Sakura did not move.
The fog thickened, wrapping around them like a second skin. Visibility dropped to near zero—her teammates, the bridge builder, even Kakashi himself were nothing more than blurred outlines in the mist.
Tazuna let out a nervous breath. "Uh… is it supposed to get this—"
Sakura smirked.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+3 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Keeping your cool when even the grown-ass adults are freaking out.)
The killing intent slithered through the air, wrapping around them, thick and suffocating. It was like a vice around the lungs—sharp, unforgiving.
Naruto stiffened, his hands curling into fists. Sasuke's breath hitched.
Sakura?
She adjusted her stance, flicking her senbon between her fingers.
Just in case for situations like this… she'd bought a skill. A costly one… but definitely useful.
[Aura System]
Mental Resistance Skill Activated.
Congratulations! Killing intent from anyone under Kage-level does not affect you!
Chunin-level Genjutsu and below is now background noise!
And then it happened.
Zabuza appeared.
Right in the middle of them.
The mist cleared just enough for them to see him, standing there, Executioner's Blade raised.
Naruto's eyes went wide. Sasuke moved—
But Zabuza's sword was already mid-swing.
Tazuna took a step back, mouth opening in sheer terror.
And then—
*CLANG*
The attack never landed.
A single kunai blocked it.
Kakashi.
The silver-haired Jōnin stood in front of them, one hand held out, the other raised to deflect the massive cleaver of a blade.
"Oh?" Zabuza hummed, amusement flickering across his face. "Not bad."
And then—Zabuza melted.
A clone.
Sakura's eyes sharpened.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+4 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Recognizing plot twists before they happen.)
Too late.
A blur of motion—
Kakashi's body was airborne.
Zabuza's real form appeared behind him, his powerful leg connecting right with Kakashi's ribs—sending him flying over the water.
*SPLASH*
Kakashi skidded across the surface, trying to recover.
But then, before he could move—
A hand shot out.
The water around him twisted and solidified.
A perfect sphere.
The Water Prison.
Kakashi's movements ceased, his body suspended in the rippling bubble.
Outside of it, Zabuza stood at ease, one hand casually maintaining the Jutsu, the other resting on his sword. His smirk widened.
"Well, well." He exhaled. "That takes care of the biggest threat."
His gaze flicked toward the three genin, who were still standing there.
"Now…" His grip on his sword tightened. "Where were we?"
Kakashi's voice, slightly distorted through the water, barked out—
"RUN! Take Tazuna and get out of here! He can't move as long as he keeps me trapped!"
Sasuke stiffened.
Naruto clenched his fists.
And Sakura...
She took a slow step forward.
The mist curled around her, parting slightly.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+5 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Walking forward when a literal demon just told you he was about to kill you.)
"Run?" she repeated, voice quiet.
Kakashi tensed. "Sakura—"
She didn't let him finish.
"Sensei… we're ninja." Her green eyes gleamed, the weight of her words sinking in. "You really think we'd leave a comrade behind?"
Naruto exhaled sharply, his expression shifting from fear to something stronger.
"Yeah!" He shouted, stepping forward beside her. "We're not worse than trash!"
Zabuza blinked.
Then... his shoulders shook.
And he laughed.
"A ninja?" He scoffed, rolling his neck. "A real ninja walks the fine line between this world and the next. A real ninja has faced death more times than they can count and survived. A real ninja... " he leveled his sword at them, "... earns a page in my Bingo Book."
Silence.
And then Sakura's voice broke it once more.
"So you're saying the only thing keeping us from being ninja…"
Sakura's voice was soft, almost thoughtful.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+20 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Setting up for the perfect one-liner.)
"—is the fact that you haven't written our names in your little diary yet?"
Zabuza's eyebrows would've twitched were it not for the fact that he didn't have any.
Kakashi exhaled through the water prison.
Sasuke let out the smallest snort.
Naruto nearly wheezed but he was too busy tightening his forehead protector, ready to leap into battle.
Zabuza's grip on his sword tightened. "…Kakashi, what the hell is wrong with your students?"
Kakashi eyes crinkled.
"…I ask myself that every day."
Zabuza sighed, almost disappointed.
"You brats really don't know when to quit, huh?"
His free hand lifted—forming a single seal.
The water beside him rippled.
And then, slowly, a figure began to rise.
A perfect copy of Zabuza stepped forward, water dripping from his form, his grip tightening around an identical Executioner's Blade. The air shifted, his killing intent rolling over them once more.
Sasuke stiffened. Naruto narrowed his eyes.
Sakura?
She took one step forward, letting the mist curl dramatically around her like she commanded it.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+4 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Perfect dramatic timing.)
Then, she tilted her head, unimpressed.
"…A water clone?" Her voice was mild, almost lazy. "A mere tenth of the original's strength?"
Zabuza's visible eye twitched.
Sakura exhaled through her nose, folding her arms as her coat billowed behind her.
"Do you really think that's enough to deal with us?"
Silence.
Zabuza's water clone growled, taking a step forward.
And then—
A blur.
A flash of black and blue.
Sasuke moved.
The water clone had no time to react before a kunai sliced through its chest—
*SPLASH*
It collapsed, water rushing back into the lake as Sasuke landed gracefully on the grass. His kunai flicked out, droplets sliding off the blade.
He didn't even look at it.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+50 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Having a teammate so fast the enemy doesn't even see him move.)
Zabuza's real body tensed.
"What—?"
Ding!
[Aura System]
+10 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Casually revealing that Team 7 is built different.)
Zabuza's fingers curled tighter around his sword.
"Impossible," he muttered. "That speed. No Konoha genin could—"
Sakura tilted her head. "Could what?"
Silence.
Zabuza's single visible eye twitched.
This brat. This actual brat.
Naruto grinned, slow and sharp, as the first set of three clones stepped forward, their stances loose, but ready.
Then…another set appeared.
And another. And another.
Like a steady drumbeat, a rhythmic pattern of multiplication.
*Poof*
*Poof*
*Poof.*
Not the usual chaotic mess of clones scrambling over each other.
Not the uncontrolled, reckless spam.
This was something else.
Precision.
Strategy.
A method to the madness.
Zabuza's fingers curled around the Executioner's Blade, his body tense, eyes flicking between the growing numbers.
"How the hell—"
"You see," Sakura's voice cut in, smooth as silk, "the problem with your Water Clones is that they're a pale imitation of the original. They can only operate within a limited range, and they're a tenth of your strength."
She exhaled, tilting her head slightly as her coat swayed in the wind.
"Naruto's clones aren't bound by such limits."
Ding!
[Aura System]
+5 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Educational flexing.)
Zabuza's lips curled.
"And yet, you're still just kids playing ninja." His voice was low, mocking. "Even this many Shadow Clones don't make up for lack of skill."
Naruto cracked his knuckles again, his smirk widening.
"Maybe," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Or maybe you should ask yourself something, Zabuza…"
The clones shifted, feet steady, hands curling into fists.
A heavy presence settled over the battlefield.
Naruto stepped forward.
His blue eyes gleamed.
"…Do you really think your clones are a match for mine?"
Silence.
A thick, tangible pause.
Zabuza's eye flickered across the field—at the growing numbers, at the sheer solidity of the boy standing before him, at the confidence in his stance.
Sasuke smirked.
Sakura let her coat billow even harder.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+6 AP Gained.
(Farming Method: Absolutely obliterating someone's faith in their own techniques.)
Kakashi, still trapped in the water, sighed.
"…I'm gonna have to start training them seriously after this, aren't I?"