn blood, he was superior! To be driven to such desperate stakes was a great insult to his pride! One that must be punished with an agonizing death!

Bird; the final hand seal that was commonly found in Fuuton Jutsu was formed, signaling the activation as a great deal of chakra required was kneaded into a liquid from within.

To Zabuza's disbelief, it wasn't himself who had gathered a monstrous surge of water in record time.

It was the owner of those blood-red eyes with madly spinning tomoe that beat him to the punch.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu(Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu)!

No amount of experience garnered after so many years could have aided Zabuza as that great deluge of liquid sprung forward, molding itself into a massive whirlpool towering over the mangroves and carved everything in sight like a buzzing drill. The great rotation of water surged forward to devour the earth, mangroves, and mist like a raging behemoth flailing about. Even the very air was churned, hitting those behind Kakashi with winds similar to that of a whipping storm.

In face of such a jutsu with the killing capability of a natural disaster, all Zabuza could do was brace himself with the flat of Kubikiribochu to absorb the brunt of his own attack as he dug the tip of the great severing blade deep into the ground to remain anchored.

The great and frightening force of a waterfall spun with the intensity of an industrial drill, struck against Kubikiribochu's flat, briefly fighting to break apart the blade's material before swallowing Zabuza's body. Anchored by his giant broadsword that continued to sink further into the disappearing earth washed away, he was left to drown beneath the tremendous waterfall's pressure threatening to mangle his body.

To the eyes of those who stood by behind the caster's jutsu, it was as if he had been a measly ant who had been swallowed whole by a literal cascading waterfall's natural wrath.

[-]

"Y-You're kidding me, right?"

Touma felt the same way as Naruto who stared dumbstruck in aftermath of such a cataclysmic attack fired by one person. Even after everything the wielder of Imagine Breaker had seen in his world, he was still taken back at witnessing a maelstrom of water larger than the surroundings fired from the body of Kakashi. Was this the power of the shinobi of this world? It was like they were magical ninjas!

But even an incredible display of power wasn't what had everyone staring with open jaws of disbelief.

"D-Damn mocking n-nin."

What took them back was the sight of The Demon Who Hides In The Mist still standing after being drowned by the ridiculous waterfall that hollowed out the very earth before it. Mangroves sank into the newly expanded lake, torn from their roots as a few could be seen floating about. Yet Zabuza had stood rooted in place and fought back against being washed away?

Was he really a demon?

Just a glance though would tell you that Zabuza hadn't walked away without any amount of damage. His body trembled, wracked with immense pain by the devastation that had nearly turned him into a broken corpse floating in the lake. Sheer will had been the core reason he had withstood a waterfall's overbearing deluge but it hadn't gone without having to suffer such a penalty.

Numerous splinters ranging in size from the torn up mangroves caught in the Great Waterfall Jutsu were stabbed into Zabuza's body like shrapnel and bruises brought up by the blunt trauma of the raging waters, striking wood, and torn up earth swimming among the whirlpool. His body was a bleeding wreck struggling to remain standing even now as his body was shaking like a leaf.

Even his eyes flinched, fighting to remain conscious.

Whatever fight he still possessed didn't matter now. It was Game Over, truly and finally. Thankfully Touma hadn't the need to be the one to bash the nail in the matter to complete it. Unless the Great Demon had backup in the mist, there was no more fighting to be had.

So why couldn't that damn eyebrow-less monster understand?

Even if it took great effort, Zabuza dug Kubikiribochu out of the shallow earth that had been cleared away. That great severing broadsword matched its master, shaking as its tip fell in line with the stunned observers.

Sakura stepped back, finding such a monster of a man willing to continue fighting frightening. Even as injured as he was, Zabuza was still more than capable of producing a terrifying blood lust that was nearly visible to the naked eye. It was almost as if a demonic visage had seeped out of his beaten figure to force his body to act via invisible strings. She swore his eyes had even darkened a vile red as the demonic illusion pulled at the defeated puppet's reigns with a cruel laugh.

"Don't you think you've had enough!? Are you so stubborn, so bloodthirsty, as to risk your life any further for a measly hit?! Don't you have any regard for your own life?!"

Touma stepped forward, passing the still guarded Kakashi who's breathing had become labored. If jutsu were anything like spells back home than using such an attack had drained him of a large amount of stamina.

Concern could be found in his voice. To hear such an emotion in the voice of an enemy had stumped the Demon whose executing tool had grown still.

"Regard...for my own life?" Zabuza fought to speak, his hairless brows knitting together in confusion.

What was that plain faced boy saying? It was almost as if…

"Do you have no intention of killing me?"

"Of course! Why the hell would you think I want to kill you?!"

A deafening silence had been created by those earnest words. No one could speak as they stared at that dark spiky-haired teen who had been fighting as hard as they had to survive the killer's blade.

