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Chapter 80
🕑 Added 2025-03-10 12:03:01 +0000 UTCTeruto was starting to feel the pressure, why the hell were these people so strong?
All the Intel said this Order was new, only appearing a short time ago, but their weakest members knew Elemental Jutsu, that was insane, the more numerous masked ones, the ones with the fancier armor and masks, those guys could fight toe to toe with Jōnin.
Sure, they weren't perfect fighters, he could see that a lot of them were not experienced in life or death battles, but he had the horrible realization that his army was the whetstone that was sharpening their skill.
His Genin and Chunin were dropping like flies, this wasn't supposed to happen, this entire situation was all wrong.
And behind him the mist encroached ever closer, the moment someone got inside of it was the last anyone saw of them.
It felt like hundreds of Shinobi were staring at him from the mist, what kind of monster had Zabuza turned into, he was supposed to weaker after years of running and hiding!
He threw another nail at one of the weaker members, hoping to damage the enemies morale if nothing else.
The nail was knocked off course by a thrown Kunai, making a kill shot into a wounding one, the enemy falling over with a scream.
It made him want to tear his hair out in frustration, this whole thing was a massive shitshow.
"Keep going! Keep fighting!" He yelled loudly. "If we retreat, we die!"
Out of a puddle, left over from all the Water Release being used around them, a sword emerged, cutting through one of the wounded like butter.
A white-haired figure rose up from the puddle, smiling widely.
Teruto wanted to swear, not to mention the fucking Hozuki brat, did all the Kiri deserters join Wave? Why the hell was Suigetsu here, he thought that brat had jumped off a cliff after his brother died.
He would have to go all out, fuck conserving ammunition, this battle was already a disaster, he might actually die if he played around here.
A special Nail appeared in his hand, already smoking from the Explosive Seals placed on it.
With a well-practiced movement, he launched it at a small squad of five enemies, before they even reacted, the nail exploded midair, sending shrapnel everywhere.
Another popped into his hand, and again he threw it.
But before it could reach the enemy army, it was intercepted by a flying... corpse? Wait, was that one of the assassins?
It pierced him, and slowed the Nail down enough that it exploded far away from any enemies, the Silent Killing user was turned into red mist.
He looked towards where the corpse came from, and spotted Zabuza holding up another body.
Zabuza tauntingly wiggled the corpse slightly.
Teruto responded by launching another Nail at the man.
Who simply threw the corpse at it, creating the same result.
Fucking asshole.
***
Zabuza held back a laugh, this was actually pretty fun, it had been a while since he was able to taunt his opponent like this.
But it was time to end this, and he could feel 20 massive shapes moving through his mist.
The timing would have to be perfect here, he did not want to waste time hunting down the remnants if they fucked this up.
So with a quick whistle, The Order's formation shifted, the earth users who were being held back now surged to the front lines, quickly raising walls, and then more walls, and then bigger walls.
The long ranged fighters being raised up by their comrades as the ground beneath them grew into a towering barricade, all of them sending down deadly attacks, he could even spot Haku among them, Ice Senbon sniping down enemy Shinobi left and right.
And with an almighty rumble, twenty giant serpents burst from his Mist, the enemy was now trapped between the Serpents and The Order's new defensive line.
Zabuza himself used a Body flicker, appearing above the enemy, only a few spotting him as he used his Swords ability and started raining death upon them.
But he saw something that made his veins pop out in anger.
He landed on the ground and Body Flickered again, intercepting a sword attack that would have cut through a certain dumbass.
"Water-Brat! What are you doing?!" He yelled loudly as he spotted the boy ignoring his orders completely.
He was very clear that all fighters should retreat on his signal and encircle the enemy, not try and fight the fucking army on their own.
The idea of leaving him to his fate was tempting, if three Jōnin jumped him then he would die before anyone got to him, but Hikari would tan his hide if he let the Hozuki die, she had this whole idea of 'If he joins us, Wave will have a Bloodline Clan in a century or two.'
"Ah, Zabuza-senpai!" The brat replied happily. "I killed a Jōnin! And three Chunin!"
That was not what Zabuza meant when he asked what he was doing.
"I'm going to beat you into a coma later." He said instead, already weaving hand seals to counter a Water Dragon Jutsu heading right for them. "And then I will beat you back out of it."
"You promise!?" The boy replied excitedly.
Zabuza was starting to think this kid was mentally broken, actually no, he was from Kiri, of course he was.
The two Water Dragons collided with each other, Zabuza's easily overpowering the enemy, a giant Ice Snake crashed into the caster before Zabuza could think of a way to kill them.
He silently thanked Haku, what a considerate apprentice he had.
"Stay near me, or I'm going to feed you to a Star-Eater." He ordered seriously as he duplicated his sword again. "Take this."
He threw the copy towards Suigetsu, he remembered that this brat and his brother both had gotten training to wield Kubikiribōchō.
A high-pitched squeal came from the child, like nails on a chalkboard.
Zabuza's eye twitched in annoyance, but he was ignored it and focused on the slaughter instead.
He wanted to get at least fifty kills here.
***
Teruto screamed in rage, he was stuck, he was desperately trying to dodge the attacks coming from above him while trying to find a way to break through the earth walls that surrounded him and his remaining forces.
But even the strongest Jutsu they had couldn't carve through the wall, one of his Jōnin used Lightning Release: False Darkness, and while it pierced deep into the wall, they could not see the other side.
"How?!" He yelled out, launching another Explosive Nail towards the top of the wall, it got knocked down by a well-aimed Lightning Jutsu.
