"Although I'm pretty pissed off at being played by you two, I'm not someone who doesn't know what's what. I'll remember this favor. If there's a chance in the future, I'll repay it. Mission abandoned. Let's go, Haku."
As Zabuza spoke, he slung the now-broken Executioner's Blade back onto his back and prepared to turn and leave. After everything that had just happened, continuing the fight would be extremely difficult anyway.
"Wait a moment."
"What is it, Kakashi? Don't want to let me go? Do you think I've already reached my limit?"
After being called back by Kakashi, Zabuza couldn't help feeling a bit puzzled. From the look of things earlier, the other side didn't seem to have any desire to keep fighting either.
"No, no, no you've misunderstood. I just wanted to ask: will there be any more strong guys coming to attack us later? If we get ambushed out of nowhere without any idea what's coming, it'd be pretty troublesome for me too."
In response to Zabuza's question, Kakashi who had already pulled his headband back down over his eye waved his hands repeatedly. Though he had briefly considered the idea of eliminating the threat once and for all, since Furina had already reconciled with that Haku, he let go of the notion.
After all, Zabuza's strength wasn't much inferior to his own. Even in poor condition, if they fought to the bitter end, Kakashi would definitely take serious injuries too. For the sake of a C-rank mission, it wasn't worth it.
And if the other side was willing to voluntarily abandon the assassination, that was naturally the best outcome.
"Heh, and here I thought it was something serious. Don't worry aside from this great one, the rest are just small fry and trash. They're the kind that little girl could handle easily on her own."
"Is that so? Then it looks like things will finally be a bit more relaxed from here on out. Thanks a lot."
"Hmph."
Watching Zabuza and Haku gradually disappear at the edge of their vision, Kakashi also let out a sigh of relief.
In the earlier fight, his own consumption had been quite high. If it had dragged on any longer, he was afraid he might have just collapsed right there. Though with Furina by his side there wouldn't be any real danger, it would still be an enormous loss of face.
...
"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have anything you want to say to me?"
"Why do you ask that?"
After reuniting with Naruto and Sasuke who had been waiting for a long time the group resumed their journey. On the road, with nothing better to do, Furina struck up a conversation with Kakashi again.
"Mercy toward enemies, letting them go because of womanly compassion, right?"
"Ahem." Hearing this, Kakashi gave Furina a puzzled glance. Of course he knew she was referring to Zabuza and Haku, but that wasn't the point. The point was that now he didn't even know what to say in response.
Did she really think he was the cold-blooded, ruthless type in her mind? No way he prided himself on usually coming across as pretty positive and upbeat.
"Leaving aside whether letting them go was right or wrong in itself, at the very least it avoided further fighting. And since they've already given up on the assassination, we don't need to concern ourselves with anything beyond the mission.
Moreover, from a personal standpoint, I support what you did in this matter. I hope you can keep holding onto that mindset and carry it forward."
"Uh... got it." Furina hadn't expected that just wanting to chat with someone would end up with her getting a mouthful of chicken soup. It really caught her off guard.
After hitting a wall with Kakashi, Furina turned her attention to the streaming screen instead. The barrage comments from netizens online were all so entertaining each one a gem. She absolutely loved it here.
"Reminding each other before the fight even starts are they really ninjas? That's way too much emphasis on martial virtue."
"This Haku is basically just a girl drawn as a guy, right? Looks so pretty why does he have to be a boy?"
"A boy is even better, right? Bro, you smell so good hehehehehehehe..."
"Why does Furina sound so shady when she's provoking Zabuza? I know it's to get him to open up his true feelings, but I really didn't expect her to say stuff like that."
"You can actually think of it this way: the fact that Furina could say those things proves she's not some naive goody-two-shoes she's well aware of the darker side of the world. But precisely because of that,
in a situation like this, isn't it even more precious and admirable for her to still hold onto the dream of making a world like this better? Gotta say, the production team really nailed her character."
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"We've finally arrived. Thank you all for protecting us along the way. We'll also be counting on you during the bridge construction period ahead."
After walking a bit further, the group finally reached the destination of this mission. Once the bridge was completed, the task would essentially be finished.
Because Zabuza had abandoned the mission, the following period passed without any major incidents. The days were spent in daily training until the day the bridge was finally completed.
"Everyone, could you help us out one more time? That Gato has gathered a bunch of people at the bridgehead. With them blocking the way, we can't carry out the final finishing work at all."
"Didn't expect there to still be enemies. Well then, what are we waiting for? I'll go show them the results of all my hard training these past days!"
After hearing about Tazuna's predicament, Naruto who hadn't had a chance to shine until now immediately grew impatient and eager to go show off his power. Having been stuck on the sidelines all this time, he had long wanted to contribute something himself.
"Heh, then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving."
Beside him, Sasuke didn't even wait after hearing this he immediately set off toward the place Tazuna had described.
His thoughts were similar to Naruto's, and because of his pride, he now wanted to prove himself even more than Naruto did. After this period of training, he was no longer the same person who could only stand by and watch.
"Hey, Sasuke, wait for me!"
Seeing Sasuke take the lead, Naruto got anxious too. He quickly stopped dawdling, shouting as he hurried to catch up.
"Uh..."
Watching the two of them dash off one after the other, Kakashi and Furina exchanged a glance. Both could see the exasperation in each other's eyes. What were these two in such a rush for? No one was competing with them.
Still, to prevent any accidents, the two of them also quickly followed. Although they set off a little later than Naruto and Sasuke, their speed was much faster, so the difference wasn't great.
By the time they arrived, Naruto and Sasuke had just begun clashing with the ninjas Gato had hired. And those hired ninjas truly lived up to Zabuza's description of "small fry and trash."
Neither Naruto nor Sasuke was falling behind even while each taking on several opponents at once. With this level of skill, it was hard to imagine how they dared come looking for trouble. If anything, they were the ones looking to get killed.
One could only say that in the Land of Waves a country with no shinobi many people had no real understanding of what ninjas were capable of. Even that big businessman Gato was the same.
Because for money, ninjas would obey his orders even a famous rogue ninja like Zabuza had done so. Over time, he gradually lost any real sense of what ninjas truly were.