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

Chapter 42 Li Chuan's Trump Card

As expected, although somewhat unexpected, Kakashi still managed to eliminate the water clone in front of him, and then turned around to block Zabuza's attack in time.

However, because he was a step too slow in clearing the water ahead, he was kicked into the small river by Zabuza during the hand-to-hand combat.

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"

Upon seeing Kakashi fall into the water, Zabuza revealed a cold smile, quickly stepped forward, and activated a ninjutsu he had prepared in advance.

It turns out that he never expected to quickly defeat the famous Kakashi. Everything he had done before was just to force Kakashi into the river and trap him with the Water Prison Technique.

His mission was not to kill Kakashi or to fight Kakashi, but to kill Tazuna, so this was the operation plan from the very beginning.

Having risen from the ashes to become an elite ninja, and having escaped unscathed after assassinating the Mizukage, Zabuza's strength and combat intelligence were definitely not much lower than Kakashi's at this time.

However, there was a slight flaw when he appeared; the decapitation sword was taken by Li Chuan.

But there's nothing that can be done about it. In ninja battles, besides strength, intelligence is also crucial. He had information about Kakashi, but not about Li Chuan, so it's normal for something unexpected to happen.

It's like two armies facing off, with roughly equal numbers of troops and generals of similar strength. But one of the unknown soldiers on one side possesses the fighting prowess of Lü Bu. Even if Zhuge Liang were there, he couldn't have predicted that.

Even Kakashi wouldn't easily break Zabuza's Water Prison Technique. However, Zabuza's body also couldn't move while maintaining the technique.

However, Zabuza was clearly prepared. With one hand, he maintained the Water Prison Technique to trap Kakashi, while with the other hand, he formed hand seals and created another water clone.

"This is the moment we've been waiting for!"

As Zabuza's water clones approached them step by step, Li Chuan picked up his monk's staff and went straight to meet them.

"You protect Mr. Tazuna, I'll deal with him!"

The duel between Zabuza and Kakashi had completely shattered the confidence of Naruto and his two companions. Even Sasuke, the strongest among them, trembled as he watched Zabuza approach step by step, his hand holding the kunai trembling slightly.

Fortunately, besides Kakashi, there was also Li Chuan, whose strength was significantly greater than theirs.

"Little monk, you might be able to barely make it into my manual, but unfortunately, it's no longer necessary!"

Zabuza, wielding a kunai, wasted no time and attacked Li Chuan with lightning speed.

The ninjas who could be included in his ninja manual were all those he recognized. However, if a person died, there was naturally no need to write them in the manual.

"Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, the three of you protect Mr. Tazuna and keep him at a distance. His water clones cannot stray too far from his main body."

"Chuan, there's no need to confront him head-on. Just hold out for five minutes, and his water clone will automatically dissipate. With his current chakra, if he creates another clone, I can forcibly break through his water prison!"

Although Cassie was trapped in the water prison, he quickly formulated a battle plan based on the situation on the ground.

He was now very fortunate to have gathered the Fire Temple's ninja monk, whose strength was clearly considerable; otherwise, the situation would be much more troublesome. With the combined strength of Naruto and his two companions, they wouldn't even have the basic ability to retaliate against Zabuza's clones.

"Five minutes? That's not that difficult!"

Facing Zabuza's rapid attack, Li Chuan gripped his staff with both hands, channeling his strength throughout his body, and immediately unleashed the simple yet powerful Shaolin Bodhidharma Staff Technique.

This is a staff technique he once learned from a lay disciple of Shaolin. Although the moves are simple, they can maximize the power of the Zen staff.

Even if he used all his trump cards to defeat Zabuza, who was an elite Jonin, he might not be a match for him now. However, he was confident that he could last for five minutes against Zabuza's Water Cloak technique.

The reason for deliberately creating this situation was partly to test his skills against Zabuza's clone and gauge his current strength.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

After a series of intense metallic collisions, Zabuza's water clones were forced to retreat temporarily, abandoning their plan to defeat Li Chuan with a close-range body technique.

The nearly 200-pound staff was impervious to Li Chuanwu's water, and he couldn't find an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.

If he had the Executioner's Blade in hand, he could have put up a fight and won with his exquisite swordsmanship. But with only kunai, he felt that every collision risked shattering his water clones.

"So far, you've only been using taijutsu; you don't seem to be very good at ninjutsu."

Zabuza's water clone looked at Li Chuan and slowly put away his kunai.

During the battle, there were several critical moments when he might have been injured, but his opponent did not use ninjutsu. Instead, he chose to trade blows, forcing him to retreat and defend.

"I'm not good at ninjutsu, but I can still last five minutes using taijutsu."

Li Chuan knew that Zabuza was testing him, and he answered that way on purpose.

He wanted to create the impression that he wasn't skilled in ninjutsu, fighting only with his taijutsu as much as possible. This way, he could conceal his true strength and avoid arousing suspicion when doing certain things in the future.

"You underestimate me!"

Zabuza quickly formed hand seals:

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Having a water clone with Zabuza's chakra, it can naturally perform corresponding ninjutsu.

As Zabuza completed his hand seals, the enormous water dragon formed by his B-rank Water Dragon Bullet Technique hurtled fiercely towards Li Chuan.

If Li Chuan were hit by Zabuza's water dragon, an elite Jonin, even with his current physical abilities, he would probably suffer a serious injury.

So he decisively threw his staff at the water dragon to temporarily slow it down, and then jumped up as fast as he could to escape the water dragon's attack range.

There was no way around it; the water dragon was too fast, and if he were carrying the heavy staff, he might not have had time to escape.

"it's over!"

However, the instant Li Chuan jumped up, Zabuza's water clone appeared behind him at the same time, stabbing at his neck with a kunai.

"Watch out, they're behind you!"

When Naruto and his two companions saw Zabuza appear behind Li Chuan, they immediately shouted a warning in alarm.

Unfortunately, if they had waited for him to remind him, Li Chuan would probably have already had his neck pierced.

"It's over for you."

Sensing Zabuza appearing behind him, Li Chuan was not afraid at all. Instead, he showed an expression that said, "I knew you would do this." Then, he suddenly made a thrusting motion with both hands.

A strange thing happened: a sharp long knife appeared in his previously empty hand.

So before Zabuza's kunai could even pierce Li Chuan's neck, he was already stabbed through by Li Chuan's sword and turned into a puddle of water and disappeared.

(End of this chapter)