Chapter 78: Sparring Partners and Bloody Truths
The thick mist that had choked the roadway began to dissipate, retreating like a living thing unwilling to relinquish its prey. Sunlight, pale and watery, filtered through the remaining haze, revealing the aftermath in increments. Ren Arakawa stood over the unconscious Mist ninja, his Sharingan slowly spinning down to a dull crimson as he deactivated it. The three tomoe faded, leaving his eyes their usual sharp grey.
Not far away, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki pushed themselves up from the dirt, coughing and brushing dust from their clothes. Their protective stance around Tazuna had been more theoretical than practical—when the real assassin had struck, only Sasuke had managed to place himself between the bridge builder and danger. Naruto and Sakura had been too paralyzed by the sudden violence, the reality of a kill-or-be-killed situation freezing them in place.
"Tch. If Sasuke hadn't gotten in my way, Ren, you wouldn't have even needed to lift a finger!" Naruto declared, striding over with forced bravado. He shot a defiant glare at Sasuke. "I would've taken that guy down myself!"
"Idiot."
Sasuke's single muttered word carried more contempt than a full lecture. He didn't even bother looking at Naruto, his dark eyes fixed instead on the captured ninja, analyzing everything—the placement of Ren's restraints, the angle of the unconscious man's fall, the minimal damage to the surrounding area. The efficiency of it all was both impressive and irritating.
[Tobirama Senju: Fourth, your son continues to disappoint. No tactical awareness, questionable intellect, and now he adds delusional grandstanding to the list. Where are these 'hidden qualities' you keep boasting about?]
[Minato Namikaze: They're hidden for a reason! You can't judge a book by its cover!]
[Uchiha Izuna: This one might actually be brain-damaged. Did he hit his head during the Kyuubi attack?]
[Hashirama Senju: I'm starting to worry too, Minato...]
[Yagura Karatachi: As a former Mizukage, I confirm: he'd be dead three times over in Kirigakure.]
[Third Raikage: Agreed.]
[Pakura: +1]
[Fū: +2]
[Kushina Uzumaki: facepalm Minato, stop defending him, you're making it worse!]
[Minato Namikaze: But honey—!]
[Kushina Uzumaki: No!]
"Ah, everyone's finished up here too, I see."
Kakashi Hatake dropped lightly from a nearby tree branch, landing without a sound. He brushed nonexistent dust from his flak jacket, looking for all the world like he'd just returned from a leisurely stroll rather than a combat engagement. His single visible eye curved into that familiar, infuriatingly casual smile.
"Kakashi-sensei," Ren said, voice dry as sun-bleached bone. "Enjoy your quality time with those two water clones?"
The Copy Ninja's eye crinkled further. "Now, now, Ren. A teacher's work is never done. Though I must say... you handled this rather decisively for someone on their first C-rank."
Ren matched his smile, thin and knowing. "What can I say? I'm a quick study. Unlike some people who take their sweet time confirming obvious things."
"Oh? And what was I confirming?"
"That Tazuna was the real target. That this wasn't some random bandit attack. That we've been lied to about the mission rank." Ren ticked the points off on his fingers. "You stayed back to see if they'd go for the 'client' or the 'genin.' Classic risk assessment. Though honestly, with the killing intent they were radiating, even Naruto could've figured it out."
"Hey!" Naruto protested.
Kakashi chuckled, a low, rustling sound. "I keep forgetting you're not actually a ten-year-old in any meaningful sense. It's unsettling."
"Try living with it," Ren shot back. "Now, are you going to interrogate our guest, or shall I? I have some... creative methods in mind."
Kakashi shook his head and approached the bound Mist ninja, who was now regaining consciousness. The man's eyes fluttered open, instantly sharp with pain and hostility. Kakashi crouched, his demeanor shifting from lazy to lethally focused in a heartbeat.
"Special Jonin of Kirigakure," Kakashi identified, his voice losing all its earlier lightness. "Blood Mist graduation, I'd guess. Class of... let's say, five years ago? You still have that particular scent about you—desperation mixed with too much early bloodshed."
The Mist ninja's eyes widened fractionally before his expression hardened into a mask of contempt. "Copy Ninja Kakashi. Of course. Should've known the old man hired more than babysitters."
"Babysitters?" Ren interjected, stepping forward. He gestured vaguely toward Naruto, who was making angry faces. "Have you met us?"
