Two persons stood on top of the ocean that surrounded Wave country, both of them were looking at each other murderously and the KI in the area was enough to kill any civilian and weak shinobi too.
The workers at the docks had already ran away on seeing Zabuza, that man was a monster and nobody in their right mind would like to fight "The Demon of the Mist", the people of Wave had seen how brutally Zabuza killed those who opposed Gato, he didn't even hesitate in killing women.
Naruto was looking at Zabuza cautiously, his opponent had fought against the Yondaime Mizukage and had survived. The fact that Yagura had been the Jinchuriki of the Three Tails, was proof enough of Zabuza's strength, and Naruto felt the power of Zabuza's chakra.
To make things worse, Naruto had just killed two of Zabuza's most loyal men, and kidnapped his student.
"Hatred may make people do stupid things, but it also gives an unimaginable power to those manifested with it,"
Naruto still remembered Shin's words, his brother was a powerful shinobi, and that night he had allowed Naruto to kill him.
If Shin had fought with all his strength, then Naruto knew he would be dead today, his brother had something that was one of the most deadliest things in the world.
Zabuza unsheathed his large sword, and Naruto instantly recognized it as "Kubikiribocho", the largest and one of the most dangerous swords in the world.
Naruto immediately became alert, and his right hand was now resting upon the hilt of sword, at any moment the battle could begin, and he had to stay sharp or he was dead.
"Are you afraid?" asked Zabuza mockingly, he was a little disappointed due to Naruto's so careful attitude.
Zabuza was a man who loved battles, and what was the point if you were just going to be on the defense. Attack your enemy, enjoy the battles, kill, maim. This was his motto.
Naruto looked at the man calmly, he wasn't affected by Zabuza's jab, in fact Zabuza was right.
"Yes, I'm afraid of battles," said Naruto honestly, and this time Zabuza was truly shocked for a moment, until he got angry.
"You afraid of battles? Don't mock me, you killed so many Anbu of your village, and you are afraid of battles? Pathetic" said Zabuza angrily, and his chakra flared murderously
"It is true I killed them, and that was for a purpose, but the most important thing for a shinobi is not power," said Naruto patiently,
"Cut the act, where is Haku?" asked Zabuza sternly, and pointed his sword at Naruto.
"She is safe for now, but I cannot guarantee. if she will be safe in the future," said Naruto mysteriously
"Bastard, give her back. Your fight is with me, but then again we shinobi are known to be devious," said Zabuza confidently
Naruto removed his hand from the hilt of his sword, and was now looking at Zabuza curiously. He didn't think that a man like Zabuza would care about someone, less a teenage girl.
"But then again, this world is full of lies and deception. Perhaps there is more to you than I know, Zabuza" thought Naruto curiously
"You think you can kill me?" asked Naruto confidently, he really liked to mess with his opponent's head.
This time the creepy laugh which he heard from Zabuza, was enough to make him realize that something was wrong, he acted on his instincts and back flipped away on the water surface.
And Naruto's assumptions were proved true, as a flash of lightning struck on the spot where he was standing a few moments ago.
Zabuza started chuckling madly on seeing Naruto's surprised face, his plan had worked.
"Do you think, I am stupid enough to fight you alone? You maybe young, but you are tough. Maybe I cannot defeat you alone, but-" said Zabuza mysteriously
"Both of us can kill you together," said a new mysterious voice
Naruto looked at his right, and this time his eyes truly widened in shock and a little fear, as he realized who was standing in front of him.
It was none other than Raiga Kurosaki, another ninja swordsman of the mist. Raiga was once an Anbu captain of Kiri, and had worked along side Zabuza. The fact that the man was an A rank missing nin, bordering S-rank was a huge blow to Naruto.
"Balls" said Naruto irritatingly, his plan had just been shot to shit.
He had no idea that Raiga was working along side Zabuza, but now it made sense how Zabuza survived against Yagura. Two swordsmen of such caliber could easily take on a Kage and fight with him.
"Damn it, Naruto you have the worst luck in this world. Fighting an S-rank ninja is one thing, but fighting against 2 S-rank ninja is suicide, and you are not in your best condition either." said Kurama angrily
It was true that Naruto was now a little nervous, Raiga and Zabuza's tag team was the worst possible scenario for him. The fact he could not use his sharingan, and Kurama's chakra in his condition had decreased his chances of surviving this battle by 50%.
"Calm down, think about a plan," thought Naruto seriously
He looked at Zabuza's sword, he knew the man was skilled in water ninjutsu and Taijutsu. With his sword, he could give Naruto a tough fight.
