He's in the Marvel universe, and his first step is marrying Scarlet Witch.

Chapter 39 Where's my knife?

"Mr. Tazuna, he'll be here soon. It seems he hasn't been spotted by Kado."

The young man rowing the boat looked at the archway that appeared ahead and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Keep in mind that leaving the island and going out to sea without Kado's permission, especially picking up Tazuna who was repairing the bridge, would likely result in him not seeing the sun rise tomorrow if he were discovered.

"You've really worked hard!"

Tazner adjusted his hat, his expression turning serious.

Upon hearing their conversation, a glint flashed in Li Chuan's eyes.

Because he knew that he was about to face two Jonin-level ninjas, Zabuza the Demon and Haku, who possessed a bloodline limit.

He could get a sense of what a Jonin's strength was from his daily training with Chirai. That's why he came to the Land of Waves with Kakashi and the others.

Without Kakashi's help, he couldn't handle Zabuza and Haku on his own.

As they passed through the bridge arch, the fog dissipated, and a beautiful little island gradually appeared before their eyes.

The only slight drawback was that the houses on the island looked rather dilapidated, and the residents on the shore mostly had blank expressions and were quite thin.

"I live quite a distance from here, please follow me!"

After landing, Tazna led the group through the town at the dock and along a dirt road shrouded in dense forest, heading towards the interior of the island.

"We can't let Sasuke steal the spotlight anymore!"

Naruto, who was walking in front of Li Chuan, saw Sasuke with his hands in his pockets and looking arrogant, so he immediately ran ahead and started pretending to look around, even throwing out a few kunai from time to time.

His eagerness to show off was not something that could fool everyone, and Sakura immediately started cursing in anger.

However, Li Chuan became secretly on guard at this moment.

Because of his keen senses honed as a martial artist, he vaguely sensed a murderous gaze that had just swept over him.

However, he couldn't pinpoint the exact location of that gaze.

"There!"

Just then, because Naruto carelessly threw away his kunai, Li Chuan noticed something amiss. He then pushed aside the dense bushes by the roadside and carefully went forward to investigate.

Naruto's kunai was positioned right in front of the roots of a large tree, and a small white rabbit was trembling with fear beneath the roots.

"Did you use a substitution jutsu to dodge?"

Li Chuan secretly kept a close watch on his surroundings, but on the surface, he pulled out a kunai, threw it to Naruto, picked up the trembling little rabbit, and walked out with a smile.

Kakashi, who was standing there, immediately focused his gaze when he saw the rabbit in Li Chuan's hand.

Because of his experience, he could tell that this was not an ordinary rabbit, but a rabbit specially raised by ninjas to confuse the enemy when using the substitution jutsu.

Over there, Sakura saw the cute rabbit that Naruto had almost killed and roared at it again.

"What an adorable little bunny."

Li Chuan walked back to Tazna's side, deliberately held up the little rabbit in his hand, and then said:

"Do you think bunnies are so cute, should we braise them or steam them?"

Zabuza, who had just used a rabbit he had prepared in advance as a substitute, was squatting on a large, leafy tree, peeking out from the shadows.

While observing the monk below who was not within the scope of the intelligence, he was suddenly taken aback by Li Chuan's extremely contrasting words, and his originally perfect concealment revealed a slight flaw.

It was this tiny flaw that allowed Li Chuan and Kakashi, who was also suspicious, to discover his whereabouts.

"We've been exposed, so let's go for it!"

Knowing that his slight disturbance of aura had most likely been detected by the renowned Konoha clone ninja Kakashi below, Zabuza no longer concealed his presence. He drew his Executioner's Blade from his back and hurled it forcefully at his target, Tazuna.

"Everyone, get down!"

At a glance, they saw the enormous, exaggerated decapitation blade flying towards them like a meat grinder, its attack range encompassing all of them.

Kakashi immediately devised the most effortless and safest solution.

If they intervene to block the Executioner's Blade for everyone, they risk being ambushed by ninjas hiding in the shadows. If they don't intervene, given the speed and force of the blade, Naruto and the others simply won't be able to stop it.

As long as everyone lies down, they can perfectly dodge the attack of the large sword and also be wary of the ninja who might launch a sneak attack and counterattack at any time.

Li Chuan couldn't help but sigh at Kakashi's quick thinking and resourcefulness in solving the problem, thinking to himself that he was indeed an elite Jonin who had experienced countless missions and battles.

However, instead of lying down like Sasuke and the others, he widened his eyes, held his breath, and focused his mind just as the Executioner's Blade was about to strike him.

Leaning back, he swiftly raised his staff and precisely planted it into the round hole in front of the executioner's blade. Then, relying on his rock-solid stance, he forcefully stopped the blade's momentum and pulled it back.

With Kakashi watching over him, he wasn't afraid that Zabuza would take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, so he could take the opportunity to seize Zabuza's weapon first.

"What?"

Seeing that Li Chuan was able to block the large sword with his staff, Kakashi couldn't help but be a little surprised.

You have to understand that with the speed and power of that big sword, it would be difficult to block it like Li Chuan did, especially to prevent it from being deflected and to accurately insert it into the round hole in the sword.

It demands extremely high levels of strength, speed, and eyesight.

This young monk from the Fire Temple must possess considerable skill, at least in terms of physical combat.

Indeed, the Fire Temple is famous for its physical skills, and its current abbot, Jiriku, like Asuma in the village, was once a bodyguard of the daimyo. As his apprentice, Kawa, it is understandable that he has such strength.

On the other side, Zabuza had just thrown out his guillotine when he jumped towards the tree where the blade had landed.

Kakashi, the clone ninja of Konoha, is renowned and unlikely to be easily defeated by this slash. He will most likely tell everyone to lie down and dodge while remaining on guard.

Therefore, this attack was just a small probe, and incidentally, a grand entrance.

Ninja battles test all aspects, including ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, combat strategy, chakra reserves, and psychological warfare.

Especially among evenly matched masters, the outcome of a battle can be altered by a very small factor.

Zabuza's imposing entrance wasn't for show; it was to psychologically and intimidate his opponent, thus creating an advantage for the upcoming battle.

However, when he used the Instantaneous Movement Technique to appear where his decapitation sword should have been, he found that the place was empty and there was nothing there.

"Where's my knife? Where's my big knife?"

Zabuza, landing on a large tree branch with a blank expression, felt his prestige instantly plummet.

(End of this chapter)