The Assassin of the Mist!

Riding Kaji's boat toward the Land of Waves, Kakashi confronts Tazuna about downplaying the mission's true risk and threatens to turn back without an honest account. Tazuna explains that the ruthless magnate Gato has strangled his country, leaving it too poor to hire the higher-ranked protection the job actually calls for. Not long after they set out on foot, Kakashi shouts for everyone to drop as a massive blade whirls overhead and a ninja lands on its hilt, naming himself Zabuza Momochi, a rogue from Kirigakure who demands Tazuna. Kakashi flatly refuses.

Kakashi is pushed into using his Sharingan, which Sasuke recognises at once. Together with Zabuza, he explains that the eye can perceive and predict ninjutsu and genjutsu, leaving Sasuke bewildered since he believed only his clan possessed it. Zabuza then draws a heavy fog across the field, and Kakashi orders his students to guard Tazuna. The pressure between the two jonin triggers a panic in Sasuke that Kakashi manages to soothe. When Zabuza lunges with his sword, Kakashi rushes in and stabs him, only to find a water clone, and Zabuza in turn cuts down a Kakashi who is also just a clone. The real Kakashi then slips behind the swordsman with a kunai at his throat.

This episode is the seventh of the original Naruto series and adapts manga chapters 11 and 12, part of the Prologue: Land of Waves arc. It marks the debut of Zabuza Momochi. The opening theme is R★O★C★K★S and the ending is Wind. It first aired in Japan on November 14, 2002, and in English on October 15, 2005.