"Why do you kill him?! We can interrogate him, you know." Ryuki reprimands Zoro for killing Zetsu.
"Don't worry, this thing is not his real body, it's a clone. As you can see, he doesn't even bleed. You won't get a word from him no matter how long you interrogate this clone."
Zoro points out the severed neck that doesn't bleed to prove his point. Now they finally realize that there's no way this Zetsu is a human because it doesn't have any blood at all.
Though they are quite confused because it doesn't disappear even after death. Normal Clone Jutsu will disappear when the clones die, so this isn't just a normal clone.
"Master Mifune, please investigate this strange clone. We couldn't detect it, so it was very dangerous. It might have stolen something too, so try to investigate it thoroughly."
Ryuki gives Mifune an instruction and the old samurai nods before calling his men to take Zetsu's corpse. The Mist people are also curious about Zetsu, but they can't do anything because this is the Land of Iron.
The next day, Zoro receives an unexpected guest. Kisame suddenly visits him and asks him for a sparring match. The shark guy doesn't say it, but Zoro knows it must be the order of the 4th Mizukage to see Zoro's abilities.
They want to collect data and Zoro will gladly give them what they want. He has always wanted to fight Kisame and now is a good chance even though Kisame isn't in his prime yet because Samehada is still in Zoro's hand.
Furthermore, Kisame is still a teenager too. He is just a little older than Zoro. While he is already the best among the Mist shinobi in his generation, he is still weaker than his prime, although Zoro doesn't know how much the difference between the current Kisame and his prime in Akatsuki.
This is a sparring match, but they will use real swords. Zoro and the samurais usually use wooden swords for sparring matches, but Kisame asks to use their real swords so they can have a serious fight despite being a sparring match.
Many people come to the training ground to see the sparring match. The samurais are eager to see Zoro's skills again after so long. They want to see how much he has improved since leaving the Land of Iron.
Kisame uses a sword that is longer than normal swords, probably because of his height. But it's similar in length with Samehada, so maybe the Mist village has been training him to wield Samehada from such a young age.
Mifune volunteers as the referee because he knows other samurais will have a hard time stopping Zoro when there's an emergency situation.
Mifune doesn't know how strong Kisame is, but he doesn't want to underestimate the young ninja, so he thinks that it's better for him to be the referee instead of others just in case Kisame is a very powerful ninja.
The match starts after a while and both fighters charge at each other. Zoro only uses 2 swords now and he uses his training swords that are the replica of his real swords.
He doesn't care if Mist village wants to see his power, but he never intends to show them his real power. Everybody needs to keep their trump cards for important moments and this is not one of those moments.
Unsurprisingly, the fight against Kisame is not so difficult. Kisame is certainly skilled, but compared to the 7 Great Swordsmen that Zoro killed a few days ago, he is still much weaker.
However, for someone his age, Kisame is certainly one of the best even in all 5 Great Villages. He is on par with Kakashi and Guy who are also on top ranks in their generation.
Though unlike Guy and Kakashi, Kisame's fighting style is more vicious. It's common among the Shinobi from Mist because they truly are raised to be killing machines.
They are forced to kill each other just to graduate from their academy, after all. So it's no wonder that all of them have strong bloodlust. Mist village will change in the future, but for now, they are just Bloody Mist.
Kisame attacks Zoro with strong and fast attacks. There are also deceptions among his attacks but nothing works against Zoro who can hold his ground without much problem.
Then, after gaining no result for only using swordsmanship, Kisame starts using his ninjutsu. He shoots big water shark bullets toward Zoro who easily slashes them before they can hit him.
Kisame hides among the water sharks, trying to attack Zoro sneakily. But his sword is blocked by Zoro who already senses him among the water sharks despite Kisame's presence erasing technique.
He gets knocked back, but Kisame is still attacking ferociously. Rather than getting discouraged by his failures, Kisame is getting more excited as the battle goes on.
This is the first time Kisame fights someone younger than him but stronger and more skillful than him. It makes him realize his thirst for battle because previously he only fought to follow orders and to survive.
Zoro can see that Kisame is actually growing during their match. Others might not realize it, but as someone who relies on battles to grow stronger, Zoro can clearly see Kisame's growth during the match.
He's always happy when he grows stronger during battles. But it doesn't make him happy at all when his enemy is growing when fighting him. It would be different if he is helping his friend to grow, but Kisame is his enemy, so he isn't happy at all.
That's why Zoro decides to end this quickly before Kisame grows even further during their sparring match.
Kisame charges at Zoro again and Zoro prepares his move. He puts his arms on his chest with the right arm above his left arm. The sword on his right arm points horizontally to the left and vice versa.
"Two Sword Style: Mountain Cleaver!"
This is his original technique that he creates himself. He swings his swords sideways, creating a pair of thin and sharp energy blades that are very close to each other.
Kisame tries to block Zoro's attack, but it's much stronger than he can take. His sword is shattered and he is blown back. He crashes onto some trees and when he stops, Zoro has already placed a sword on his neck.
Mifune stops the battle immediately, announcing Zoro as the winner. The samurais cheer while the shinobi seem very serious. They finally understand why Zoro could defeat the 7 Swordsmen of Mist alone.
After the sparring match with Kisame, Zoro fights some samurais that want to fight him too. None of them could defeat him in the past and they still have no chance now that Zoro has become much stronger.
*****
3 days later, some people from Kirigakure come to send the money and as promised, they remove Zoro's bounty. Though Zoro swears to never hunt people wanted by Kirigakure anymore, at least during the 4th Mizukage's reign or until they change into a better village.
Zoro returns the swords after they give him the promised money. They don't look so good when they hand over that much money. The total is 24.5 million ryo for 7 swords, after all.
"I think I can stop working for a few years now. Thanks for helping this poor orphan. You guys are so generous."
Zoro just needs to pour more fuel into their anger. But he doesn't lie because he really has a lot of money now from all those hunting and these swords.
He is lucky that he has a great talent and isn't affiliated with any force though because if he is a member of an organization, then they will take a lot of his profit. But because he isn't, he can take all the rewards for himself, so he can be rich.
Before the Mist people leave, Zoro looks at the 4th Mizukage seriously. He doesn't really understand how Yagura is being manipulated. Previously, Zoro thought the guy was under Madara's or Obito's genjutsu, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
The high-level shinobi from Mist would surely have realized if that was the case. So Zoro thinks that Yagura might be brainwashed or the genjutsu is at the same level as Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.
He observes the midget because he thinks that if he can break that manipulation, then he can disturb the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan greatly. Zoro really wants to screw those "villains".
But then Zoro has a thought. 'Wait! Is it possible that he hasn't been manipulated yet? He is just this ruthless with his leadership because he is someone from the Bloody Mist? Hmm? But Madara should have been controlling Kirigakure when they sealed 3 Tails in Rin's body so he could control Obito, right? Fuck! I don't understand anymore. Why am I even bothered thinking this hard when I am this stupid?'
Frustrated, Zoro decides to stop thinking about this. He thinks that it's better for him to just see what will happen in the future and act accordingly because he's not that smart to make a plan of this scale.
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Chapter 112. Chunin Final
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