The Mist ninja's gaze swept over the team, lingering on Ren. "Didn't expect a monster hiding among the children. If I'd sent my clones after you first..."
"You'd still be lying here," Ren finished for him, tone conversational. "Just maybe with a few more broken bones. I was treating this as live combat practice. Sparring with intent to maim, let's say."
[Tobirama Senju: Sakumo, your boy has a vicious tongue. I approve.]
[Sakumo Hatake: ... He gets it from his mother's side.]
[Minato Namikaze: 'Sparring with intent to maim'! That's my student! Sort of!]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Don't encourage him!]
[Uchiha Fugaku: He's not wrong. In a real fight, you don't pull punches. You just win.]
[Uchiha Madara: Finally, someone speaking sense. This whole 'practice' notion is why modern shinobi are soft.]
The Mist ninja stared, then let out a wet, coughing laugh that turned into a pained groan. "Practice? You used me... as practice?"
"Pretty much," Kakashi confirmed cheerfully. "Their first real combat encounter. You made for a decent training dummy. A bit more lively than the wooden posts back at the Academy."
The captive ninja spasmed, fresh blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Whether from injury or sheer rage was unclear.
[Uchiha Izuna: Oh, that's cold. Even for a Senju student.]
[Tobirama Senju: Efficiency is not cruelty. It's clarity.]
[Yagura Karatachi: As a former Mizukage, I feel obligated to point out this is terrible for Kirigakure morale.]
[Chiyo: As a former Sand elder, I find it hilarious.]
"Enough games," the Mist ninja snarled, rallying. "Just finish it. I won't tell you anything."
Kakashi tilted his head. "Who sent you? Who's the actual target?"
"Go to hell."
Kakashi sighed, a genuine sound of disappointment. He drew a kunai, the steel catching the weak sunlight. "Alright then."
Sasuke frowned. "You're not going to interrogate him further? Use... I don't know, ninja techniques?"
"Torture, you mean?" Kakashi asked, eye curving again. "Won't work. Blood Mist graduates are broken in specific ways. Pain is an old friend to them. Information extraction requires time, tools, and expertise we don't have on the road. Besides..." He glanced at Sakura's pale face and Naruto's confused expression. "... some lessons come later."
Sasuke's jaw tightened. "Then why ask at all?"
"Politeness?" Kakashi offered. "Habit? Maybe I hoped he'd be one of the rare ones with a survival instinct stronger than his conditioning. Like running into someone whose self-preservation completely overrides their training." His eye slid meaningfully toward Naruto.
"Hey! What's that look for!" Naruto yelled.
[Minato Namikaze: KAKASHI! That's my son you're implying is a coward!]
[Sakumo Hatake: I think he's implying the opposite, actually. That Naruto's will to live is... exceptionally vibrant.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: He's calling our son an idiot who'd break under pressure!]
[Tobirama Senju: He's not wrong.]
[Minato Namikaze: ADMIN! I demand you mute Tobirama Senju!]
[System Notification: User 'Tobirama Senju' (VIP5) has Admin privileges. Mute request denied.]
[Tobirama Senju: Smug Senju Noise]
Kakashi raised the kunai. The Mist ninja didn't flinch, closing his eyes with a grimace of final defiance.
But the killing stroke never fell.
"Wait," Ren said, not raising his voice. Everyone turned to him. "He's not going to talk because he thinks he's dead either way. If he betrays his employer, he dies. If he doesn't, he dies. It's a lose-lose."
The captive's eyes snapped open.
Ren crouched down, meeting his gaze. "But what if there's a third option? You tell us what we want to know... and I don't let Kakashi-sensei kill you."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Ren—"
"I'll handle it," Ren said, his voice dropping into something low and persuasive. It was the tone he used when negotiating with the dead—a blend of reason, threat, and unshakable certainty. "You work for Gato, right? The shipping magnate. He hired Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, to stop Tazuna's bridge. You're the cleanup crew. The warning shot."
The Mist ninja's breath hitched. It was barely perceptible, but to Ren's trained eyes—and the Sharingan he could reactivate in a heartbeat—it was as good as a confession.
"Gato doesn't pay for failure," the ninja spat. "And Zabuza... he doesn't tolerate loose ends. If I talk, I'm dead. If I go back empty-handed, I'm dead. So like I said—just finish it."
