It's better to be a rebel ninja than to be a Hokage

"Naruto, he's not an enemy."

Kakashi stood up from Zabuza's body, confirmed Zabuza's death, and left Zabuza.

Kakashi's behavior was telling the masked boy that he had no hostility towards him.

Arriving at Team 7, Kakashi heaved a sigh of relief after noticing that Naruto and the others, as well as Dazna who was being protected by them, were all safe and sound.

"Zabuza, did you kill him?"

Sasuke asked as he stared at Zabuza's body.

"That boy solved it."

Kakashi replied.

"what?!"

Sasuke had a look of disbelief on his face when he heard the unexpected answer.

If Zabuza was killed by Kakashi, Sasuke would not have too many thoughts, after all, they were both Jonin.

The previous battle also made Sasuke realize that as a ninja rookie, the gap between himself and the senior ninja required a lot of combat experience to make up.

but……

That Momochi Zabuza was actually defeated by a boy who was about the same age as him...

"He is indeed extraordinary. But Sasuke, you don't have to feel anxious. You have an excellent talent that is difficult for ordinary people to reach."

Kakashi only had to glance at Sasuke to know what he was thinking, "All you lack is growth."

Kakashi's words left Sasuke silent.

He was unwilling to accept this, but he also knew that although he was hailed as a genius by everyone, he was still too immature.

Sasuke suddenly felt grateful to Sakura for her decision to continue the mission to Wave Country.

Is this the battle you will face in a B-level mission?

He witnessed the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza, and learned that among his peers, there was someone like the masked boy who was powerful enough to compete with Zabuza.

Sasuke relaxed his frown, and everything he experienced during the mission benefited him a lot.

Sasuke couldn't help but look at Naruto beside him.

Naruto, what are you thinking about during this battle?

Sasuke was immersed in frustration for only a moment, and then he immediately became competitive.

What an amazing growth rate...

Paying attention to Sasuke's emotional changes, even Kakashi was amazed at how fast Sasuke was growing.

It was also at this time that the masked boy used the technique of instant body movement to climb up the tree trunk and come to Zabuza's body.

"It seems that everyone has finished chatting, so please allow me to take Zabuza's body away first - this body contains too much important information, and I need to spend some time to process it carefully."

Having said this, the masked boy looked at Naruto again.

"If possible, I hope to return the beheading sword."

Naruto was holding the big sword that originally belonged to Zabuza Momochi.

The length of the sword could not be seen in Zabuza's hand, but when the twelve-year-old Naruto held it in his hand, the hugeness of the beheading sword could be seen with the naked eye in comparison.

"Why? Kakashi-sensei, this should be considered our trophy, right?"

Previously, when Kakashi used his ninja dog to suppress Zabuza, the beheading sword was disarmed by Kakashi and kicked aside.

Naruto just picked up the beheading sword.

"Well... usually, after the enemy dies, his ninja tools, scrolls, and even the enemy's body itself become the spoils of the victor."

Kakashi did not deny Naruto's logic of victory, and even took this opportunity to teach the three members of Team 7: "But there are special situations like this one."

Everyone looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi explained: "In the ninja world, where intelligence is extremely important, ninjas themselves are a very valuable source of intelligence - the secrets of the village, the nature of chakra, the ingredients of secret medicines... My Sharingan is something that can be taken away. Once it falls into the hands of the enemy and is analyzed, the Sharingan will be used against Konoha's companions."

"So the defecting ninjas will be hunted down by the assassination teams of their respective villages, just to protect the village's intelligence."

"If there are assassination troops monitoring the battle, even if we are the victorious party, we should return the spoils - but this is not mandatory, and is more often due to political considerations. After all, this is a peaceful era, and the five major countries are trying not to do anything that will cause national conflict."

Kakashi glanced at the masked boy who was still waiting.

Although he did have a conflict with the masked boy in front of him, Kakashi was able to face the enemy.

But because of the Sharingan, his chakra had been almost consumed in the battle with Zabuza.

The amount of chakra Kakashi has left is no longer enough to distract him from protecting Team 7 and Dazna during the battle.

The priority now should be to ensure the safety of Team 7, and we also have the task of protecting Dazna.

"Naruto, give the sword back. The beheading sword in Zabuza's hand is one of the ninja swords of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist Village. It is an extremely important ninja tool for the Hidden Mist Village."