"You're wounded, far too wounded to continue the fight without seriously harming yourself any further. So, isn't it far more beneficial for a hired goon to give up and retreat to safety? Throwing aside your life for the benefit of a crime lord isn't going to amount to any kind of gain to anyone, right?! So, stop pushing that beaten body that can only tremble in agony any further and surrender!"

Those words were directed to a ruthless, cold, and unfeeling assassin who had never shown the same mercy he was being gifted. Never before had he heard such things spoken to him with such compassion and strength. Such kindness, compassion…

"Heh...hehehehehehahahahaahahahaahaahahaahaha!"

Made that bloodthirsty Demon throw his head back in laughter.

"So, it is true! I had thought you might be a shinobi, or at least a hired mercenary employed to help those shinobi with their mission, but it seems I was wrong about you after all. AHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAH! SUCH PITIFUL, DISGUSTING, IGNORANT WORDS WOULD NEVER LEAVE THE MOUTH OF A TRAINED KILLER!"

Zabuza's taunting shout seeped in madness as a crazed light beamed from his eyes. The shroud of deep blood lust had overtaken him, bringing that illusion to life to invigorate his body once again and cement his grip on his weapon. Pain no longer was the reason his body was trembling. No, an even greater emotion had spat it out to give him renewed strength to allow him to stand against that boy.

A mere, ordinary, out of place, spineless boy!

To think that it was such a random nobody who had defeated his clones and had the gall to break his nose! His pride had taken a hit when that loudmouth blond had broken his hold of Kakashi's imprisonment but even he had realized that those young brats were further from being mere weaklings. They were shinobi, trained through the years from an early age to fight and learn the art of deception. If need be, they would experience their first taste of such a cruel path they now walked once they were forced to spill blood.

Given enough time and battles, even those spoiled coddled brats would grow to be bathed in the same depths of red he had spilled. Just like their beloved sensei, they would become killers. Such was the destiny of those renown as ninja.

But an average boy, one that even Zabuza wouldn't have been able to pick out of the crowds of a village, had fought him and survived. Not only survive but go as far as drawing his own blood? And be talked down to as if they were equals? To be given pity and the freedom to run?

Unacceptable, simply unacceptable!

That boy, Kamijou Touma, was right about one thing. With his low chakra, Zabuza couldn't afford to use another jutsu without risking his life. Which was perfectly fine; Kubikiribochu had been scratched and chipped by the great waterfall jutsu. All it needed was a few gallons of blood to repair that fine metal to its pristine glory!

"To think a mere boy who doesn't even walk the path littered with death would be able to cancel out my own attacks as if they were nothing! It's so unbelievable that it's enough to drive me mad and start swinging Kubikiribochu like a sociopath! But what other truth is there when hearing such sickening concern to your enemy?! I can't help but be lost to the rage of being pitied by such a worm!"

A bubble of sticky crimson leaked out of the bandages to his mouth as the strain of lifting his sword caused a backlash to his internal wounds. He was hurt, far too damaged to keep this fight going but more than willing to give into his own anger to care.

Such a sorry picture set Touma off.

"Just stand down, you fucking idiot! Are you seriously so prideful as to ignore your wounds just to satisfy something as retarded as pride?! You lost; that's that! Don't destroy yourself any further unless you truly have nothing else to fight for! Or is that it?" Touma spat furiously to Zabuza's growing maddening ire, "Is it that a cold-blooded killer like you has nothing to live for, nothing to strive other than battling to your death!? Is that why an idiot like you is working for a scumbag like Gato? Because you believe that you serve no other purpose than to kill those who you've been ordered to for money and thrill? Are you that empty that there's nothing worth living for that you would die because of your own wounded pride?!"

"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, BOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYY! YOU HAVE NO IDEA AS TO WHY I FIGHT OR KILL AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"

It happened in the blink of an eye.

The Demon Hidden In The Mist vanished under frightening speed, taking even Kakashi back by the sheer sudden movement that had slipped under his Sharingan. No warning came to his teleporting flash as he attacked without the ruthless edge of his main weapon, forgoing it for a more personal attack in the form of punch driven into Kakashi's stomach that sent him skidding several meters back with a haggard gasp accompanied by blood.

A burly elbow impacted with Touma's face next, nearly breaking his face entirely as his vision swam with the ringing pain that split his head. The damage was so intense that he couldn't breathe as his body fell only to be caught by the very fist that been responsible for the river of blood gushing from his nose. As his vision returned to him, he could finally make out the infuriated face of Zabuza who's powerful hand clamped down on his windpipe and began to crush the brittle throat.

He was lifted off his feet by a raging demon painted in blood, treating no kinder than a dead rabbit with a broken neck.

