Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

"What?!"

His throat was filled with his own blood, and Bai's voice became muffled and indistinct.

Bai lowered his head and looked at his chest.

His chest was completely pierced.

A hand belonging to a boy about his age appeared before him from behind, through his empty chest.

In the boy's hand was a chakra ball that was being compressed and spun at high speed.

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

The mask of the Hidden Mist Anbu fell off Shiro's face, revealing his delicate features, which were not male but rather more feminine.

His face was now filled with confusion and bewilderment at his impending death.

But in his final moments, Bai did not turn around to see who his killer was.

Haku's gaze finally settled on Zabuza.

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

The powerful Bai died so easily that he didn't even have time to use his bloodline limit.

Naruto withdrew his hand that had pierced through Bai's chest.

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

Naruto didn't even bother to glance at Haku; his gaze was fixed on Zabuza, who was still feigning death.

The Rasengan that killed Haku is now attacking Zabuza.

Let Zabuza truly die.

Chapter 19 Pretending to be kind is also a skill

When Naruto pushed open Tazuna's door, Sasuke was standing in the entryway waiting for him.

"Naruto, have you noticed anything unusual?"

Sasuke observed Naruto's complexion and clothing and determined that Naruto had not encountered any danger while patrolling near Tazuna's residence.

Naruto closed the door behind him and shook his head: "No problem, I didn't find any trace of enemies, so we should be safe for now."

After escorting Tazuna home, Kakashi's unconscious state left Team 7 severely lacking in combat strength.

If we were to encounter another enemy at this point, especially if a Jonin like Zabuza appeared, we would have no means of dealing with them.

So, after discussing it with Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto's shadow clones decided that the three of them would patrol the vicinity of Tazuna's residence in turn according to time slots.

If you spot the enemy, come back and report.

If the patrolmen fail to return on time to relieve them, the remaining two will immediately evacuate with Tazuna and Kakashi.

Naruto was the first to take charge of patrolling.

The patrolling Naruto was, of course, a shadow clone, who released the jutsu during the patrol.

The information obtained by the shadow clone was immediately synchronized with the original Naruto.

The Naruto who is returning from patrol now is, of course, the real Naruto.

"I understand. I'll take turns with you from now on."

Sasuke nodded, preparing to take over the patrol and guard duties from Naruto.

Sakura ran over at that moment and called out to Sasuke, who was about to leave, "Wait a minute, Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei has woken up, and he has something to say to us!"

Upon hearing Sakura's message, Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance, and the three members of Team 7 headed towards Kakashi's room.

……

"I see... Your patrol and guard practices are correct."

When Team 7 gathered in front of Kakashi, Kakashi listened to Naruto recount what happened while he was unconscious.

"However, I have already woken up, although I am still very weak and not of much use. But you don't need to spread your forces out like this anymore."

After a moment's thought, Kakashi made a decision.

The patrols and guard duties that Naruto and the others carried out while Kakashi was unconscious were a last resort.

Now that Kakashi has awakened, it would be more dangerous for Team 7 to disperse than to stay together.

Kakashi had indeed exhausted his chakra due to overuse of his Sharingan, and would be in a weakened state for the next week.

But he was still a Jonin after all, and during his recovery period, what he could do was still incomparable to what Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, the three Genin.

Kakashi can continue fighting if necessary.

However, there is no way to rescue partners who encounter danger during rescue patrols.

By bringing Team 7 and Tazuna, the person they are protecting, together, it will be easier for Kakashi to protect them.

Therefore, concentrating forces is currently the most effective way to deal with danger.

"But... what if another Jonin like Zabuza appears during this time?"

Sakura asked the question.

No matter how well she studies, she is still a young girl with insufficient practical experience and her knowledge of many things is not comprehensive.

“Jonin-level rogue ninjas aren’t easy to hire. Gato probably only has Zabuza as a Jonin.”

As the teacher of Team 7, Kakashi patiently answered Sakura's questions: "Our next enemies will at most be Chunin like the Oni Brothers, and a slightly larger number of wandering samurai."

