Zabuza Momochi was the first major antagonist of the Naruto manga and anime series. He was an S-class Rogue Ninja from the Land of Water's Hidden Mist Village and the master and teacher of Haku Yuki.
Background
Zabuza was born in the Hidden Mist Village around 14 years before the start of the series. When he was just a child and before he'd even joined the ninja academy, Momochi approached the class and killed 100 students, which prompted the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, to discontinue the graduation exam's procedure and caused Zabuza to become known as the "Demon of the Hidden Mist". Zabuza grew into an immensely powerful shinobi, becoming an Anbu Black Op and member of the "Seven Ninja Swordmen of the Mist". At some point, Momochi encountered a young boy
Zabuza leaves with Haku.
named Haku Yuki, who possessed a special power: the Ice Style kekkei genkai. Seeing the boy's promise, Zabuza took him in and left the village with him, training him as an apprentice, making him even more powerful than himself and viewing him as his ultimate weapon. Due to his cruel ambition to replace the Mizukage(unclear whether it was Yagura or the current one) by force, Zabuza and Haku returned to the Hidden Mist and attempted a coup, which failed, and he fled with Haku and two other followers, called the Demon Brothers. Needing more money to try again, Zabuza and his men took jobs working for a very wealthy and powerful man named Gato, being hired to murder a man named Tazuna in the Land of Waves, him sending out the Demon Brothers to do so. At some point before he left the village, he became a teacher to Suigetsu Hozuki in swordmanship, though they weren't close.
Naruto
Hired Assassin and Death
Zabuza battling Kakashi Hatake.
After the Demon Brothers arrived back from failing to kill Tazuna, Zabuza, with his apprentice, Haku, watching in the distance, confronted the Hidden Leaf's Team Seven, led by Kakashi Hatake, who he was able to fight as an equal and trap inside his Water Prison Jutsu. Despite being too powerful for Naruto Uzumaki and his other students to defeat themselves, Momochi was outsmarted by them, allowing them to free Hatake, who went on to easily overwhelm and defeat Zabuza using his Sharingan. Before he could be finished, Haku stepped in and saved Momochi, seeming to kill him by throwing several senbon into his neck to knock him out. Spending the next week recovering from his injuries, Zabuza went and confronted Team Kakashi again on the bridge Tazuna was building, this time having Haku by his side, who battled with Sasuke Uchiha while Zabuza fought against Kakashi again. More of a challenge this time thanks to Haku telling him about how Hatake's Sharingan worked, Zabuza reduced
Zabuza and Haku reappear.
its threat by using his Hidden Mist Jutsu to its full effect deciding to kill Kakashi on sound alone after he had stopped him from killing Tazuna. Shocked along with Kakashi when Naruto suddenly unleashed the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra, Momochi was easily found and restrained by Kakashi when he summoned his ninja hounds, who smelled him out, and he was nearly killed when Hatake tried to use his Lightning Blade jutsu on him, which Haku countered at the cost of his own life. Despite this, Kakashi wounded both of Zabuza's arms when he tried to keep fighting, before his boss, Gato, arrived with a group of men to kill him in order to keep from having to pay Zabuza. After being lectured by Naruto about how Haku had lived for him and how he mattered more than anything to the boy. Momochi began to cry after this,
Zabuza dying at Haku Yuki's side.
feeling pain for Haku's death, and resolved to try and redeem himself by killing Gato. Given a kunai by Naruto, Zabuza used it to kill several of Gato's men and then him, telling him the place they'd spend eternity would be filled with demons as he knocked him into the water, being fatally wounded by his men in the process. Collapsing, Zabuza asked Kakashi to take over to Haku's side after the rest of their enemies had been driven away, which he granted. Stating the least he could do in the end was be by his side, Momochi wished he join Haku in the afterlife as he died. Because of his actions prior to dying, Zabuza had redeemed his soul and, to his surprise, was allowed to join Haku in the afterlife as was later revealed when he was reanimated.
