Naruto: I, Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan Princess

Chapter 212 Lien Zhan
The leaden-gray clouds gathered towards the center with the strong wind, obscuring the only remaining wisp of gold, and the faces of the crowd darkened.

"Is it foggy again?"

With his golden hair flying wildly, Naruto craned his neck to look at the coastline. A thick fog, almost the same color as the gray sky, covered the sea, making the vast and boundless sea even more chaotic. Undercurrents surged in the fog, as if a terrifying monster was hiding inside, sending chills down one's spine.

"With such strong winds, how could it be ordinary fog?"

The white kimono fluttered in the wind, and the two tomoe in her eyes turned upside down. Sasuke could already see the faint chakra light in the mist!
It was a faint, light blue halo, no different from most people's chakra, but he could taste a familiar flavor in it.

"It's that bastard Zabuza!"

A shrill voice broke the silence, its tone revealing a hint of exasperated resentment.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Kado, who was bound hand and foot and squatting in the coffin, shouting at the mist. His ugly face was covered in blood and dirt, his sunglasses and teeth were broken, and he was completely unlike the big boss he used to be.

"Be honest!"

A member of the Self-Defense Forces guarding him kicked him, and Kado immediately returned to his taciturn demeanor.

"It's Zabuza's ninjutsu... Didn't he run away?" Someone recognized the source of the mist after hearing Gato's reminder.

"What are you talking about? They're just missing!"

"More or less, but why is he back again?"

"He was probably hiding near the Land of Waves, and only came back after seeing Raiga Kurosuki die!" A murmur of discussion broke out among the crowd, who were clearly also remembering the heroic ninja hidden in the mist.

The Land of Waves was initially able to break free from Gato's blockade and build the bridge entirely thanks to Zabuza's help; without him, many people wouldn't even be able to afford food now.

therefore.

Although he left without saying goodbye during the crisis, most of the people of the Land of Waves still remember his good deeds and are unwilling to speak ill of him.

He had already accepted in his heart that Zabuza was no match for Raiga Kurosuki, which was why he disappeared without a trace.

Hearing the public's misunderstanding of Zabuza, Naruto anxiously wanted to say something, but was stopped by Sasuke's eyes.

Zabuza was hunted down because he stayed in the Land of Waves for too long. Now that he has finally escaped and gone from the open to the shadows, wouldn't the enemy know he was in the Land of Waves again if Naruto explained?

Not only will Zabuza be in danger, but the Land of Waves will likely also be implicated.

A rogue ninja may earn the title of 'hero,' but he cannot protect that honor. Perhaps this is the price Zabuza has to pay for betraying his village!

……

West side of the square.

After gazing at Gray Glass across the coastline for a while, Gray Glass continued to lower his head and pick up Red Eyes, only this time with a three-point faster movement.

"That's the way we came from, isn't it?"

Having accepted the fact that Hui Li possessed extraordinary talent, Kakashi stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Hui Li, looking at the hazy sea that wasn't far away.

The Sharingan could not penetrate the thick fog, and could only see the sparse chakra energy within it. The people of the Land of Waves were very accurate in their judgment; this was indeed Zabuza's Hidden Mist Technique.

"It's about two nautical miles from where we came from."

While calculating Zabuza's location, Hairi's hands moved swiftly, and the chakra scalpel had already cut open Ranmaru's entire eye socket.

The plaza where everyone was located was situated in the western part of the Land of Waves, connected to the Bridge of Heroes and bordering the southwest coast.

Cargo ships arriving by sea, travelers between the land of water and the land of fire, and merchants from the land of fire who come across the Bridge of Heroes will all eventually gather here.

Personnel must undergo inspections before entering the Land of Waves, and goods also accumulate here.

The cross-sea bridge was blocked by Raiga Kurosuki and his gang, who also held Tazuna and the others in their hands. To avoid alerting them, they circled around the sea and sneaked into the plaza, where they wiped out the Kurosuki gang in one fell swoop.

At this moment, the core area of ​​the fog is not far from the coast where they infiltrated the Land of Waves, and it should be the location where Zabuza's main body is hiding.

"His true form has been found by the enemy, and he is currently fighting his pursuers?"

Before Hui Li could answer, Kakashi already had the answer in his heart.

Such a vast amount of mist requires a considerable amount of chakra; it would be difficult for anyone other than the user to unleash ninjutsu to this extent.

What should I do?
He couldn't help but look at Gray Glass, who was removing the eye.

The enemy chasing Zabuza must be stronger than an elite Jonin, otherwise they wouldn't have abandoned the Land of Waves and fled, and wouldn't have dared to show themselves even when trying to make a deal with them.