Naruto then looked at Raiga, he had an idea about the swords that man was holding in his hands. Those slim, double edged swords were none other than "Kiba" blades, they were the sharpest blades in the world, one hit was enough to kill an opponent. Those blades also controlled lightning.
"Zabuza, you promised me a good opponent, and now I can finally make a grave for this boy. Don't worry, I'll make your funeral memorable," said Raiga manically, and prepared himself for battle.
"He's insane," thought Naruto with a sweat drop, graves? Who the fuck thought about them?
"I know Hatake, how strong you are. It wouldn't be fair if I fought you alone, so let's even the odds," said Zabuza with an evil smirk
But to Raiga and Zabuza's shock, Naruto started chuckling which slowly turned into a full blown maniacal laughter.
"Let's go," said Naruto darkly
Before Zabuza could think further, Naruto performed hand seals which were so fast that Zabuza's couldn't even see them.
"Katon Hosenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)"
Dozens of fireballs shot out of Naruto's mouth and headed straight for Zabuza and Raiga, but both the swordsmen didn't even seemed alarmed, and to Naruto's surprise both of them blocked all the fireballs with their swords.
The fireballs impacted with the swords, and were now burning on them.
"Do you think, a pathetic attack like that could hurt us?" asked Raiga furiously
But the green haired man's eyes widened in surprise, when he saw Naruto performing the "Ram" hand seal, and immediately the fireballs on their swords blasted with a loud bang.
Smoke covered the area, but Naruto had to jump in the air as Zabuza came out of the smoke and swiped his large sword straight at his head, and by the looks on the man's face, he was furious.
Zabuza had a few burn marks on his hands, and his sword had black markings at some places, Naruto had to admit these swords were real tough.
"Above you," warned Kurama quickly,
Naruto looked up, and to his shock Raiga was above him and both of his swords had already formed a very large ball of lightning between them.
"OH SHIT!"
"Raikyu (Lightning ball)" yelled Raiga angrily,
The ball of lightning shot straight for Naruto, and the blonde's eyes widened in shock, and he immediately shunshined away from the lightning ball, he missed the impact which the attack created on the water surface.
Naruto appeared in front of Zabuza and slashed his sword horizontally across Zabuza's chest, but the man easily blocked the incoming attack with his sword, but Naruto quickly disappeared in a flock of crows.
"Genjutsu" thought an alarmed Zabuza,
At the last moment, Zabuza was able to parry an attack from behind that would have taken his head off, he was now truly wary of Naruto, but he was further shocked when another person appeared behind him, and it was none other than Naruto himself.
In a flash, Naruto slashed his sword clean across Zabuza's head, but to his shock his opponent just smirked, before he dispelled into water.
"Mizu Bunshin, damn it" thought Naruto in shock, as Zabuza had used the same trick.
Naruto's eyes widened further in horror, when Raiga emerged from the water beneath him and gave him a solid punch that sent him sailing in the air.
Naruto coughed up some blood from his mouth, that punch was solid and his cheek was badly bruised, but he felt another painful sensation when someone gave him a crushing kick from behind.
Zabuza smirked as he saw Naruto crashing in the water, he had to admit it was a bit unfair for the boy, but nothing was fair in their world.
Kurama watched worriedly, as Naruto emerged from the water. A lot of blood was now leaking from his mouth, and he had a bruised cheek and a bad wound on his back. Naruto's wounds were healing, but it was taking more time than usual.
"His body has still not recovered completely, and these two are a dangerous tag team, he has to retreat," thought Kurama firmly
"I thought you came here to fight, is that all you got?" asked Zabuza distastefully,
"He is a waste Zabuza, this fight is no fun now," complained Raiga, he had just joined Zabuza as the man had promised him good fights, and freedom to do whatever he wants.
Wave was heaven for Raiga, he could kill anyone and mourn for them. He could create as many graves as he wanted, provided he helped Gato and Zabuza rule over Wave, he didn't mind that, after all he was getting free food, lots of money, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted.
This was far better than Kiri, where he had to follow the Mizukage's stupid orders, that was the reason he had supported Zabuza in his rebellion, but they had underestimated the Mizukage and had lost, fortunately they were able to escape.
"Let's kill him Raiga, and put him out of his misery," said Zabuza in a bored tone, and prepared to kill Naruto who was panting heavily
Raiga raised his swords and a giant tornado of lightning started gathering in the sky, the winds started to get more violent and suddenly the entire atmosphere turned completely cold.
