Chapter 23: Tricked!

Sakura looked at Zabuza with a regretful expression.

"What on earth made you so proud, Mr. Zabuza? You've already suffered a loss once. Why do you still dare to use the weapon you took back from the enemy? I've said it twice: 'Weapons obtained from the enemy are not useful.' Why did you fall into a similar trap twice? Why do you always think about your ninja sword? Mr. Kirigakure ninja swordsman, how does it feel to have your weapon turned into handcuffs that bind your hands?"

Sakura's expression remained gentle, but her sharp words were like slaps in the face, making Zabuza dizzy. Even his ears were buzzing.

"Don't underestimate me, little girl!" Zabuza shouted and began to exert force with his feet. The stickiness of the chakra stuck on his weapon far exceeded his imagination. At this point, even if his skin and flesh were torn off, he had to break free from the restraint of the sword. But Zabuza's feet suddenly slipped, stretching to the sides. Despite the restraint of the sword preventing a full split, Zabuza ended up half-kneeling with his legs spread apart, which looked rather funny.

"Alas~ It's you who underestimated me, Zabuza." Looking at the embarrassed Zabuza, Sakura shook her head and sighed. "It's useless. I have already covered this area with a smooth film using an illusion from Texture Surprise. With the lubricant, it will be difficult for you to keep your balance with large movements. In fact, I've already given you a hint about this, but you didn't pay attention..."

Sakura shook the empty bottle in her hand and continued to explain to Zabuza. "It doesn't take a whole bottle of lubricant just to smear the handle of kubikiribocho. You don't think my lubricant just ran out, do you? No way, no way. I've already given you a hint, but the powerful Mr. Zabuza didn't notice it at all! No, this must be fake. You must not be Mr. Zabuza; someone else must have used a transformation technique to pretend to be you!"

Sakura was extremely sarcastic, shaking her head as if she really couldn't believe it.

"..."

Zabuza's eyes seemed ready to spit fire, but he couldn't say a word. Seeing Zabuza's reaction, Sakura lost interest in continuing her performance, her face becoming cold.

"In front of me, a Konoha Genin, you even have to use all your strength to stand. From the moment you instantly fell behind me, you had no chance of winning, Zabuza!"

Sakura calmly declared her victory.

"Sakura, so cool!" Naruto looked at Sakura with stars in his eyes.

"Kid, was all this part of your plan?" Zabuza's eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn't understand how one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen could be defeated by a Genin from Konoha. The kid in front of him had defeated him with just the gum ninjutsu and an illusion jutsu; from beginning to end, he was played with like a toy, and the opponent had even given him several hints, not taking him seriously at all. A feeling of despair surged in his heart, almost making him collapse.

Now his hands were firmly stuck to the hilt by the ninjutsu, and the kubikiribocho was bound. Even standing up required significant chakra expenditure. Even with the enemy so close, he had no way to counterattack. But Zabuza quickly calmed down. Although the situation was dire, he had a backup plan. He could use Haku in the distance to fake his death and escape.

Sakura frowned slightly, using her flexible chakra to bounce herself backwards, and shouted at Naruto and Sasuke, who were still stunned: "Sasuke, Naruto, why are you still standing there? Throw shuriken at him!"

Naruto immediately grabbed a shuriken and threw it at Zabuza. Sasuke, shocked by Sakura's strength and the strategy of capturing a long-established jonin alive, was momentarily stunned but quickly reacted, posing and throwing several shurikens. Even Kakashi threw two.

With Zabuza's hands bound by the beheading sword and his feet unable to move freely on the smooth ground, he could only use his shoulders and legs to protect his vitals. Zabuza was hit by more than ten shurikens and was seriously injured, only able to move in a limited direction without leaving any trace.

A flaw...

"Swish—Puff"

The sound of breaking through the air and metal piercing flesh followed one after another. Two Senbons, moving like lightning, pierced Zabuza's neck accurately.

Zabuza seemed stunned by this sudden attack, his eyes widening with astonishment and unwillingness. Just like that, Zabuza "died with his eyes open" and fell to the ground with a "plop."

As Zabuza fell, the entire scene went silent.

Suddenly, a mysterious figure appeared before everyone! The figure appeared silently, like a ghost, making everyone feel a chill.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden change, their eyes widening as they tried to see the true face of the mysterious figure.

"Who!" Sasuke immediately became alert, holding a kunai.

Kakashi also pulled open the forehead protector covering his left eye, unsure whether the new arrival was a friend or foe. But judging by the opponent's Body Flicker Technique, he seemed quite strong.

"Ninjas from Konoha, please be patient." The man, wearing a Kirigakure Anbu mask, saluted slightly. His appearance was hidden, but his voice and height suggested he was not much older than the fifteen.

This person was Haku, Zabuza's plan-B.

"Although I'm sorry to steal your prey, I am a member of the Kirigakure Anbu hunting squad, and Zabuza was our mission target this time."

Kakashi was relieved upon hearing this and explained the Kirigakure hunting squad to his students.

"How could this happen! Why let this stinking guy take Zabuza away! It seems he is not much older than us!" Naruto was obviously very dissatisfied with this outcome.

Sasuke nodded, feeling that this Kirigakure member might not be his opponent, given his apparent youth.

Kakashi restrained his two students. It was troublesome enough that the C-rank mission had escalated to an A-rank mission. If he had a conflict with Kirigakure, he wasn't sure how he'd write his mission report.

"Naruto, Sasuke, I understand how you feel." Kakashi comforted his students. "But you must know the truth that 'there are always people who are better than you.' Knowing yourself is also an important part of growth. There may be kids in this world who are younger than you but more powerful than your teacher!"

Kakashi smiled, trying to reason with them.

Naruto and Sasuke fell silent.

Seeing everyone relax their vigilance, Haku breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I will take his body back to the village."

Haku slowly walked toward Zabuza's "corpse," taking cautious steps due to the gum jutsu and lubricant.

"I will help you remove the ninjutsu." Sakura gave Haku a warm smile. Sprinting to the edge, she used inertia to slide to Zabuza's side. Sakura half-knelt on the ground, slapped the earth with her right hand, and declared, "Texture Surprise: Release!"

The ground around her immediately returned to soft soil.

"What a powerful ninjutsu, thank you..." Haku began to say.

"Swoosh—" Before Haku could finish, Sakura used Bungee gum to eject both herself and Zabuza, who was pretending to be dead, out together. In reality, as long as Sakura's chakra touched a part of her Texture surprise, she could remove the ninjutsu at any time. The reason for her pretense of sliding and slapping the ground was to get close to Zabuza without alerting the masked man.

"It's an enemy, Kakashi-sensei!!!" Sakura shouted as she ejected herself backwards.