Now that the crisis in the Land of Waves has been resolved, Zabuza's pursuit should not be their concern. However, the deal between Hairi and the other party is not yet over, and Haku's whereabouts are currently unknown. If Zabuza dies, this deal will be completely terminated.

Is that girl named Bai important to you?

Instead of overthinking, Kakashi looked at the serious-looking Hui Li, wanting to know what she was thinking. If Haku was important, then this conflict was inevitable; if not, they could just pretend they didn't see it. Zabuza being hunted down had nothing to do with them.

"Very important."

With her head down, Hui Li answered calmly, her firm tone making Kakashi instantly understand her attitude.

"Can you sense the enemy's intelligence? What is their strength?" Since a conflict with them was inevitable, Kakashi didn't hesitate and immediately began to formulate a battle plan.

"His strength is no less than the teacher's, and he has no obvious weaknesses, so let's forget about battle plans."

Looking at the ferocious monster in the mist, Hui Li's expression became slightly solemn. He hadn't expected that the person chasing Zabuza was him. No wonder Zabuza ran away as soon as he sensed that chakra.

Not inferior to the teacher?

Kakashi knew immediately that Hai Li wasn't talking about him; it could only be the Third Hokage!
The opponent turned out to be a formidable character no less powerful than the Hokage!
Call ~
He closed his eyes to calm himself for half a second, then without further hesitation, his figure transformed into a black afterimage as he ran towards Naruto and Sasuke.

Since the enemy is a ninja comparable to a 'Kage', the battle plan should be put aside for now. If Hui Li starts fighting the enemy, this port may not be able to be saved. It is more important to evacuate the civilians first.

"Naruto, Sasuke..."

Kakashi rushed over and kept giving orders, making the already chaotic square even noisier.

"It should be completely quiet soon," Hui Li thought to herself. With her two slender white fingers pinching the special lens of the red eye, she used a delicate chakra scalpel to completely remove and straighten the capillaries, then threw them into a bottle of saline solution.

Don't ask her why she carries saline solution with her.

Because chakra, mental strength, and physical energy are integrated into a trinity, they form the basic energy cycle in the ninja meridian system.

Therefore, a ninja's entire body cells basically contain chakra residue, and they can obtain some chakra simply by acquiring flesh and blood.

However, lacking chakra seeds, these remaining chakra are like rootless duckweed, diminishing with each use.

Her original plan was to bring some of Haku's flesh and blood back to Konoha if he wanted to die, as it would be useful for researching Ice Release or Impure World Reincarnation.

Now that Bai has mysteriously disappeared and not even his flesh and blood can be found, he can only use it to cover his red eyes.

He sealed the last red eye in the scroll in the same way, and slowly straightened up, watching the increasingly obvious chakra fluctuations in the mist. The false chakra seed in his heart began to emit light.

I thought I was just going to fight Zabuza, that weakling, so I didn't bring much chakra with me this time.

The stronger the ninjutsu, the more chakra it requires. Just now, in the battle against Raiga Kurosuki, I used up less than one chakra in three instantaneous Floating Water Cannons; now… I have twenty-four chakra left.

That should be enough!

Buzz!

The scarlet curse mark representing the floating water cannon flickered continuously, and countless purple electric currents seemed to be running rampant within its entire body.

Violet chakra surged wildly toward the cursed seal, instantly outputting a large amount of chakra, causing the flesh and meridians that conduct energy to overheat.

呲呲!

Hui Li slightly parted the corners of her mouth, and a hot breath escaped from her mouth.

Water vapor exceeding its boiling point evaporated from between her lips and teeth, turning into smoke that swirled around her.

A pale red polyhedral barrier appeared on its own, with high-temperature steam drifting and swirling within it, like white dragons imprisoned in red diamonds!

hum-

I couldn't make out what was making the sound; it sounded like some kind of machine was running.

The chakra, which had undergone countless changes in nature and form, had already burst out of the body under the fully automatic control of the cursed seal.

In an instant.

Six long, slender water shuttles rapidly took shape around him!
The turbine behind it gradually accelerated, and its terrifying and ferocious vertical pupils slowly opened, 'looking' at the fog-shrouded sea.

They will snipe the enemy two nautical miles away from the Land of Waves!

……

Time goes back to five minutes ago.

On the surging sea.

A blood-soaked figure frantically fled through the mist, its movements unpredictable and strange. Despite its rapid escape, it did not cause the mist around it to ripple in the slightest, as if it were an untouchable mist ghost!

behind him.

Countless dark, dense tentacles, like magnified iron worms, burst through the pervasive mist and surged wildly, enough to send chills down one's spine at first glance.

call!
Thick white mist continuously emanated from the figure.

