As expected, though somewhat surprising, Kakashi still eliminated the Water Clone in front of him, then turned and timely blocked Zabuza's attack.
However, because he was a step slow in dealing with the previous Water Clone, he was kicked into the small river in front during the taijutsu exchange by Zabuza.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!"
Seeing Kakashi fall into the water, Zabuza revealed a sneer on his face, quickly advanced, and activated the Ninjutsu he had prepared in advance.
It turned out that he never expected to quickly deal with the famous Kakashi; everything he did before was merely to force Kakashi into the river and trap him with the Water Prison Jutsu.
His mission was not to kill Kakashi or to decide a victor with Kakashi, but to kill Mr. Tazuna, so his operational plan from the beginning was this.
To have risen from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood to become an Elite Jonin, to have escaped unscathed after assaulting the Mizukage, and to have never been killed by the Hidden Mist's pursuit unit, Zabuza's strength and combat wisdom were absolutely not much lower than Kakashi's at this time.
However, there was a slight flaw when he appeared: his Kubikiribōchō was taken by Li Chuan.
But there was nothing he could do; in Ninja combat, besides strength, information is key. He had Kakashi's intelligence, but not Li Chuan's, so an accident was normal.
It's like two armies facing off, with similar troop strength and two generals of comparable skill, but one side has an unknown common soldier with the combat power of Lu Bu—even if Zhuge Liang were there, he couldn't have predicted it, could he?
The Water Prison Jutsu cast by Zabuza's main body was not so easy for even Kakashi to break. But similarly, Zabuza's main body had to maintain this Jutsu and could not move.
However, Zabuza had clearly prepared for this; with one hand maintaining the Water Prison Jutsu to trap Kakashi, he formed a hand sign with the other, splitting off another Water Clone.
"This is what I've been waiting for!"
Watching Zabuza's Water Clone walk towards them step by step, Li Chuan picked up his Zen staff and directly went to meet him.
"You protect Mr. Tazuna, I'll deal with him!"
The previous duel between Zabuza and Kakashi had completely shattered the confidence of Naruto's trio; even Sasuke, the strongest among them, felt his hand holding the kunai tremble slightly as he watched Zabuza approach step by step.
Fortunately, besides Kakashi, there was also Li Chuan, whose strength was clearly much greater than theirs.
"Little Monk, you could barely make it into my handbook, but unfortunately, it's no longer necessary!"
Zabuza held his kunai, wasting no time, and attacked Li Chuan like lightning.
Ninja who made it into his Ninja handbook were Ninja he acknowledged, but if a person died, there was naturally no need to write them in the handbook anymore.
"Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, you three protect Mr. Tazuna and retreat further. His Water Clone cannot move too far from the main body.
Li Chuan, don't clash head-on with him; just hold on for five minutes, and his Water Clone will automatically dispel. With his current Chakra, if he splits off another clone, I can forcibly break his Water Prison!"
Although Kakashi was trapped in the Water Prison, he quickly formulated a combat plan based on the situation on site.
He was very fortunate now to have met this Ninja Monk from the Fire Temple whose strength was clearly good, otherwise, the current situation would be troublesome. With the strength of Naruto's trio, they wouldn't even have basic counter-attacking ability against Zabuza's clone.
"Five minutes, that's not so difficult!"
Facing the rapidly approaching Zabuza, Li Chuan gripped his Zen staff with both hands, channeling strength throughout his body, and immediately unleashed the simple yet powerful Shaolin Bodhidharma Staff Art.
This was a staff art he had once learned from a lay Shaolin disciple; although the moves were simple, they could maximize the power of the Zen staff.
To defeat an Elite Jonin-level Zabuza, even if he used all his trump cards now, he might not be an opponent, but he was confident he could last five minutes against his Water Clone.
Intentionally letting the situation develop this way was partly because he wanted to fight Zabuza's clone and gauge his current strength.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
After a series of dense metallic collisions, Zabuza's Water Clone had to temporarily retreat, abandoning his plan to defeat Li Chuan with close-quarters taijutsu.
The nearly two-hundred-pound Zen staff was wielded by Li Chuan so expertly that not a drop of water could get through, and he couldn't find an opportunity for a fatal strike.
If he had the Kubikiribōchō in hand at this moment, he could have tried to win with his exquisite sword skills, but relying only on a kunai, he felt that each collision carried the risk of his Water Clone falling apart.
"So far, you've only been using taijutsu; you don't seem very skilled in Ninjutsu."
Zabuza's Water Clone looked at Li Chuan and slowly put away his kunai.
During the battle, at several critical moments where he might have been injured, the opponent did not use Ninjutsu but chose a strategy of trading blows, forcing him to defend.
"I'm indeed not skilled in Ninjutsu, but I can manage to last five minutes with just taijutsu."
Li Chuan knew Zabuza was probing him, and he intentionally answered this way.
He wanted to create an image in front of everyone that he was not skilled in Ninjutsu, and to fight as much as possible using only his taijutsu. This would both conceal his strength and prevent suspicion when doing certain things in the future.
"You underestimate me too much!"
Zabuza quickly formed hand signs with both hands:
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A Water Clone possessing half of Zabuza's Chakra could naturally cast corresponding Ninjutsu.
As Zabuza completed his hand signs, the huge Water Dragon formed by the B-rank Water Dragon Jutsu fiercely flew towards Li Chuan.
If struck by the Water Dragon unleashed by Zabuza, an Elite Jonin, even with Li Chuan's current physical condition, he would likely suffer serious injuries.
So he decisively threw the Zen staff in his hand with all his might towards the Water Dragon to temporarily slow its speed, then jumped up at the fastest possible speed, escaping the Water Dragon's attack range.
There was no other way; the Water Dragon was too fast, and if he carried the heavy Zen staff, he might not have time to escape.
"It's over!"
However, the moment Li Chuan jumped up, Zabuza's Water Clone simultaneously appeared behind him, holding a kunai and stabbing towards his neck.
"Behind you, be careful!"
Naruto's trio, seeing Zabuza appear behind Li Chuan, immediately shouted a terrified warning.
Unfortunately, if they had to wait for their warning, Li Chuan would probably have had his neck pierced long ago.
"You're the one who's over."
Sensing Zabuza appearing behind him, Li Chuan not only showed no fear but instead revealed an expression that seemed to say, 'I knew you would do this,' then suddenly made a stabbing motion backward with both hands.
A strange thing happened: a sharp long sword had appeared in his previously empty hands at some unknown point.
Thus, before Zabuza's kunai could stab Li Chuan's neck, he was already pierced by Li Chuan's sword, turning into a puddle of water and disappearing.
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