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The night was deep.
Zabuza lay wide awake, staring at the ceiling.
He knew perfectly well that eliminating Konoha ninja wasn't part of their mission, but he couldn't shake the thought of those Leaf shinobi staying in the same inn.
Wasn't this how things always were between rival factions?
Either you killed them, or they killed you. What kind of peaceful coexistence was even possible?
Even if he listened to Mei and held back, could those Konoha bastards really be trusted to do the same?
No. The best strategy was always to strike first.
Mei was also gazing at the ceiling, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
She hadn't seen Midorima in just a few months, so why did it feel like there was suddenly distance between them?
They had survived life-and-death situations together.
And compared to six months ago, Midorima had bulked up considerably—his muscles were more defined now—yet the one thing that hadn't changed was the sense of security he gave off.
So… did she want this mission to end quickly, or did she want it to drag on?
The uncertainty irritated her.
Midorima, too, was staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
His reason, however, was far simpler.
"Mei… Zabuza…"
"What?" Zabuza's tone was gruff.
"Do you smell something weird?" Midorima rubbed his nose.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but there was a strange odor in the air—faint at first, but now it had spread throughout the room.
Zabuza and Mei inhaled deeply, then frowned.
"There is… a faint, irritating scent," Zabuza muttered, sitting up.
"And footsteps," Mei added.
"This can't be good," Midorima groaned.
They'd just found a place to rest—couldn't they catch a break?
Zabuza immediately yanked the suitcase from under the bed, strapping on his kunai and ninjato. He flung open the window and peered outside—only for an ice spike to shoot straight at his face.
He barely dodged in time. The spike tore through the ceiling, embedding itself in the floor above.
Seconds later, angry shouts erupted from upstairs.
Zabuza ignored them, scanning the ground below. "Heh. The building's on fire… Someone's trying to burn us alive."
No sooner had he spoken than a massive ice tiger slammed into the wall, obliterating it in an instant.
Dust billowed as the three of them lunged out of the collapsing room—only to find explosive-tagged kunai hurtling toward them.
The detonation rocked the air, the shockwave sending them stumbling.
Behind them, the flames roared higher, rapidly engulfing the entire inn.
Mei quickly formed hand signs. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" A towering water pillar erupted, dousing the fire—but the force of the jutsu also reduced the inn to a waterlogged wreck.
Only then did they get a clear look at their surroundings.
Dozens of shinobi—some wielding swords, others clutching kunai—had them surrounded.
At the same time, three more figures burst from the wreckage of the inn, only to land right in the middle of another encirclement.
The Konoha trio had been ambushed too.
For a moment, Midorima couldn't tell if these attackers had come for them or had simply detected Kakashi's team.
"Impressive reflexes… It'd be a shame for youngsters like you to die here. Why not join us instead?" A smirking ninja stood at the forefront, eyeing Midorima's group.
Zabuza opened his mouth to retort, but Mei yanked his sleeve. Then Midorima piped up, voice dripping with faux innocence:
"Join you? I don't get it, mister. You've got the wrong people! The real heavy hitters are those guys over there—they're the valuable ones. If they join you, you'll hit the jackpot. If not, just chop their heads off and cash in at the bounty office. We're just passing through—let us go, yeah?"
He even threw in a pitiful expression for good measure.
Not like he felt guilty—the Konoha team could handle themselves.
Zabuza blinked. 'This guy's shameless.'
But if these attackers were reasonable, they wouldn't have pulled this stunt in the first place.
"Thanks for the tip. Never thought of selling their heads… but yours are worth something too. Especially yours, Momochi Zabuza. You're hot merchandise—eight million ryo on the bounty boards right now."
"So we're only in this mess because of Zabuza," Midorima stage-whispered to Mei.
She nodded solemnly.
Neither of them had ever left the island—no way the bounty offices had their info.
Zabuza: "…"
'These teammates… are impossible.'
Asuma, already locked in combat, nearly choked when he overheard the suggestion to sell their heads. "Who the hell came up with that shit?!"
Kurenai stayed silent—she wasn't famous enough to be worth much yet.
Asuma's outrage stemmed from the fact that he was worth a lot.
Thanks to his exploits in the Third War, Kakashi was the highest-valued young shinobi of his generation. And as the son of the Third Hokage, Asuma's price tag wasn't far behind.
"No need to argue—none of you are leaving alive!"
At the leader's command, forty to fifty ninja surged forward.
Midorima turned to Zabuza. "Are these our targets?"
"Does it matter? Just kill them all." Zabuza's hands flew through signs. "Kirigakure no Jutsu!" Mist billowed around them as he drew his sword.
No other village prioritized bladed combat like Kiri—and Zabuza's reputation with a sword far outstripped his ninjutsu.
In seconds, he'd forced back the nearest attackers.
The Snow ninja retaliated with ice-style techniques, hurling spears and pillars of frost through the air.
Mei's eyes widened. "So many of them have Kekkei Genkai?!"
"Doubt it," Midorima countered, deflecting an ice spike with a Water Dragon Bullet. "True Ice Release combines water and wind chakra, but in the Snow Country, the environment lets them mimic it even without the bloodline."
Neither Midorima's group nor Kakashi's were accustomed to this climate. The heavy winter gear and freezing temperatures hampered them all.
For Midorima, this was his first large-scale battle, and the pressure was intense. Thankfully, six months of brutal training had honed his adaptability.
Numbers alone didn't decide fights like this.
After a rough adjustment period, Midorima began holding his own—his blade finding throats with lethal precision as he shifted from defense to offense.
And just then, Zabuza's Hidden Mist Jutsu reached full effect, shrouding the battlefield in thick fog.