Zabuza Momochi

**Zabuza Momochi** (桃地再不斬, *Momochi Zabuza*), given the moniker **Demon of the Hidden Mist** (霧隠れの鬼人, *Kirigakure no Kijin*), is a missing-nin from Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

## Background

Before the term of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, Kirigakure began the practice of pitting Kirigakure Academy graduates against each other in death matches as a final exam with the exceptionally skilled students named prime candidates for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. After Zabuza, not yet a student himself, killed over one hundred Academy students, the practice was discontinued and he would thereafter be known as the "Demon of the Hidden Mist". His fame grew over the years as he became an Anbu, killing the Konohagakure ninja Kumade Toriichi at that time, before finally joining the Seven Swordsmen. At some point, he discovered Haku, a child with a special kekkei genkai and began training him to be the ultimate weapon. In the anime, he and Haku witnessed the Kaguya clan attacking Kirigakure yet chose not to help his village. Soon after, they encountered Kimimaro, the soon-to-be-sole survivor of the Kaguya. Although Haku wanted to talk to the boy, Zabuza forced him to leave Kimimaro alone and keep moving.

During the Fourth Mizukage's reign over the Bloody Mist, Zabuza came to disagree with the workings of the village. He gathered a group of followers and attempted a coup d'etat against the Mizukage, only to be betrayed by one of their own; resulting in a failed attempt on Yagura's life. Zabuza subsequently fled the village with Haku and some other followers, such as the Demon Brothers, becoming mercenaries in order to gather funds for a second attempt in the future, which is why he worked with Gatō. With his departure he took the Kubikiribōchō with him, causing Kirigakure to lose one of its famed swords. As Zabuza was accepting work from corrupt people, however, many of his followers became disillusioned about such goals and left; one of whom was Gengo.

## Personality

According to his former follower Gengo, Zabuza was once seen as charismatic and inspiring as he had previously dreamed of a society with shinobi as the ruling class; a dream which motivated his attempted coup against the Fourth Mizukage whom he disagreed with. However he would become bitter and cynical after the coup ended in failure, and over time made him a ruthless hitman willing to be hired out by anyone corrupt.

Zabuza was initially portrayed as aggressive, arrogant, cruel, cold and ambitious, willing to become Gatō's thug to gain enough funds to start a second coup d'etat on the Mizukage and have the nation under his feet, and kill anyone who stood in his path, including plotting to kill Gatō once he had received enough funds from him. His reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness began as a child where he killed every single candidate in Kirigakure's Academy, earning him the moniker of "Demon of the Hidden Mist" (霧隠れの鬼人, *Kirigakure no Kijin*). He willingly uses his own men and others as pawns to fulfil his ambitions, as he raised Haku to be an efficient tool to be discarded when he had no use to exploit; although unlike future antagonists, he was blunt about the purpose that his recruits were needed for, forgoing any form of manipulation by pretending to be benevolent to inspire loyalty. This corresponds with his cynical view of the world, which only consists of the used and the users, as well as viewing shinobi to be nothing more than tools. Despite this outward attitude, Zabuza grew to care deeply for Haku and viewed him to be far more than a tool.

He is an observant adversary who is able to analyse his opponent's techniques after seeing it once, but becomes overconfident if he sees the technique as useless. Despite his ruthlessness, Zabuza possessed a softer side that he himself was largely unaware of. After Haku's death, while Zabuza initially only laughs at his usefulness, Kakashi notes Zabuza is no longer able to fight to his true potential as he is secretly distraught at Haku's loss. In his last moments, Zabuza realised how deeply he truly cared for Haku, and after being convinced by Naruto Uzumaki, he sacrifices his life to kill Gatō, and dies wishing he could join Haku in the afterlife. However, he seems reluctant to speak or hear about it, telling whoever does so to shut up. Kakashi has also noted that Zabuza had hesitated for a moment before the thought of slashing through Haku to get to Kakashi during their battle on the bridge; the lack of hesitation during the Fourth Shinobi War made Kakashi know that the controlled Zabuza was completely different.

He has also shown a sense of honour, as seen after his reincarnation when he expressed disgust about the idea of working for anyone who would stoop down so low as to use the dead as their tools, in the meantime making the revived immortal. His sense of honour is extended even further when he pleads with Kakashi to stop him and Haku from causing damage, wishing his death as a human being to be preserved.