Ren's smile was thin and sharp. "What if you didn't go back? What if you... disappeared? Assumed dead in the line of duty? Gato writes you off. Zabuza moves on to the main event. And you get to wake up tomorrow in a comfortable cell in Konoha, eating three square meals a day, waiting for a prisoner exchange that may or may not ever happen. It's not freedom, but it's not a kunai in the throat either."
The ninja stared, calculations flickering behind his eyes. The will to live, that most primal of instincts, warred with years of brutal conditioning.
[Uchiha Fugaku: Clever. Offering a prisoner's life instead of a warrior's death.]
[Tobirama Senju: Pragmatic. A live prisoner has intelligence value. A dead one is just a corpse.]
[Hyūga Hizashi: It's deceitful! Manipulative!]
[System Notification: User 'Hyūga Hizashi' (VIP1) has been muted by Admin 'Tobirama Senju' for 10 minutes.]
[Tobirama Senju: Thank you for your input.]
[Uchiha Madara: Snort Even dead, the Hyūga are insufferable.]
"Konoha's prisons are... comfortable?" the Mist ninja asked, voice hoarse.
"Compared to bleeding out on a dirt road in the Land of Waves?" Ren spread his hands. "They're five-star resorts. No assassination attempts from your own allies. No Zabuza in the shadows. Just quiet boredom and three meals a day. Maybe you even get a book if you behave."
A long, strained silence stretched out. The only sounds were the distant cry of a seabird and the rustle of leaves in the rising breeze.
"... His name is Zabuza Momochi," the ninja finally whispered, the words torn from him. "He's already in the Land of Waves. Gato hired him to kill Tazuna and anyone protecting him. We were the advance team. To test your strength. To soften you up."
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "And the boy with the mask? The one with the sensory abilities?"
The captive flinched. "How do you know about—? Never mind. His name is Haku. Zabuza's tool. He's... different. Dangerous in ways you don't expect. They'll be waiting at the bridge. Or before. Zabuza likes ambushes in heavy mist."
He sagged then, all resistance bleeding out of him along with the last of his defiance. The information was given. The line was crossed.
Ren stood up, nodding to Kakashi. "See? Everyone has a price. Even Blood Mist ninja. Theirs is just... depressingly low."
Kakashi resheathed his kunai, looking at Ren with an unreadable expression. "Remind me never to play poker with you." He turned to the team. "Alright, lesson over. Reality check: our C-rank mission just became an A-rank, possibly higher. Zabuza Momochi is a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, a Kage-level missing-nin with a body count in the hundreds. He will not be sparring with you."
Naruto gulped audibly. Sasuke's hands clenched into fists, knuckles white. Sakura looked like she might be sick.
Tazuna lowered his head, shame etched into every weathered line of his face. "I... I'm sorry. My country is poor. We couldn't afford the proper mission fee. I thought... if I could just get you here..."
"We'll discuss the fee adjustment later," Kakashi said, his tone leaving no doubt that 'adjustment' meant 'exponential increase.' "For now, we continue. But from this moment on, we are on high alert. Ren, you're on point with me. Your... particular set of skills just became our primary asset."
Ren nodded, already scanning the tree line, his senses extended. In the back of his mind, the live stream chat was buzzing with commentary, bets being placed, and historical anecdotes about Zabuza's reign of terror.
But he pushed it aside, focusing on the road ahead, on the heavy, salt-tanged air, and on the certain knowledge that somewhere in the gathering coastal mist, a demon with a sword larger than a man was waiting for them.
The real test was about to begin.
[Tobirama Senju: Well. This just got interesting.]
[Uchiha Madara: Finally. A proper opponent. Don't disappoint me, brat.]
[Minato Namikaze: Be careful, Ren! Zabuza's Silent Killing technique is—]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Don't you dare give him advice! This is his fight!]
[Minato Namikaze: But honey—!]
[Hashirama Senju: I'll bet 100 viewer points Ren forces Zabuza to use at least three water dragons!]
[Uchiha Izuna: I'll take that bet. The boy uses space-time ninjutsu. He'll end it before Zabuza gets going.]
[System Notification: Betting pool 'Ren vs. Zabuza - Technique Count' has been opened. Place your wagers now.]
Ren allowed himself a small, private smile as the notifications scrolled past his awareness. Let them bet. Let them watch.
The show was just getting started.