"An A-rank rogue from the Mist stoops to such cheap tricks?" Sasuke kept his hands in his pockets, staring coldly at Momochi Zabuza. Though his face was composed, sweat trickled down his spine.
He was drenched.
"You foolish boy—your attempts at getting under someone's skin pale compared to Ayato's." Zabuza sneered, looking down arrogantly at Sasuke. "I said it already: a shinobi is a tool for killing. No matter how despicable the method, completing the mission is a shinobi's entire worth!"
Zabuza let more chakra flow into the water sphere; its weight increased and Naruto writhed inside, pained.
"Decide quickly—do you want to watch this blond brat die at my hands?" Zabuza turned to Sakura, voice like ice. "Though I'm the one who kills, the choice is yours. Hesitate and that blond will die because of you."
Three foolish kids. He believed being a shinobi was easy. Every mission demanded a grave price. If a tool develops feelings, failure is certain.
Far away, Ayato sat cross-legged atop a large boat, a steaming bowl of ramen in hand. With the Transmigration Eye he casually observed the bridge below.
"This has become interesting," Ayato's mouth lifted in amusement. How would that obedient brat choose — to take out handsome Sasuke, or to watch obnoxious Naruto die?
He slurped his ramen with the air of an audience. "Mm… hot." He chewed slowly, enjoying the show. In the end, he thought, credit was due to the Mist shinobi for helping Team 7 grow.
On the bridge, Sasuke's face was dark. He stared at Naruto trapped inside the water globe, utterly bewildered.
Damn it. What to do?
A flash of slaughtered-clan memories flickered through his mind, then images of Team 7's childish antics with Ayato. He steadied himself.
"Sakura—act." Sasuke's head bent, black hair shadowing his red eyes.
He cursed himself inwardly. Why was he worrying about Naruto—the idiotic blond? Still, he felt it.
"Sasuke…" Sakura froze. She hadn't expected the cold, prideful Sasuke to show such concern for Naruto.
Then, Ayato's voice—calm, mocking—floated directly into their heads via chakra transmission.
"Stop flapping and use your heads. You're carrying my name, and yet you're being ridiculous."
"Think. What's in your pockets?"
"What's the situation, and what should you do?"
"Haven't you noticed the Mist shinobi hasn't moved since the start?"
"Act boldly. If anything goes wrong, I'll cover you."
"Mm—hot… tonkotsu ramen is delicious."
The three of them froze.
"Ayato-sensei…" Sakura's terror eased; a rush of safety warmed her. If Ayato was nearby, what was there to fear?
Sasuke frowned. The hint—Zabuza hadn't moved since he started the water prison. What did that mean? Then realization cracked him open. Of course: to maintain the Water Prison, Zabuza had to hold the hand seals. He couldn't move freely; he couldn't kill Naruto without withdrawing the kunai and breaking the seal. The technique was a bluff.
Brilliant. Ayato watching from a distance had spotted that weakness.
Zabuza watched Sasuke and Sakura relax, and his face tightened at their sudden calm. He couldn't see Ayato's chakra whisper; he only noticed their composure changing.
Sasuke started forming seals, then gripped his wrist. Pale-blue lightning crawled across his palm, humming like a shrill birdcall that made ears sting.
"Chidori." He advanced, face flat, the lightning concentrated in his palm.
"This is Chidori—the move copied from the Copy Ninja." Zabuza's face soured. Ayato, that pest, was meddling again—teaching trash genin dangerous tricks.
Sasuke's eyes were hard. "You talk big. If you can do it, then try. Move and see."
Zabuza's hand twitched around the water sphere, maintaining his seals. He cursed inwardly—Sasuke's bluff-call was dangerous. If Sasuke struck while Naruto attacked, there'd be two attacks at zero distance; even a jōnin couldn't defend both.
Sakura and Naruto stiffened as Sasuke explained. The realization that Zabuza's prison required seals dawned on them. And though they knew it wasn't purely Sasuke's brilliance—Ayato's hint had guided them—Sasuke played it perfectly.
"Do it then," Sasuke said, contemptuous. "If you dare move, you'll die."
Zabuza's hand shook; so did his voice: "I—if you move one step, I'll kill him."
Sasuke only sneered. "Do it. Try."
Zabuza tried to leap back, but Naruto split off clones—two of them popped up to stabilize a Rasengan in midair. Naruto launched; Sasuke lunged with Chidori.
"Rasengan!" Naruto's clones sped after the airborne Zabuza.
