BSWS CH-23 Mantis, Cicada and the Oriole Part-2

Tazuna and the entire team 7 were going to the bridge today. Kakashi had recovered completely and his Genin were all trained to their best possible extent in the time they had.

Sakura walked in a relaxed manner beside Sasuke and Naruto. She had already made preparations to ensure that Inari and Tsunami won't be in trouble this time, unlike in the canon. Moreover, Naruto too had somehow managed to get through to Inari and make him more confident in himself sooner than in the canon timeline.

Currently, they were going to the bridge along with Tazuna. The bridge had made great progress and would be finished in a few days at the latest. Once that was done, they only had to take care of the Zabuza issue to make sure that Tazuna and his family will be safe.

When they reached the bridge, however, they faced a scene similar to what Sakura remembered from the original timeline. All the workers who braved the danger to work for Tazuna were now lying on the bridge with various degrees of injuries.

"Could it be…?" Kakashi muttered, "Is he already here?"

Just as Kakashi and the others put up their guard, a dense amount of mist started covering the bridge. Kakashi's eyes hardened and he tightened the grip on his Kunai.

"Team 7! Protect Tazuna!!" Kakashi commanded. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto instantly positioned themselves around Tazuna. Kakashi made sure everyone was in the positions they had devised to help them fight better in the mist.

"Heh, I knew you were alive, Zabuza." Kakashi said with a scoff "Couldn't wait for Round-Two huh?"

"Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi. You really did a number on me last time." Zabuza's eerie voice echoed in the mist "I see you still surround yourself with those brats. don't have enough courage to face me one on one?"

"Hmm, what is this? Do I hear fear and hesitation in the voice of the Demon of the Hidden Mist?" Kakashi taunted.

"As for surrounding myself with brats, I recall that the so-called brats put you in a stalemate long enough to change the course of our last fight. And in the end, you were the one who was hurt badly and had to flee while the brats were without a scratch. Maybe the reputation of the so-called demon is over-sold if even a couple of Leaf Genin can kick your ass."

"He he he… Is that so Kakashi?" Zabuza laughed "Then let's see if I can recover my reputation when I take off your head and claim its bounty. And as for your brats, I brought them playmates to keep them occupied."

Suddenly, a bunch of shadows rushed out from the mist. There were three of them in total, one each for Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Sakura noticed that they were dressed similarly to the Demon brothers and the other two mist ninja they had taken down on their way to the Land of Waves.

'Hmm, so they were with Zabuza.' Sakura thought as she dodged the attacks of the one charging towards her 'Moreover, unlike rogue ninja, none of them have crossed out the symbol of their village from their headbands. Is my suspicion about Zabuza being part of the rebellion on the mark?'

The three who were keeping Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto busy didn't have any flashy jutsu. However, they were extremely proficient in taking advantage of the mist to attack. Low visibility had limited most of the attack type Ninjutsu and Naruto could not use Shadow clones as the enemy could use it to fool them.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza had begun their duel. It seemed like a repeat of the previous match, except Zabuza was more focused and Kakashi was having a harder time catching him off guard.

Sakura kept dodging her opponent while attacking with the Shuriken link chain of her clawed gauntlets to keep him at bay. Meanwhile, she had spread the chakra particles she used for Chakra Sense throughout the mist.

Once a certain amount of chakra particles were mixed with the mist, She activated her own Hidden Mist jutsu to convert Zabuza's Mist to her own. As soon as she did that, it was like she had gained omnipresent eyes.

Wherever her chakra-enriched mist passed by, it gave a map of the place and the people it touched in precise detail within her mind. Sakura felt like this was how it was for a blind person, who saw the world in the sunlight for the first time after gaining new eyes.

This presented a whole new arsenal of tactics for her. She immediately unleashed multiple chakra strings and attached them to Sasuke, Naruto, and the three opponents who were attacking them.

"Sasuke!! Naruto!! Follow my lead!!" Sakura yelled to gain their attention within the mist.

The next moment, Sasuke and Naruto felt a gentle manipulating force on their bodies, guiding them through the mist. Remembering Sakura's words, they allowed themselves to be pulled along.

Suddenly, they arrived before one of the attackers in the mist. At the same time, the attacker was frozen due to the effect of Sakura's strings. Sasuke immediately grabbed the chance and wove his had signs in a swift manner.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball!!!" Sasuke uttered confidently while spewing out a huge ball of fire. At the same time, he managed to activate his Sharingan completely, the one tomoe spinning swiftly under the red glow of his disc-like pupils. With the added boost of Sharingan, his fireball crashed into the mist ninja accurately, roasting him alive.

The other two Mist ninja was alarmed and tried to escape. But at that precise moment, Sakura's Chakra String Stitching Technique appeared, binding them together brutally. Before they could cut through the strings, a dozen Naruto appeared out of the mist, surrounding them completely.

"Naruto Uzumaki: Chakra Push Barrage!!!" The Uzumaki gang surrounded the two poor mist ninjas and blasted them all over with Chakra Push attacks through the punches and kicks that were rained on them. By the end of the torture session, the two mist ninjas were in serious near-fatal condition with the majority of the bones in their body being broken and organs crushed.

'Oh my god… That is seriously terrifying!!' Sakura shuddered on seeing that scene thoroughly with her chakra sense 'I have provided a master of Multi Shadow Clone with the perfect technique to waste his abundant chakra. I think future enemies of Naruto are going to curse me every time they face him.'

Seeing that all three were defeated, Sakura brought them together with her chakra strings and tied them up. They were all in near-dead condition, one from being roasted alive and two from being beaten to an inch of their lives.

With the immediate threat being over, Sakura dispelled the mist by gathering it all with her chakra and compressing it to water. However, as the mist disappeared, they were faced with a chilling sight.

Kakashi was kneeling on the ground, pierced by dozens of large Senbons. Meanwhile, Zabuza was trapped by a pack of dogs who had locked him in a certain position by biting him tightly on various limbs.

"Kakashi-Sensei!!" the trio shouted as they prepared to rush to him. But right at that moment, an ice mirror formed on their path to Kakashi. A dozen Senbons flew out from it and struck the ground in a line, right before their feet.

"I am your opponent!" a voice emerged from the mirror, followed by the mysterious ninja in the Mist ANBU outfit.