"Don't speak as if you understand a damn thing about me, boy! Do you think you know why I kill?! Do you believe that you've figured out what make's up The Demon In The Mist's ambitions?! Do you understand what it is that makes me put up with pieces of shit like Gato for nothing more than coin?! ARE YOU SO ARROGANT AS TO ASCERTAIN MY TRUE DESIRES THAT PUSH ME TO SELF DESTRUCTION!?"

Zabuza crushed the feeble boy's throat until Touma was gagging and desperate for air. Blue colored his face even as the choking boy grit his teeth and glared back. A right hand tightened over Zabuza's wrist, cutting off the drained chakra in his body that made him flinch. That sudden blockage to his system was enough, just enough for Touma to slam his own left fist into the Demon's left eye as hard as he could. Blinded by the savage blow, Zabuza was forced to let go as he held his hand over the socket that trickled with blood.

No sooner had he let go, another attack had struck Zabuza but not from Touma.

Kunai sunk into his flesh, stabbing into specific areas of his body to assure that he would not be moving again. To count, a total of six knives pierced his body and left him to stumble back with a blank expression.

"W-What?"

"I'm surprised that even that wasn't enough to drop you to your knees, Momochi-san. You truly do live up to your title as a Demon if you have that much willpower to keep you standing. It would seem the only way to put you down is to aim for an overkill."

Having gotten back up from the surprise attack, Kakashi had intercepted courtesy of the kunai sticking to Zabuza's body like he were a pincushion. He appeared just as winded from their fighting but in far better shape than the severely injured Demon. Spinning a single kunai in hand, he regarded the immobilized man solemnly before catching his small blade in a tight grip.

"If I were to be honest; you should have listened to Kamijou-san's offer. If you had simply run away and left us alone, you would have lived longer. Do not think me the same as him; I will kill you. As a shinobi, I hold no kindness for those who impede my mission. Now there is only death that awaits you." he said coldly as he readied to him off.

A flick of the wrist was all that would be needed. The kunai he had thrown were the physical nails that had set the coffin of the alignment of the lid. All that was needed was one more to ensure that the lid was secured definitely.

Kakashi never got the chance to hammer that final nail, not when a certain right hand caught his wrist.

'What the hell?!'

Just as everyone else had felt upon Imagine Breaker's touch, Kakashi discovered that the chakra coils in his body had been forcefully closed off as if his entire system had been hit by a barrage of Gentle Fists. To make an understandable comparison it was like his chakra were light and Touma's hand clicked the off switch, stopping any more electricity to flow to the wires in his body. Suddenly great fatigue had struck his entire body going as far as to even cause his Sharingan to give away without the lack of chakra flowing through his tenketsu. He found himself too weak to even fight back and nearly collapsed as he felt the full strain of using such a draining dojutsu hit him.

"I believe that's enough, Hatake-san. Even if he was overcome with blistering rage again, his body wouldn't give in to his demands anymore." Touma explained earnestly as he lowered the jonin's hand before letting go, "You've won, so why don't we return to safely guiding Tazuna-san back to his village. You do have a mission to carry out, right? That should take precedence over a foe who no longer has the strength or health to get in your way again. Don't resort to the same cruelty as a Demon."

It was as if a floodgate had been released.

Kakashi nearly gasped as the warm sensation of his chakra returned to flow through his chakra coils. It was a relieving sensation to no longer be suppressed as he was a moment ago. Such a chilling and frightening emptiness was enough to reflexively turn his kunai at Touma's throat out of instinct. He couldn't help but stare at the calm faced boy with a light cold sweat.

'Just who is he? To instill such a terrifying effect that shuts off the pathways of chakra with just a touch? Comparing it to the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist isn't close when compared to the hand's full ability to seal off my chakra. Such an ability is nothing short of monstrous.'

Touma didn't seem to notice the wary stare from Kakashi, focused on the heavily breathing Zabuza who couldn't move a muscle.

"Whether you like it or not, it's over. Even a Demon like you can't continue on when his body has shut down. So, we're leaving. Whatever happens now is out of our hands."

Zabuza chuckled gravely, his eyes half-lid as the blood running down his body fell to the muddy earth.

"Do you...think I won't return, boy? Do you truly believe...that I would not heal...and hunt you all down...again?" he hissed between labored breaths, "Or do you believe that...I will perish here all by my...lonesome?"

Touma shook his head, not a hint of pity or mercy in his dark blue eyes that held a firm resolve as he spoke.

"I don't think a monster like you will die to this. Knowing my luck? You'll be back within a short time, stronger than ever and pissed as ever. Seriously, why is it that I have to meet such inhuman bastards on a regular basis? Why couldn't it be a clumsy yet stern Dorm Manager Onee-san hunting me down so desperately?!" he complained, earning himself twitching hairless brow of ire from the defeated Zabuza, "As for you coming back? I don't really care. Next time, I'm sure that I won't even be here to stop you. You'll have to be content with dealing with the shinobi who've overcome your blood-lust," he gestured to the faces of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura who were surprised at the attention given to them before Touma aimed his thumb at Kakashi, "and the One-Eye Scarecrow who can copy your every move like some creepy mime."

