Chapter 78

'Probably time for round two.' I narrowed my eyes and smiled excitedly. Zabuza and Kakashi picked up my smile and suddenly became alert. Sasuke and Akari picked up on their jounins' seriousness and became alert as well. Sasuke I understood, but to think the girl was that impressive as well. Guess she was not all talk.

'Since Zabuza is here, I wonder who he will bring along this time.' In case you wondering why Zabuza was still present, he had been hired. He may have talked about swordsman honor bullshit, but he was a sword for hire in the end. He was still going to receive payment from Gato, but not in the way it was initially intended; He would receive the treasures of Gato, once all of this was over. From what he said, it was to help with the revolution back home; How patriotic. Plus, it might help his course if he brought wealth to help the course.

"Sasuke, Akari, protect Tazuna." Kakashi ordered. Tazuna, on the other hand, run towards me. We had already talked about it. In cases like this, he would stay by my side where it would be easier to protect him. Well, as long as he was in a radius of fifty meters from me, I could get to him in a split second, so it was fine.

I suddenly sensed a few chakras. They had no interests in hiding as they stood a distance from us. Four opponents with comfortable looks on their faces, as if their wins were already assured. I liked how everyone was confident in their strengths,

"Seems Gato went all out with this one." Zabuza spoke and pulled out his executioner blade from behind him. Kakashi nodded and pulled his tanto from behind him. Apparently, over the few months, he had taken up the Hatake style kenjutsu once again.

"Well, we expected nothing less after all." He held his forehead protector which was covering his left eye and lifted it, revealing his sharingan. The sharingan would still show itself; All I did was put a seal on it which would only cut off the constant supply of chakra to it. That was why he continued to cover up the eye. Of course I gave the key to him so he could unlock the seal himself.

"Kakashi of the sharingan, Shame, I would have wanted to fight you myself." Zabuza looked to the side and commented. Haku, pulled out a needle and held it in his hand, ready to attack.

At this point, I could not wait to open Gato's head and find out what really happened. I meant if he was the one that gathered everyone. The opponents talked among themselves and agreed on something. Just as they were about to charge, Naruto suddenly appeared by his teammates with two tied up goons.

I had already received an alert from my shadow clone, telling me how things went on as canon did. Only, this time, Naruto never planned to leave the house. His job had always been to stay in the house and protect both Inari and his mother. When the goons showed up, he easily dispatched them before making his way to the bridge. The only thing I did not understand was how he got here so quickly. It had not been too long since I received the notice, and although there was not much distance from the house to the bridge, it should not have been such a quick run, even for a shinobi; Or should I say, regular shinobi of their standard.

The opponents charged at us. It seemed their plan had not changed, even with the addition of the newcomer; Even if he had brought their men with him, tied up. They separated, with each picking an opponent, and one separating to deal with what looked to him as four kids and an old man. The condescending and mocking look he gave us was quite amusing to me.

"Don't interfere, Sakura. I'll take care of him." Sasuke spoke and stepped forward. Their opponent was around chunin level, judging his chakra. Well, I had learned not to judge a person too much though. They could suddenly pull out something strange and surprise you.

Just as Naruto was about to protest, I spoke and came out of my sleeping bag, "You three take him on together. I know you have gotten strong, but this is a mission. Your client's life is at stake, don't play." They had assumed I was going to take care of the opponent but I had no intention. They had let someone of his caliber come to us because they felt he was enough to deal with some brats. New Team 7 should be able to take care of it. All three nodded and stepped forward in a formation, ready to confront their opponent.

I swiped with my blade and decapitated the captured goons Naruto had brought. Our opponent frowned when he saw this. He realized I was not as simple as I seemed. If me giving orders made him unsure the first time, then the move I just showed was a definite give away.

I had other things to do. "Don't move from this spot. Got it?" I spoke to Tazuna, who nodded in affirmation. I flickered from my position and arrived under a bridge where three boats had with a few tens of men. There, at the head of one of the boats, stood my prize target. Gato.

I stood upside down under the bridge and spoke, "Well hello." Startling every one of them. They probably would have sneered if they saw me any other day, but seeing how I showed up without any of the knowing nor noticing, made them afraid. I had already locked the place down. None of them was escaping.

"Goodbye." Lightning sparked from me, as five zigzagged tentacles with sharp edges extended from my body. 'Lightning mode: Kraken'. They seemed to have a mind of their own as they began to swipe left and right, each time, decapitating a person or splitting people in half, never missing a target. This was the extent of my Nature Transformation, and I absolutely loved it. It was so versatile.

Those that jumped into the water were either electrocuted when they got into it or dragged by their foot just before they could touch the water. I was basically like an actual kraken, destroying the boat and its sailors at sea.

With a few more screams of despair and begging, quiet returned to the waters once more. There was no blood. Only the smell of burnt skin. The lightning had cauterized the cuts and decapitations. Gato was frozen with fear. He had intended on jumping into the water to save his life, but what he had witnessed with those that tried made him throw away such a notion. Those that fell in the water were electrocuted slowly, their screams reverberating throughout the place. Their deaths were slower and more painful, compared to the others.

I dropped on the water and walked to him. I looked at him and smiled, but to him, I might have looked like a demon. I knocked him out and carried him back up, where the fight looked to be reaching its climax. After I had left, Kakashi had one eye out on the lookout for his team while he fought his opponent, as such he had not yet finished his fight. Although that was so, he did not seem to be having a hard time.

Zabuza on the other hand was matched against a wind user, who blew his mist away every time he used it, forcing him to resort to brute force, intending on cleaving his opponent with his executioner blade. Haku was having quite the easy time compared to the others. With his demonic mirrors, he used his speed to overwhelm his opponent. His opponent was a fire user, but realized even a few fire jutsus were unable to melt his opponent's ice. After being overwhelmed by the needles, he was already on one knee.