Chapter 54 – To the Death 2

Into the mist, Zabuza was alone.

The chance of his subordinates betraying him was low, that was because they hated Konoha to the bone. That said, there were no sound of fighting so by this point he had to behave as if his subordinates were already dead, although that notion was absurd as there wasn’t anyone that could have done so.

Recalling the four gennin that he previously overlooked, a doubt that they weren’t gennin at all bloomed inside him. That was the only explanation possible as he would have known if there was anyone else with. Their age was indeed young, but their strength wasn’t necessarily related to that as there were many young and strong ninjas.

By this time, the Hidden Mist Jutsu was only an obstacle for himself, having no choice he released the technique with several fast seals while he retreated to the lake’s shore.

The mist cleared and Zabuza began carefully scanning his surroundings. There they were, his tools, broken. Until seeing their state he still didn’t fully believe they could be dead, they were, after all, men he chose to be his tools in his quest for revenge for Haku’s death.

There the man with the armguards was, nailed high to the wall with his blood flowing down to the ground. His armguard’s hidden blades were released, but free of blood, he clearly didn’t have the opportunity to use them. There were almost ten handles visible outside his body, clearly belonging to some kind of edged weapons that kept his body stuck to the wall.

The other man, the user of the thin sword, was in the worst state. Even in his long life as an assassin he had yet to see a body cut to that extent. His body was literally cut to pieces, his head his limbs his torso, they were all cut in many pieces. There still was a smirk on the bodyless head’s face, he looked to not have noticed he died.

At this point he knew his situation was bad so Zabuza sharpened his senses to the maximum, nothing would escape his perception. He tightened his grip on his sword, ready to slash anything that neared.

*shhh* a piercing sound came from behind, before he acknowledged the threat his body already moved aside as a black shadow flew past him and hit the far wall with enough force to send rock shrapnel to where he was.

Yet, he wasn’t given a chance to think about that as he felt a deathly threat behind him.

*clank* he placed the sword behind him and right after the sound of metal clashing rung in his ears. He used the force of the blocked hit to revolve around himself and cut with his sword in a full circle.

To his disappointment, there was no feeling of cutting anything.

Completing the revolution brought him facing the same direction as before he began the revolution, and, to his surprise, he found himself facing a turquoise haired boy, one of the four gennin he remembered. But he had no time to observe him longer as vines sprung from the rock underneath him, in a flash almost fully covering him.

“Haa!” He shouted and slashed his large sword in a full circle again, cutting all the vines, then he jumped several meters away. He wanted some time to recollect his thoughts, but his enemy didn’t give him that chance.

Just as he touched the ground, he found himself in mortal danger again. This time too, the threat came from behind him. He bended his body as a sharp kick cut through the space his neck would have been.

“Argh!” Yet, he still got kicked, only from someone in front of him. His upper arm almost broke as it received the hit as strong as if performed by a Taijutsu master.

“Clones?” He thought “Clone Substitution?” That was the only thing he could think about. He was sure there was someone behind him only to be hit from someone in the front, the presence felt like the same person too, so that must be the case. “Or was that a person to begin with?” Maybe that was just an illusion, so he was fighting an illusion master, that was also a possibility.

That train of thought made him lose his focus for a split second, a split second enough for Kurenai’s hands to take hold of his legs and pull his feet under the hard rock.

He needed a second to pull himself free, a second his enemy would make use of. He understood that much, so he acted.

Indeed, just as he began pulling himself free, an attack came from above.

“Ninja Art: Water Prison!” Prepared for that, he cast his water prison above him.

*Splash* He got bathed in water as the water ball that formed shattered, unable to maintain its form.

Zabuza saw that with a single touch from the boy’s palm, his technique failed. In the moment of contact he felt a wave of chakra he was familiar with, the same feeling that passing through the barrier made with ‘that’ item brought.

“Who are you?” He didn’t know who the boy was, why didn’t he know? The boy should be famous with his abilities, yet he didn’t make it on his list of Ninja to be investigated.

They boy brought two strangely shaped knifes down on Zabuza’s body.

He knew dodging wasn’t going to work, he was not in the position to do so, so he could only try and parry with his sword, but to his surprise, as he brought his sword in place, the attack didn’t come, instead he saw the boy hook his at the cut-out part of the blade with the back of the harpoon-like knife’s blade.

“Let’s see how you fight without a sword.” That was the first time he heard the boy’s voice, it was cold and emotionless, worthy of a master assassin.

The boy let go of his knife, but Zabuza wasn’t able to retract his sword as a great force seem to pull the knife, hence the sword, away from him.

“Ugh!” He tried with all his force, but it was useless as the sword was pulled free of his grasp in an instant.

Sango observed with satisfaction as he touched the ground with his foot and one of the strings that he left on the floor before the mist was released, then he teleported further away. Beside him, Kurenai came up from the ground and stood beside him.

“It’s almost over.” She said, her face tired, but she didn’t care, this fight permitted her to witness Sango’s ability in a fight to the death.