"Didn't I warn you that I would kill you if you called me that again?"

Touma weakly laughed off the spike of killing intent before returning to Zabuza, "It's not my job to stop you. I only resorted to fighting you because of my own selfish desire to step in. If I hear you've returned to cause Tazuna trouble than I'm confident that these guys can take care of you. I won't bother getting involved in the matters of Shinobi since it's not my place unless I find a reason to butt in again. I'm just your average teenager who found himself lost; I've got no reason to get in between the matters of shinobi. You've already lost once, so what makes you believe that you can defeat the shinobi you've underestimated when they're more than prepared to shut you down again? But if you truly are intent on coming back, if you truly are so lost to your own violence rewarding you with money, if you truly devolve further into a demon harming the innocent than I'll own up to the mess I created. I'll find you and I'll shatter whatever ridiculous illusion you're weaving!"

No kindness could be found in that boy's voice. If Zabuza pushed himself to fight any more than Touma would step aside, knowing there wasn't anything else he could do to stop the likes of Kakashi doing as he was trained to do: protect Tazuna. He would sleep better at night knowing that this fight didn't end in the death of anyone. But if it came down to it there wasn't anymore he could do.

Touma had been dragged into this fight by his own hand the second he attacked Zabuza's Mizu no Bunshin but it wasn't his fight to decide the ending. If he had a choice, he would ensure no one, not even the very person who had desired to kill him would lose their lives today. But he was the very definition of an outsider, this wasn't his world or his story to define. Out of the kindness of those Konoha ninjas, he was taken along to help him find some civilization to settle himself in until he could grasp what he was to do in this new world. It was nothing more than a selfish desire to not see any bloodshed that he had stopped Kakashi's hand.

This wasn't the first time he had been face to face with a ruthless, bloodthirsty, coldhearted killer. Not all of them came in the figure of Zabuza. He had known one who was lanky, displaying no muscles on his thin frame, with cruel and ruthless red eyes and white hair that had slaughtered over a hundred thousand girls for power. One was a blonde-haired girl dressed like a witch with one eye who had gone as far as to kill every human on earth and break down the world into one in her image. Each of those cruel humans had been responsible for countless corpses, each one deserving of a long and torturous death for their crimes.

But by surviving, by living their lives with the memory of said sins on their backs, they had found a unique flavor of redemption far greater than death yet just as kind.

Would Zabuza be the same if he didn't die here and now? Could even a Demon turn over a new leaf if he was allowed to go free instead of being killed for his crimes? Wouldn't it be called Evil if Touma was responsible for that monster to continue breathing when he had never so much as mulled over returning the same courtesy to his victims?

Did such people expect a normal high school boy to answer such a question?

When it came down to it, Touma simply didn't wish to protect anyone by killing. It wasn't any more complicated than that.

Kakashi found himself staring at the earnest boy, studying his every word before an exhausted sigh was released. Contemplating his next decision, he slipped his forehead protector over his scarred eye yet never let go of the grip of his kunai as he spoke.

"This is your only warning; leave. If I see you so much as make one threatening or suspicious twitch, I will not hesitate to ensure your death. And if you desire to attack again, I will kill you. And no one will get in the way of my kunai's path to your neck next time."

Zabuza deeply scowled at the warning and opened his mouth to spit back at the pity he was shown.

If not for the thin needles that robbed him of his voice and pierced through his neck.

A deathly shock could be seen in the faded eyes of The Demon of The Mist because of the needles cleanly stabbed into his neck, producing a slim rivet of blood as he hit the ground with a hefty thud. The attack had come so fast, he couldn't even make one last sound as the light in his eyes vanished.

It had only taken two needles to kill the infamous Demon, Zabuza Momochi.


A defeating conclusion between a demon and a high school boy.

This is a world of true violence and death. Happy endings are not easily found.

Demons of all manner of shape and size will stand before you to make sure every road you travel is stained with blood.

So, stand strong. Don't waver your colors against the sea of red.

As I've said many times before; I am a man of action. Fights scenes are my true passion and I've always excited to read whatever violence is found between those whose ideals clash against another. The fight with Zabuza, Team-7, and Touma was just a small taste of what's to come in the future. I did my best to change up as best as I could without dropping what I felt were important marks on the first fight. I hope it didn't seem plastered with a few changes here and there.

For the moment, the fight is over. Now we move onto Nami no Kuni and met the rest of the cast!

Ahhh, I really enjoyed what I did with the next few chapters. Especially the interactions I've written. But you'll all have to wait patiently to see what I've churned up.

Today's my last day of a sixth-month vacation; might as well enjoy it before heading back to the old grindstone.

Remember; Read and Review! It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.