They were walking peacefully on the road when someone suddenly yelled, causing a stir.
"Are there enemies coming?" Sakura nervously held the kunai in front of her and looked in the direction where Naruto had thrown his shuriken.
The forest was silent, with only the occasional chirping of insects.
"Naruto, don't scare everyone." Logan said helplessly, knowing there was nothing there.
"Hey, that's weird... Could it have just been a rat?" Naruto felt he was just too nervous. However, on the surface, his expression remained unchanged and he started to show off his acting skills on the spot. He walked over and analyzed it seriously, "Tsk, seems like I was mistaken..."
"..."
Sakura's initial fright turned to anger, as she was the most nervous one earlier, "You just threw it randomly, didn't you? There's no rat at all!"
Naruto laughed awkwardly and picked up his shuriken.
"Naruto, throwing shuriken recklessly is dangerous." Kakashi couldn't stand it anymore and reprimanded him.
The tense atmosphere that had formed instantly dissipated. Tazuna wiped the sweat off his forehead, unsure if it was from the heat or the scare.
Sasuke curled his lips in disdain, "Idiot."
"What did you say?" Naruto couldn't tolerate being ridiculed by his lifelong rival and was about to start an argument again.
However, Logan and Kakashi's eyes darkened at the same time.
Whoosh…
A shuriken was thrown out by Kakashi and disappeared into the dense forest in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, Naruto and Sasuke stopped bickering and prepared themselves.
A small white rabbit rushed out, disoriented and with a tuft of hair sticking up. Narrowly escaping death, the rabbit was visibly shaken and tripped over itself in its panic.
The cute white rabbit was stumbling on its front legs and falling to the ground, then rushing forward with urine flowing from its buttocks, and bolted into the forest, as the six heads of Team 7, including the client, turned in unison to follow its path.
"Why did you do that too, Kakashi-sensei? Really." Sakura sighed in relief, feeling a bit nervous from the constant surprises, and complained.
Naruto's eyes lit up, as he felt better upon seeing Kakashi doing the same. However, just when he was about to say something, Logan interrupted with a serious tone.
"This time it's real. The enemy is coming."
Kakashi's expression grew stern as he stepped forward, standing firmly in front of Team 7, while Logan guarded the rear. The two of them forming a protective barrier around the team.
'It should be Zabuza. Only a day has passed since the last attack. He most likely come as soon as he got the news. He's really anxious...' Logan thought to himself, noting the stillness of the forest where the usual insect sounds were now absent.
'Or maybe, the 'original plot' is a little impatient?'
Logan glanced up at the sky, as if the vast, boundless expanse held untold secrets.
And at this moment, a wave of murderous intent far surpassing that of the Demon Brothers washed over them, causing the pores of the three students on guard to contract.
A dark shadow sliced through the air with a whooshing sound!
It was aimed at the seemingly dazed Logan. As the shadow approached, Logan recognized it as the familiar Kubikiribocho, 'There was no doubt, the one coming is Zabuza.'
'Just like in the original work, when they meet, he first threw his weapon, the sword then stuck into a big tree, and finally, he appeared elegantly standing on the handle of the knife!'
'He sure like to show off! Did he really think that just because it was a large weapon, no one would dare to intercept it?'
"Get down!" Kakashi shouted, predicting the blade's trajectory as it came hurtling in.
The three students and Tazuna immediately crouched, but the shadow with immense momentum did not fly over their heads.
Logan's eyes were sharp. He leaped into the air, and in the split second before the Kubikiribocho flew past, he thrust his kunai downward!
Ding...
Sparks flew as the kunai struggled against the half-moon notch of the Kubikiribocho. Right now, Logan barely managed to cling onto the spinning blade's trajectory, and in another half-second, the massive force behind the thrown blade would have spun out of control.
Lightning surged up Logan's arm. Just as the kunai was about to slip out of the notch, he forcefully flicked it, sending the near-person-sized blade flying upwards. Logan then grabbed the long handle with his left hand and quickly threw it down.
With a thud, the huge Kubikiribocho was intercepted in mid-air and then embedded into the ground with a quivering hum.
"This..." Kakashi's eye widened at this scene. The thrown huge weapon was like a wild and unruly horse, but now, it had been tamed, leaving a deep impression. He shifted his gaze to Logan, who still had his back to him, asking to himself, 'What level has he reached after wandering outside for three years?'
The action, completed in just over a second, was something Kakashi couldn't have done, and perhaps not even with his Sharingan.
The other four were naturally stunned. Seeing this kind of operation, Sasuke looked at Logan with the eyes of someone seeing their teacher's hidden depths for the first time.
"Ouch, that hurt a little."
Logan felt the strain; it wasn't as easy as it looked. He stood still for two seconds before he couldn't help but rub his right hand. He hadn't warmed up before, so his right hand felt too strenuous...
The admiration in his audience's hearts quickly crumbled, wondering why couldn't he at least finish the cool act!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…
Several shuriken shot out from the depths of the forest. This time, everyone scattered to dodge them, not wanting to face them head-on.
Unexpectedly, the purpose of those shurikens was not to hurt them. After they were all thrown, they just happened to land around the Kubikiribocho stuck on the ground. The silver threads attached to them shimmered in the sunlight. With a few swift pulls, all the shurikens were pulled back by the thrower, along with the intercepted blade.
Seeing the Kubikiribocho being taken back easily, Logan felt complicated emotions in his heart.
"Heh, not bad at all."
An unpleasantly deep voice spoke. After the Kubikiribocho was thrown into the forest, it was still cut horizontally into the tree because of its size. Then, a figure landed on the handle of the sword.
"..." Logan's feelings grew even more complex at this scene.
"Who are you?" Kakashi asked with vigilance in his eyes.
After Zabuza showed up, he first looked at Logan with a little fear. After all, the action of stopping the Kubikiribocho in mid-air revealed the opponent's extraordinary strength. Then, he looked at Kakashi, "The Demon of Kirigakure, Momochi Zabuza. Have you heard of me... Hatake Kakashi?"
'It's actually him?' Kakashi was surprised.
The scene of the official battle began like this. Logan hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether to interrupt or not. After all, both his ally and the enemy knew each other's names as soon as they met, which seemed like a business exchange.
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