Naruto and Sasuke are left heavily wounded in their ongoing fight with Haku. However, Sasuke, as a member of the Uchiha clan, awakens his own Sharingan. Haku, realizing the danger, attacks Naruto, and Sasuke uses his own body to block the attack. As Sasuke collapses, Naruto erupts with rage, releasing the demon fox’s chakra.

Naruto and Sasuke both attempt to destroy the ice mirrors, though both are unsuccessful, leading Kakashi to believe that Haku has a kekkei genkai. He once again reveals his Sharingan. Zabuza reveals that he is able to counter the Sharingan through hiding himself in mist, and he lands a strike on Kakashi.

Naruto arrives and manages a sneak attack on Haku. Although Zabuza tries to attack Naruto, Haku asks to be the one to fight him, and Zabuza agrees. Trying to help Sasuke, Naruto enters the cage of mirrors, becoming trapped as well.

At Tazuna’s house, two of Gato’s thugs arrive to kidnap Inari’s mother. Inari attempts to stop them, but is saved when Naruto defeats them, and leaves to join the others at the bridge. Meanwhile, Sasuke fights Haku, his newfound speed giving him an advantage. To counter this, Haku traps Sasuke in a cage of ice [...]

In the woods, Naruto encounters Haku. The two discuss their dreams, and Haku comments that one’s strength is at its greatest when protecting a loved one. Sasuke and Naruto soon master tree-climbing, but Inari deems their training as pointless, enraging Naruto. The two engage in a heated dispute, which Kakashi resolves when he comforts Inari, [...]

Sakura, who easily finished the tree-climbing exercise, is left in charge of protecting Tazuna while Naruto and Sasuke continue their training. During dinner on one night, Sakura asks about a torn picture that Inari, Tazuna’s grandson, had been looking at. Tazuna explains that the man in the missing portion of the picture was Kaiza, Inari’s [...]

Kakashi rests and recovers at Tazuna’s home. Once he awakens, he concludes that Zabuza is alive, as there were numerous inconsistencies with the hunter-nin’s actions. The hunter-nin is revealed to be Haku, a boy under Zabuza’s wing. To prepare the group for their next fight, the group begins to train.

Kakashi and Zabuza resume their fight. Due to his Sharingan, Kakashi is able to take the upper hand and he defeats Zabuza by copying his own attack. Before Kakashi can finish him, a masked Kirigakure hunter-nin apparently kills Zabuza and leaves with him. Kakashi then collapses from fatigue.

Kakashi is eventually caught off guard and is captured in a prison of water. Despite Kakashi’s insistence for the others to flee, Sasuke and Naruto try to free him. Using Naruto’s transformation skills and Sasuke’s expertise at shurikenjutsu, they succeed at deceiving Zabuza, forcing him to release his prison in order to dodge their attack.

After the attack, Tazuna admits that the mission is much more dangerous than originally intended, but after Team 7 hears of Tazuna’s desire to build a bridge to save the impoverished Land of Waves from the criminal Gato, they agree to go through with the mission regardless. The group is soon stopped by Zabuza Momochi, [...]