Naruto: The new beginning

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Naruto quietly moved behind Kakashi, quickly forming three hand seals.

A sudden thought crossed his mind: 'What if I hit Kakashi with the Mysterious Art of Konoha right now?'

'No, no, focus. This is a battle,'he reminded himself.

'inclusive thoughts are dangerous.' Shaking off the weird idea, Naruto launched his ninjutsu.

"Water release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A massive water dragon, easily four or five meters wide, erupted from the water, cutting through the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza.

Zabuza's eyes widened in shock. 'You call that a water dragon jutsu?'

In an instant, Zabuza grabbed the giant sword at his feet, kicked off the tree trunk, and swung it with both hands, striking the water dragon's head.

The force of the strike launched him away, and he landed a bit awkwardly in the nearby lake.

Watching this, Naruto thought, 'Is this really how you're supposed to use the Executioner's Blade?'

He recalled an episode where Jūzō and Itachi were able to strike down most of the hunter-nin, but Yagura entered his Version 2 form and launched a Tailed Beast Ball toward Jūzō.

Naruto had been stunned back then—Jūzō was impaled by his sword. With little time to react, Jūzō attempted to deflect the attack with the Kubikiribōchō but failed.

'Even if Itachi didn't join Akatsuki in this timeline, Juzo probably still would've died on some mission for Kirigakure.'

It was funny how all three wielders of the Executioner's Blade—Juzo, Zabuza, and Suigetsu—ended up as rogue ninjas from Kirigakure. 'Maybe the sword has some weird curse that makes its wielders defected.'

Back to the fight.

The water dragon's head shattered, sending the rest of the water crashing into the large tree where Zabuza had been standing a moment before.

The tree, already weakened from Zabuza's earlier attack, swayed and then broke.

Water cascaded down, flooding the forest, though it was a bit of a waste.

Zabuza stood on the water, raising one hand to the sky and the other in front of his chest, striking a pose that practically screamed mid-level boss.

He sighed dramatically, "As expected of Hatake Kakashi—using such a large-scale Water Style jutsu without me noticing!"

It made sense—no one would think that three genin could pull off such a high-level Water Style jutsu.

Kakashi, though, didn't bother correcting him. 'When did you see me using a Water Style jutsu?'

But explaining things mid-battle would only give away his weaknesses, and Kakashi wasn't about to do that.

"Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza's voice echoed as the already thick fog became even denser, and he disappeared into the mist.

"Everyone, be careful. He's a master of silent killing," Kakashi warned the team.

"Zabuza killed over 100 of his fellow students during the Kirigakure graduation exam, earning him the title 'Demon of the Hidden Mist.' Don't take him lightly."

Zabuza's eerie voice seemed to come from everywhere at once:

"There are eight vital points in the human body. The throat, the cervical vertebrae, the lungs, the liver…"

"So, where should I start?"

Naruto muttered, 'Where's the silent killing if all you do is yap?'

The fog thickened so much that even Kakashi, standing just two meters away, was almost invisible.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Twenty shadow clones popped up around Naruto, forming a protective circle around Sakura and Tazuna.

Suddenly, one of the clones pulled out a kunai and stabbed another clone. Naruto and the others immediately realized, 'Right, we've got sensory ninjutsu!'

Naruto made a mental note: 'No. 001, you're getting extra ramen tonight.'

Naruto started using the sensory ninjutsu he had recently learned to search for Zabuza.

But it wasn't easy. Lots of shinobi had techniques to hide their presence, and Zabuza was a master of it.

So, Naruto and his clones didn't find anything for a while.

"Oh, shadow clones? That's pretty impressive for someone your age, kid. You're worthy of being killed by me," Zabuza taunted.

Sasuke and Sakura were already trembling.

Sasuke was overwhelmed by the intense killing intent from the two Jōnin.

The feeling of helplessness in the face of death made him consider ending it all—he even raised a kunai to do it.

A nearby shadow clone noticed and smacked him on the back of the head. "Get it together, or I'll tell Big Brother Itachi about your cowardice."

Sasuke snapped out of it instantly. 'I can't disappoint my brother!'

With his Sharingan now activated, Sasuke's eyes sharpened as he searched desperately for Zabuza.

The tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, and in a moment, one tomoe turned into two.

The clone was speechless. 'What the…? Is 'Itachi' like an instant power-up for you? Just mentioning him levels you up?'

As for why Naruto wasn't affected by the killing intent and still had the energy to joke around—he grew up with the Nine-Tails. Zabuza's aura was nothing compared to Kurama's.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke threw his kunai with all his might. Naruto was still muttering to himself, 'What a coward. You said you were going to kill me, but you attacked Kakashi instead.'

As Zabuza swung his blade at Kakashi, Kakashi dodged, but the attack turned out to be a water clone, which dispersed on impact.

In truth, Zabuza was in a tough spot. He wanted to kill the yellow-haired kid or Tazuna first, but the shadow clones surrounded them like an iron wall.

There was no way he could slip through without being noticed. Assassination requires stealth—if you're caught, it's just an attack, not an assassination.

So, Zabuza decided to take out Kakashi first—the strongest opponent. Once he was down, the kids would be easy.

But somehow, those two brats sensed his water clone's movements. 'Are they using some kind of sensory ninjutsu?'

If Zabuza kept targeting Kakashi, the two kids would keep getting in the way.

But if he went for Tazuna directly, the shadow clones might hold him off just long enough for Kakashi to interfere.

'Maybe I should wipe out all the shadow clones with one strike or lure them away. I can hold off Kakashi with my main body while the water clone deals with Tazuna.'

Zabuza finalized his plan, hidden in the mist. He swiftly formed 44 hand seals in rapid succession.

Zabuza unleashed the Water Dragon Jutsu using the lake water, but it wasn't as strong as the Water Dragon Jutsu Naruto had just used.

The water dragon roared and surged forward, aiming to wipe out all twenty-three targets, including the shadow clones.

No way three genin could defend against that!

The five clones in the front row were obliterated as expected, unable to react in time.

But as the first clone disappeared, Naruto immediately reacted, forming two seals.

"Water release: Water Formation Wall (Senju Tobirama's Version)!"

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