How did they do it? The Chakra required would be massive!
They had destroyed the wall thrice over at this point, but it kept regenerating, a never-ending fortification made of earth and rock.
Another Ice Serpent slammed into someone beside him, crushing them instantly.
He was going mad, he wanted to scream and rage against everything, how did this happen?! This entire invasion had been nothing but failure after failure.
'It's Zabuza's fault.' A thought snaked into his mind, clear, in contrast to the rest of his frenzied thoughts. 'Even if I die, I need to kill him.'
A part of Teruto wondered where that thought came from, Zabuza was nowhere near him, he should focus on surviving instead.
'No, Zabuza is right there, I can see him.'
He blinked, and realized he could actually see Zabuza fighting near him, only a few steps away.
'I need to make sure he can't survive, if I am doomed to die, then he is not allowed to outlive me.'
With determination, he rushed towards Zabuza, Teruto grabbed onto Zabuza and Chakra flowed into his wristbands.
Every Explosive Nail he had was summoned by his side, almost 60 of them, each capable of killing at least several people.
"Let's see each other in hell! Zabuza!" He screamed as the Explosive Tags started smoking.
The look of shock on Zabuza's face was sweet enough to give him hope that dying was worth it, because at least Zabuza would be joining him in the underworld.
But a tenth of a second before the tags exploded, Zabuza's face morphed into someone else's entirely.
He only had enough time to recognize that this person was not Zabuza before everything went white, and then black.
In a Divine Realm, a God mentally applauded Teruto's determination to die together with his hated enemy, such a strong resolve was always to be respected.
***
Zabuza looked at the massive explosion happening on the other side of the Kiri army with confusion, did one of The Order members bring a crate's worth of Explosive Seals?
Did one of the Mist Shinobi fuck up?
He mentally shrugged, maybe he would find out later, for now, there were people to kill.
And people died, they died in their dozens, by the time half an hour passed, any chance of victory or even survival was long gone from the Mist Shinobi.
So they tried to surrender, but the Order had no mercy, this was not just a war, this was a statement to the Elemental Nations.
Not a single Mist Shinobi that participated in this invasion would survive, not a single one would return home.
All in all, it took only an hour of constant bombardment and Zabuza and Suigetsu running through the remaining pockets of resistance like scythes cutting through wheat for them to be certain that they were all dead.
In the end, The Order lost about 15 people, about double that number in wounded, but the Order was prepared for that, already Medics were rushing towards the wounded, even if they didn't wear masks.
"Suigetsu." He said coldly as he turned around. "After this war is over, I am going to make you regret disobeying my orders."
The brat didn't seem to understand how dire his situation was though.
"Sure thing, Zabuza-senpai!" He replied happily, swinging Kubikiribōchō wildly, Zabuza focused on his sword, making the one in Suigetsu's hand vanish.
Suigetsu stared at his now empty hands with betrayal.
Zabuza ignored the crazy child for now, instead walking up the massive earth walls, stopping at the top of them and looking out on the carnage.
Haku appeared by his side, tired but unwounded, Zabuza could spot the conflict in Haku's demeanor.
Still too soft, honestly, at this point Haku should just stop fighting if he didn't like it.
"Zabuza-sama..." He started uncertainly, eyeing the Order members carrying the wounded and dead back towards the Medical tents with uncertainty. "You... could have killed them all by yourself."
That made Zabuza pause, did the boy not understand what the point of this battle was?
"Yes." He replied bluntly. "But the Military Wing desperately needs experience in fighting, in killing, in seeing their comrades dying around them."
The Watcher's Blessing given to Initiates was powerful, no, beyond powerful, it broke the balance between the five great nations entirely, and anyone who realized this would immediately try to destroy any faithful in The Watcher, because if they were allowed to grow unopposed, then eventually every member of the Military Wing would be borderline S-Rank.
There were different types of S-Rank, some were there because of their bloodlines, like Mei, if she didn't have Boil or Lava Release, then she would 'only' be a strong A-Rank Shinobi, of course, she had enough talent and hard work to reach S-Rank, but her bloodline made it significantly easier for her.
Then there were the savants, people like Sasori of the Red Sands, or Kakuzu, people who took a single technique and pushed it to the limits, they became so good at one thing that they ascended into the realm of legend.
And finally, there were monsters of talent, Orochimaru, the Yellow Flash, people who just understood Jutsu and fighting to a level that few could match, they simply understood things on such a deep level that they surpassed anyone else.
The Order's Blessed were all the third type, even if most of them had only been fighters for a bit more than a year, The Watcher's Blessing let them grasp Chakra and Jutsu with almost instinctual ease.
When they became Acolytes, the Blessing they received was on the level of a Bloodline, maybe not the truly strong ones like the Sharingan or Wood Release, but certainly something like Ice Release.
And the few Templars? They matched or even exceeded the strongest Bloodlines, because the Templar Blessings were only given to those who already found their specialty, having eight arms would be an okay ability on anyone else, on Asura? It turned him into a force of nature.
"One day I will not here, Haku." He said seriously. "Life is unpredictable, and The Order needs to be able to fight without me."
Haku was too smart to not see the logic in his words, so he didn't respond, simply looking towards the battlefield silently.
The Watcher's words echoed through his head.
"In a kinder world, this would not be needed. But this is not a kind world." He muttered under his breath, words barely loud enough for Haku to hear them.
Maybe one day, that phrase would ring empty to everyone.
