Kicks Away Haruno Sakura!
Kaito's proposal made Kakashi quite interested. After pondering for a moment, he casually pulled out a stack of ryo from his pocket, flipping through the bills before handing over eighty thousand to Kaito.
"Well, this was your idea, so here's 80,000 ryo."
Hearing Kakashi's words, Kaito didn't refuse. After all, money wasn't a concern for him.
Their journey remained uneventful until they arrived in the Land of Waves. Tazuna, however, was silently worried. He knew how dangerous things could get, but he didn't dare show it.
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit room on the other side of town, Gato was furiously berating a heavily bandaged ninja—none other than the infamous rogue shinobi of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi.
"You can't even handle a simple job! What am I paying you so much for?!" Gato snapped. "Those two weaklings couldn't even kill a single bridge builder!"
Annoyed by Gato's endless complaints, Zabuza rested the massive Kubikiribōchō on his shoulder, his sharp eyes narrowing.
"Hmph! Maybe your intel was wrong," Zabuza retorted. "You didn't mention that Tazuna hired Konoha shinobi as bodyguards. That's a pretty big mistake."
Gato flinched at the sight of Zabuza's massive sword but still puffed out his chest defiantly.
"I don't care about some Konoha brats! If you can't kill Tazuna, don't expect to see another coin from me!"
Zabuza, who was already irritated, scowled. (Though scowling was a challenge—he barely had any eyebrows to begin with.)
"Fine," he said, his voice sharp. "This time, I'll handle it myself. I'll take Tazuna's head."
Satisfied with Zabuza's assurance, Gato backed off, knowing better than to push the rogue ninja too far. If he angered Zabuza too much, his own life would be at risk.
Once Gato was gone, Zabuza slung Kubikiribōchō onto his back and called out,
"Let's go, Haku."
As soon as his name was spoken, Haku emerged silently behind Zabuza, his presence almost ghostly. Without another word, the two left the room, vanishing into the night.
At this time, Kaito and the others were speeding up their journey. After walking for another half-day, the group finally arrived at the forest.
"Be careful after entering the forest. This is the last stretch!"
Hearing Kakashi's reminder, everyone's spirits lifted—especially Naruto.
After three days, Naruto had managed to shake off the tension from their earlier encounters with the group and Tazuna. He was back to his usual self, jumping up and down excitedly.
"It's there!!!"
Thud!
Noticing movement in the grass beside him, Naruto instinctively threw a kunai.
Seeing Naruto act recklessly, Sakura immediately ran over and smacked him on the head.
"I told you to stop that!!!"
Naruto, clutching his head in pain, protested, "But there really is something watching us!!"
Sakura, unimpressed, crossed her arms and huffed, "Enough with the nonsense already!"
Kakashi, on the other hand, chose to ignore their antics. Instead, he calmly approached the grass and brushed it aside—revealing a small, snow-white rabbit. The kunai Naruto had thrown was embedded in the ground nearby.
"A snow rabbit? But this fur color…" Kakashi murmured, his expression suddenly turning serious.
Seeing the frightened rabbit, Sakura's protective instincts flared up as she turned to Naruto in frustration.
"Naruto!! Look what you've done!"
Naruto, scratching his head, quickly ran over, picked up the rabbit, and rubbed it against his face.
Kaito, watching the familiar scene unfold, suddenly recalled something from the original mission records.
"Sensei, that rabbit…" Kaito stepped closer to Kakashi and lightly poked his waist.
"Yeah," Kakashi muttered. "A white coat like this should only appear in winter, when there's little sunlight. That means this rabbit must have been raised indoors, away from the sun—it's a substitution rabbit."
As Kakashi spoke, his eyes sharpened. At that very moment, a shadow loomed above them.
Perched silently on a tree branch, Momochi Zabuza looked down with a cold gaze.
"So this is Konoha's elite. No wonder the Demon Brothers failed… Hatake Kakashi is here."
Seeing Kakashi standing below, Momochi Zabuza suddenly realized something. However, he was unaware that it wasn't Kakashi who had killed the Demon Brothers—it was Kaito.
Perched on a tree branch, Zabuza reached for the massive Kubikiribōchō (Executioner's Blade) strapped to his back and hurled it forward with immense force. At the same moment, he executed the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from sight.
Whoosh!
The sound of the massive blade cutting through the air sent a chill down the spines of the onlookers. Kakashi's eyes widened as he shouted urgently:
"Everyone, get down!!"
Sakura, who had been distracted by a white rabbit nearby, was caught off guard by Kakashi's sudden command and hesitated.
She wasn't the only one. Kaito also stood his ground, quickly noticing Sakura's stunned expression and the massive sword hurtling toward them.
In an instant, Kaito dashed behind her, planted his right foot firmly on the ground, and swung his left foot forward—delivering a forceful kick to Sakura's lower back.
With that kick, using about forty percent of his strength, Sakura was sent flying over twenty meters away, safely out of harm's way.
Meanwhile, the Kubikiribōchō closed in. There was no time to dodge.
As the colossal blade roared toward him, Kaito remained calm. Without hesitation, he extended his right hand and caught it mid-flight, gripping the deadly weapon firmly despite its immense force.