Naruto still had his head down, and was trying to stop the pain in his chest. His disease was slowly killing him from the inside, he could have fought Zabuza but Raiga had ruined his plans.
"Well, let him kill the boy, or else he'll complain like an old hag for a week," thought Zabuza with a chuckle, and waited for Raiga to launch his attack.
"DIE!"
The lightning tornado hit Naruto head on, and a large blast occurred followed with sparks of electricity flying all over the nearby water surface.
"It's over, let's find Haku" said Zabuza seriously, and turned around to leave.
"Hn" was Raiga's reply, but before both of them could leave a monstrous blast occurred behind them.
Zabuza and his partner turned around, and their eyes widened in shock when they saw Naruto standing firmly on the water surface, his entire cloak was blown to pieces along with his shirt, both the swordsmen were surprised when the burn marks's on Naruto's chest were healing slowly.
Naruto's entire body was covered in blue chakra, and his KI was so malicious that sweat started to form on both the missing ninja's body.
But Zabuza and Raiga's eyes almost popped out of their head, when they saw a three tomoe sharingan in Naruto's eyes.
"What the hell!" thought Raiga in shock,
"Impossible..." thought a wide eyed Zabuza
Naruto was looking at his body with a rather curious look on his face, which seemed to baffle both Zabuza and Raiga to the core.
"Too much chakra..." said Naruto curiously, he had a small smile on his face
"He is enjoying this battle, he can handle so much pain and still fight? Kushina, you gave birth to a monster," thought Kurama in awe,
"What are you-" said Raiga but was silenced, as Naruto appeared in front of him in a flash and gave a roundhouse kick straight at his chest.
The green haired man was sent flying straight 30 feet away into the docks, and Zabuza was now truly shocked.
"Your turn," said Naruto murderously, and performed a set of hand seals which Zabuza mirrored quickly.
"Suiton: Mizu Dangan No Jutsu"
"Suiton: Mizu Dangan No Jutsu"
Both the water bullets collided with each other at full force, and cancelled each other out.
Naruto and Zabuza battled with each other, and now Zabuza knew Naruto was fighting with all his strength and his attacks were ferocious. Zabuza swung his sword at Naruto's right flank, but the blonde parried the attack with his own sword.
Zabuza tried to hit Naruto with his left hand, but the young boy effortlessly caught his hand, and gave a sickening twist followed by strong headbutt that sent the demon of the mist flying a few meters away.
"He was testing us, damn it. This kid is strong," thought Zabuza worriedly, as Naruto had just gave severe blows to both the swordsmen one after the other.
Zabuza wiped away the blood that was now leaking from his forehead, Raiga landed beside him and Zabuza spotted a large amount of blood was leaking out of his partner's mouth.
"So, you are an Uchiha. This world is full of lies and deception," said Zabuza with a mirthless chuckle.
"On that we can agree," said Naruto with a small smile, he did not hate either Zabuza or Raiga, but then again they were not his friends too.
Perhaps, in some other world they could have been friends, but right now they were enemies and a obstacle in his mission. Obstacles which he decided to clear.
Both the swordsmen of the mist now had satisfied smirk on their faces, it had been a long time since they had fought someone this strong, and now they could truly enjoy their fight.
Naruto immediately took out his sword, as he saw Zabuza and Raiga perform the same hand seal, and he knew what was coming.
"Kirigakure No Jutsu"
"So a counter attack against my shaingan, impressive" thought Naruto cautiously, it was true the mist was full of chakra and there was no way his sharingan could detect his enemies, his opponents were Anbu captains in the past, and had more experience that Naruto.
"We have fought against sharingan wielders in the past, we know your weakness,"
Raiga's voice could be heard from every direction, and the echoes it was creating could have terrified any chunin and even some Jounin.
"Now, I know why Hatake is your brother, show me your power,"
Zabuza's murderous voice boomed all over the area, and in a flash Naruto got a large cut on his right ankle which made him drop on one knee.
"Both of these men are masters in the art of silent killing. Even, I'm no match for them in this art, if I don't use my sensor abilities to its full capacity then I'm in deep shit," thought Naruto analytically
Naruto deactivated his sharingan, he could barely see 6 feet ahead of him, the air around him was so cold and it reeked of malicious KI, this was going to be one of the most dangerous fights of his life.
The young Anbu captain heard a faint voice from his right flank and his eyes widened in shock when he saw a flash of lightning heading towards him, and in a second Naruto rolled to the left side as the lightning attack passed mere inches from his face.