“If the next enemy is just a Chunin, the three of us can handle it.” Sasuke interjected, looking at Kakashi who seemed listless. “Kakashi, you should get some rest. Zabuza, who needed your help, is dead now.”

"No... that's what I called you all here to say."

Kakashi covered his mouth in deep thought—

"Zabuza might still be alive."

Sasuke and Sakura both wore stunned expressions, shocked by Kakashi's sudden bombshell revelation.

"Kakashi-sensei, why do you think Zabuza isn't dead yet?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and Sakura and asked.

"Normally, the bodies of rogue ninjas are disposed of on the spot by the rogue ninja pursuit team... Also, the weapon that masked boy used to kill Zabuza was wrong..."

The small ninja tools commonly used by ninjas are shuriken shaped like multi-pointed darts, kunai shaped like small swords, and senbon shaped like long needles.

Of these three types of ninja tools, the senbon has the lowest destructive power.

In the hands of medical ninjas, senbon can even be transformed from offensive weapons into medical instruments for acupuncture.

Generally, the purpose of using Senbon is to control the enemy, not to kill them.

Since that masked boy was a member of the Hidden Mist Village's Anbu, responsible for hunting down Zabuza Momochi, a rogue ninja.

Therefore, both shuriken and kunai are better choices.

But in the end, he chose the senbon, which had the lowest lethality.

Moreover, the target of Senbon's thrusts was Zabuza's neck.

Hearing Kakashi's declarative tone, Sakura was the first to sense something was wrong: "Kakashi-sensei, did you already know there was a problem from the beginning?"

Kakashi looked up at Sakura and nodded slightly under her questioning gaze.

"That masked boy was probably Zabuza's comrade, but I was just holding on at the time... He didn't choose to continue attacking us, but instead took Zabuza and left... We were lucky."

Kakashi noticed something was wrong from the beginning, but by then it was too late to continue fighting.

That's why Kakashi took the gamble.

Looks like I'm pretty lucky.

Kakashi's gaze swept over the three members of Team 7, observing their expressions.

Upon hearing the news that Zabuza might still be alive, Sasuke and Sakura both wore worried expressions, fearing that Zabuza might launch another attack while Kakashi was weakened.

However, compared to Sakura's complete worry, Sasuke's concern was mixed with a touch of rational thinking.

Sasuke was probably thinking about how to deal with being attacked by Zabuza again.

Especially if Zabuza really launches an attack later, the masked boy will most likely appear as well.

Sakura and Sasuke's reactions were exactly what Kakashi had anticipated.

Kakashi was more curious about Naruto's reaction at that moment.

Naruto showed no sign of worry and simply stood quietly to the side.

Noticing Kakashi's gaze, Naruto looked up and met his eyes.

"Naruto, aren't you worried that Zabuza will reappear?"

"Because you don't seem worried at all, Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto's answer made Kakashi's eyes widen in surprise, and Sasuke and Sakura also belatedly noticed Kakashi's reaction after hearing Naruto's words.

That's really perceptive.

Kakashi simply assumed that Naruto had a keen intuition.

After all, that was the impression Naruto gave him.

From questioning the number of bells during the survival exercise, to rescuing Sakura from the Demon Brothers... and now interpreting Kakashi's emotions.

Perhaps Naruto could develop in the direction of a sensory ninja in the future...

Kakashi had no idea that Naruto's seemingly intuitive and sensitive behavior was actually a deliberate act by Naruto.

The mission in the Land of Waves has been upgraded from level C to level B, and may even be very close to level A escort mission.

Kakashi would report every detail to the Third Hokage after the mission, and his report would inevitably fall into Danzo's hands.

If Naruto hadn't guided Kakashi's thinking in the wrong direction, Danzo would definitely have noticed something amiss in the mission report Kakashi submitted.

But what if Kakashi's thinking is flawed?

Kakashi, who was already part of the Hokage faction, only slightly influenced the evaluation of Naruto in the report, adding a touch of Kakashi's personal subjective opinion when describing Naruto's actions in the Land of Waves.