Reanimation and Undead war activities
Zabuza reanimated by Kabuto Yakushi.
Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice were revived by Kabuto Yakushi, the partner of Obito Uchiha, the leader of an organization of S-class Rogue Ninja called the Akatsuki, as military weapons for their side during the Fourth Great Ninja War, alongside many other very powerful shinobi. Teamed up with other kekkei genkai users for the war, Zabuza and Haku later found themselves confronted by none other than Kakashi Hatake again, who thanked them for being Naruto's first opponents, before Zabuza requested he stop them since they had no business in this world anymore. Their minds were then overtaken by Yakushi, who forced Zabuza to summon the rest of his generation of the Seven Ninja Swordmen of the Mist to fight against Hatake and his men, who were soon reinforced by other alliance shinobi. Using his Hidden
Zabuza defeated by Kakashi.
Mist Jutsu to cloud his presence, Zabuza was forced to battle against Kakashi's company, until he was eventually defeated after Haku again intercepted a blow from Kakashi, who went on to cut off his right arm and impale him through the chest, allowing time for Zabuza and Haku to be bound in place and sealed away. Later, after Kabuto was forced to end the Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation, Zabuza and most other undead shinobi were sent back into the afterlife.
Personality
Zabuza was notoriously bloodthirsty, and enjoyed killing, having been a prodigy in the art of assassination who killed 100 opponents before he even became a shinobi. He was quite cruel in battle and arrogant regarding his skills. Despite his claim to his apprentice, Haku Yuki, that he saw him only as a weapon to be used, Zabuza grew to genuinely care about him and was brought to tears upon hearing Naruto lecture him about Haku having lived for him, which led Zabuza to have a change of heart about his ways, and he went on to redeem himself of his crimes by killing the corrupt tycoon Gato. In his last moments, he even expressed wish to join his side again in the afterlife, which, to his surprise, Momochi was allowed to do. After his reanimation, Zabuza showed a sense of honor, as he asked Kakashi to take him and Hau down again since they had no further bussiness in the human world, being appauled that anyone would use the dead as tools in war.
Powers, Abilities, and Skills
Zabuza using his incredible chakra.
As an S-class Rogue Ninja, Zabuza Momochi was a very powerful shinobi, having been strong enough to become a member of the Hidden Mist Village's famous "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist", being a member of the most powerful generation of the swordsmen that ever came to exist in the village's history. As an Anbu Black Op, Zabuza was easily Jonin-level, being able to fight on par with Kakashi Hatake, one of the most powerful Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, almost killing him more than once, overall posing a serious enough threat to him that Hatake felt the need to use his Sharingan. Momochi's power was great enough that Kabuto Yakushi reanimated him as an undead weapon for the Akatsuki's side, managing to kill many shinobi no doubt close to him in rank with ease. Zabuza had immense physical strength, being able to wield his giant Executioner's Blade without trouble for unlimited periods of time and repel others with single blows. Being an Anbu Black Op, he had exceptional knowledge of the human body, and as the former leader of the Hidden Mist's assassination unit, Momochi was a master of the Hidden Mist's Silent Killing fighting style, which Kakashi praised as being second to none. Zabuza was also a skilled teacher, having train his apprentice, Haku, into a shinobi who he acknowledged had surpassed him in power. Momochi also had incredible chakra, which when he released took on the shape of a demon cloak purple in color.
Elemental powers and Swordsmenship
Like most Hidden Mist shinobi, Zabuza was very skilled in the use of Water Style, able to trap others in a
Zabuza wielding his Executioner's Blade.
prison of dense water that made movement very hard and create mist so thick it was completely impossible to see, even with dojutsu such as the Sharingan. He could also form clones of water that were good for distraction and that could increase his numbers against large groups of foes. He could also create large water jutsu that resembled dragons to attack with great power. As one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Momochi was very skilled in swordplay, equal to his fellow swordsmen in every way