But a wild slash was heard, and Naruto's eyes widened in shock and pain as someone just sliced straight across his back, a shower of blood rained down in the ocean of Wave, and the red color of blood was now mixing with the dark blue color of water.
"It feels so good!" said Zabuza so manically, as a lot of blood was now leaking from Naruto's entire back where Zabuza's sword had taken out a lot of his flesh.
"He's fast...there is only one way out of this," thought Naruto painfully,
"Taju Kage Bunshin No Jutsu (Multi Shadow Clone Technique)"
Both Zabuza and Raiga eye's widened in fear, when more than 100 Naruto clones appeared in the area, there were so many clones that Zabuza didn't know which one was the real Naruto.
"Attack formation 47, Shield" commanded a voice,
To both the swordsmen surprise, all the clones got in a defensive formation and had each other's back, there was now no way they could attack Naruto head on.
Sure they could take out half of the clones but then they would be exposed, and the rest of the clone army would finish them off.
"You're right I came here to fight, and I'm going to win, no matter what" said Naruto loudly
"ATTACK"
Zabuza sensed a massive chakra building inside the clones, and 40-50 clones charged in all the directions, and now Zabuza and Raiga had to dodge as the clones were just swinging their swords wildly in the air, they didn't know where Zabuza and Raiga were but one hit was enough to kill them.
Both the swordsmen started killing as many clones as they could with all possible stealth, so that they could not reveal their position, otherwise their Jutsu would prove ineffective.
Meanwhile a group of 20 clones were healing the original Naruto's wounds, while the remaining clones were guarding their perimeter, distant sounds of fighting could be heard all over the place, followed by the screams of the clones and the sound of swords clashing with each other.
Naruto knew his clones were at a great disadvantage and ultimately they would be killed, but that was his plan. He ordered the rest of his clones to go join the fight as they finished healing his wounds.
The clones nodded and jumped in the mist with a loud battle cry, it was only a matter of time before they were killed.
Naruto's wounds were fully healed, but more importantly with the death of each of his clone, he was able to understand the way Zabuza and Raiga were using the mist, and now he had a rough idea of where his opponents were.
"You used your clones as decoys, and bought yourself some time to heal your wounds, and now you have a rough idea of where your opponents are, a good strategy," said Kurama proudly, and Naruto just nodded.
But he had to admit, creating that many clones had put a large dent in his chakra reserves, but it was worth it.
As the last clone's memory came flooding to Naruto, he jumped towards the south-east direction and performed a set of hand seals, and gathered a large amount of chakra in his lungs.
"Fuuton Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu)"
A devastating wind attack was released from Naruto's mouth, and after a few seconds two cries were heard as the attack hit their targets perfectly as Naruto had predicted.
The mist started dissipating, and this surprised Kurama a bit.
"What did you do?" asked Kurama curiously,
"Kirigakure No Jutsu is dependent on the amount of chakra the user puts in it. There is only one way to escape from this Jutsu, by hitting its users which would disrupt the chakra kneaded and the jutsu would vanish," explained Naruto briefly
Kurama gave a firm nod and now Naruto's strategy made complete sense, he never allowed his opponents to realize his move and struck quickly.
Naruto's vision cleared and now he could see Zabuza and Raiga beside each other, they were on their knees and had large cuts all across their bodies, and blood was leaking from their muscles like a river.
The clones had put a good fight, and Naruto's last wind attack had caused his opponent some serious injuries.
"You are good, kid" said Zabuza with a dark chuckle,
"But not good enough to take both of us down," said Raiga confidently, he then performed a set of hand seals quickly,
"Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Violent Water Wave)"
Zabuza saw Raiga executing his attack, and performed his own set of hand seals at lightning fast speed, and fired his attack.
"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)"
A large water dragon combined was formed by Zabuza, which combined with the tidal wave that Raiga had formed. Both the attacks had now taken shape of a violent dragon that was riding on top of a 50 feet tidal wave of water.
"Shit, this is bad," thought Kurama quickly,
However he was quite surprised when Naruto looked at the attack that was heading towards him with an interesting look on his face.
"Wow, this seems like a cool move, maybe I should try to learn it too," said Naruto thoughtfully,
"What the fuck?" thought a wide eyed Kurama, were all Uchiha stupid or something? Because right now any man would try to do something when such an attack was heading their way.
"You dumbass, attack quickly or get the hell out of its way!" shouted Kurama furiously, Naruto was enjoying this?
"Oh, you are no fun, stupid fox." said Naruto with a frown, but Kurama just growled more angrily, which earned him a "Fine" from Naruto who then performed a quick set of hand seals.
