7: The Assassin of the Mist!
Tazuna and squad 7 travel through the dense fog of the Land of Waves in a boat led by Kaji. They near the Land of Waves and pass underneath the bridge being built by Tazuna. Naruto shouts out, amazed by the size of the bridge. Kaji, annoyed, points out that they are traveling silently for a reason and that Naruto should probably shut up.
We discover the name of the man with the contract on the life of Tazuna is Gato, a business leader in the shipping industry. Underneath his shipping industry mask Gato sells drugs and weaponry (contraband). He employs gangs and ninja to aid him in his work. Gato set his eyes on the Land of Waves and took over the shipping industry there. Now he controls the sea and because the Land of Waves thrives on the sea he controls everything: finance, government and the lives of the people. Tazuna's bridge would break that control and therefore Gato is seeking to destroy him.
Tazuna begins to explain the reason he lied to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He tells Squad 7 of the poverty that exists in the Land of Waves, this poverty extends to everyone and because of that the Land of Waves cannot afford a mission charge higher than C-rank. He claims that if the mission is ended his family will be ruined and he will be assassinated, in order to put Squad 7 in a position where they must continue the mission despite its difficulties.
Once inside the Land of Waves, the mist disappears, and Squad 7 and Tazuna leave Kaji behind, heading towards the house of Tazuna. Kakashi is uneasy, he knows the next assassins will not be chunin; they will be jounin, elite ninja with deadly skills.
Naruto, remembering the previous days events, is unwilling to lose out to Sasuke. Noticing movement in a bush, Naruto throws his kunai knives towards the motion. After scaring Tazuna and Sakura to death Naruto concludes that it was just a mouse. Unperturbed, Naruto continues to search for someone who is supposedly following them. Naruto throws another Kunai into the bushes, in the direction that Kakashi seems to notice something. Sakura becomes annoyed with Naruto trying to show off so she decides to punch him in the head. Turns out he threw a kunai knife at a snow rabbit, which are brown in the summer. Interestingly this one is white. Kakashi realizes it was used as a replacement. Zabuza was their pursuer and he stands in the trees ready to attack. Before so he analyses his opponent, Kakashi, the copy ninja of the Sharingan eye.
Zabuza tosses his blade at Tazuna which Squad 7 narrowly avoids. It gets lodged in a tree and upon it stands Zabuza. Kakashi recognizes him as Zabuza, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Kakashi stops Naruto from attacking and tells him to get back. Kakashi finally removes his head band from his eye to reveal the Sharingan, the red-eye three-pronged pinwheel similar to the one seen from Sasuke's past.
Sasuke explains the Sharingan as a rare power that resides in the eyes. The user of this visual jutsu, known as a dojutsu, can instantly see and comprehend any taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu and reflect it upon the opponent. According to Zabuza there's a lot more to it, apparently the Sharingan can analyze and copy an opponents technique to the smallest detail. We find out that Kakashi is very famous, existing in the Bingo book of the Village Hidden in the Mist, having copied over a 1000 jutsu.
Sasuke realizes an important fact then, that the Sharingan is a rare occurrence in a few members of the Uchiha clan, his clan, and he wonders if Kakashi could be an Uchiha.
The Squad assumes a manji formation as Zabuza stands on the water building up his chakra. Zabuza performs one of his techniques, the 'Hidden Mist Jutsu', and vanishes. After Zabuza disappears Kakashi begins to explain Zabuza's strength, the Silent Killing Technique. It is a technique that allows the user to kill without any warning of any kind, instantly.
From the mist comes the voice of Zabuza, he lists the eight instant killing points on the body: larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys and the heart, unsettling the three genin.
Kakashi begins to prepare his own attack, building up his chakra, creating a haunting atmosphere. It affects Sasuke largely, forcing him to believe he must commit suicide to escape insanity. Kakashi comforts him by telling him that he won't allow them to die. At that moment Zabuza appears inside the manji formation claiming the fight to be over as Kakashi's Sharingan eye analyses him. Kakashi instantly knocks the squad and Tazuna away and stabs Zabuza in the stomach to find that he is made of water! The real Zabuza appears behind Kakashi and slices through him to find that Kakashi is also a water clone. Kakashi places a kunai to Zabuza's neck, the fight is over.
Previous Episode: A Dangerous Mission! Journey to the Land of Waves!
Next Episode: The Oath of Pain
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