A faint, light blue chakra light was contained within, spreading like a giant net along the direction of the mist.

But it ignored the ferocious tentacles chasing from behind, which stirred up the mist into a chaotic mess, twisting it into a sharp, black spear.

The tentacles twitched!
The jet-black spear transformed into a streak of light and pierced the figure's heart.

A piercing whistling sound filled the air!
The fleeing figure didn't turn its head back, but it seemed as if it had eyes in the back of its head.

He wielded the broadsword in one hand, drew a semi-circle, and swung it backward, the thick blade completely blocking his back.

clang! ! !
The ear-piercing sound of metal clashing echoed across the sea.

The drill-like spear made of tangled silk threads struck the blade with pinpoint accuracy. The terrifying force caused Zabuza to stagger and nearly fall. He felt as if a carriage had slammed into his back, and his already severely damaged organs were wracked with pain.

Damn!

His eyes were bloodshot from the pressure, and he gritted his teeth and swallowed the metallic taste in his throat. The chakra contained within the mist sensed the figure behind him, and the terrifying chakra that was more than ten times his own almost made him lose the will to fight!

Really strong!

That man in the black and red robe was terrifying!

A terrifying amount of chakra, many times greater than his own; an impenetrable body that cannot be assassinated; unpredictable and bizarre tentacles; and powerful escaping techniques with multiple elemental attributes…

In his youthful arrogance, he once attempted to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage. Many years later, he once again felt the oppressive feeling of being at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

Why would someone as powerful as a Kage be hunting me down?
Zabuza was extremely frustrated; he felt he was always unlucky.

While on a mission with Haku in the Land of Water, they encountered a ninja squad from Kirigakure. They killed them to silence them, but then ran into that terrifying blind girl.

Thinking of leaving the Land of Water.

On the ship, Orochimaru and Kirigakure's Kyoga were fighting to the death. If it weren't for Haku saving his life, he would have already perished in the boundless sea.

Even now, hiding in the remote Land of Waves, he's being bothered by Raiga Kurosuki and this inexplicable monster! He was just trying to observe the situation in the Land of Waves, but he ended up encountering that monster ninja on the vast ocean.

The moment he released the Mist Concealment Technique, it was blown away by the terrifying wind pressure. If he hadn't used the Mist Instantaneous Body Technique to escape with the help of the blown-away mist, he would have already died at the hands of the enemy!
What is the probability of this?
Shake your head.

Zabuza couldn't calculate the probability of encountering his enemy at sea; all he knew was that the tentacle monster behind him was once again breaking through the clouds and attacking him.

The heavy footsteps rippled the seawater.

He barely managed to stand up straight, gritted his teeth and continued running forward, but he didn't notice that beneath the sea, there were also tentacles darting about like sea snakes!

boom!
The tentacles blasted holes in the seawater from top to bottom, splashing water like arrows.

Zabuza used the Kirigakure technique again to dodge the attacking tentacles, but he felt dizzy and his chakra was nearing its limit.

The sea fog surged like a dying beast, and sweat dripped down and crumbled into pale fragments.

A sticky, writhing sound grew closer from behind, and the enemy's green eyes lit up in the mist, like two floating will-o'-the-wisps.

at this time!

Suddenly, countless tumor-like structures rose from the sea ahead, tentacles bursting from the water. Strange masks were embedded in the pulsating black shadows that resembled blood vessels. Zabuza tried to change direction and escape, but found that all around him were terrifying white masks.

"The Kirigakure rogue ninja who assassinated the Mizukage—Momochi Zabuza—has a bounty of 30 million, and the Kirigakure Executioner's Blade is worth 25 million."

A calm, deep voice came from behind, so close that it gave Zabuza goosebumps.

when?
The Misty Concealment Technique failed to detect the opponent's approach!
Before he could think, a fierce glint flashed in Zabuza's eyes, and he spun around and slashed with his Executioner's Blade.

call!
The mist was cleaved by the spinning blade, the heavy edge drawing a graceful arc.

Only then did he finally see the enemy in its entirety.

His black robe with red clouds was half unbuttoned, revealing a deep ninja outfit. He had gray-green hair, yellow pupils, and slightly pale skin, plus the stitches at the corner of his mouth. At first glance, he looked like a zombie that had crawled out of a grave.

On terror.

The Blackbearded Zombie is practically on par with the Hellish Blind Girl and the Undead Snake Man.

"Monster, die!"

With veins bulging on his neck, Zabuza roared and swung his greatsword, seemingly wanting to vent all the fear he had accumulated over the years.

(End of this chapter)