"Mr. Tazuna! Hey, Mr. Tazuna!"
Naruto Uzumaki crouched beside the old bridge builder, shaking him repeatedly.
Sasuke Uchiha stood nearby with a kunai in hand, keeping a wary eye on Zabuza Momochi.
Sakura Haruno snapped out of her shock and nervously reached toward Tazuna's nose.
"He's still breathing!"
Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Then he glared at Zabuza, scratching his head in confusion. With his usual level of insight, he couldn't decide whether to blame Zabuza… or blame Mr. Tazuna for laughing at the wrong moment.
"Naruto, something's not right about this client… watch out!" Sasuke suddenly shouted.
Naruto froze.
The supposedly unconscious Tazuna suddenly rolled over, opened his eyes, and stared straight at him. Naruto yelped and fell backward onto the ground.
"Hahahaha! Naruto, my boy I'm not dead!"
Naruto stared for a moment before relaxing.
"So you were laughing because you survived… wait—hey! Stop laughing!"
Tazuna quickly forced himself to stop, his face twisting into a pained expression. He clutched the right side of his waist as bright red blood continued to seep out.
"Mr. Tazuna, you're hurt!"
"Let me handle it," Sakura said.
A soft white glow formed around her hands as she placed them over the wound.
"N-No way, Sakura. When did you learn medical ninjutsu?" Naruto asked in surprise.
From a distance, Uzumaki Akio was also slightly surprised. He had only given Sakura those medical scrolls two months ago, yet she could already perform the most basic healing technique.
Her talent really was impressive.
Meanwhile, Zabuza kept his eyes locked on Tazuna while silently watching Akio's little performance. Inside, he felt utterly speechless… and honestly wanted to laugh—but didn't dare.
What kind of ridiculous mission is this? he thought. What am I even supposed to do here…
After a moment, he raised his voice.
"So the old man's still alive? Fine. I'll just finish the job."
Zabuza gave his massive sword a shake—only to realize the "blood" (actually tomato sauce) wouldn't come off completely.
I couldn't even see when the old guy smeared that stuff on himself… the gap between us is still that big, huh…
"Hey, you eyebrowless jerk! You're still going after him?" Naruto shouted, springing to his feet.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Sasuke frowned. He already had a rough idea of what was really going on, but he kept quiet and charged forward alongside Naruto's clones.
After weeks of nothing but tree-climbing and weed-pulling training, it felt good to finally move. Facing someone like Zabuza would give him the pressure he needed.
Besides… he still wanted to beat Toneri someday.
Meanwhile, Akio was laughing inside.
Ha! That totally worked!
The battle resumed.
This time, Zabuza decided to treat it like a serious sparring session. If he actually tried to complete the "mission" and kill Tazuna, he'd have to be insane.
Still, Zabuza wasn't about to look like a pushover.
His massive blade swung again and again—each strike aimed straight at Naruto's… eyebrows.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Sasuke exhaled a blast of scorching fire that twisted into the shape of a roaring dragon, charging toward Zabuza. The air itself seemed to heat up.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
Zabuza planted his sword into the ground and rapidly formed hand signs, blasting out a huge wave of water that rose like a wall and collided with the flames.
The clash produced a cloud of scorching steam.
Several of Naruto's shadow clones ran straight into the steam cloud and instantly popped one after another.
Zabuza raised an eyebrow and sneered.
"So naive—"
He suddenly spun around, swinging his sword backward.
"—kids… huh?"
Two Narutos had appeared behind him, but they were still clones.
Zabuza turned back—
"Rasengan!"
A spinning sphere of pale blue chakra slammed toward his chest. Naruto grinned—
—but the Zabuza in front of him suddenly turned into water.
"Splash!"
The real clash of weapons rang out behind Naruto.
Sasuke had intercepted the real Zabuza, crossing two kunai to block the massive blade aimed at Naruto.
"Idiot, Naruto! Don't drop your guard—we're fighting a Jonin!"
Back near Tazuna, Sakura watched wide-eyed.
"Sasuke is amazing… even Naruto…"
"Kid," Tazuna croaked weakly, "if you keep daydreaming like that, I'm going to die."
Sakura blinked and turned around.
"But… the bleeding already stopped."
"Didn't they teach you anything about medicine? Ever heard of infections? Who knows how many germs are on that sword…" Tazuna grumbled.
"Honestly… how does Naruto end up with teammates like you?"
Sakura: "…"
This client was just as annoying as ever.
Akio quietly chuckled to himself.
Whether the bleeding continued or stopped was entirely under his genjutsu control. Sakura actually thought her beginner-level medical ninjutsu had done the trick.
Maybe I should make the wound burst open again just to show her…
…
As time passed, anxiety began creeping onto Sakura's face.
Naruto and Sasuke had already picked up several small cuts from Zabuza's relentless attacks. None were serious—but Zabuza himself hadn't taken a single scratch.
When Sasuke barely dodged another slash, Sakura clenched her teeth and stood up, pulling a kunai from her pouch.
"Kid," Tazuna said quietly, "if you go out there… you'll die."
Sakura slowly turned and gave him a bright smile.
"Thanks for worrying about me, sir."
Then she ran toward the battlefield without hesitation.
At that moment, Akio straightened up.
Alright. The goal of this little exercise has basically been achieved. Time to call it.
With a puff, he dispelled his disguise and returned to his real form.
"Cut!"
A flash of silver light appeared.
Kakashi Hatake returned right on cue, rescuing the three students at the last second. With just two swift strikes, he forced Zabuza to retreat in a miserable scramble.
Akio watched thoughtfully before his figure distorted and vanished.
Kakashi is much stronger than he was at this point in the original timeline, he mused.
He's probably not far behind Sakumo in his prime. Zabuza can barely handle a few exchanges with him—Kisame might not fare much better.
Still… without the Sharingan, his ceiling is lower.
Far away, Naruto shouted happily.
"Sensei! You're back! That shark-face guy—"
"I gave him a warning and let him go," Kakashi said calmly.
"After all, he's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen tied to Uzushio's legacy."
Naruto clenched his fists.
"I'm telling Uncle Nagato and Sister Konan about this! Those jerks almost killed Mr. Tazuna—"
He suddenly looked around.
"Wait… Sakura, where's Mr. Tazuna?"
Sakura turned in surprise.
"He was injured—he was lying right over there…"
Kakashi and Sasuke exchanged a knowing look.
Sasuke shrugged.
"Looks like he ran off once things got dangerous. If that's the case… our mission is technically complete."
Naruto frowned immediately.
"Mr. Tazuna wouldn't run away! Maybe he got into trouble…"
He looked toward the distant bridge.
"Let's go check!"
Unable to argue with Naruto's stubborn determination, the four of them crossed the bridge and headed into the nearby town.
After asking around, they quickly learned where the bridge builder Tazuna lived.
Kakashi rubbed his forehead in disbelief.
"So… there actually is someone named Tazuna?"
Even Sasuke looked confused. Had his deduction been wrong?
The town was small. Within a kilometer, they reached Tazuna's house.
Naruto immediately spotted the old man outside, happily playing with his grandson.
"Hey! Mr. Tazuna! You actually ran off first?! I was worried sick about you!"
Tazuna looked up in confusion, adjusting his reading glasses.
"Who's this blond kid? Short little guy… talking about worrying about me?"
Naruto: ???
In the hidden observation space, Akio smiled and quietly shook his head—perfectly satisfied with the chaos he'd caused.