Zabuza woke with a gasp as he clutched his side in pain.
What ha—oh right… He thought as he remembered the events from earlier. As much as he wanted to call out on the girl for cheating, she was right. She had never specified the terms and rules, and it was his fault for being tricked into it.
By a little girl no less!
It was clear to him that the girl was different. He had once been exposed to the Sanbi's chakra before, and he distinctly remembered the type of signature a tailed beast emitted. The girl's was almost exactly the same as the one he remembered all those years ago.
Yet he also knew that it was impossible for the girl to be a jinchuuriki, every single of them were currently accounted for, meaning that this was something different.
His theory had been confirmed when she had released the henge that had even fooled him. He could not forget those nine swishing tails distinct of the Kyuubi. The girl hadn't denied it when he had called her the Kyuubi, it was almost like she had resigned in acceptance instead.
But how? He wouldn't know. The girl was a complete mystery that he hadn't accounted for.
Her skills with the blade was something else as well. She clearly knew her own abilities well, not overconfident like many, and still managed to hold her own against him even under pressure. The sword itself was of strange origins. As a former Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, he was confident in his ability to identify almost any blade, but that sword was something else entirely, as if its origins were alien by nature. He couldn't even tell what type of metal was used, was it even metal?
That's not mentioning the girl's strength.
The shot from the bow was something else entirely. The arrow was far too fast for comfort, and the destruction was far too much for a genin. The loss of his arm was of little concern, he could make a temporary one for the next month's work and work on a permanent solution later. What was disturbing however was the strength of the one blow he had allowed her to make.
No one he knew could possibly cause such destruction from just one swing, not mentioning that he didn't detect much chakra from the attack at all. The only explanation was either the child really was the Kyuubi in human form or it was a strange gimmick the sword possessed, though he was leaning towards the latter due to the fact that she didn't parry or block his blows with that strength.
"You're awake?" He heard a voice say next to his bed. Turning around, he could see Haku in all his trap glory. Zabuza didn't know how he qualified as a male, but to anyone he would have been as a female at first glance.
"How's my arm?" He asked, skipping the pleasantries. They were in a professional line of work, and as long as the contract wasn't fulfilled, it would stay that way.
"Gone." Haku replied jokingly, earning a glare from Zabuza. "Alright, I can create a temporary arm of ice that'll last for a week, you'll need something more permanent afterwards though." She sighed.
"As expected then…"
He had a feeling that he would fight the girl again, and this time he wouldn't fall for such petty tricks.
He wouldn't give up, for he never failed a contract after all, no matter how much he despised it. This was just another mission to complete. He was swordsman and a shinobi, no one would weep his death, some would even celebrate.
To walk this path was to be alone. He would fight alone, and he would die alone.
Though sometimes he wondered, was there someone who would mourn his death? Was there someone who he could die alongside in peace when the time came? For years he had such thoughts and searched, but steadily lost hope.
Yet he would keep fighting, for the least he could do was to not be forgotten by the passage of time.
***
The flash of black sped through the forest, blowing everything away in its sight. It was moving at such a high speed that any and everything that it came into contact with was blown apart on contact. The figure showed no signs of slowing down as it continued to move, leaping from branch to branch with elegance.
The figure was none other than Namikaze Naruko.
Though she would usually be shouting from joy from the speed she was moving at, the young huntress was currently in deep thought due to the discoveries she had made over the past week.
The first thing she had tested after becoming a Mana Construct was the similarity in the uses compared to Chakra, and to her surprise the methods of control was almost the same, except that hand seals weren't necessary, something she was quite happy about as it was a needless hindrance during combat.
However, she had found an annoying setback along the way.
***
Few days ago…
"Perhaps you should try reinforcing something else, say your sword for example," Kurama suggested as she watched Naruko testing her strength against the poor trees in the area. Needless to say, she had almost cleared an entire section of the forest, leaving uprooted trees with fist marks in her wake.
Naruko's fox ears perked up as she heard the suggestion. Nodding slightly, she brought out [Yami] and attempted to reinforce it like she usually would with Chakra. Unsurprisingly, the reinforcement went through without a hitch, but something felt odd about the sword afterwards. It was almost as if the reinforcement was disappearing faster than usual.
It was common knowledge that strengthening things outside the human body could not be permanent, as any reinforcements done to objects would fade after a few days. No one had a concrete idea as to why, but most simply called it a law of nature, most likely due to their own laziness.
The reinforcement she had just cast however was disappearing far too rapidly, to the point where it would most likely completely disappear by the end of the hour.
"What the…" She muttered in shock as she felt the mana within [Yami] fade away.
"This feeling… It's almost like something is rejecting your reinforcement…" Kurama commented, equally interested in what was occurring.
"Something is interfering with it?" She asked, hoping for an answer.
"Yes… something like that, though it doesn't seem like someone else trying to sabotage you. It feels more as if… the world itself is rejecting your reinforcement." Kurama replied, though her tone suggested that not even she really knew what was happening.
"I see…"