บท 22: Chapter 22 Lava Release

Zabuza lay motionless on the ground, and Haku, wearing a mask, stood beside him, watching Kakashi and Team 7 calmly.

"I am a Hunter-nin from Kirigakure, tasked with retrieving the Missing-nin from our village." Haku's voice was cold and his words were concise.

The dense, milky fog still hung around the forest, showing no signs of dissipating. Mist from the treetops gathered into drops, falling with a soft plop onto the grass below.

Even Kakashi was uncertain about the masked youth who claimed to be a Hunter-nin. Team 7 was equally tense, muscles taut and ready for action.

Kakashi said nothing, merely stepping forward to check Zabuza's breath. After confirming he had stopped breathing, Kakashi relaxed slightly. Since the enemy is dead, it was only right to return the body to Kirigakure.

"Kakashi-sensei, is he dead?" Naruto suddenly appeared behind Kakashi, pointing at the motionless Zabuza with an innocent expression.

Haku stood aside without reacting, his eyes scanning Naruto's face from behind the mask.

"Ah, he's dead." Kakashi, Konoha's top genius, replied perfunctorily, "He was hit by my Water Dragon Bullet just now, and then his throat was pierced by this Hunter-nin's needles, so he died just like that."

At this moment, Naruto seriously doubted that Kakashi had seen through Zabuza's fake death and was intentionally letting him go.

In fact, it is understandable since the forty-four hand seals required for the Water Dragon Bullet Technique consumed too much of Kakashi's stamina. It is understandable that Kakashi is unwilling to take the risk of entanglement with the enemies, but still!

'Come on! As an Elite Jonin, how could you not have the awareness of finishing off a target?'

Naruto planned to teach the naive Kakashi, the best holding-back person in Konoha, a lesson, to let him know how powerful the most boastful… No, most ruthless Shinobi in Konoha is.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, how come this guy can move if he's dead?" Naruto said while pointing at the supposedly dead Zabuza lying on the ground.

"What?" Kakashi's expression instantly became serious.

"He's already dead." Haku, who was trying to maintain his cool demeanor, couldn't help but retort, "Little brother, you must have seen it wrong."

"This man is a Missing-nin from Kirigakure. His body contains the village's secrets. Please allow me to take his body back."

After saying this, behind the mask, Haku's face couldn't help but show nervousness, but fortunately, the mask covered his face so that he wouldn't be exposed.

Zabuza, unable to withstand a prolonged battle against Team 7, had planned this fake death to escape.

Haku had arrived as planned, and everything would have gone smoothly, until this blonde kid suddenly interfered.

Kakashi looked at Naruto, then at Haku, and finally his gaze rested on the motionless Zabuza.

"In that case, please allow me to verify whether Zabuza is alive or dead."

"Sure." Haku replied.

Kakashi stretched out his hand and slowly reached towards Zabuza's neck. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Kakashi's hand, with Sakura and Sasuke instinctively holding their breath.

'Lava Release!'

Naruto, who was standing next to Kakashi, suddenly jumped up, a large amount of Chakra surged out of his body, and his eyes instantly turned scarlet.

Scorching lava surged from Naruto's hand, and its intense heat evaporated the surrounding mist in an instant.

Seeing that Naruto had hurled the lava at Zabuza, who was pretending to be dead on the ground, Hakuon the side was shocked and pounced towards Zabuza.

Haku's right hand was scorched black by the intense heat of the Lava Release, but he also managed to save Zabuza and deftly pulled out the senbon from his neck with his left hand.

Zabuza's eyes snapped open and he instantly came back to life.

"Zabuza-sama, I failed." Haku said to Zabuza apologetically, but his face showed no signs of pain despite his severely burned right hand, as if the hand was not his own but belonged to someone else.

After he finished speaking, Haku formed a single-hand hand seal and, together with Zabuza, vanished swiftly like the wind.

This secret escape technique was akin to the smoke escape technique. Naruto can understand it, but he can't learn it.

Kakashi watched Zabuza and Haku leave the whole time, and three seconds later, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura hurried forward to check on him.

"It must be that his Chakra has been used up." Naruto imitated Kakashi's earlier method of checking Zabuza's breath, waving his hand in front of Kakashi's nose and calmly stated.

Kakashi on the ground had fallen into a baby-like sleep. Fortunately, his breathing was still steady, indicating he had indeed fainted.

"This is not a good place to stay, let's take him back first." Sasuke said with one hand in his pocket.

He had tried a one-handed hand seal earlier but had failed. His hand, left hanging, moved uneasily before he grabbed one of Kakashi's arms and put it over his shoulder.

Naruto followed suit, taking Kakashi's other arm over his shoulder, and they supported him together.

"The village is just ahead. Let's take him to my house." The protected client, Tazuna, suggested.

The three Genin of Team 7 discussed it for a while and agreed directly.

At Tazuna's house.

The three placed Kakashi in a clean room, laying him on a futon. Sakura tucked the quilt for Kakashi with a worried look on her face.

When she walked out the door, Naruto and Sasuke were already standing in the hallway, waiting for her.

When Sakura saw Naruto's gaze, she nodded in understanding, didn't say anything, and followed the two boys directly.

They walked a short distance outside the house, where the view was open enough to spot enemies and their conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"How's Kakashi?" Sasuke asked with serious expression.

Sakura, with a tired look on her face, shook her head worriedly.

"He just fainted from exhaustion. He should be fine."

"We can't let our guard down until Kakashi-sensei wakes up," Naruto said. "The enemy could attack at any moment before they die."

"Who are those people?" Sakura asked, visibly shaken. After all, it was her first time facing a life-and-death battle between Shinobi.

"The Missing-nin from Kirigakure." Sasuke was a little calmer and said calmly, "What concerns me is Zabuza's killing intent. He's as strong as Kakashi."

"And that man wearing the mask can form hand seal with one hand. We must be on guard against that skill when we face him next time."

"Then next time, we'll kill them." Naruto raised his hand and made a cutting gesture, "That masked Shinobi's right hand is already useless."

"We must complete the mission, and with Kakashi-sensei's current state of not being able to fight, I want to ask you both something."

At this point, Naruto lowered his voice significantly.

"This mission was supposed to end here. We have already sent that old drunk back. But if we don't take this chance to kill those two while they are injured, it will be a hidden danger for us."

"I have a plan to kill those two Kirigakure's Missing-nin before Kakashi-sensei wakes up."