Zabuza: The Greatest Swordsman [A Naruto Fanfic]

Right now, Team-6 is at one of the largest landmarks of the village hidden in the mist. Just to reach the entrance of this building, one has to climb a fairly large number of steps.

Of course, it's the Mizukage building...

The team of Yagura Karatachi the Jonin team leader, and his students—Ruka, Utakata and Zabuza—greet the Mizukage by bowing their heads. "Good morning, sir Mizukage."

It is a formal meeting. The atmosphere is heavy to say the least.

The gray-haired Mizukage is a very serious-looking man; the kind that would boil you alive and eat your soul... You wouldn't find him goofing around and telling jokes.

If he wasn't wearing the iconic Kage hat, he would fit in perfectly amongst a certain stuck-up Sharingan-wielding clan.

Yagura steps forward, while the three Genins remain at the doorstep.

The Kage and the Jonin exchange some words and glance back at the Genins from time to time.

The three Genins aren't clear as to who among them the person of interest is, but Zabuza has a guess... 'Utakata, has he already been selected as the Jinchuriki?'

Like that, the short meeting ended with the Kage not uttering a single word to the Genins. They then proceed toward their deployed location in the ongoing war.

.....

Standing on the ocean shore, Zabuza looks toward the horizon. "It took two whole days just to reach this so called land of forest and now we have to travel through this dense forest?... Man, this is such a drag." Yawning, he hops onto a nearby tree, closely following behind his sensei.

His two teammates are following his back, forming a formation of sorts...

The most experienced Yagura is at the front, the close-range fighter Zabuza just behind him, the medical nin Ruka closely follow the two as support, while at the rear, Utakata is there to launch projectiles from a distance.

They rush through the forest, hopping on tree branches, continuously skipping sections of the forest.

"Stop!" Yagura raises his hand, indicating his team to halt. Just then, phuff! a dog appears midair.

Meticulously landing on the same branch as Yagura, it raises its head toward the human. a scroll held firmly in its mouth. Yagura takes the scroll and swiftly reads it. "Show us the way."

"Yes!" the dog nods.

"What is it, sensei?" Ruka can't help but ask.

"We have three teams to rescue. They have fallen into a trap. We don't have much time... follow the summon ninken."

Understanding the urgency of the situation, the three Genins don't ask any further questions.

Without taking any rest, they travel a mile or so, only stopping when they reach an even denser part of the forest.

"Is this the Forest of Bewilderment?" Zabuza questions. A while back, Yagura had mentioned the name of their destination.

The dog turns back. "The Forest of Bewilderment this is, yes!"

Yagura looks toward the forest for a few seconds and asks, "Enemy's numbers and their strength?"

"Unclear, both are!" the dog replies.

"I see..." He commands the team to stay alert. "We must remain unnoticed by the enemy."

The ninken guides them through the Forest of Bewilderment.

Unquestionably, this patch of forest isn't called the Forest of Bewilderment for no reason. The common ways of navigation don't seem to work inside this forest.

Here, the fog and the sweeping winds disturb a person's sense of direction, while the extreme magnetic field hampers the compass, adding fuel to the fire.

Only the ninkens' ability to sense their contractor can be called a foolproof way to navigate this mess.

Of course, you could still blast through it if you're strong enough or you could even calmly walk through it if you are a good sensory type...

Traversing the place for some minutes, Team-6 reaches an area covered in vines. "Prepare yourselves, they could come attacking at any moment."

"Who they?" the team questions.

"Enemy they." Phuff! the dog disappears in a puff of smoke, he had to notify their allies of their arrival. The team isn't alarmed by this, as before reaching here, he had already notified the-team that he would have to disappear for some time.

"Can't he speak normally?" they all wonder.

Suddenly..

Swissh! Block! With his sword, Zabuza blocks a kunai aimed at Ruka's throat. "We can't have our medic die this fast, now can we?"

"Thank you, Zabuza-kun." Ruka's pupils are stretched wide by the unexpected attack.

On the side, Utakata's mind is mystified 'How did he react so fast?' he himself had also sensed the attack when it came, however...

'When I was just processing the situation, he had already moved from his place... He moved there before the kunai even came into view.. It was like he sensed the kunai right when it was released from the enemy's hand. How did he do it?'

Abruptly, Utakata is forced out of this inner turmoil as eight shinobi surround them from three sides. The team of four, with their backs against the sea of bushes and vines, have nowhere to escape.

The enemies' clothes suggest they are from Konoha, most noticeably the headbands'.

"Reinforcements from Kiri? But why is it just four brats?" one of the two men surrounding them from the front questions, no one in particular.

Next to this bigmouth, the shinobi presumed to be the leader, for his higher chakra pressure, appears unimpressed by his subordinate's hasty judgment. "You can't underestimate them just because they are young."

"Stay vigilant!" he reminds his team, but soon after, lets out a jaw-breaking yawn... No one can blame him; abysmal dark circles surround the man's eyes. This zombie hasn't had an instance of sleep for a long while now.

On the other side of this face-off, Yagura is fuming through his ears right now. 'These leaf bastards, they don't know when to stop.'

He doesn't like them calling him a kid one bit, but he also can't just correct their misconception, that would be even more embarrassing. "You all are dead!"

Ensui, the team leader, is weirded out by the kid for some reason... 'why does he look so angry?' Still, nonetheless, he gives the order to attack.

"Try to capture them alive. We need to know if further reinforcements are arriving after them."

Despite his careful nature, Ensui's confidence in his team, surpasses his caution.

Of course, it's good to be confident, but when faced with a team of Kirigakure's newest prodigies. confidence alone can't give you victory 

The confrontation goes on as you would expect. The three Genins hold off six of the eight opponents, without much difficulty.

Zabuza faces two simultaneous attacks at the same time, but the one in control of the flow is always him. Even his steps don't needlessly drift away from his general periphery. He skillfully blocks the kunai and shuriken and strikes back when the opportunity presents itself.

Ruka also holds her own against the enemies. Using her different jutsus, particularly the Gale Palm that she had recently learned, she makes it difficult for her opponents to counterattack.

Utakata, like the other two, also utilizes his own advantage against the enemies. What's more, he has almost neutralized both of his opponents...

One is drowning under his Drowning Bubble Technique, while another is having his movements restricted by Utakata's Soap Bubble Slime. It is only a matter of time before this one is also defeated.

Yagura has taken on the remaining two, including the leader Ensui. They are the strongest ones among this group of Konoha shinobi.

The other one of the two is the bigmouth who had called Yagura a kid, and you can believe Yagura doesn't pull any punches while fighting this pair of shinobis. The bigmouth, in particular, is getting thrashed.

Understanding their dire situation, Ensui quickly backs off to a safe distance, at the expense of his comrade's immediate plight. "Tch! Guess I've got no choice, Shadow Imitation Shadow Bind Technique."