Zabuza Momochi
' is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto''.
Zabuza is a former
ANBU member and
Missing-nin from
Kirigakure and an extremely powerful water jutsu user. Being a hidden mist-ninja, most of his
jutsu are
water-oriented. Zabuza is depicted as a character who is hard nosed, stubborn, and ambitious, so ambitious in fact that he had tried to kill the
Mizukage and attempted a
coup d'état on the
Land of Water, but failed and intended to finance another one by working as an assassin. He is known as the "Demon of the Hidden Mist" (霧隠れの鬼人, "Kirigakure no Kijin") since he once single-handedly killed all of the students in the village's ninja academy as a young, untrained boy. (This event also marked the end of Kirigakure's custom of pitting students against one another in battles to the death.) Zabuza is of
Jonin level and, as a member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist (霧の忍刀七人衆, "Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu"), he wields a large
Zanbatō.
Hired by
Gato to assassinate
Tazuna, he is forced to deal with Team 7, who have been assigned to protect Tazuna. During their first encounter, he manages to overpower
Kakashi Hatake and trap him within his
Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique), and would have emerged victorious had it not been for a clever tactic deployed by
Naruto Uzumaki. After Kakashi uses Zabuza's most powerful jutsu,
Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique), against him, Zabuza's life is narrowly saved by his servant
Haku. This young man poses as a
hunter-nin to "kill" Zabuza and take his unconscious body away, ostensibly to assure that the secrets it held would not be uncovered by rival ninja clans.
Several years prior to his confrontation with Naruto's group, Zabuza had met the young and lonely Haku on the cold streets and taken him under his wing. In exchange, the boy gave a promise of complete loyalty. Later, he and Haku met
Kimimaro Kaguya, who was assigned to kill anyone who was from Kirigakure. He asked them and Zabuza briefly said no, preparing to kill Kimimaro if he tried to attack. In a battle taking place on what is later to be named the "Great Naruto Bridge", Haku honors his promise by sacrificing his own life to save Zabuza, jumping in between him and Kakashi's
Raikiri (Lightning Blade) attack. At first, Zabuza appears to think nothing of Haku's act, claiming that he was merely a tool, as are all shinobi. However, as an incredulous and outraged Naruto scolds him for his indifference, he finally admits to having cared for Haku. Shedding tears, he declares that even the most cold-hearted ninja is still human, and thus possesses feelings regardless of how much effort he or she puts into suppressing and concealing them.
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Zabuza unmasked (also one of the scenes with him mistakenly given eyebrows). |
After being wounded in both arms, Zabuza is confronted and ridiculed by Gato, who appears along with a mob to finish off both the assassin and those he failed to eliminate. Carrying Naruto's
kunai in his mouth, Zabuza literally slices his way through the rank and file and finally kills Gato, but is impaled by six different weapons in the process. (In the manga, Zabuza kills him by
decapitation with the kunai. In the anime, Gato is slashed and stabbed several times in the chest, and finally thrown off the bridge.) Before dying, Zabuza asks Kakashi to bury him alongside Haku, to which Kakashi complies.
* Zabuza, when translated figuratively from the Kanji in his name means "never cuts twice", a fitting name given that he kills most of his opponents with one strike of his
knife techniques.
* Zabuza's hobby is sharpening his blades, and his favorite word is "control".
* Apparently, Zabuza does not have any eyebrows. Naruto even addresses him as an "eyebrowless freak" on at least two occasions. While this is certainly held true in the original manga, several scenes in the anime mistakenly show Zabuza with eyebrows (although, they could be two creases over his eyes that look like eyebrows).
* As declared by Kakashi, Zabuza was the first opponent to have seen his
Sharingan twice before his demise.
* Zabuza considered Naruto to be his last opponent, rather than Kakashi. However, this last battle was a war of words rather than a physical battle.
* Zabuza graduated from the Ninja Academy at the age of nine; his age when he had become a Chunin is unknown. He has completed 4 D-rank, 67 C-rank, 79 B-rank, 29 A-rank and 12 S-rank missions.
* Zabuza is still popular today, even after his very early death in the series. This may be because of his role as Naruto's first dangerous enemy, the idea that the main character didn't beat him physically, but he defeated him emotionally and mentally.