Kakashi, as the captain of Team 7's ninja team, gave orders to Naruto.

But he was also worried that the tone of the order was too serious.

Taking Naruto's feelings into consideration, Kakashi added softly, "If you want to use a knife, I'll help you find a replacement after we return to the village. Even though I'm like this, I know a little bit about using a knife, and maybe I can teach you some techniques."

"I have a little understanding".

Naruto glanced at Kakashi...that was quite a humble statement.

"I see."

Naruto was happy to be given an order by Kakashi that could not be refused.

He had no interest in the beheading sword.

The reason I picked it up was...

——It was just to carve the Flying Thunder God mark on the hilt.

At this moment, the Flying Thunder God mark on the beheading sword has been hidden, and it will only become visible to the naked eye when Naruto activates the technique.

"Then I'll take my leave now."

Carrying the beheading sword on his back, the masked boy said goodbye to Kakashi while carrying Zabuza's body.

As he finished speaking, a strong wind blew up under the masked boy's feet, sucking him and Zabuza in.

The wind died down, and the two men disappeared.

Kakashi then pulled down his forehead protector again to cover his Sharingan.

"There shouldn't be any more ninja attacks next time, Mr. Dazna, please take us to your house quickly."

Kakashi said to Dazna.

"I see. Hahahaha, you've worked so hard just now! I'll be home soon, and then I'll let you guys taste my daughter's cooking skills!"

The tense and oppressive atmosphere disappeared, and Dazna finally regained his spirits.

The excitement brought by escaping death made Dazna happily raise his hand and pat Kakashi's shoulder.

Unexpectedly, Kakashi fell to the ground when Dazna patted his shoulder.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The unexpected situation surprised everyone.

"Kakashi-sensei fainted."

Naruto lifted Kakashi off the ground and carried him on his back.

"It may be that the battle just now consumed too much chakra. Sasuke, Sakura, we can't relax now, we have to leave here quickly!"

Hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke and Sakura both nodded heavily.

Naruto looked at Dazna again and said, "Please lead the way quickly!"

"I see."

Dazna also suppressed his excitement and walked in front of everyone again to act as a guide.

In just a moment, everyone left the place where the two senior ninjas had fought just now.

After confirming that everyone had left, another Naruto walked out from the bushes.

Feeling the chakra in the wind, Naruto looked in the opposite direction where Team 7 left.

That was the direction Haku and Zabuza left.

"Well, let's deal with this trouble before Kakashi wakes up and finds out that the 'I' carrying him is just a shadow clone."

Naruto placed one hand in front of him, formed the seal of the instant body-flickering technique with one hand, and used the wind-bending technique to track down Bai.

It was not until Naruto's true form left that the forest truly returned to its original tranquility.

……

After confirming that no one was following him, Bai finally stopped jumping between the tree trunks.

He carried Zabuza to the ground and carefully laid Zabuza's "corpse" flat.

"Let's take care of the wound first."

Bai spread out the medical tool bag and pulled out a disintegration knife.

Then, Bai reached out to take the beheading sword from his back.

But as soon as he touched the hilt of the beheading sword, his whole body suddenly froze.

Blood flowed from his mask and along his chin.

"What?!"

His throat was filled with his own blood, and Bai's words became unclear.

Bai lowered his head and looked at his chest.

His chest was pierced all over.

A hand of a boy about his age appeared in front of him from behind, through his empty chest.

And in the young man's hand, there was a chakra ball that was compressed and rotating at a high speed.

It was this powerful ball of chakra that pierced through Shiro's chest.

The mask of the Kirigakure Anbu fell from Bai's face, revealing his delicate face that looked more like a woman than a man.

At this moment, his face was filled with confusion and bewilderment about his impending death.

But in his last moments, Bai did not look back to see who killed him.

Bai's gaze finally settled on Zabuza.

Mr. Zabuza... In the end, I didn't become a tool that you can use easily...

Bai was so powerful that he didn't even have time to use his Kekkei Genkai and died so easily.

Naruto pulled back his hand that had pierced through Shiro's chest.

Without the support of Naruto's arm, the dead Bai fell heavily to the ground.

Naruto didn't even bother to look at Haku any more, his eyes were fixed on Zabuza who was still in a state of suspended animation.

The Rasengan that killed Bai now attacked Zabuza.

Let Zabuza truly die.