"Chidori!" Sasuke's lightning-charged palm stabbed forward.
But a soft voice cut the air: "If you move, you die." Mizunotsuki Bai—masked, clad in Anbu-like Mist garb—appeared in an instant behind Sasuke and Naruto. Two ice kunai pressed to their necks.
"Fast," Sasuke's body froze; horror flickered in his eyes. When had that masked figure arrived? If Bai had killing intent, he could end both of them in a heartbeat.
The sensation of something familiar prickled Naruto. His neck bled a drop where the ice kunai nicked him. The voice was oddly familiar.
"Sasuke! Naruto!" Sakura crawled up and stared at Bai. This was the youth who'd chatted with Ayato that day—the slender, feminine-looking one.
Zabuza spat bloody foam from his mouth. "Bai—you're late!"
"Sorry." Bai's voice had an apologetic edge.
"Enough. Kill these brats!" Zabuza barked, collapsing to the ground. His body was riddled with wounds; he could no longer continue the fight properly.
Bai's small frame shivered but he bowed respectfully. "Yes, Mr. Zabuza."
Sasuke used the pause to wrench free from Bai's grasp and slashed at Bai's delicate neck with Chidori.
The lightning pierced—and the figure's body rippled. Sasuke blinked. "A mirror?"
His hand froze where it had struck; the ice had formed a mirrored shell and now held his wrist fast.
Zabuza chuckled darkly. "Worthless. Bai is more useful to me than you imagine—a tool even better than I am."
Bai, for all his gentleness, was more dangerous than Zabuza let on. "Please die for Zabuza-sama," Bai murmured and lunged; ice kunai swung to decapitate Sasuke.
Naruto, seething, rammed his Rasengan into Bai's abdomen—only to have his hand pass through a rippling, mirrorlike surface. He'd struck a reflection.
"Eh?!" Naruto's hand froze, trapped in the ice mirror no matter how hard he pulled.
Sasuke cursed silently. That idiot had messed up his own plan. Now both he and Naruto were trapped—entombed by Bai's mirror magic.
Sakura sucked in air; she had essentially no chakra left. Every small movement was agony; her limbs felt like lead.
Zabuza's voice was cold. "Bai—do what you must. You could kill these brats easily; abandon that naive sentimentality. You are my tool."
Naruto's eyes burned. "Shut up! A shinobi isn't a tool—shinobi are people, with feelings!"
Bai emerged from the mirror, two ice kunai in hand, slicing toward Naruto and Sasuke's throats.
Sakura's pupils shrank; she sobbed, "Ayato—!"
For the first time the team felt completely helpless; there was only one person left who could save them.
A sudden whoosh—Ayato materialized out of nowhere, bowl of tonkotsu ramen in one hand. The other hand slapped Bai across the face.
The mask cracked with the strike; Bai's lithe body flew back and collapsed to the ground.
"Ayato—!" Team 7 all exhaled as one. With Ayato present, all was well again.
"I did say this is a fun game. No cheating allowed." Ayato looked down at Bai, slouched against him with ramen in hand and an air of disdain.
Just when the lottery gift pack was almost his—some meddling pretty boy storms in? That faux-girlish nuisance really knew how to spoil a scene. Ayato had more important matters than someone's sentimental ideals. He was here for the prize.
Naruto blinked dumbly. "You're the pretty… brother from the other day?"
Bai stiffened. "Forgive me, Ayato-sensei. Even if I break your rules, I must protect what's important to me. Being Zabuza's tool and fulfilling his dream is my reason to live." He went into seals—
"Dodge, dodge with skill? Ain't no point." Before Bai finished, Ayato became a streak of pale-blue lightning and materialized behind him, delivering a solid kick to his backside.
Bai flew and landed hard. The blow was blunt, but it worked.
"You see? All those evasive techniques are pointless sometimes. Honest hits speak louder than fancy moves." Ayato sat on Bai's chest, crossed his legs, and resumed slurping his ramen.
He glanced at Team 7. "You alright, you little brats?"
They stared at Ayato in stunned worship. The enemy that'd cornered them was casually felled by their teacher—this was Ayato's true power. Flippant, rude, and utterly reliable.
"That was lightning?" Sasuke asked, dazed. Ayato had moved so fast Sasuke's Sharingan couldn't track him. It looked like lightning teleportation.
Naruto jabbed a finger at Ayato, indignant. "You show up late—if you were a second slower we'd be dead! And you were eating my favorite tonkotsu char siu ramen—give me a bite!"
Ayato waved him off.
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