"Katon Kekkai Hidokuro no Tate' (Fire Barrier – Fire Skull Shield Jutsu)"
A monstrous flame of fire was released from Naruto's mouth which slowly surrounded him, and had now taken a form of a small skeleton like structure, and collided head on with the water attack forming mist all over the area.
"A New Jutsu?" thought Kurama curiously,
Raiga was confident his attack had taken out Naruto, because of it he was not ready for the incoming attack as Naruto emerged from the mist, and gave a quick punch to his right cheek followed by a sharp kick on his chest, but what happened next would forever shock the green haired man.
A large amount of chakra was in Naruto's hands and in a flash he hit Raiga straight across his chest.
"Sokutsu (Dual Bone Attack)"
Raiga's eyes widened in pain and horror, as he felt all of his ribs getting smashed to small bits, the pain was so unbearable that Raiga couldn't even scream and was sent flying in the water with a loud bang.
"What the hell-" said Zabuza in horror,
"...was that shit?" asked Kurama in shock,
Naruto gave Zabuza a murderous look, and now Zabuza was truly terrified of this boy, even he had heard the cracking noise of Raiga's ribs getting smashed with that attack.
"Just because I am dying does not mean...I won't improve my skills. That attack was not perfect, I still have to improve," said Naruto darkly
"Naruto...you improved your Taijutsu?" asked Kurama in surprise,
"I read the Forbidden Scroll, and found out about this attack, but still this was just half of its power," clarified Naruto honestly
Kurama was baffled on hearing this, he didn't even want to think about what a fully powered dual bone attack would do, but that jutsu didn't come without a cost, as he saw a lot of blood was now leaking out of Naruto's hands as his muscles were badly damaged due to the force of the attack.
"I'll have to use my trump card right now!" thought Zabuza in fear,
Naruto and Zabuza both heard some sound from their right, and in a flash Raiga jumped out of the water, and he looked PISSED.
"I AM GONNA KILL YOU!" yelled Raiga murderously, but immediately coughed up a lot of blood,
"Amazing, he is still standing?" asked Naruto in shock, he was sure Raiga was dead.
"He is putting all his energy in this attack, he is going to fight till his last breath," said Kurama truthfully, and Naruto's respect for that man increased a bit.
Zabuza took out his huge sword and now pointed it straight at Naruto, and Naruto realized something bad was going to happen.
"Naruto Uchiha, witness our true power!" said Zabuza loudly,
Naruto's eyes widened in shock, as he saw his opponent's sword started glowing brightly, and he had a very bad feeling about this.
"BANKAI"
"BANKAI"
Those two words were like a kick to the nuts, and Naruto watched in shock as his opponent's sword started to change, Raiga's sword was sparkling with electricity while a large amount of water was forming around Zabuza's blade, and was shrinking its size.
"Destroy Kubokiribocho" said Zabuza loudly, and a large amount of water gathered around his sword, and rose him up in the air.
"Flash Kiba" commanded Raiga with all his strength, and his entire body was now surrounded by a large lightning skeleton skull.
"So this is the true power of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Amazing," thought a fascinated Kurama,
Naruto's head was bowed down, and his blonde hair was shadowing his eyes, he was currently looking at only one thing, he was not even fazed by seeing Zabuza and Raiga's true power.
Only one thought was running through his mind, Guilt.
He had promised to himself, that he wouldn't use this power ever, but right now in his conditions he had no choice. Using his Mangekyo and Kurama's chakra was out of option.
Naruto would rather die, then use this power and break his promise, but right now Operation Ghost was more important, and he just wished his brother would understand.
"Naruto...what are you going to do?" asked a concerned Kurama,
"Forgive me, Shin-nii-san but I am going to use your power,"
A huge explosion of chakra occured that startled Zabuza, Raiga, and even Kurama, they coudln't even believe what they were seeing.
"So this was your final trump card, son of a bitch!" thought a shocked Kurama, as he remembered Naruto had told him he had a trick up his sleeve.
The little pieces of Naruto's shirt burned away exposing his bare chest, and the scars which were on it. Naruto's face mask also burned away, and now his face was visible to his opponents.
"This is..."
"Let's do this Zabuza, Raiga" said Naruto coldly
Naruto unsheathed his sword, and the entire ocean was now on fire, and the entire Wave country was now feeling Naruto's power.
"Reduce the whole creation to Ashes..."
Zabuza's eyes widened in horror, as he realized what was coming next. The real battle was just about to begin,
"RYUJIN JAKKA!"