The border of the Land of Water.
Deep inside a mist-soaked forest,
A child in a ragged shirt knelt beside a narrow stream, carefully filling a worn bottle with cold water. His movements were quiet and practiced he had done this countless times.
Not far away, a tall man wrapped in bandages leaned against a tree trunk, pretending to sleep.
At his side rested a massive blade: the Decapitation Broadsword, one of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Hidden Mist. Even in stillness, his body radiated a chilling, murderous aura characteristic of a man forged in the "Bloody Mist" era.
This man… was Momochi Zabuza.
After rebelling against the tyrannical Fourth Mizukage, Yagura whose rule drenched Kirigakure in blood Zabuza escaped the village and fled through the borderlands, hunted relentlessly by the Mist's ANBU hunters.
"Zabuza-sama."
Haku handed the filled bottle to him gently.
Without lifting his head, Zabuza cracked open an eye to glance at the child an innocent boy with snow-white skin and eyes far too pure for a land like Kirigakure. Just as he reached for the bottle
His expression twisted violently.
An eruption of killing intent surged out like a tidal wave.
In an instant, Zabuza grabbed his blade and slid into a combat stance.
"So sharp. As expected of a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen your perception is as keen as ever."
Footsteps sounded softly.
A young figure stepped out from the shadows of the dripping trees.
"Who are you?"
Zabuza's brows knitted tightly.
At first he assumed the intruder was another squad from the Mist's Hunter-nin Corps. But when he saw the person clearly, his heart eased slightly.
"The Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza. You weren't easy to track down."
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Chiya."
"I am the current Patriarch of the Uchiha clan."
Chiya spoke calmly, even with a faint smile.
"Uchiha…?"
Even Zabuza couldn't hide his surprise.
He had clashed with Uchiha shinobi during the Third Great Ninja War. He knew well the terror of the Sharingan eyes that could read movements, copy jutsu, and turn assassinations into suicide missions for the attacker.
But what shocked him more
This boy, barely past childhood, claimed to be the patriarch of the Uchiha?
"It seems the Uchiha have fallen far indeed."
"To choose a brat like you as their leader."
Zabuza sneered coldly.
Chiya didn't react. He said simply:
"I came to you for business. I've already investigated you. You're a product of the Mist's brutal academy, skilled in the Hidden Mist Technique, silent killing, and Water Release. I want you to teach these skills to the children of my clan. And of course, I will give you very generous compensation."
Zabuza clicked his tongue.
"Hidden Mist, Silent Killing these are Kirigakure's core assassination secrets! Even if I'm a Missing-nin, I'd never teach such things to Konoha brats!"
Chiya smiled faintly.
"I didn't expect you to have so much loyalty. But Kirigakure hasn't shown you any mercy either. Or do you deny the fact they keep sending Hunter-nin to kill you?"
Zabuza's eyes widened slightly.
Damn it.
He had taken extreme care masking his trail and concealing his wounds.
How did this boy see through it so easily?
"Your next move is obvious raise funds, gather strength, and one day return to overthrow the rule of the Fourth Mizukage."
"In which case, what I'm offering is an excellent opportunity."
"Become an instructor under me, and you'll gain both resources and protection from the Hunter-nin pursuit."
Chiya's tone remained light, but every word stabbed precisely at Zabuza's intentions.
This time, Zabuza's expression truly changed.
Shock.
Followed by something close to horror.
This kid
He actually knew his plans!?
The next instant
Zabuza ripped the Decapitation Blade from the earth with a fierce pull, its massive edge gleaming.
He pointed the tip of the sword directly at Chiya's head.
Cold killing intent filled the air.
"You know too much."
"It makes me want to split your skull open just to see what kind of brain you've got inside…"
Qianye shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Is it still necessary to use force in the end? But that's what I expected…"
"Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu!!"
The moment Zabuza realized that the kid in front of him dared to confront him alone, he knew this was no ordinary brat. Especially now, when his injuries inflicted by Kirigakure's Hunter-nin hadn't fully healed, he needed to seize the early advantage.
So attacking first was the only correct choice for a man famed as Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist.
Fwoooosh!!
A thick, heavy fog rolled out, engulfing nearly the entire forest.
This was no natural mist, it was filled with Zabuza's chakra.
Even Qianye's Sharingan couldn't pierce through chakra-laced haze; the mist refracted vision and muffled sound, the same way Zabuza had once toyed with Konoha ANBU during the Third Shinobi War.
Zabuza slipped into the fog like a phantom.
Silent Killing wasn't merely moving silently
it was an assassination art designed to erase presence itself.
No footsteps.
No breathing.
No killing intent until the exact moment of the strike.
Within this technique, the enemy might as well be blindfolded and bound.
Soon, Zabuza appeared behind Qianye without a sound.
A cold flash flickered through Zabuza's eyes as he raised the oversized blade. Qianye was standing beside a large tree, so Zabuza's strike cut down toward both boy and trunk with surgical precision.
The blade descended but the instant the sword tip touched Qianye's body, he vanished.
Not blurred.
Not substituted.
He simply wasn't there, as if he had never existed.
"Huh?"
Even Zabuza, master of stealth, was stunned.
CRACK—!!
The massive tree split cleanly in half under the weight of the Decapitating Blade…
But then the impossible occurred.
At the exposed trunk, fresh wood fibers twisted and sprouted, forming rapidly expanding branches that shot forward like serpents, lunging toward Zabuza with precision no ordinary Mokuton could achieve.
Before Zabuza could react, the wooden tendrils wrapped around him.
"—!!"
His pupils contracted sharply.
These weren't ordinary trees.
This was unmistakably
Wood Release.
Mokuton.
The kekkei genkai of the First Hokage.
That little brat actually commanded Wood Release!?
Moreover these wooden vines didn't merely bind him.
They were actively draining chakra, just like the binding roots used by Hashirama against tailed beasts.
Zabuza twisted violently, trying to tear himself free.
But every vine he shredded only caused more to coil around him.
His movements grew weaker.
His injuries reopened.
His chakra dropped sharply.
In the end, his body gave out, his hand loosened
and the Decapitation Blade slipped from his grasp, falling toward the ground.
Before it could hit the earth,
a slender hand reached out and caught it mid-air with ease.
Qianye held the massive blade twice his size as if it weighed nothing.
Then he casually handed it back to Zabuza with a smile:
"You lost."
---
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