Zoro just leans on the front door frame while Torao is taking down the guards that look more like thugs in his tiger-sized form. There's no strong enemy here, so Zoro doesn't need to step in, just Torao alone is enough.
Like the cat he is, Torao moves very agilely and he is very fast despite his big size. He uses his sharp claws to cut the guards and uses his paws to slap them like flies.
They try to hit him, but he dodges them all thanks to his super cat reflex and sharp senses. The thugs can't do anything to Torao and can only let themselves get scratched or slapped to death.
Torao doesn't even need to use his special shadow skills to fight them and only uses his physical power to defeat them. He jumps around the hall like a cat playing with some bugs.
The middle-aged man with curly hair that wears a suit seems terrified as he watches from the 2nd floor. Seeing the thugs being defeated easily, the man tries to run away, but a green-haired man wearing a green haori suddenly appears in front of the door he'll use to escape.
"You seem to be the leader here, so you must be Gato." Zoro looks at the man with his hands crossed in his green haori sleeves.
"W-WHO ARE YOU? DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"
"No need to shout, geez. I can hear you. So, are you Gato?"
"S-SO WHAT IF I'M GATO? YOU DARE TO MESS WITH ME DESPITE KNOWING THAT I'M GATO? DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU MESS WITH ME?"
"I didn't know if you are Gato or not, that's why I ask, idiot. But it seems you really are Gato. Hey, Torao! Grab one of them to ask if this guy is really Gato!"
Torao doesn't grab anyone and instead throws a man to Zoro who catches him by the neck.
"Oi, if you want to live then tell me if he is Gato or not!" Zoro asks calmly, but with an intimidating voice and expression.
He also slightly uses his Conqueror Haki to scare the man who answers by nodding quickly. After getting the answer, Zoro punches the man's lower jaw, knocking him out instantly. As promised, he doesn't kill the man.
"Good, so you really are Gato." Zoro walks slowly toward the terrified Gato.
"Y-YOU! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Gato is very terrified now.
But suddenly, Zoro senses 2 presence coming at high speed toward the house. They quickly arrive and enter through the broken front door before stopping there. There is a tall man with bandages masking his lower face while carrying a big sword on his back and a smaller person wearing a full wooden mask beside him.
"Hmm? What happened here?" The tall man asks while looking around with a frown.
Gato brightens up when he hears that voice and quickly runs to the 2nd floor railings.
"GREAT! YOU'VE RETURNED. HURRY UP AND KILL THIS GUY AND THAT BEAST!" Gato shouts at the pair.
Zoro moves forward to check the ones who have just come. He raises an eyebrow when he sees them because he knows who they are.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here? Isn't this Zabuza Momochi, the failed rebel of Mist." Zoro smirks while looking from the 2nd floor.
The ones who come are none other than Zabuza and Haku, Naruto's opponents in the early part of the story. Now Zoro finally realizes why Gato's name sounds familiar. It's because he is the one who employs Zabuza's rebel group after they flee the Mist village.
That means this is already the time of that story when Team 7 takes the mission where they ended up fighting Zabuza. Then a bridge is built and it's named as The Great Naruto Bridge or something like that.
'No wonder everything sounds so familiar from Gato's name to Granny Suzu's story of someone who is trying to build a bridge to the mainland. So this is the location of that story and I stumbled upon it coincidentally at the right time too.'
"No way! You are Ninja Hunter Zoro." Zabuza widens his eyes in surprise when he sees Zoro.
Even Haku is also surprised when hearing Zoro's name. He is very famous in all hidden villages, especially in Mist because he was the one who killed the former 7 Swordsmen of Mist and even ripped off their Mizukage for the 7 mystic swords he took.
"N-NINJA HUNTER ZORO?!" Gato is surprised too because he also knows about the infamous Ninja Hunter Zoro.
"Zabuza, how about you just leave? I have a good impression about you because you also don't like that midget Kage. Ah, actually, why don't you just wait there so we can talk later. Don't worry, I'm sure you will want to hear what I'm about to say because it's about Yagura and Kirigakure, something that will make you really surprised."
Zoro smirks while looking at Zabuza and Haku. Zabuza frowns deeply. Not knowing what Zoro's intention is. But he surely knows that if they fight him, then the only result for them is defeat.
Zoro just stands on the 2nd floor, quite far from him, but Zabuza can already feel a very powerful pressure from Zoro. Even Haku is trembling unconsciously despite Zoro not doing anything. His aura already terrifies the teenager.
"Do you want me to betray my employer?" Zabuza still can't decide.
"How funny. Someone who rebels against his own village is trying to show loyalty. Well, I must commend your dedication to your work. But will you still do that after knowing that this guy plans to kill you after your job is over?" Zoro now remembers some of the details in this part of the story, so he uses it to his advantage.
"W-WHAT? NO! I WOULD NEVER DO THAT. DON'T BELIEVE HIM AND HELP ME!" Gato is surprised that Zoro knows his plan, but he needs Zabuza's help to avoid getting killed by Zoro.
"Really? Hey, Torao, can you grab someone who's still alive and ask him what their plan is?"
Torao quickly looks around and grabs a living thug that has many injuries. He lifts the thug by biting the guy's back collar.
"Oi, you there. Quick! Tell us your plan for Zabuza's group." Zoro asks from the 2nd floor, but the thug doesn't answer.
Torao suddenly stabs the thug's heart with his sharp claw and discards him. Then he picks another thug who is still alive and Zoro asks the same question.
"You better answer, mate. We still have some people to ask. You are useless to us if you can't answer a simple question like that."
"W-wait! I'll talk, I'll answer." The thug quickly tries to answer before Torao kills him too.
"W-we plan to kill Zabuza after he's weakened from fighting Kakashi Hatake's team. B-boss doesn't want to spend money to pay them, so he wants to kill them after they finish their job. T-there's your answer. Please don't kill me. I'm telling the truth."
"Sure, Torao, let him live."
Torao throws the guy onto the wooden wall. They won't kill him, but they never say they won't hurt him. At least he won't die even if he is badly injured now.
Zabuza and Haku are surprised by what they've just heard. They know that Gato is a scumbag, but they didn't realize he would go that far. Now they don't have any reason to keep working for him.
Besides, they are already hesitating to fight Zoro because their winning chance is very slim to none. But they were still hesitating and what the thug said just now has made them sure of the choice they need to take.
"Alright, we won't butt into your business."
Zoro immediately grabs Gato's neck and lifts the middle-aged man quite high. Gato tries to break free, but Zoro doesn't budge even an inch. Then he walks closer to the edge of the 2nd floor, so Gato is hanging quite high now.
"You know, I was thinking of letting Hiyori kill you herself. But I've changed my mind. I can't let a child like her stain her hands with blood even if it's the blood of a scumbag that doesn't deserve to live in this world like you. So I'll just kill you myself because I've promised Hiyori that I'll help her avenge her parents. You know who I mean, right?"
Gato's eyes widen because now he finally knows why Zoro wants to kill him. He doesn't know how Hiyori can get Zoro's help and he will never know.
"A trash like you don't deserve to be killed by my swords and I am not kind enough to let you die quickly. So try to stay alive as long as you can."
Zoro says it very coldly before breaking Gato's arms and legs with his other hand. He can smash someone's bones easily with his current strength.
Gato's screams echo in the big building and even reach the nearest village. Then after breaking Gato's arms and legs, Zoro ties Gato's legs and gets on Torao's back.
"Hey, Zabuza. You know what to do here." Zoro just says that before leaving with Torao while dragging Gato on the ground.
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Chapter 129. Manda
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