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It's great to cooperate with Cardo! Because Cardo himself is also scum, there's no need to worry about honor or loyalty when working with him—and the pay is generous.
On the other side.
After defeating the Demon Brothers, Ye Dou and Team 7 resumed escorting Tazuna, once again heading toward the Land of Waves.
Tazuna was a typical civilian with a bit of cunning, but since his intentions were genuinely good, many people in the Land of Waves were willing to support him.
The four of them boarded a small boat, quietly avoiding Cardo's watchful eyes and ears, and slipped into the Land of Waves unnoticed.
Along the way, Tazuna explained in greater detail the plight his homeland was facing and the crucial importance of completing the bridge.
However, he couldn't completely shed the petty, irritable attitude of a market vendor.
Even as he explained, he didn't forget to make a few sarcastic remarks, saying things like, "Well, even if you fail, it's not my daughter and grandson who are at risk. You Konoha shinobi should think about that!"
Ye Dou ignored him, remaining calm and quietly admiring the unfamiliar scenery.
The Land of Waves was undeniably poor, but it had its own breathtaking beauty, with customs and ways of life Ye Dou had never encountered before.
Because of the country's small landmass and frequent storms, many residents had built houses directly over the water, connected by winding wooden walkways.
Compared to the so-called "City of Water"—Venice—this was simpler, but purer and more authentic.
Between the houses, narrow plank paths stretched across the water. When the tide rose, small fish could even be seen swimming across the submerged walkways.
After a while, they reached the shore. Tazuna paid and bid farewell to the boatman, leading the four-man team along the path to his village.
The atmosphere along the road was tense.
After the earlier ninja attack, everyone stayed highly vigilant.
But soon, the hyperactivity in Uzumaki Naruto's body boiled over again.
Frustrated at his earlier uselessness against the Demon Brothers—paralyzed by fear and unable to act—Naruto pushed himself to the front of the group, eager to prove his worth.
Suddenly, his sharp hearing picked up something.
"There it is!" Naruto shouted, immediately throwing a kunai toward the bushes.
Striding forward confidently, he parted the shrubs—only to find a white rabbit trembling violently, a kunai stuck awkwardly between its long ears.
Naruto gasped and quickly apologized to the poor creature, recognizing its pure white fur.
Meanwhile, hidden in the trees, Zabuza Momochi observed their movements coldly, locking his gaze onto Kakashi Hatake.
Without hesitation, he drew his massive Decapitating Blade and hurled it like a giant spinning shuriken.
"Get down!" Kakashi shouted urgently.
Everyone instinctively obeyed, crouching just in time as the enormous blade whirled past, slicing cleanly through the air above their heads.
With a heavy thud, the sword embedded itself into a massive tree trunk, nearly cleaving it in two.
None of Team 7 doubted: if they had been hit, their bodies would have been split apart instantly.
"Momochi Zabuza!" Kakashi muttered grimly, recognizing the man standing atop the sword's hilt.
He hadn't expected to encounter such a dangerous opponent here.
If Kakashi had known earlier that the mission would involve an A-rank missing-nin like Zabuza, he would never have accepted it so lightly.
Momochi Zabuza was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—a legendary group feared even among shinobi.
Though Kakashi didn't know all the grim details of the Mist Village's "Bloody Mist" era, he knew enough.
The Hidden Mist Academy's brutal graduation exams once forced students to kill their classmates in order to pass.
Zabuza was infamous even among them.
He had slaughtered an entire class before even officially becoming a ninja.
A true demon born of blood.
"If I'm not mistaken," Zabuza said coldly from atop the sword handle, his voice sharp as ice, "you're the ones who killed my men."
"As an apology," he continued, "hand over Tazuna... and maybe I'll let you live."
Before he finished speaking, a flash of danger flickered—Ye Dou made his move!
With a cold gleam in his eyes, Ye Dou sprang from the trees, a blade already drawn in his right hand.
Zabuza leaned backward deftly, narrowly avoiding the strike, and flipped back down to the ground, retrieving his Decapitating Blade to maintain distance.
"You sensed me... How?" Zabuza asked, staring coldly at Ye Dou.
"The rabbit Naruto found—it's a snow hare," Ye Dou explained simply.
"In nature, snow hares turn white only during winter when daylight is short.
But it's spring now."
"In other words, it was artificially raised indoors... and placed here intentionally for substitution."
Naruto, holding the rabbit awkwardly, finally understood and exclaimed, "Wait, you noticed that just from the rabbit?"
Ye Dou answered coolly, "I read it in a book."
Then he stepped forward, tightening his grip on his blade, his gaze locked onto Zabuza.
The battle was about to ignite!
"Ye Dou, fall back and protect Tazuna with us!" Kakashi ordered sharply. "This opponent... isn't like the Demon Brothers. This is the real thing!"
But Ye Dou just smiled faintly.
"Don't worry, Kakashi. He'll fall to my blade."
Though Zabuza was terrifyingly strong, Ye Dou didn't view him as a threat greater than Kakashi himself.
Kakashi's mastery of countless jutsu and his creativity in battle made him far deadlier to someone like Ye Dou than the straightforward brutality of a swordsman.
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