As a warrior, one does not rely solely on the eyes to detect an enemy's movements. Wind, breath, sound, scent, murderous intent—these all serve as cues to judge an opponent's position.
Even with his eyes closed, Carl could still fight using his exceptional physique and rich combat experience.
Zabuza's silent killing technique was indeed formidable. He could move within the dense fog without making a sound. But even that wasn't enough to escape Carl's perception.
"Clang!"
Faced with the sudden strike from the monk's staff, Zabuza immediately shifted the kunai away from Tazuna and raised it to meet the incoming blow aimed directly at his chest.
"That's some serious power…"
As the kunai collided with the staff, Zabuza's expression changed. He swiftly retreated to absorb the force, avoiding a direct clash.
Carl's Zen staff was no ordinary weapon. It was custom-made by Jinai, and it was twice as heavy as a normal monk's staff.
If Zabuza had still been wielding his Executioner's Sword, he might've been able to match the force. But armed only with a kunai, it was like trying to block a hammer with a stick—pointless.
And Carl's strength wasn't ordinary, either. As a martial artist, he possessed incredible physical power. When combined with chakra, the latent strength of the Sage chakra, and the refined techniques of channeling force through his body, his strikes became truly monstrous.
If Zabuza hadn't reacted swiftly and relied on his extensive battlefield experience to retreat, his wrist might've been broken on the spot.
Now, Zabuza finally began to take Carl seriously.
In the world of shinobi, intelligence was everything. Any powerful ninja would inevitably be documented in the intelligence scrolls maintained by the major hidden villages.
That's why, even though it was Zabuza and Kakashi's first encounter, they immediately recognized one another and had a rough idea of each other's skills and history.
Likewise, if a ninja wasn't even mentioned in the intel scrolls, then they were generally considered weak—unworthy of concern for an elite ninja like Zabuza.
What he couldn't have imagined was that Carl had been the prince of the Land of Fire just eight months prior. After becoming a shinobi, he mostly remained within the Temple of Fire, rarely acting publicly. Other than a few monks like Chiriku, almost no one knew of his true strength.
Even Chiriku himself didn't know the full extent of Carl's abilities.
Because the ninjutsu Carl had secretly learned were never shown in front of Chiriku. He trained in solitude, away from watchful eyes.
And the ruthless techniques—deadly finishing moves from his time as a fighter—he never used them in any sparring sessions.
Everyone needs to keep a trump card. If all your skills are exposed, the enemy can exploit your every move. That's a fast road to death in the shinobi world.
"As expected of an elite jōnin…" Carl muttered under his breath, Zen staff still humming with impact.
Carl turned around and looked at the retreating Zabuza, letting out a quiet sigh.
Just now, Zabuza had used the Silent Killing Technique to launch a sneak attack on Tazuna, and Carl had taken advantage of Zabuza underestimating him to counter just as Kakashi was focused on the enemy's movements.
Even so, Zabuza had still managed to react in time, retreating quickly and avoiding injury.
"What incredible speed..."
As Carl was sighing at Zabuza's combat experience and reflexes, he saw Kakashi seize the brief opportunity and suddenly appear behind the retreating Zabuza, silently plunging a kunai into Zabuza's waist.
"Puff!"
But unexpectedly, the Zabuza who was stabbed turned into a puddle of water and splashed to the ground.
A split second later, Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, kunai in hand.
"Puff!"
Once again, the same sound echoed—and this time, Kakashi turned into water, while his kunai was now resting at Zabuza's neck.
The three genin—Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—stood frozen, completely baffled by what had just happened.
It seemed like a long chain of events had unfolded—from Zabuza's sneak attack to Kakashi turning the tables—but in reality, it had all happened within the span of a second or two.
Carl, watching it all unfold with sharp eyes, explained calmly:
"When Zabuza was forced to retreat, he used the Water Clone Technique and hid his real body within the thick mist.
Kakashi, while observing him, copied that jutsu with his Sharingan and did the same—hiding his true self in the fog.
So just now, what we saw... were their water clones fighting each other."
Carl's voice was steady, his expression serious. Even with his keen perception, he had barely kept up. While he could track the movements, his level of ninjutsu proficiency was far from being able to cast and swap with a clone in the blink of an eye like they had.
"Honestly," he added, "if someone with weaker senses ran into either of them, they might've been finished by just the clone"
"The monk has good eyesight, and the Copy Ninja Kakashi truly lives up to his name. To see through and replicate my ninjutsu so quickly... impressive. But that's the end of it!"
A figure suddenly emerged from within the thick fog and launched an attack toward Kakashi's back.
It turned out that the Zabuza whose neck was being held by Kakashi was still just a water clone, and the real Zabuza had been hidden in the dense mist all along, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Because of Kakashi's Sharingan, a large portion of his chakra is continuously consumed just to maintain it. As a result, the actual usable chakra he has in battle is limited. This is why Shadow Clone Technique, which splits chakra equally between the user and the clone, is something Kakashi uses with great caution.
This is different from the Multi Shadow Clone Technique. If he were to use that, Kakashi could create hundreds of clones. But as he himself had said before—those are more for bluffing.
Multi Shadow Clones split the chakra evenly. If Kakashi had a hundred units of chakra and created a hundred clones, each one—including the original—would only have one unit of chakra. Weak and mostly ineffective in real combat.
On the other hand, using the standard Shadow Clone Technique to create just one clone would split the chakra 50-50 between the clone and the main body—far more efficient and battle-ready. Two clones? Now it's 25-25-25, and so on. The more he divides, the weaker each becomes.
That's why multi shadow clones are best suited for those with massive chakra reserves—like Naruto, who can split into dozens of clones and still have each one brimming with chakra.
As for Zabuza, while he's also an elite jōnin like Kakashi, he doesn't carry the burden of a Sharingan. His chakra usage is more standard, so making several clones doesn't impact his fighting strength nearly as much.
At that moment, Carl lifted the Zen staff in his hand, then slowly lowered it again.
While Zabuza was still hiding ,Carl couldn't detect him even with his enhanced senses in the heavy mist. But the moment Zabuza began to rush Kakashi, the subtle changes in airflow—caused by his body's movement—were more than enough for Carl to pinpoint his position.
He knew that if he hurled the Zen staff right now, he could interrupt Zabuza's ambush immediately.
But he didn't.
That would've gone against the battle plan he had set from the beginning.
"Kakashi won't go down that easily anyway," he thought calmly.
With Kakashi's experience and reflexes, Carl was confident—there was no way the legendary Copy Ninja would fall for a simple ambush.