Although Zabuza was also a Water Release ninja, Furina wasn't worried that this technique would give him any terrain advantage.
He might gain a slight boost from it, but Furina was confident that in terms of Water Release ninjutsu, the other party could never be her match. Whatever enhancement he could get from the water was, compared to hers, nothing more than a drizzle at best.
"Hm?"
As soon as Furina finished speaking, countless streams of water surged forward. Zabuza who had still been standing with his back to them, acting cool widened his eyes the instant he saw this.
Although he knew that since Kakashi had allowed Furina to stay, her strength couldn't be weak, and he had some expectations, this was still way too exaggerated. Even if it were him performing it, it wouldn't be much better than this.
But while he was shocked, Zabuza didn't panic too much. After all, he was also proficient in Water Release. The stronger the technique the opponent used, the greater his own advantage would become.
She couldn't really think that just because he carried a big sword, he only knew taijutsu, right? Too naive. Let this former Kirigakure jōnin teach you a lesson, little girl.
That was what Zabuza thought and what he did. After barely dodging the onslaught of the Great Waterfall Technique, he stabbed his Executioner's Blade into the ground and immediately began forming hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique"
"Heh heh, let me show you Kirigakure's Water Release."
After hearing that Furina in the distance was using the exact same ninjutsu as him, Zabuza let out a sinister laugh. This was perfect defeating her with the very technique she specialized in. How could that not be satisfying?
"What the hell is this your Water Dragon Bullet?"
Before Zabuza could gloat for long, he was dumbfounded again. Opposite his summoned water dragon, five water dragons rose simultaneously. Side by side, his looked pitiful in comparison.
"Why wouldn't these be Water Dragon Bullets? Look which one of mine isn't a proper, legitimate Water Dragon Bullet? Tell me."
Faced with Zabuza's questioning, Furina almost burst out laughing. If you need to form that many hand seals just to use a Water Dragon Bullet, then what's the point? Why not just charge in with your big sword and hack away? Yet here you are, insisting on competing with her in ninjutsu.
At this moment, Zabuza was so angry he could curse. Did she really think he couldn't see the smile on her face just because he was far away? She was deliberately mocking him, wasn't she?
But he didn't have time to curse. Aside from the one that clashed with and canceled his own, the rest of Furina's water dragons were already lunging toward him in unison. If he didn't respond properly to ninjutsu of this level, even he would get injured.
Under Furina's control, the water dragons sealed off most of Zabuza's escape routes. He managed to deal with three of them through various means, but the last one was impossible to avoid.
"No time for a Substitution Technique damn it."
Realizing there was no way to dodge, Zabuza gritted his teeth, gripped his Executioner's Blade, and swung it directly at the incoming water dragon. With his full strength behind the strike, the dragon was cleaved in two.
But because he had taken the ninjutsu head-on, Zabuza's arms were trembling uncontrollably. Even his Executioner's Blade had to be temporarily set down on the ground.
"Your skill in ninjutsu is indeed impressive, but I won't give you another chance like that."
As he spoke, Zabuza slowly began forming hand seals again with his still-trembling arms. He planned to use the Hidden Mist Technique to drag the battlefield into his area of expertise.
But just as Zabuza was forming seals, he suddenly felt an intense sense of crisis from behind. In that instant, his pupils contracted sharply. Having lived on the edge of death for years, he knew this wasn't an illusion.
He immediately stopped forming seals, grabbed his Executioner's Blade without thinking, and blocked behind him. And facts proved his instinct right once again it saved his life.
The moment the blade was positioned behind him, a streak of lightning struck toward his heart. Lightning clashed against the blade; in the next instant, the blade shattered, and the lightning continued surging forward.
The one who ambushed him was naturally Kakashi. Seeing an opening, he hadn't hesitated he had directly used his signature technique, Lightning Cutter, for the assault.
However, after being blocked just now, the power of Lightning Cutter had been greatly reduced, and its speed had slowed considerably. It didn't pierce straight through Zabuza; it only grazed his skin before Zabuza's hand clamped down hard on Kakashi's wrist.
Realizing there was no longer a chance for a one-hit kill, Kakashi didn't hesitate. He immediately raised his leg and kicked forward.
Faced with Kakashi's fierce kick, Zabuza who was already in poor condition couldn't react in time. He was sent flying backward until he crashed into a massive tree and finally stopped.
"I'll return your earlier words exactly as they were: I won't give you another chance like that."
"Cough… cough…"
Although he had avoided the fatal strike of Lightning Cutter, Kakashi's kick just now had still packed serious power. Right now, Zabuza only felt excruciating pain in his abdomen.
"Cough… looks like I'm going to lose this time. I have to admit I really misjudged you. The Demon Brothers were actually taken out by this girl, weren't they? And here I thought it was you, Kakashi."
Looking at Kakashi and Furina standing side by side ahead of him, Zabuza let out a sigh, looking as though he had already accepted defeat.
But had Zabuza truly given up resistance? Of course not. He was only buying time with his words both to recover some strength and to wait for someone.
"The moment you assumed I had brought a liability along, you were already not far from defeat."
After saying that, Kakashi stepped forward to finish him off. Although he didn't know exactly what Zabuza was thinking, he had no intention of giving the other party any chance to recover.
Or rather, when facing an opponent of this caliber, going all out was the greatest form of respect.
Just as Kakashi drew closer, Zabuza who had appeared completely unable to resist suddenly exploded into motion, swinging his broken blade toward Kakashi.
His speed was astonishing clearly not the movement of someone heavily injured. His near-death state earlier had obviously been an act.
And Zabuza's sudden attack seemed to have been anticipated by Kakashi as well; he easily dodged it. But right after evading Zabuza's strike, a dense barrage of senbon needles suddenly rained down on him.
The senbon came in overwhelming numbers, leaving no gaps and nowhere to dodge. A hint of surprise flashed through Kakashi's eyes he really hadn't expected Zabuza to have a partner.
"Water Release: Water Shield Technique"
Without needing Kakashi to evade, the moment the senbon appeared, a massive water shield rose up behind him. The tiny needles couldn't penetrate the suddenly materialized water barrier at all they were all blocked without exception.
"Thanks, Furina."
Realizing a new enemy had appeared, Kakashi immediately fell back to Furina's side while also verbally expressing his gratitude.